Damn right it isn’t. The media are howling for the boss to go – ‘fans’ are saying we’ve never had a worse manager – former players who have managerial experience limited to their kids Sunday team are up in arms.
It’s time for the manager to go and go now. ‘Sack the boss!’
Fortunately – it never happened. You see – twitter, email, websites, forums and 24 hour ‘we need a story right now’ sports TV channels and media didn’t exist back in the autumn of 1981 when a dysfunctioning Liverpool side – packed to the rafters with (what we look back at) quality players endured a thoroughly miserable spell spanning two seasons. Bob Paisley wasn’t sacked and went on to win the title that season and the following season.
Had Liverpool’s great manager Bob Paisley been under similar circumstances then today – then the media would have been insisting his team was full of internationals like Dalglish and Rush that had lost their focus. They would have said Paisley didn’t care about the league anymore and was focusing on Europe. Ian Rush who had recently signed for the reds at the start of Liverpool’s poor league forum would have been labelled a ‘waste of space’ and the media pundits would have been lining up saying how much we missed ‘Emlyn Alonso’.
Let’s fast forward 28 years and the media are attempting, and in some cases succeeding in, whipping some sections of Liverpool’s support in to a disturbing frenzy. (For the record – Rafa’s Liverpool have won 35 of their last 55 league games).
There can be no question that Liverpool’s start to the season has been stuttering. The same team that landed a record points haul last season and same close is arguably the same as last year – however in recent weeks the reds have been rocked by a horrific injury list – the likes of which I can’t remember at Anfield since Graeme Souness used to begin every Liverpool training session with an hour-long run blindfolded through the woods.
Tomorrow we face Lyon. No doubt this would be a tough test for a Liverpool first choice XI but I doubt any Premier League club would get a result with 6 or 7 of their best players out injured or struggling with injury. Yet if the result does not go our way – then the media will probably whip some people over the edge.
The Champions League is a fantastic tournament but anyone who believes it is Liverpool’s primary focus is on another planet. I don’t think it is, most Liverpool fans don’t think it is and despite what the anti-Liverpool media and world class managers like Ronnie Whelan say – Rafa doesn’t think it is.
In fact probably the only imbeciles who do rank the Champions League more highly than the Premier League are Hicks and Gillett. Why? Because it’s all about the money. Liverpool’s debt situation is such that the owners value it above all others. Pressure will be placed on Rafa to risk players that we all know should be given time to focus on Monday’s Birmingham game.
Two years ago we asked Is Rafa the Right man for Liverpool? 84% of supporters said Yes.
Two days ago we asked the same question to get a feel for the current mood. The result? 82.5% of fans believe Rafa is the right man for the reds.
So amongst all the panic and media frenzy whipped up by those with other interests to serve – just remember that most of you reading this are in the overwhelming majority. The silent majority. It’s about time the silent majority made a little bit more noise.
RAFA STAYS. HICKS AND GILLETT OUT.