How To Survive The Liverpool FC Transfer Season
Jürgen Klopp Looking To Get Business Done Early screamed one newspaper headline. Klopp Strikes Pessimistic Note On Early Signings, squawked another. Welcome, officially, to Silly Season at it's most histrionic, idiotic and clueless. Between now and the close of the summer transfer window, you will be exposed to such a barrage of contradictory, attention-seeking lunacy, that you would be wise to have a plan for the retention of your mental health - something into which you can completely invest yourself …
Believe, Doubters - Klopp Is Driving LFC Onwards
At Anfield yesterday, after a creditable objective had been achieved by Liverpool, as cute children in replica kits tottered wide-eyed after their fathers, and as an intoxicating relief had flooded the famous old stadium, Lucas Leiva said some words into a microphone, whilst clutching a small memorial in the shape of the number 21 he has worn for a decade.
The famously amiable Brazilian was struggling to master his emotions. His wife had long-since given up the fight, sobbing as …
All Or Nothing For Klopp And The Reds
"A war of attrition, competition, competition, competition," he said. "This means a fight for everything week in, week out," he elaborated, but it turned out that Jürgen Klopp was not describing the ferocious rivalry between the members of the Liverpool squad to get cast in the latest Nivea television ad, a B-Movie fever dream which features Nathaniel Clyne lasciviously soaping himself and James Milner being crushed under the foot of some sort of monster. I'm not even joking, click the link.
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Magic Coutinho Impresses Origi
As I sit down to write this, there are actual people of intelligence preparing to watch David Moyes' Sunderland take on Arsenal in the hope that the Mackems will eke out some kind of result. This is the kind of entirely avoidable madness that leads to dark bouts of depression. To compound the lunacy, the same people will probably have one eye on Everton's attempts against the Gunners on the final day. If anything, expecting an Evertonian gift is the …
Progress At Liverpool FC Regardless Of Final Fixture
Let's get something absolutely clear from the off, friends - whether Liverpool beat Middlesborough and secure a Champions League play-off or not, there has been obvious, demonstrable progress under Jürgen Klopp this season. This really shouldn't need saying, but the fickle and pugnacious nature of many of our fans makes it important to nail your colours to the mast on any areas of potential conflict. Heaven forbid that one might not be comically extreme on every position. It seems to be de rigeur …
Henderson Injury Uncertainty Typifies The Season
Yesterday, I shared my own foolishness with you all in an altruistic attempt to spare the lovely readers and listeners of this column the needless torment I had inflicted on myself by engaging earnestly with the relentless tales of players in and players out at Anfield. It was a lamentable episode in your columnist's recent history and one I'd have been happy to keep quiet, but there's a greater good here, damn it. This is public-service broadcasting and the moral …
Transfer Time: A Brief Cautionary Tale
It's really far more than anyone should be expected to bear, you know. There is no way to manoeuvre the minefield that is transfer speculation and retain one's mental equilibrium. I like to think I'm a comparatively calm man, having had my stoicism tested by the slings and arrows over the years, but there's something about the unique cocktail of Liverpool's uncertain fate, the huge investment we have all placed in the importance of Champions League football and the attendant …
Top Four: Who Wants It Least?
Initially, as I grimaced in recollection of the season's third-last serving of delicious Barclay's goodness, it was tempting to liken Liverpool's struggles to make any progress to the myth of Sisyphus - you know, the unfortunate chap punished by the gods of the Greeks for his offences against them. His sentence was to push a huge boulder to the top of a hill, only to see it roll back down every time and know he must start over. For eternity. …
Positivity Around Anfield: How Do We Cope?
What with the revelations about plans for further expansion of Anfield, the decision to dedicate an entire stand to Kenny Dalglish, the proposed state-of-the-art training facility in Kirkby and a rumoured bumper transfer spend in the summer, one could be forgiven for thinking that things were looking reasonably positive for Liverpool Football Club.
This is a truly novel concept for a lot of supporters, but when you add to the mix the heady combination of a clutch of rivals dropping …
Stand And Deliver: Coutinho Back For Final Push
Following the announcement yesterday that the Centenary Stand will soon bear the exalted name of Kenny Dalglish, it was interesting to note the response from some fans. For many of an older vintage, like your columnist, there was an understandably emotional reaction to the honouring of a man we had worshipped on the field and in the dugout, a man as vital to our identification with Liverpool Football Club as Bill Shankly would have been for the generation before us.
I …