It is not yet time to panic at Anfield.
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| mirrorfootball.co.uk |
They have paid (a great deal of) their hard-earned money, and have every right to pass comment as they see fit, and this column has no right to condemn the supporters or otherwise for their actions.
For what it’s worth, I’ve always thought lecturing fans about failing to get behind their team is a ridiculous, patronising position that fails spectacularly to understand the emotion of a true supporter.
But if the booing was not merely a knee-jerk comment on the day’s offering against Swansea, and was instead a wider comment on the direction of the team under King Kenny, then it has failed to take into account the problems the new manager inherited.
People have made much of the fact that Dalglish currently has a very similar record to his predecessor Roy Hodgson over a similar number of games, but rather than condemning the new boss, I believe those stats merely support the assertion he has a lot more work to do than people realise.
Hodgson himself, when he left Anfield, suggested that – far from failing – he had performed just about as he and his team had expected, the odd embarrassing blip aside.
That is because he felt the club needed two or three years to regroup and rebuild after the turmoil of the Hicks-Gillett era, and the state that left the team was left in.
For the past two years, Liverpool have lost some of their finest players, and failed to replace them. The team was in a mess, and it was going to take more than throwing a few quid at it to turn things around.
The morale at Anfield had reached an all-time low, and the players who were left behind when the dust settled were generally not of a calibre to be able to turn things around quickly.
Hodgson was actually a little shocked when he realised the extent of the problem after he got his feet under the table, and privately admitted it was a two or three year project simply to make Liverpool competitive again. He was right.
You don’t go from being a depressed, mid-table outfit that has finished 30 points off the summit of the league, to being title contenders in one summer. Not even if Kenny Dalglish is in charge.
He is the King, but he is not a miracle worker. Liverpool were so far off Champions Manchester United last season, there was never any chance of closing such a massive gap in one stride.
I make no apologies for a reminder of the fact this column said exactly that at the start of this campaign, warned then this would be a season of transition, and not triumph.
Dalglish knew that. He knew this year would be about small steps in closing the gap, and the big leap would only come a few years down the line, if all went well, and if he got the financial support the situation desired.
Nothing has changed to alter that opinion. It will take time to become title contenders, and in the meantime, Liverpool’s highest ambition (and one possibly out of reach) will be a top four finish and a place in the Champions’ League next season.
People have to understand that will not be easy, because Arsenal have got their act together, and the gap between even those two clubs last season was a massive one to close in one year.
It is still possible though, even after another home draw against a newly promoted side. Remember, Liverpool were without Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher against Swansea, and those two are massive influences in the team who are still impossible to replace.
The fans have every right to boo. It is their club, their money, and their right to pass comment. To deny that right is feudal and patronising.
At the same time, when emotions have settled, and the bigger picture has been restored, those same fans are likely to see that turning Liverpool around after the mess they were put in was never going to be a simple process. It will take some time, and therefore it is not yet time to panic.
