Good article here on Carroll, Downing and our lack of goals.

Flappy Flanagan (JK) · Dec 29, 2011

Take a peak.

http://thekop.liverpoolfc.tv/_Beard...Batch-Of-Signings/blog/5468973/173471.html?b=

PETER Beardsley is widely and rightly regarded as one of the greatest players in arguably Liverpool’s best ever side. An inspirational creative force with a keen eye for goal, the spritely forward played a key role as Kenny Dalglish’s outstanding 1987/88 team cantered to the league title playing a style of football that even prompted the legendary Tom Finney to compare them favourably with Brazil’s magnificent World Cup winners of 1970.

Beardsley’s place in Anfield’s pantheon of greats was cemented several years later when he came nineteenth in a poll to determine the 100 players who shook the Kop. To put that achievement in perspective, it should be pointed out that he finished ahead of the likes of Phil Neal, Xabi Alonso, Ian St John, Phil Thompson and Terry McDermott. Not bad for a player who was once on the books of Manchester United.

As time moves on and memories of that era fade, so it becomes easy to forget that Beardsley was not an instant hit at Anfield – far from it. After moving to Liverpool from Newcastle United for a club record transfer fee of Â£1.9 million, he initially struggled and there were widely held concerns that he was not the man to fill the legendary number seven shirt that Dalglish had bequeathed to him.

Anyone who doubted Beardsley at that time had good reason. A goal tally of just four by the turn of the year was a meagre return on such a lavish investment and even Beardsley himself was forced to question whether or not he was good enough for Liverpool. “I couldn't even hit a barn door most of the time and it was a difficult time for me personally, but that it was covered up because the team was doing so well at the time, and the media focus was nowhere near as strong as it is today,” he would later recall.

By the end of his debut season, Beardsley had scored 18 goals and been nominated for the PFA player of the year award (an accolade which was won by his team mate John Barnes) and Liverpool had won the league in vintage style. It may have taken him time to settle but once he did Beardsley established himself as a key player for Liverpool, one who supporters would gladly part with good money to watch and who team mates loved playing alongside. In a single campaign in a red shirt the diminutive Geordie had more than justified his transfer fee. So much for the early doubts.

All of which is a rather long winded attempt to bring us around to three of Dalglish’s latest batch of new signings. Like their fellow North Easterner, neither Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson nor Stewart Downing has set Anfield alight just yet. The likelihood is that, like Beardsley before them, the trio are wondering when they will come good and questioning whether or not they will be able to establish themselves at one of the world’s biggest clubs.

Having joined one transfer window earlier than Henderson and Downing, Carroll has had longer than the other two to settle in. But given that he arrived with injury problems that greatly restricted his involvement during the latter months of last season, the current campaign is the one in which his impact will be most fairly judged and although you would be hard pressed to find anyone who would declare Carroll’s brief stint in a red shirt an outstanding success, it is still far too early to write him off.

Only three months of football have taken place so far this season and the process of creating and establishing a new team is still in its formative stages. Critics of Carroll, Downing and Henderson could point with some justification to the way Luis Suarez, a player who had not even played in England prior to his arrival at Anfield, has hit the ground running following his move from Ajax. There was a similar pressure on Beardsley back in 1987 when John Barnes, who cost half as much as he did, instantly winning over the Liverpool fans with some of the finest wing play ever seen at Anfield or anywhere else for that matter.

Beardsley, by contrast, struggled and it showed. But unlike Henderson, Carroll and Downing, he had the benefit of being part of a team that would have been one of the finest in Europe whether he was a part of it or not. This is a new Liverpool, one which is coming out of one of the most difficult and troubled periods in the club’s history and one which is desperately trying to reclaim former glories. It is not a team that is established amongst English football’s elite as its counterpart of 1987 was, it is one which is striving to get back there and the strong possibility is that the current campaign will be one of transition rather than glory.

Dalglish’s immediate task is to improve Liverpool sufficiently to make them competitive again in terms of qualification for the Champions League. His chances of fulfilling that requirement will improve the sooner Carroll, Henderson and Downing begin to deliver on a regular basis but having seen at first hand just how problematical Peter Beardsley’s initial bedding in process was he will know as well as anyone that some signings take longer than others to prove themselves.
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It gives a good perspective on things, and for once, some good support for Carroll.

luvgonzo · Dec 29, 2011

Good article, hopefully some of our current crop will also come good.

Flappy Flanagan (JK) · Dec 29, 2011

This was also posted in the comments:

I saw a comparison yesterday between this season and the 88-89 season, when we struggled in the 1st half of the season, created tons of chances, couldn't win at home and had a bad "goals scored" record. Then from jan 1st we went on a run scoring 42 goals, and ending up 2nd to arsenal..oh and Kenny was manager
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Good article here on Carroll, Downing and our lack of goals.

Flappy Flanagan (JK) Well-Known Member

luvgonzo Pisshead

Flappy Flanagan (JK) Well-Known Member

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Good article here on Carroll, Downing and our lack of goals.

Flappy Flanagan (JK) Well-Known Member

luvgonzo Pisshead

Flappy Flanagan (JK) Well-Known Member

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