http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=293741.0 Well said that man Pity I'm not on RAWK to tell him.
Good stuff, it's sad but it makes you realise how the football that we all know and love has changed around us and left us behind. We need to get back in the race, but at what cost?
The first paragraph is great..... It began on Sunday 9th January 2011, a familiar face bestriding Old Trafford with clenched fists and a glint in his eye which seemed to say “hello again, old friend.” There were a few more wrinkles since we had last seen him take his seat on the bench as Liverpool manager, but in some ways it was like he had never been away - same passion, same presence. Same haircut too. But the game had moved on. When we had last seen him almost two decades ago, the three biggest clubs in England were managed by Scots and the nouveau riche down in west London were three years removed from promotion to the top division (and had Dave Beasant in goal). Times change. Amongst the über-cool managers of 21st century football with their pencil ties and dashing scarves, he probably looked out of place. Who cared about 21st century football though, really? In that moment you felt validated, vindicated, valued. His visible excitement betrayed the fact that not only was he the club’s new manager, he was also its number one fan. Always. He was just like you. In such an unpredictable environment and after everything we had been through over the past few months, this man simply understood. In an age of cold, harsh reality, he represented football’s greatest gift to the world: the chance to dream.
That is a fantastic and accurate read, I can really relate to it being just a year younger than the writer. Not sure if Kenny will read it but just sent a link to him via twitter...
He's expressed very well much of what I've thought recently. I've likened it this week in business terms as the club's Unique Selling Point. Those fans from "far-flung corners of the world who are hearing the name Liverpool F.C. for the first time" aren't buying into the club because we won in Istanbul, though some joined us that night. They came to us, and continue to come, because we are Liverpool. They saw the support that magical night and the magical European nights that came after, and wanted to be part of it. Kenny epitomised that USP, the *it* and FSG have not only made a rash footnball decision, it could prove to have been a rash business one. They appeared to get *it* when they arrived because of their respect for the traditions and history of the Red Sox, a club which also has *it* in buckets. They also did things The Liverpool Way, behind closed doors. Not a whiff in the media about them being possible buyers until the deal was done. But this hasn't been The Liverpool Way. They've kicked Kenny to the kerb unceremoniously, disresectfully and with the impatience of the worst type of "fan". I welcome new fans because we need them to buy shirts to compete in the modern game and I don't really care when they came to us as long as once they're in they're in for life. But it won't be like that for many top clubs, who'll see chunks of their fanbase come and go like consumers. I became a fan in 1968. There was no 18/5 then. That wasn't why I retained my love for my first club after we moved away from Merseyside. My dad was a Red and in the navy. He'd be away for three months at a time during those "barren years" Shanks had and I remember telling him on his return about the football. Beautiful, flowing and dreamy football. Roy of the Rovers stuff. I was so proud to be a Liverpool fan, while my Chelsea-supporting mates bragged about winning the FA Cup and Cup Winner's Cup and their glamourous stars. Living in Scotland I also knew Celtic fans and they had a legend back then, too. Guy by the name of Dalglsih. So Kenny and I go way back. He even hurt me by nutmegging Clemence at Wembley but I forgave him. And one player the Scots admired and respected as much as they hated for being English back then was our captain, Emelyn Hughes. Not the most gifted of players compared to the stars but a Scot at heart, with Shankly in his blood and a determination to run through walls and come out fighting on the other side. Pride comes in many flavours and Emelyn made me proud to be a fan, like the football. There were times when Rafa managed to replicate that beautiful, flowing and dreamy football but I hadn't seen it right down to the very core of the squad since Kenny left the first time. And it was back, not consistently, but enough to know what worked before was there again and only an inordinate amount of bad luck and great goalkeeping was stopping it from being universally appreciated. Pass and move Liverpool-style flows more than Barca's, the passes are longer and further ahead of the man. It's Barca for the Premier League's pace. It's ultra-modern for a man ten years out of the game. Rafa's prep work in that must also be acknowledged. He left Kenny players who could play The Liverpool Way because Rafa got *it*, too. Just as I regaled my dad of the football back then and pretended I was Emelyn in street footy there have been many proud moments which were nowhere near silverware. I've often considered winning trophies to be a short-term thing, the orgasm in the sex scene of a love story. It doesn't keep you warm on a miserable winter night away from home, though it might give you a few seconds of smug satisfaction in a bit of banter with a rival fan, something which is much more common in this electronic and anonymous age. Probably more than actual orgasms. I've come to realise that was always The Liverpool Way. The day after a trophy win it was to be forgotten about. We were last year's champions. The job at hand was to go out and win it again. When Ronnie Moran said, "Take a medal if you think you deserve one" he was playing down the importance of the medal because that's The Liverpool Way. Keep your feet on the ground, son. It'll make you a better man as well as a better footballer. Show me a better man than Kenny Dalglish. Whether Kenny had the chops to build on what he'd already achieved as good as or better than any possible replacement should never have been doubted. This is Dalglish. Clve Tyldesley isnt fit to clean his boots. But it was doubted because it seems these days that success and failure are divided by a very thin line. The Carling Cup and the return of the Kenny smile with arms aloft, so recognisable since he first arrived that they're almost iconic, was a day's media headline. But then they needed another headline: the Fa Cup. It had to be a double because that's more romantic a story. Not giving them that story meant they had to brand it a huge failure. There is no middle ground in Medialand. Our season's success or failure depended on a goal, or a non-goal. It was that close, which is illogical. Players win games but managers win campaigns and Kenny got us there. That was success. Baking a cake can still be rewarding and appetising and you're no worse a baker simply because you didn't have a cherry to put on top. But today's fan seems to want cherries on top. **** the cake, just give us the cherries. And who the **** bakes nowadays anyway? Just go to the shop and buy one. Hope is for scratch cards. I've quoted the James Earl Jones speech from 'Field of Dreams' a few times this last week. Like Kenny's return and the players' smiles and the football and the woodwork hits and the youngsters Rafa and Kenny had began developing coming through, it gave me hope. There was so much hope, which had completely disappeared under Roy and that's why we got rid of him. Had he shown us more hope on the pitch we'd have gotten behind him a lot more, as we did when Rafa came, because we saw something in Rafa, too. Hope deserted me again this week and I found myself watching this speech again. Football came home to Liverpool FC for a brief visit with Kenny. Just seeing him in the dugout made me believe in dreams again. I have hope it will return home for good one day, when the money men have moved on, as the temporary fans wander off for a more rewarding immediate experience yet to be virtually designed. Long live the King. . [video=youtube;7SB16il97yw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SB16il97yw[/video]
I was actually being half serious I think everyone on the board (especially those delighting in seeing Kenny sacked) should read both the RAWK piece and MFGs footballing life story (even tho he practically accused me of being a plastic the cheeky twat ). Good stuff but does make me yearn for a previous age of footballing values (again).
