Everton, instead of Blackburn. I don't think they were in the top flight, until the PL actually had been created.
I think the quote about Man Utd practically inventing the EPL was extremely salient. It is strange how football has changed over the last twenty years so that Liverpool's blueprint for making management appointments in house and developing their own stars which served them so well in the 70's and 80's was no longer viable. Setting aside the success of Ferguson (easily the greatest manager in the history of the game in this country even if this is something I would have to admit to grudgingly) I think that Wenger probably offered the more "modern" solution and has been more influential. It is really interesting how Liverpool's template ceased to work and how they seem continually to be chasing their tails. I think the Man City model is probably the latest version of a team primed for success yet wonder how much longer success with such expenditure can be maintained. Liverpool seem to be in thrall with this model but their ability to acquire players who will enhance their squad is erratic at best and maybe populated by players who don't appreciate the heritage or culture of the club. You could argue the same for City whereas a team like Chelsea have always had a touch of glamour about them for the last 20-odd years, so much that it is hard to believe they used to have the likes of Kerry Dixon as their star player! Chelsea , City , Arsenal and utd all seem cosmopolitan whereas Liverpool appear increasingly provincial. I am always staggered at the number of people I have met in France who consider themselves Arsenal fans. I believe still relented with old , obsolete training methods and ideas right in to the mid 1990's. There was a recent book reviewed in WSC that discussed this failing. ("The men in white suits") It is something Liverpool never recovered from and I would suggest they are ever likely to seriously contend with either City, Utd, Chelsea or even Arsenal. That said, Utd appeared to falter spectacularly under Moyes yet I think they will eventually come good. I can't see this happening to Liverpool but Arsenal post-Wenger will be very interesting.
Ah yes, that's correct. The first PL season was their first season up. Everton may well have gone on to dominate the late 80s had we not been banned from Europe. They had some side 84-86
Not sure Liverpool's policy of the 70s and 80s was to develop their own youngsters. They bought in most of their best players. There were some exceptions, but a lot were bought in. They did sign quite a few relative unknowns and turned them into decent players.
Yep, they had a blend of home-grown and mainly purchased, throughout the years. Still many more home-grown than these days though. I think what did for Liverpool back then, and still does to this day was that they operated and operate in the present. There was not enough looking forward at the prospect and potential of the Premier League, good or bad. The Premier League never was the Football League with fanfare and decorations. It required a whole new level of commitment to the business side and to the potential of making much bigger amounts of money. Plus clubs went from a name with tradition to a brand name. Nowadays, tradition only counts for fans points scoring and die-hard retired footballers who can't see past their childhoods and playing days. Liverpool seem to be rooted in this past; still not quite getting the PL, and they've slowly lost their identity. I think it was Jamie Carragher who said the other day that Liverpool think they are a big club, but they are slowly but surely becoming Tottenham. I know exactly what he means by that. ManU, on the other hand, have romance about them in spades which they've promoted aggressively. The Busby Babes, the Munich Air Crash, The European Cup, Charlton, Best and Law, for example, and they fed off those stories [forgive me for appearing to read cynical], including the air crash, during the lean times and good. Especially so the good, once they were in the PL and needing to expand. As an English club they found themselves ideally set and boy did they exploit it. [end of cynicism]. No other single club embraced the PL quite like ManU, from the word go. Arsenal then got the idea, then Chelsea and latterly Man City; the latter two acquiring mega rich owners willing to splash the cash in order to catch up quickly. Where are Liverpool.? Treading water and slowly sinking. For the moment that is.
It should be remembered though even the mighty Man Utd had to go through a transitional period. They like Saints were relegated but had the wisdom to build from there own youngsters in the main. Just as they did after the Munich disaster. Football has moved on tremendously from those days I think it would take them a lot longer to recover these days. Liverpool on the other hand are trying to solely buy their way out of trouble it would seem. With there fans still demanding that they win top honours as they once did. In other words living in the past. Add to that a manager who was prepared to go along with the misconception. A recipe for disaster in my opinion as has proved so far. I do not envy their next managers chance of success. They will pick up in the short term not so sure how they will cope in the med to long term though.
http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2015/10/0...rated-liverpool-committee-stopped-purchase-o/ Rodgers apparently wanted Bertrand...not gone a moment too soon then The article talks about Liverpool not being able to attract the big stars...probably true, but they can buy players before we've road tested them. How are we able to find gems when others are blind to their charms until they are in red 'n white stripes? The problem for Liverpool and its fans is that they don't have the patience we have and let players have a chance. They should accept they are a top 8/10 side (that near miss to be Champions was a blip) and spend a couple of seasons getting a team that play as a team.
Is that why they want Kenwright out saying he is holding them back? They are nearly as bad as the Liverpool fans, just that there aren't as many of them and non as pundits.
You forget however that it wasn't actually the Prem money that built united. It was a £3m of Roy Keane allied with academy players coming through all within a couple of years of each other. The Prem money merely let them maintain that momentum. They won the FA Cup and subsequently the Cup winners cup before the Prem money arrived and they had the majority of that first Prem winning side before the Prem too. Lucky and coincidental yes but its foolish to think they only got back to the top because of the Prem, that was just good timing.
From an article on Klopp maybe joining. lol In fairness I think nearly anyone could get more out of this team if they hired a half decent defensive coach and stopped playing Dejan Lovren whenever he is fit. Lol they are desperate but then so is HR Today while day dreaming about Liverpool’s next manager, I realized that if Liverpool don’t manage to attract Klopp or Ancelotti, my next choice would be hiring Redknapp as interim manager until the end of the season (with no option of him staying on.)
What amuses me these days is that managers always blame the fact that they weren't able to sign certain players. You never hear any talk about developing the players they already have. That, to me, ought to be a huge part of the job.
This is why, IMO, it is good for us, if they bring in Klopp, or some other European manager, as his replacement. At the moment, the top four clubs won't trouble us for players, unless they are of the quality of Morgan and Shaw (Mane), which means the majority of our best players are left with just two options, when they play the "I want to play for a bigger club", and those two options are Spurs and Liverpool. Hopefully this will now reduce those options to just Spurs, as I am sure Klopp will have his eye on players he knows, from around Europe. Now, if only MP was to move on.....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...s-laptop-guru-did-number-Brendan-Rodgers.html Daily Mail article suggesting that part of Rodgers problem was the close relationship between the technical director and the owners. Edwards stopped him signing the players he wanted...and he ended up with Lovren.
So the analyst recommending players worked for Portsmouth for 6 years....conspiracy theories at the ready
Are you suggesting that his desire to destroy Southampton exceeds his desire for Liverpool to do well? My God, it all makes sense now.
