Liverpool FC Forum

[Red @ Heart]

JBG Wrote..

I have never heard of you before in my life so what makes me think I'd dedicate an entire thread just for you?

I just love ignorance 

[stmichael]

I hope that the silver lining to last night's result is that we'll lose a few of those bandwagoner fans that came out of the woodwork last May.

You know the type: the guys who think Rafa was stupid to sell Baros, that the board were nuts to let Owen go to Madrid for peanuts and then not re-sign him 12 months on at twice the money, the guys that think we are a rubbish team and that there are major problems blah blah blah.

People that have been fans of Liverpool for more than 5 minutes will understand that this is one of the most promising times we've been in for 15 or 16 years, and if people thought things are bad now, then they weren't about when it all went pear shaped under Souness, and such like.

Our great European adventure came to an end last night. It had to end somewhere. At halftime last May 25th, when we were 3-0 down, any one of us would happily have swapped being thrashed 4-0 by TNS in the first round of this years competition if we could come back against Milan and win, let alone going out to Benfica in the last 16.

And for those who say Benfica are a mickey mouse club, well, such is another sad indictment of a Sky Sports era football supporter. Benfica have had as proud a European history as most, and while their current side are not going to set the world alight, for me there is no shame in going out to a club that has such great heritage.

I've been reading many of the posts today and you'd swear we had just been relegated. I'm as disappointed as anybody, but one poor display doesn't mean the end is nigh. Its just part of sport, and even the great sides of the 1970s and 1980s had their bitter disappointments and setbacks.

The criticism of the team, for me, has gone way too far, which is perplexing, given that we are actually having one of our best seasons in years, in so far as we have been consistent and steady all year and real, genuine groundwork is being laid.

Winning the big trophy last year had the one downside in that it was always going to raise expectations to ridiculous levels, and last night's result has seen that particular chicken come home to roost.

I'm sick and tired of fair weather fans and this place has its fair share of them, and they come in the usual guise, although I'll refrain from getting into that.

The way I see it is that those who have gone completely over the top in their criticism betray their shallow natures as Liverpool  fans, as genuine long standing fans who had to endure the disappointment of every manager since Daglish will recognise the great thinks Rafa Benitez is doing for this club.

great post JBG

i think some fans don't realise how lucky we are, considering in the 90's we were lucky to have any sort of european football at all. the fact that we're so disappointed about losing in the knockout stages of the champions league shows just how far we have come in the last 18 months.

people need to realise that thsi team is still very much a work in progress. yes last seasons achievement was fantastic but any fan who thought that we were anywhere near the finished article were way wide of the mark.

[lawrenson_sarah]

Was annoying right after we won the champions league and people on msn had their names as different celebrations for Liverpool.

Half of them didnt even really support Liverpool before

[dawson99]

this site has gone a bit to $*i*e since we the champs league, but i'll suffer it as we kept the cup

[redmikey]

with out doubt the best thread i read on here.

the fans that have short memories are on here slating the front line and why didn't we do this or not loan out him, get right on my testicles because rafa has made more of a positive change to this club than anyone i can remember.

he makes mistakes (josemi, nunez,pellegino?) but has the nouse to sort them out asap,

he gets the best out of his players. gerrard kewell,   igor,valdi,  ( cissie aside)

we are in safe hands at the moment and rafa deserves the support of the board and every fan to the max

[Ciggy]

I suppose it is all matter of opinions, I think originally JBG meant glory hunters that jump from club to club who ever is winning the most tropheys type of fan.
He didnt mean to offend most people on here, bloody hell loads of scousers I know who go the game are really p.issed off with the amount of glory hunters that have been at our games since we won the CL.
Bringing St Georges flags with Northumberland reds painted on it.
Liverpool F.C. is nothing to do with England fans, neither is Northumberland etc, but these are the type that go around supporting whom ever is in fashion they have probably been at Old Trafford the last decade, and will desert us and start going to stamford Bridge.

I also see Woof and John Bulls points of view and I agree, that Rafa's team choices over the two legs against Benfica where wrong.
Last season in the CL he always came out with a suprise and this fooled other managers and their players.
But now we are predictable Hoof to Crouch's head, Koeman probably said if we withstand the first 20 minutes barage of attacks, then hit them on the break its game over.

Koeman got it right Rafa didnt, by playing two out of form strikers, he could have played Gerrard behind Crouch, with Hamann and Xabi in midfield, or Garcia behind Crouch and Gerrard out on the right.
Koeman done his homework and for all our possession and shots on target it didnt matter, because Crouch and Morientes are as much threat as me playing as a striker:D

Anyway its over now we have to move on try and get 2nd place, hope that Rafa has finally seen the light and drops Fernando and gives Crouch a break.
And try and find some goals for the last part of the season, and hope to lift the F.A.Cup one trophey is better than none.

[dawson99]

but redmikey if u cant disagree that he completely ballsed up the striker situatioan and whatever bad blood there is with cisse is ruining the player and thats detrimental to the team at large

[Ciggy]

with out doubt the best thread i read on here.

the fans that have short memories are on here slating the front line and why didn't we do this or not loan out him, get right on my testicles because rafa has made more of a positive change to this club than anyone i can remember.

he makes mistakes (josemi, nunez,pellegino?) but has the nouse to sort them out asap,

he gets the best out of his players. gerrard kewell,   igor,valdi,  ( cissie aside)

we are in safe hands at the moment and rafa deserves the support of the board and every fan to the max

He is also not above critism mate he got it wrong he said so himself, he said blame me I picked the team, so there you have it out of the horses mouth.

[JBG]

Woof: again, like Bull, I think you have misread my post. I didn't say that all people who criticise the team are plastic fans, I was directing my post at the countless people on this very website who are only part time Liverpool fans,

I understand that JBG , but not sure everybody else did . A couple of people were having a right dig at John Bull .

I know we get loads of whingers and wind up merchants in here and they p'iss me off just as much as they do you, but we also get a lot of part time evangilists who appear to consider criticism of our club or it's manager as verging on the blasphemous . I think there is cause for  concern over our strikers continued inability to score coupled with Rafa's continued use of Morientes, and yet to voice that concern is to invite ridicule and abuse .

John Bull also asked in effect was he supposed to pretend everything in the garden was rosy when in his opinion it isn't. The answer apparently is unless you want the PC brigade jumping down your neck you have to just keep on singing and waving yer flag.

Some f'ucking forum this is turning into .

Hold on woof, before you defend Bull, read his posts in the thread again.

Bull had a pop at ME for voicing my OPINION, not the other way around.

I respect where Bull comes from, even though it is my OPINION that Bull is one of those fans who are out of touch with the realities of modern football.

I know people had a pop at Bull as he bucked the trend in the trend, but hey, if Bull dishes it out, he has to take it as well.

[stmichael]

I had a conversation with another Liverpool supporter yesterday about our Champions League exit and that talk left me with somewhat of a bitter taste in the mouth. It also left me wondering if we as LFC supporters (.. or some of us ) do show a lot of double standards....

For example, many of us hate Chelsea because they've got all that buying power and because they're practically able to buy who ever they want (well except Stevie that is), but at least if they could buy him they would be able to. We hate manure for all their marketing and all the publicity they get and that goes for UnReal Madrid as well, but still we all look forward to the investment which are expected to come into our club and take us up there besides these two clubs financially. We hate chelsea for signing top class player after top class player, but still we all want players like that playing for our club....

Anyone see the double standards?

When GH was still managing our club, everyone was saying 'stop buying 18-20 year old talents for fcuks sake and start buying some established proven players. So Benitez went out and brought in the likes of Morientes and Pellegrino who were established/proven players who had practically tried everything in the world of football.

I remember everyone complaining because Rafa fielded almost the entire youth team for the FA Cup game against Burnley last season. I even remember reading this comment somewhere 'It's a sad day when Liverpool push back the importance of the FA Cup' - what's that all about now...? Again looking back to the GH era, where everyone was complaining about the young lads and how they never got a chance.... Anyone see the double standards?

Are we slowly becoming a bunch of fans which can't be satisfied by anything? Or are we just getting confused and caught up in all our own double standards?

To wrap this up, I'd like to say that I think we need the investment - not because I like the thought, but because if we don't we'll be miles behind the likes of chelsea and manu in 5-10 years time. I also want to say that Rafa has my 100% backing in all his decisions. In the last 18 months we've come on leaps and bounds.

[JBG]

I had a conversation with another Liverpool supporter yesterday about our Champions League exit and that talk left me with somewhat of a bitter taste in the mouth. It also left me wondering if we as LFC supporters (.. or some of us ) do show a lot of double standards....

For example, many of us hate Chelsea because they've got all that buying power and because they're practically able to buy who ever they want (well except Stevie that is), but at least if they could buy him they would be able to. We hate manure for all their marketing and all the publicity they get and that goes for UnReal Madrid as well, but still we all look forward to the investment which are expected to come into our club and take us up there besides these two clubs financially. We hate chelsea for signing top class player after top class player, but still we all want players like that playing for our club....

Anyone see the double standards?

When GH was still managing our club, everyone was saying 'stop buying 18-20 year old talents for fcuks sake and start buying some established proven players. So Benitez went out and brought in the likes of Morientes and Pellegrino who were established/proven players who had practically tried everything in the world of football.

I remember everyone complaining because Rafa fielded almost the entire youth team for the FA Cup game against Burnley last season. I even remember reading this comment somewhere 'It's a sad day when Liverpool push back the importance of the FA Cup' - what's that all about now...? Again looking back to the GH era, where everyone was complaining about the young lads and how they never got a chance.... Anyone see the double standards?

Are we slowly becoming a bunch of fans which can't be satisfied by anything? Or are we just getting confused and caught up in all our own double standards?

To wrap this up, I'd like to say that I think we need the investment - not because I like the thought, but because if we don't we'll be miles behind the likes of chelsea and manu in 5-10 years time. I also want to say that Rafa has my 100% backing in all his decisions. In the last 18 months we've come on leaps and bounds.

Ha ha, I think my friend here has hit a few nails squarely on the head and will touch a few raw nerves as well.

[HacksawJimDuggin]

Having read the thread from start up to now I couldn't agree more with the comments on plastic supporters. I can't remember the last time I fell out with so many so called Liverpool fans. All of a sudden (i.e. after Wednesday night) we weren't good enough, needed to ship out numerous players before starting again from scratch - nonsense.

I have watched almost all of our games since the New Year and cannot recall a game that we haven't dominated for long spells whilst playing our best football for years. We are lacking in a few areas (I won't go on to talk about it here cos we all know where + it's another thread) but the emphasis is on the word "few". We have the back-bone and nucleus of a fantastic squad. I believe Rafa will be given additional funds to strengthen and we will come back even stronger next year. That's not to say this season is over mind as we still have to push on for 2nd place and the FA Cup. I for one will back them ALL the way.

Someone quotes LFC as a "work in progress" and I couldn't agree more. We have come on leaps and bounds in the past 12-18 months and for that Rafa and the boys should be applauded. I am not denying that changes need to be made but this cannot happen over night.

I was delighted to hear Stevie G speak earlier. His determination was there for all to see. He knows the situation (hence committing to LFC for a long time) that we are progressing and we would not become world beaters over night.

[redmikey]

i am not saying he is above recall but some people just read the papers and come on here and regurgitate the same sh.it

the point i was tring to add to the thread is that people don't think about what they are saying because they think it is what everyone wants to hear.

dawson mate we will have to disagree on cissie mate because i believe that it would be detrimental to put him back in the team, even now with our obvious lack of threat up front i wouldn't change the team around and the systems that have worked for us this season to accomidate him.

the biggest points for the summer is for the board to get the funding for the team and the stadium sorted as without both of these being rectified we might lose rafa and that would be a blow that could set us back a long way

i am not a glass is half empty fan and will never be but those are the 2 biggest issues facing the club in the near future

[Erica]

Last year I heard for the first time an old English song (I think from the eighties, but I am not sure) that went: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going".
I would like to express my idea changing that title:
"When the times are tough for Liverpool, the tough (true red supporters) get going".
Nothing to add to this great post, and: Bye, bye plastic fans!

[Ace Ventura]

The majority of fans on this forum share the same opinion.
We are making great strides and are not far away from matching the very best.
That is with a sensible budget and a great manager.
He made a big mistake with regards to the forward line against Benfica and if everyone here can see that Morientes wont cut it, surely he can.
I am confident that he will change the strikers in the summer, he is ruthless and knows how to rectify his mistakes.
I also hope that Cisse gets a run in the team as a striker, i would of rather had Pongolle there but thats not to be for now. Cisse will offer a different kind of threat...even if he will frustrate the hell out of the majority of fans.
The lads been patient, he has sat there and watched the other strikers misfiring, imagine how p!ssed off he must be !