One Year On And Liverpool Are United

http://thekop.liverpoolfc.tv/_One-Year-On-And-Liverpool-Are-United/blog/5296545/173471.html

TO appreciate how good things are now, we have to remember how bad things were then and it says everything about the depths that Liverpool plumbed under the palsied reign of Tom Hicks and George Gillett that it is hard to single out a low point.

Hicks doing a fireside chat on the anniversary of Hillsborough was most definitely a nadir but it was far from being the only one. A combination of losing £100,000 in interest every single day, civil war raging in the boardroom, the possibility of administration looming larger with every passing day and a team wilting under the intolerable pressure ensured that Liverpool were not a football club twelve months ago – they were a basket case on collision course with catastrophe.

But for me, rock bottom was reached not on the hallowed turf of Anfield, in the sanctity of the boardroom or inside the walls of the High Court. Liverpool hit their all time low on Saturday 28 January 2008 and it happened on the very place that it should never have been allowed to – the Kop.

Everyone remembers that day because of Havant & Waterlooville’s valiant but ultimately unrewarded attempt to cause one of the greatest shocks in FA Cup history. The game will linger long in the memory of all who witnessed it but even that could not match the significance of the events that unfolded in football’s most famous stand.

A choral protest against the owners began towards the back of the Kop, some joined in but others chose not to. It was not long, though, before the objectors turned on the protestors. Insults were hurled, threats were made and an uneasy tension emerged. Division had become rampant. The events that followed, culminating in Liverpool being taken to the brink of administration, tells us that the cause of the protestors was a just one. They were fighting for the club as it approached one of its most desperate moments. But the point is, they should never have had to and the sight of Liverpool supporters turning on one another has to be one of the sorriest moments in the club’s history.

From that day until October 15 last year it seemed as if Liverpool’s ownership problems would damn them to division for ever more. Everywhere you looked and listened – in the stands, in the manager’s office, on internet forums, on the airwaves – there was an acrimony that could not be quelled. The socialism that Shankly believed in, of everyone working together, had gone absent without leave, allowing internecine strife and its accompanying poisonous stench to wreak havoc in all corners of the club.

In some ways it feels like a bad dream. If it was hard to imagine at the time that the future of one of world football’s greatest institutions could be in grave doubt and the values that underpinned it conspicuous only by their absence, then looking back it is even more difficult to comprehend. It should never have happened but it did and the damage that was caused by Hicks and Gillett was such that it is something of a sporting miracle that just 12 months after their departure Liverpool can once again class itself a club where unity and togetherness reigns. The credit for this dramatic turnaround goes to everyone at the club who has played their part, but the lion’s share must go to Fenway Sports Group for being the new broom that has swept Anfield clean and Kenny Dalglish for being the catalyst to harmony that his supporters always knew he would be.

“I was down at Exeter for the Carling Cup game, and looking at the players the day before the game when they have their meal, they were all chatting and messing about and having a laugh,” Ian Ayre recalled earlier this week. That spirit had gone 12 months ago. Not because the players didn’t get on with each other, but because everyone just felt this burden of negativity around the club.

“You see it now, and it’s such a different place. Kenny and his demeanour and manner is just so fun and positive and he gets everybody going and is so good with individuals and collectives. Even in the business, the team here (at Chapel Street) and in the community events, people are smiling. That is just so far ahead of where we were.”

At Anfield tomorrow, the giant strides that Liverpool have made in the last 12 months will be as plain to see as their red shirts. In the dugout will be Dalglish, a man who inspires unity like no other, on the pitch will be a Liverpool team whose collective spirit is no longer being sapped by events off the pitch and in the stands will be supporters who don’t have to concern themselves with the need for protest.

Trophies may not be awarded for unity but you can’t win anything without it and under new ownership and with a new sense of direction and collective purpose, Liverpool have given themselves an opportunity to dream of being successful once again. That would have been unimaginable this time last year. It may not be the best of times just yet but it is certainly not the worst of times either. Everyone with Liverpool’s best interests at heart would have settled for that in the dying days of the Hicks and Gillett era.

 

This is a brilliant piece of journalism.
I read something recently that John Henry is a completely different character to these two cowboys. He doesn't make promises, instead of asking ''how do we make things better?'' He asked particular players one being Pepe Reina, this was mentioned in Pepes book, ''What went wrong?''.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that the key to success is identifying the problem and once the problem is solved, build from there. That is what John Henry has done. Its been slow, but I feel a lot of strides have been made.

They have spent a significant amount of money, but by doing so have saved themselves a lot of money. Liverpool may have spent £34 million net on players since January, but they've reduced their wage-bill to a near 25% at the same time.

There is more work to be done to improve things both on and off the pitch in order to achieve success, but I'm encouraged by both aspects thus far.

 

'One Year On And Liverpool Are As One' would have been a better title but nontheless a good article gonz.

 

its all grea tbut i just wish we'd go play the game now and stop the endless flow of journalistic pieces extolling the virtues off all and sundry as i can't help but feeling set up for a big fall....

 

I thought this thread was about how we are improving and in one year would be on par with United!

 

The mere fact that Liverpool are in their present position (i.e. with a future) is fantastic. That the new owners have not only steadied the ship with their purchase but have set themselves realistic targets that they are prepared to invest in is quite amazing - given the timeframe that they have done it in.

Ther's a very long way to go both on and off the pitch but we (Owners, Management, Players and Fans) are marching in the right direction TOGETHER.

YNWA

 

I can still remember how I felt this time last year and it was a bad place. Everything is so much better now and in a relatively short space of time, considering what a God-awful mess we were in. Long may it continue, including battering those s..te tomorrow.

 

and honestly i'd much rather celebrate this momentus day in our clubs history on its own and not have the match tomorrow over shadow it. after all it's just one match!

Icing on a ckae if we win it. the important thing is we've got a cake not a few stale crumbs.