One person whose views were thought relevant is the man who – some argue – got Liverpool FC into this situation of trying to find the right manager in the first place. Christian Purslow was installed, probably by demand of the banks, as the club’s MD in 2009.

Purslow was announced as MD after Liverpool had finished second in the league. The season that followed saw the manager undermined and the club head at speed towards administration whilst the man sent in to save it was pretending all was rosy financially to anybody who’d listen.

It was that pretence – including untrue statements that there had been £20m spent on transfers over and above what came in from sales – that helped set the scene for Rafa’s ultimate departure. For reasons best known to themselves, some fans wanted Rafa out even as he was taking the club towards that second-place finish. “This club exists to win trophies!” they cried, probably literally. Before long they were being used to add to the pressure Rafa was under as certain elements in the boardroom did all they could to distract from the genuine, threatening, problems the club now had with its lenders.

The tactics were dirty.

Benítez explained after he’d left how things hadn’t been as promised after finishing second: “It’s strange. This year everything changed from the beginning,” he told Radio City. “People in the club changed and the approach to everything was different. Clearly it was a question in the beginning of controlling the money we could spend or not, and everything was different to the past. We were so close to winning the title the year before that everybody was expecting something more but we couldn’t do it.”

By allowing fans, and the disinterested elements of the media, to think Liverpool had still invested in improving the squad the club allowed those fans to expect improvement on second place. As all other clubs invested in improving and strengthening their squad Liverpool made a transfer profit and the squad was effectively weakened. Liverpool were expected to do more with less and the pressure was on from the day the first ball was kicked.

Today Christian Purslow is hoping all of this is forgotten. He now gets called in to give his views on running a football club. The man who played a large part in Liverpool moving from league runners-up to relegation candidates is probably a good person to call in for his opinion on running a club – but not exactly in the way he has in mind.

Speaking about Dalglish’s departure, Purslow told Radio 4: “I think it’s strictly a business decision. The business was acquired by this new investment group only 18 months ago. They did so with the intention of making a return on that investment and the two key elements of that, building a stadium and getting the team back into the Champions League, there’s been very little progress in either of those.

“I think with the investment not on plan Kenny Dalglish has carried the can for that.”

Purslow played a key role in swapping Benítez for Roy Hodgson, the man who lasted six months before the new owners got rid with the club heading for the Championship. The former MD was asked who Liverpool should be looking at: “I think in terms of heavyweights, people with real track records of success at the highest level in European football, I think there are two obvious names – Rafa Benitez and Fabio Capello.”

The man who played a massive role in the departure of Benítez was no recommending him for the job.

After Rafa’s departure from Anfield, Purslow claimed: “The Board didn’t sack Rafa. Rafa’s exit was about as clear cut a case of mutual consent as I have ever been involved in in my life.” Rafa had been pushed out and Purslow had won his little battle, although he didn’t stay much longer. He would be the first casualty of the FSG takeover, his resignation accepted without pause for thought.

Now, all that forgotten, Purslow says Benítez, and former England boss Capello, would be good for LFC: “They’re both serial winners, they both know the job inside out and have a proper track record.”

Purslow thinks FSG would be wrong to go for a “younger up and coming manager”. He said: “I think that would be a very risky thing to do, given this investment is not where they need it to be.”

When Purslow was at Anfield and with the club – as he recently claimed – at serious risk of going into administration he certainly didn’t play the role of a man here to save the club money and help it survive the financial problems it was facing.

On a public website (Linkedin) the former PA of the club’s former MD explained what her role consisted of. It was all as expected really, including: “My day was often spent organising social meetings, booking restaurants, and liaising with many high profile people and celebrities.”

Maybe these are also considered to be fairly normal responsibilities for a PA at a club on the verge of going out of existence: “I was also called upon to help arrange family holidays, family weekend trips away, which included sourcing accommodation etc., and liaising with the appropriate company throughout.

“In my role, it was vital that I kept in constant contact with the family chauffeur in order for things to run smoothly. Occasional liaison with the family housekeeper was also required.”

She was also, despite having been at the club longer than her final boss at the club, a victim of FSG’s takeover: “Regrettably, I was made redundant when the Managing Director stepped down in November 2010.”

Purslow, before he did step down, said: “I don’t have a contract. It would cost the new owner nothing to say the day after he buys the club, ‘Thanks very much but we don’t need you.’” The club’s accounts show Liverpool paid out a total of £8.4m on terminated contracts during the period covering Purslow’s departure. How much of that went to Hodgson, Mike Kelly or Purslow wasn’t revealed.

In a statement, current owners FSG said:

Fenway Sports Group (FSG) and Liverpool Football Club announced that Kenny Dalglish is to leave his post today as Manager after having his contract terminated.

After a careful and deliberative review of the season, the Club came to the decision that a change was appropriate. It is not a decision that was reached lightly or hastily.

The search for a new Manager will begin immediately.

The statement continued with some hollow words of a corporate nature, before including some words from Kenny:

Dalglish said he is proud to have served such a great Club.

“It has been an honour and a privilege to have had the chance to come back to Liverpool Football Club as Manager. I greatly appreciate the work that Steve, Kevin, the players and all of the staff put in during my time and feel proud that we delivered the Club’s first trophy in six years winning the Carling Cup and came close to a second trophy in the FA Cup Final. Of course I am disappointed with results in the league, but I would not have swapped the Carling Cup win for anything as I know how much it meant to our fans and the Club to be back winning trophies.

“Whilst I am obviously disappointed to be leaving the football club, I can say that the matter has been handled by the owners and all concerned in an honourable, respectful and dignified way and reflects on the quality of the people involved and their continued desire to move the football club forward in the same way as when they arrived here.

“I would like to thank all of the staff at the Club for their effort and loyalty. I said when first approached about coming back as Manager that I would always be of help if I can at any time and that offer remains the same.

“Finally, I want to put on record my heartfelt gratitude to Liverpool’s fans, who have always given me and the Club their unwavering support. Without them neither the Club nor I would have achieved anything.”

Dalglish had been manager for 18 months since coming in to replace Roy Hodgson, whose six months in charge had seen Liverpool looking in serious threat of relegation. Dalglish won the Carling Cup in his first – and only – full season back as well as getting the Reds to Wembley for another final, his side coming runners-up in the FA Cup to Chelsea. Liverpool’s league season seemed to come to a halt soon after that Carling Cup win – with European football assured and Champions League football out of reach Liverpool struggled in the league and eventually finished eighth.

It’s less than two years since Rafael Benitez left the club (officially by ‘mutual consent’), The club, then owned by Tom Hicks and George Gillett but being run, effectively on behalf of the banks by Martin Broughton and Christian Purslow, brought in Roy Hodgson, who lasted six months before the real threat of relegation saw him moved out. Hodgson is now England manager.

Worryingly, although it may only be corporate-speak, FSG’s statement suggests they haven’t even started looking for a new manager.

The Reds are run by owners who rarely visit the UK and the club is now without a Chief Executive, a Director of Football, a Director of Communications, a Manager and the new stadium it has been waiting for since the early years of this millennium.

Sacking the manager does not cure all the ills at Anfield, even if it distracts from them, and FSG have a massive task in front of them now if they are to retain the goodwill of supporters they have benefited from so far.

The contract is lucrative for the club – and includes for the first time an agreement to produce a new home kit every season rather than every other season – and although many fans would buy the new shirt regardless of how it looked it’s of course important to make sure it will appeal to as many supporters as possible.

Liverpool’s badge – or logo if you prefer – was changed some years back to incorporate not only the Liverbird but also the Shankly Gates and more significantly the eternal flame in memory of the 96 supporters who died as a result of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. The new shirts have gone back to a variation on the previous badge – the Liverbird with the lettering “L.F.C.” underneath and no eternal flame.

Instead of having the flames on the front of the shirt in the club’s crest they are now on the back of the shirt, two flames either side of the number “96″.

Whether this change is good, bad or otherwise is of course an individual choice and on the whole the change seems to have been well received. What hasn’t been well received is the way the change was communicated to those who matter most – the families of the victims.

Some of the families are represented by The Hillsborough Family Support Group (HFSG), the group set up first in the aftermath of the disaster. Others are represented by The Hillsborough Justice Campaign (HJC), a group set up later by some families who felt a different approach was needed in terms of the fight for justice for the victims – and survivors – of that day in 1989. Some time after this another group was set up, Hope For Hillsborough, by Anne Williams, the mother of Kevin Williams. As well as these three groups there are some individual family members who have chosen, for their own reasons, not to be a part of any of the groups.

LFC's 2012-13 home kit, with new badge and flames on rear. Bottom right: Badge from the 2010-12 kit.

To those of us who aren’t bereaved family members or survivors of the disaster it should not matter a great deal why those splits took place. There is always more than one side to a story and given the unthinkable grief and anguish those people have been through it isn’t our place to judge their actions. If the authorities had seen fit to meet their responsibilities instead of continually trying to cover up the failings of others we would never have been in a position where that fight for the truth was still going on a year after the disaster, let alone almost a quarter of a century later.

Each of those family members is an individual, as is each survivor. They have their own feelings and opinions and deserve equal respect for what they have been through. That said, it would be difficult for the club to maintain close contact with every individual family member. There were 96 who died. Children with a mum and dad as well as brothers or sisters. Older victims who had a spouse and children of their own as well as their own parents and siblings. A lot of individuals had their lives shattered by that disaster.

But the club doesn’t need to contact every one of those individual family members. It just needs to contact the three groups that represent the vast majority of them.

Would it be difficult?

Rumours of the change to the badge were floating around the internet for some time, as rumours about new kits usually do. The first official hint at this rumour being true came in the minutes of the Supporters’ Committee meeting in March. The club clearly understood the importance of contacting the families about the change, yet chose to contact only one of the three groups.

We’ll never know if the club would have changed their plans in the face of opposition from family members, we don’t really know if the family members would have felt the need to show any opposition. All of those family members are individuals and that flame in that crest means whatever it means to each of them. But at least if they’re told, before the rest of the world, what’s going to happen to that badge they can deal with it in whatever way it is they need to deal with it.

By letting the three points of contact know about it, they can be told about it sensitively.

Had those minutes not been issued, had that question not been raised, some of those family members wouldn’t have even known the flame had gone until today when they saw the pictures of the new kit.

Would it hurt the club to keep all three groups in the loop?

The club don’t need to take sides – none of us do. It isn’t taking sides to speak to all three groups about matters of this nature. But by essentially ignoring some of the groups it shows a lack of respect to the individual bereaved family members belonging to those groups.

If the new stadium ever becomes a reality, or if the difficulties of redeveloping Anfield are ever overcome, a decision needs to be made on what to do about the eternal flame on Anfield Road. Will the club ignore the other families when it comes to making that decision too?

The HJC issued a statement expressing their thoughts on how the change to the badge was communicated:

HJC STATEMENT RE: LFC KIT LAUNCH

The HJC are aware of an amendment to the new 2012/13 kit, which has recently been launched. We have also noted that the Hillsborough flames and “96″ will now appear on the back of the shirt, “after consultation” with “family members”.

We can confirm that no bereaved families of the HJC were contacted or consulted. Indeed the first we were aware of this was via the Supporters Committee Minutes of their March meeting.

Once again LFC has chosen to ignore the HJC and their families. The continued refusal of the club to acknowledge the HJC is insensitive, divisive and deplorable. 96 is more than a number. LFC would do well to remember that.

Some individuals at the club do go out of their way to keep all the groups in the loop and to help publicise campaigns and events relating to those groups. It’s a massive shame that this doesn’t seem to reflect overall club policy, for reasons never satisfactorily explained.

And as the HJC clarified, via social networks, their issue isn’t with the decision to use a different badge or to move the flames to the back of the shirt: “To clarify: HJC’s issue is not with the design of the shirt. Our concerns are with the fact that, despite LFC stating that families were consulted during the design process, no families within the HJC were ever contacted.”

By contacting all the groups this feeling some families have of being excluded would be lessened if not removed. It would hurt Liverpool far less to include all the groups than it hurts the individuals who feel ignored.

The club have binned the plans for the stadium Tom Hicks promised he’d build and without the extra money coming in from all those extra seats – the whole reason the club was sold in the first place – Liverpool need to find other ways to compete with the rest of the sides looking for top four football, itself a good way to bring in extra income.  The accounts show that commercial income is going up but with football reaching more and more people there’s still plenty of potential to keep it going that way.

One territory that the club and its new owners want to exploit is the US – and as well as sending the side out to play some football there in the summer the club have granted Fox Soccer unprecedented behind-the-scenes access for a new six-part documentary series.

“Our Liverpool: Never Walk Alone” will be produced by multi Emmy award winner Scott Boggins  and will be available to watch globally in the autumn.  If the series works as well as Fox and the club are hoping it won’t just attract new supporters, maybe it will attract new commercial partners – maybe even naming rights partners.

For us it’s about what we get to see in terms of the goings-on behind the scenes at the club, something that raised eyebrows when the announcement was first made. Our dirty laundry was far too public during the difficult days of the last regime and we wouldn’t want this to bring more of it out in the open again for the sake of ratings. And the announcement came a few days after an offshoot of the owners’ company in the US embarrassingly referred to “Liverpool’s world famous griffin.”

These fears seem to be unfounded, the people behind the documentary come highly recommended and LFC TV people will be around to provide guidance where needed. This isn’t going to be a half-hearted effort from a disinterested distant outlet.

The first promo for the documentary is now available, a teaser of what’s to come, and if that’s anything to go by it looks like it’s going to be something special:

Filming will get underway in earnest with tomorrow’s cup final and will continue into the summer and those games in the States. Here’s hoping that first episode shows Steven Gerrard lifting that FA Cup.

No, a face-stinging walk in that horizontal freezing cold rain would wake anyone up. Water looked choppy, sky was dark, like it was the middle of winter. Everything’s strange. Back home, groggy again, phone out of earshot, computer out of reach, something boring on the telly and none of it news. No idea how Spurs went on, but otherwise not expecting much to have happened in the world of football. Eventually, the computer goes on, the email gets checked. And still everything’s strange.

Slap bang in the middle of an email that started off so normally is this:

“Hodgson for England”

What? Haven’t we done that already? He had a predictable draw yesterday didn’t he?

“Madness from the FA?”

Come on, it’s the wrong end of April for that kind of joke.

Wait; what? They’ve not. Have they?

I checked. “England have been granted permission to talk to Roy Hodgson.”

They had. They really had.

They’d taken sarcastic calls from Liverpool fans, “Hodgson for England”, as if they were serious words of advice. Well, ok, they’ve not listened to Liverpool fans because listening to Liverpool fans isn’t something The FA particularly like to do. “That bit of noise up there is off again,” they probably say, closing the windows of that expensive pad they had built where Wembley used to be.

Not that we want them to listen to us on England matters, because England doesn’t really matter to us. It only matters to us when they do something that matters to our club. We don’t want them to break our players, as we keep telling them, but they break them anyway. They’ve never really known how to look after our players though.

They use our players for meaningless friendlies when their club (our club) would have thought twice about using them for a match that actually mattered. They use them out of position and make good players look like ordinary players. Their fans, when they’re borrowing our players (like, for example, when one of the best wingers ever to be eligible to play for them is turning out in their shirt), boo those players.

They boo their own players.

England – the FA, the parts of the media that still think it’s 1966 and the fans that still think it’s 1944 – is something we struggle to relate to. But to be fair, the feeling is probably mutual.

Their cheerleaders still believe Roy Hodgson was good enough for Liverpool and that he was just a victim of impatient fans. The same Liverpool who had gone through just four managers in the twenty years prior to his appointment.

Some of them will probably be a little worried now, deep down, but probably not too worried. England’s problems, after all, are mainly down to having had that foreigner in charge. Much the same as they said it was the problem at Anfield when Liverpool were underachieving with second in the league and only getting to the final of the Champions League. No need to question Roy’s CV because the only word that matters is “English”.

And he’s media friendly. As long as you aren’t a member of the press from Scandinavia. Or north of Croydon. Or mention formations.

Roy is ideal at a club where draws will do and entertainment is an afterthought. That’s probably enough to keep him at Club Wembley for a long time. England’s expectations have been way too high for way too long – and there’s few better than Roy for removing, never mind lowering, expectations.

One of the enduring images of Steve McLaren’s ill-fated reign as England manager is that of him with that umbrella in the tipping down rain as England failed to qualify for the Euros. One strong memory of Roy (putting the face rub to one side) also involved heavy rain and an embarrassing hope-destroying defeat. Roy didn’t bother with a brolly and was soaked to the skin watching his side fail to overcome the “formidable challenge” (his words) of Northampton from Division Four (in old money) in the league cup.

That on its own could have been forgiven but there was always more. When it wasn’t going bad on the field he was making it bad in the press room. He became a parody of himself in the end.

Those who know why Roy was wrong for Liverpool know why Roy will struggle to be what England expects their manager to be.

Those who don’t, well they’re welcome to him.

Utopia awaits.

The footballer, Thomas Ryder, uses Twitter but gets himself into a bit of trouble when using it – and is also being quietly stalked by a small boy. Co-written by (The Anfield Wrap presenter) Neil Atkinson and Daniel Fitzsimmons, who were also producer and director respectively, the movie’s cast includes Joe Macaulay, Lee Fenwick, Joshua French and Kelly Forshaw.

Neil explains what the film is about: “We wanted to look at the strange status footballers now have in society and in the way in which we interact with them. We switch them easily from hero to villain in terms of what they do both on and off the pitch and especially so as they share more of themselves on social media such as Twitter.

“There are those of us who want their approval and get irritated when we don’t get it. Those of us who get annoyed when they don’t acknowledge they have our approval and infuriated if they don’t seek our approval.

“At times we have more access to them than ever but at the same time we dehumanise them more and more. What we see are footballers as owned by society, club and agent, struggling to break out of those chains but with ultimately quite a dull, cosseted existence.”

As Neil points out, it seems to be a no-win situation for the players: “We criticise them for being dull and then criticise them for being interesting. We bestow upon them something of a godlike status but instead of the gods creating the rules, we expect them to live by ours: never give the ball away, never stop running, never go out, never stay in, be complete humans, live only for football.”

The film promises to be good and has come about largely thanks to a lot of hard work and also a lot of good will. “Our crew were excellent and experienced professionals,” says Neil, “and gave their time over to work upon it. We’re very grateful to them.”

“We also had people just helping us out – TAW’s John Gibbons and TAW listener Robert Lawson helped the crew and TAW’s Rob Gutmann and Steve Graves did some voiceover work for us.

“What was most pleasing was everyone coming together and working on the project and giving it everything they had.

Despite all the good will there were still costs to be covered (and more costs to come) and now Neil and Daniel are looking for help to meet this by crowdsourcing the funding.

“We’re happy for any help we can get but I’d love to share the piece and the screening with listeners/readers insofar as that’s possible – we’ll have a bit of a Q&A afterwards.”

For those based outside Liverpool there’ll still be an opportunity to view the finished piece: “We’ll get it on the internet over the summer for everyone to see. We’re well aware that not everyone feels in a position to contribute to a short film in the current climate, even more so with 17 visits to Wembley in 3 weeks going on.”

Over the past few months The Anfield Wrap has been a pleasure to be involved with and has received some tremendous feedback. Neil says the film, “feels part of our universe and because we hope we’ve been successful we think it can be part of yours too. So you just eventually watching it will do us. But if you could help then please do have a look at the Sponsume link, see Dan’s video and we’ll see you all in the next few weeks with it on the big screen.”

That Sponsume link, where you can donate as little or as much as you feel you can stretch to, is here:

www.sponsume.com/project/pro.

And Dan’s video is below:

Neil and Dan are on Twitter: @knox_harrington (Neil) / @DanielJFitz.

Liverpool’s league season ended, really, a week after winning the Carling Cup. Six days after, if we’re being accurate. Arsenal played like a team who’d have been happy with a draw and Liverpool played them off the park. But Arsenal had a bang-on-form van Persie and Liverpool were still struggling with penalties. Arsenal got all three points.

They weren’t the first ‘big’ team to come to Anfield this season looking like they’d be happy to go back home with a point; a sign of the respect, maybe, that opposing managers have for this Liverpool side and its manager. Respect that, sadly, some Liverpool fans just don’t have for this side or its manager. This side isn’t without its faults – far from it – but maybe those opposing managers have more of an idea of Liverpool’s qualities than the tabloid headline writers that some of Liverpool’s supporters seem to gravitate towards.

Remember, Liverpool’s league season was over after that defeat at home to Arsenal. European qualification was already assured, Champions League qualification was now out of the question. The transfer window was closed too. Internally the club would be looking at what changes were needed for next season’s league campaign – and Damien Comolli was clearly one of the changes identified. Externally that’s more or less all we know about any changes that were identified and which of those will be implemented. The transfer window is still closed.

Defeat to West Brom – the first one at home since a time long before Roy Hodgson became anybody’s manager – looks bad. In reality Liverpool were far from bad, it was a performance that would win most games for most teams. But it wasn’t the first time this season that Liverpool’s chances haven’t been turned into goals and, like the last game that followed a Wembley victory, missed chances cost the Reds all three points.

Two of those missed chances hit the woodwork, making it 30 times now in the league this season that the frame of the goal has foiled Kenny’s side. All in all Liverpool have got 40 goals in the league this season – four of them own goals – from a total of 594 shots. 354 of those shots were either on target, blocked or hit the woodwork, only 36 of them went in.

Earlier on in the season, to paraphrase him slightly, Kenny Dalglish said that if Liverpool play like this every game they’ll win more than they lose. And he was right too. But at times this season Liverpool haven’t played like that for all ninety minutes or – in some cases – at all. Liverpool need to hold their nerve now and play like that for the rest of the season. The law of averages will overcome sod’s law sooner or later.

Liverpool need tweaking, a bit of rubbing out and adding to, not screwing up and starting again.

It’s a side that can win – once it works out how to get the ball the right side of the woodwork.

The Twitter Blame Wave

As for the angry minority on Twitter, it didn’t take long for the blame wave to start flooding timelines. Disappointment becomes anger and that anger needs a focus. Some of it isn’t anger and a lot of it is understandable but maybe, just maybe, it’s better not to look for scapegoats but to look for small things that can make the kind of difference that matters.

Here’s a selection:

Kenny brought three attacking subs on, but:

Anyone for Raheem????? 2 x unused CBs and a FB on bench

Mocking Hodgson before the game

slating hodgson haha ur a w****r look at kenny u clueless f***,listen to anfield wrap u making joke of woy.were midtable

Liverpool can still be relegated? (They can’t)

Don’t worry Jim, we’re heading towards the bottom half of the table.

Sacking Hodgson in the first place?

what an irony the manager who was shown the door has done one over us.

(a minute later) has woy done us over twice this season? (no)

well RH couldn’t have asked for a better return and two finger salute to those that wanted him out!!!

Blame one of the subs?

bellers stunk the place out since hes come on, player we should be relying, looking unable to move ball with ne purpose 25yds!

Sack this manager?

if we don’t win daglish should go. Worse than woy? (At least spell his name right).

must be kenny fault we (We what?)

Today is not about luck. This has been happening all season. Its poor finishing/coaching. Admit it

We are a joke mate,and to lose to this b***** is painful. yes we created a lot today,but look at the table,its not bd lck ffs

If we can’t blame luck who can we blame? Let’s blame Jim:

happy with that then ?

“@JimBoardman: Oh no, here comes the Twitter blame wave.” come off it, it’s not undeserved is it?!

“@JimBoardman: Oh no, here comes the Twitter blame wave.” and rightfully so.

your hero dalglish getting stick is he

that’s ok jim, everythings just rosy. Its only the 20th time its hsppened this season. You uber fans keep your chin up though.

Someone is to blame?!? Who do you think should take the rap?!

But we have to blame someone surely?

so should everyone just remain silent and forget about it?

what wrong with that I support them on the pitch .. We ard entitled to an opinion not just use experts

All clubs have the same resources of course:

Never mind mentality, the players are mediocre & nearer to the level of WBA than the likes of united, city etc

Should every1 be ok with being nearly 40pts behind the Mancs?? The #blamewave is deserved!

Simple?

Sh** strikers

we missed easy chances, we missed chances professional top class footballers should score, then they missed them again…

This next one is constructive isn’t it? It says it is anyway:

Am not goin to moan at LFC but constructive criticism is a must. Sell Hendo, JonJoke and Spearing! They wudnt get a game on Stanley Park!!!!

I think we’ve established we can’t get relegated and that European qualification is assured, but…

time to stop blaming bad Luck and start blaming bad finishing, 4 games left and counting

The owners sack the director of football, but:

in Kenny we trust but at what cost if he didn’t see that this team need a goal scorer in Jan that’s down 2 him blind faith

Since that director of football left Liverpool have played twice, winning one and losing the other. But…

think the uncertainty re coaching staff, DoF etc hurting the team. Has to be on players minds.

Remember, it has to be somebody’s fault. And if it’s not the players it must be…

so players immune to blame now? Shocking result. Everytime lfc let fans down its fans fault?

That’s not what I said. But it’s what someone else said, sort of:

not blaming anyone but don’t you think from the start fans inside Anfield could have offered more support

Piety:

the results are unacceptable. No amount of piety can disguise that.

Definitely Jim’s fault:

do you actually watch the game? Instead of tweeting a blade of grass has grown another inch

The best one of all, someone with a sense of humour and a touch of perspective:

If I catch the f***wit who keeps rubbing the post with the leather magnet., he’s getting a Chinese burn

These are obviously the worst examples of what Twitter can be like – it’s generally a good place to talk about the Reds, as long as you remember you need a sense of humour in the hours following anything less than a two-nil win. And yes, that means a sense of humour has been needed a lot this season.

Next up for the Reds are Norwich, whose biggest threat is to kids who post photos of their new kit online a few hours before launch. They are also one of those teams who got points at Anfield this season with a bit of help (twice) from the woodwork in a 1-1 draw in October. Whatever happens, injuries and red cards aside, it won’t make much of a difference to Liverpool’s season or the work needed in the summer.

It wasn’t quite as much of an early start as yesterday – instead of heading 200 miles to Wembley for a 12.30 kick-off the 1989 semi was a 3pm kick-off 70 miles away in Sheffield.

By 3.06pm the game had been abandoned. There was no celebration afterwards, no disappointment at a defeat. The day ended in tragedy.

Behind Bruce Grobelaar’s goal people were dying.

In all ninety-six Liverpool supporters would die because of the events of that day at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough stadium.

96 needless deaths. 96 people who will never be forgotten.

23 years later we are still waiting for justice to be done.

23 years later we are still waiting for the cover-ups to be uncovered and the liars to be exposed.

23 years later and we still have to educate people about what really happened because the lies told in 1989 persist.

Today we remember those 96 victims. Today we think of all those who survived the horrors of that day and continued to suffer long afterwards as a result. Today we offer our support, as always, to the families of those who died and to anyone else still hurting from the consequences of a disaster that could – and should – have been so easily avoided.

We also thank those people across the world, irrespective of who they support or where they are from, who take time to show their respects and send their support.

The 96 who died were Liverpool fans, but they could have been fans of any club, they could have been anyone’s son, daughter, brother, sister, dad, granddad. They are all missed.

In memory of the ninety-six.

John Alfred Anderson (62)
Colin Mark Ashcroft (19)
James Gary Aspinall (18)
Kester Roger Marcus Ball (16)
Gerard Bernard Patrick Baron (67)
Simon Bell (17)
Barry Sidney Bennett (26)
David John Benson (22)
David William Birtle (22)
Tony Bland (22)
Paul David Brady (21)
Andrew Mark Brookes (26)
Carl Brown (18)
David Steven Brown (25)
Henry Thomas Burke (47)
Peter Andrew Burkett (24)
Paul William Carlile (19)
Raymond Thomas Chapman (50)
Gary Christopher Church (19)
Joseph Clark (29)
Paul Clark (18)
Gary Collins (22)
Stephen Paul Copoc (20)
Tracey Elizabeth Cox (23)
James Philip Delaney (19)
Christopher Barry Devonside (18)
Christopher Edwards (29)
Vincent Michael Fitzsimmons (34)
Thomas Steven Fox (21)
Jon-Paul Gilhooley (10)
Barry Glover (27)
Ian Thomas Glover (20)
Derrick George Godwin (24)
Roy Harry Hamilton (34)
Philip Hammond (14)
Eric Hankin (33)
Gary Harrison (27)
Stephen Francis Harrison (31)
Peter Andrew Harrison (15)
David Hawley (39)
James Robert Hennessy (29)
Paul Anthony Hewitson (26)
Carl Darren Hewitt (17)
Nicholas Michael Hewitt (16)
Sarah Louise Hicks (19)
Victoria Jane Hicks (15)
Gordon Rodney Horn (20)
Arthur Horrocks (41)
Thomas Howard (39)
Thomas Anthony Howard (14)
Eric George Hughes (42)
Alan Johnston (29)
Christine Anne Jones (27)
Gary Philip Jones (18)
Richard Jones (25)
Nicholas Peter Joynes (27)
Anthony Peter Kelly (29)
Michael David Kelly (38)
Carl David Lewis (18)
David William Mather (19)
Brian Christopher Mathews (38)
Francis Joseph McAllister (27)
John McBrien (18)
Marion Hazel McCabe (21)
Joseph Daniel McCarthy (21)
Peter McDonnell (21)
Alan McGlone (28)
Keith McGrath (17)
Paul Brian Murray (14)
Lee Nicol (14)
Stephen Francis O’Neill (17)
Jonathon Owens (18)
William Roy Pemberton (23)
Carl William Rimmer (21)
David George Rimmer (38)
Graham John Roberts (24)
Steven Joseph Robinson (17)
Henry Charles Rogers (17)
Colin Andrew Hugh William Sefton (23)
Inger Shah (38)
Paula Ann Smith (26)
Adam Edward Spearritt (14)
Philip John Steele (15)
David Leonard Thomas (23)
Patrik John Thompson (35)
Peter Reuben Thompson (30)
Stuart Paul William Thompson (17)
Peter Francis Tootle (21)
Christopher James Traynor (26)
Martin Kevin Traynor (16)
Kevin Tyrrell (15)
Colin Wafer (19)
Ian David Whelan (19)
Martin Kenneth Wild (29)
Kevin Daniel Williams (15)
Graham John Wright (17)

You’ll Never Walk Alone. Rest in Peace.

After the game Brad spoke to ESPN but was modest about his own part in a win that might be talked about as much as the final in years to come: “We knew that the game was going to be fairly even,” Brad said, “and we know that they have a lot of quality players and a good front-line, so we just had to deal with it.

“The boys at the back are fantastic players and I think they dealt with it well. I didn’t have a lot to do.”

The Reds went in a goal down at half time and seemed low on self belief. The second half saw Liverpool take control of the game with Everton retreating into their shells. At one point the possession stats showed the Reds on 85%. So what changed from that first half? “We knew we had to pick it up, half time,” Jones said, “we all spoke and we knew we had to step up a gear, we knew we had a half left to play. We were confident but we knew we had to put the work in.”

The work paid off with Luis Suarez capitalising on a mistake from Distin to give Liverpool the equaliser. Then with three minutes on the clock Andy Carroll capped a fine performance with the winner and a place in Reds folklore. Brad Jones was full of praise for him: “He’s fantastic. The media knock him but as a guy he’s a top man at the club. He works hard, he stays back, he does extra training, he deserves this goal at Wembley.”

Jones knows he’s only there until Reina’s back: “In the end, Pepe is the main man. We don’t dispute that, he’s been top drawer for the last five or six years so I’m hoping he’ll be proud of it. I’m hoping he’s got the chance to come back here as we all do and hopefully pick up the trophy.”

Brad Jones wears gloves featuring the Anthony Nolan. Consider registering with the organisation as a stem cell donor – you could save a life: anthonynolan.org

That’s assuming it lines up as a back four – with Daniel Agger in for Jose Enrique there’s a possibility of three at the back but Agger did play at left-back in his recent games coming back from injury. Brad Jones is the goalkeeper, Peter Gulacsi on the bench if the Reds have yet more goalkeeping issues. Jay Spearing is also on from the off providing more protection for that defence.

Suarez and Carroll both start, something of a surprise perhaps, but Carroll certainly earned a start with his performance – and winner – against Blackburn on Tuesday.

That leaves question marks as to who plays where in the rest of the midfield. Gerrard, Downing and Henderson all start.

There’s a bit of a cavalry on the bench for Liverpool should it be needed, Maxi Rodriguez, Dirk Kuyt and Craig Bellamy amongst those raring to go if the 11 on the pitch don’t get going.

Everton have built themselves up as the underdogs for this match but after the run Liverpool have had and the red cards between the sticks that isn’t necessarily the case, particularly with the blues having been on a good run of their own. The blues rested a number of players on Monday but still managed a 4-0 win.

Both sides have players capable of being the stars of the show – let’s just hope referee Howard Webb hasn’t got his own eye on that particular title.

There will be a minute’s silence in memory of Hillsborough before today’s game. Tomorrow is the 23rd anniversary of the disaster that saw 96 Liverpool fans lose their lives. Supporters are also going to be handed posters – blue or red as appropriate – telling the world: “Don’t Buy The Sun”.

Liverpool: Jones, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Gerrard, Spearing, Henderson, Downing, Carroll, Suarez.
Subs: Gulacsi, Kelly, Enrique, Shelvey, Maxi, Kuyt, Bellamy.

Everton: Howard, Baines, Gibson, Heitinga, Jelavic, Distin, Cahill, Neville, Gueye, Osman, Fellaini.
Subs: Hahnemann, Hibbert, Jagielka, Stracqualursi, McFadden, Coleman, Anichebe.

Referee: Howard Webb

Today’s match is being shown live on ESPN in the UK. Kick-off is 12:30pm BST.

It’s not just a trophy that’s missing from this ‘final’. There aren’t any cup final songs. Or at least there weren’t.

Robbie Fowler, Bill Shankly, Rhys Jones, Gary Ablett and the Hillsborough 96 all get namechecked in a new hip-hop song released by LFC and local rapper Jamie Broad ahead of tomorrow’s match.

Twenty eight years ago, Liverpool and Everton met in the League Cup final at Wembley. Supporters from the two best teams in the country travelled down to the capital together and ended up chanting ‘Merseyside, Merseyside’ as both sets of players completed a lap of honour.

Five years later and Wembley was again the setting for another final – the Hillsborough final. On that day, in 1989, Everton fans stood side by side with their Liverpool counterparts as they remembered the 96 fans who went to a semi-final and never returned.

There’s a lot of romanticising about just how friendly the ‘friendly’ derby actually was – even back then – but one thing’s for sure, it was a lot more innocent and good-natured than it has been in recent times. But, as the Hillsborough memorial service proves every year, when Evertonians turn up in their blue shirts to remember the loved ones this city lost 23 years ago this weekend, the mutual respect between the two club’s supporters hasn’t totally disappeared.

It was certainly there inside Anfield on the night when ‘Z-Cars’ replaced ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ in memory of Rhys Jones and it was there at the funeral for Gary Ablett earlier this year.

On Saturday, just like on every other occasion the two teams have met, there will be families on Merseyside split in terms of who they’ll be supporting. Reds and Blues have always co-existed in households across the city and that’s very much the case where rapper Jamie Broad lives. A big Blue, Jamie’s parents both pledge allegiance to the Red of Liverpool.

His great nan even had LFC tattooed on her arm.

With the clock ticking down to kick-off of the most important derby for over 20 years, LFC has teamed up with Jamie, one of the most promising young rappers in the city, to record ‘Scousers on Wembley Way (Knock-A-Door Dash remix)’ – a track that celebrates both clubs and, in doing so, lists some of the things that unite us all, including a quest for Justice for the 96.

Jamie Broad may be a Blue, we’re most definitely Reds but if we can help a young lad from Liverpool realise his rap dream and remind a few fans from both sides of Stanley Park about just what makes Merseyside football so special, we’ll be more than happy.

Watch the video created by LFC TV now (and you can join in, lyrics are below).

‘Scousers on Wembley Way (Knock-A-Door Dash Remix)’ by Jamie Broad

I remember back when I was growing up before my rap days
I could hear Goodison from my house on match days
It was so Iconic
So of course I’m a Blue, my first kit had Ferguson number 9 on it
Everton my team – I didn’t care for the rest
But then – I’m a Blue but my parents are Reds
We’re split across family lines whatever team we choose to be ours
My great Nan had LFC tattooed on her arms
I remember playin in the street as kids we watched
An some wore everton shirts and some wore liverpool tops
Before spitting them hot bars
I only started rapping cos of the Anfield rap and John Barnes
Now you could never change me
Been growin my hair for years now and tryna make it look like Fellaini’s
I’m a fan first, just another character
I’m the next Jamie after Redknapp and Carragher
I’m talkin my roots
I remember Liverpool turning up for a final dressed in white suits
I’m talkin the Spice Boys, how could I not?
When McManaman ran the flanks and Fowler was god
I was at David Moyes’ first game, it was heaven
Unsworth scored a goal after 27 seconds
And I had a new hero I was aware of that
Cos he’s got red hair but like we don’t care and that
When Liverpool came around I could hardly wait
Back when I used to look forward to derby days
Now I’m almost too nervous to see it
Cos I still remember McAllisters free-kick
I thought I could never watch the rest
Then Pepe Reina threw the ball at Andy Johnson’s head
I almost find derby’s too stressful to watch
Hopin the ball don’t fall to Gerrard on the edge of the box
I spend the game with my eyes covered by my hands
Hopin that Tim Cahill will be punchin the flag
Cos when the Blues and Reds play
If you lose it’s horrible seein your mates the next day
The friendly derby of blue shirts, red shirts and red cards
Whether it’s You’ll never walk alone or Z-Cars
But when it’s one of ours we’ve always been close
Like when Zcars played at Anfield for Rhys Jones
I’m talking Gary Ablett – mersey pride
At Wembley after Hillsborough, both fans chanting Merseyside
Cos it’s right we did
As a city all were askin for is Justice for the 96
So expose the lies and open wide
All the files the government has chose to hide
Cos there were lies about Liver daughters, Liver sons
And that’s why we don’t ever buy The Sun
Cos we lost some of our own but we survive when we crash
The Liver Bird was phoenix to rise from the ash
So remember the hour
When we stuck a Liver Bird on each of the Wembley towers
It’s a Scouse occasion – Merseyside you know this
Both sets of Fans will travel down together on the coaches
The country will notice we’ll bring it back
They’ll see the greatest footballin city England has
The city of Shankly and Kendall or even just
Dalglish and Moyes, Dixie Dean, Ian Rush
Cos in my Liverpool home, hand on heart
We’re only really separated by Stanley Park
So it reminds me
Whether its YNWA or COYB
And the country will remember the days
When the Scousers took over the capital and Wembley Way

Follow Jamie Broad on Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/jamiebroadmusic

Jamie Broad Bandcamp page: http://jamiebroad.bandcamp.com/album/caped-crusader-ep-jamie-broad

Follow The Hillsborough Justice Campaign on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/HJC_Official

Comolli arrived shortly after FSG took the club over and was appointed as Director of Football Strategy. In a matter of a couple of months Roy Hodgson, never a popular choice, was replaced as manager on a temporary basis by Kenny Dalglish – the popular choice by some distance. When Kenny’s role was made permanent towards the end of last season Comolli’s job title was also changed and he got what seemed to be a promotion to Director of Football.

The change of manager happened when the January transfer window was already open and by the end of it Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel had left, with Luis Suárez and Andy Carroll coming in.

With Dalglish still only a caretaker boss at the time those signings were bold ones and although it always seemed unlikely that Comolli would buy a player a manager didn’t want it was also unlikely he’d buy players he thought the next manager – if Dalglish didn’t stay on – wouldn’t see as valuable members of the squad.

The statement from the club about Comolli’s departure gave the usual vague “mutual consent” reason for the separating of ways but mutual consent usually means an agreement on a severance package regardless of who made the decision to end the relationship – or why they made that decision.

LFC Statement:

Fenway Sports Group and Liverpool FC confirmed today that Director of Football Damien Comolli has left the Club by mutual consent.

Principal Owner John Henry said: “We are grateful for all of Damien’s efforts on behalf of Liverpool and wish him all the best for the future.”

Liverpool Chairman Tom Werner added: “The Club needs to move forward and we now have a huge game on Saturday. It is important that everyone joins us in supporting the manager and gets behind Kenny and the team and focuses on a strong finish to the season.”

Damien Comolli commented: “I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to work at Liverpool and am happy to move on from the Club and back to France for family reasons. I wish the Club all the best for the future.”

It isn’t clear from the statement if it was family reasons that prompted the departure or if Comolli decided that he’d go back to France after being told he was no longer required at Liverpool. However, it’s understood that it’s the latter, that Liverpool decided to make some changes and Comolli didn’t fit in with those changes.

Kenny Dalglish was quick to tell the media that the signings made since his own return weren’t made against his wishes: “I had a fantastic working and personal relationship with Damien, since he came in he was really helpful in every transfer target we went for.

“Everybody that has come into the club since Damien has been here has been my choice. Whoever I wanted, Damien went away and did a fantastic job in bringing them in. “

Kenny was hardly like to list players he didn’t really want or even hint that there were any he wasn’t happy about being signed. But a large part of the criticism of Liverpool’s signings hasn’t so much been their abilities; it’s been more about the price paid for those abilities. Had Liverpool paid £8m a piece for the likes of Carroll, Henderson and Downing it’s unlikely there’d be as much criticism – although that wasn’t the case with Charlie Adam, who cost much less and has been criticised on and off over the course of the season.

When Rafa Benítez was Liverpool boss it was clear that the manager was not getting what he’d asked for in terms of transfers. Although the latter days of his reign saw promises broken (and plans messed up) the issues earlier on were with the way the money allocated was being spent.  Delays in moving for players saw bargain buys turned into overpriced signings and although Rafa was not entirely blameless in terms of the success of his signings it was clearly not the best way to work. And many of Rafa’s signings were hugely successful, both in terms of what they did on the pitch and what they earned the club if sold.

Whatever blame might be apportioned outside of the club what matters more is who is responsible for transfer strategy inside the club. Calls have been made for Liverpool to have the same philosophy on football at all levels, something Rafa Benítez started to implement, meaning the academy would be far more likely to produce the kind of players the first team needed. Coaches from Barcelona were brought in to help start this policy, but that project wasn’t seen through to the first team because before it had really got going Benítez was sacked and Hodgson arrived as boss.

By the time Kenny arrived the dust hadn’t really settled on the events of the previous 18 months and perhaps Liverpool were still unsure of exactly what they needed. Purchases made haven’t been used in the way observers would expect – Andy Carroll rarely starting, Stewart Downing rarely playing with Carroll, Suárez and Carroll not getting many opportunities to form a partnership. All of this makes Carroll – a last minute signing to replace Torres in that first transfer window under FSG – look like a signing made in haste.

In the summer Liverpool made a bid in excess of £20m for a defender who ultimately chose to join another club – but that wasn’t followed up with the pursuit of an alternative of the same kind of quality. Coates is seen as one for the future – as shown by his limited appearances – so why didn’t Liverpool buy a defender ready to go straight into the first team after failing with their first attempt?

Lucas went out with a long term injury halfway through the season and Liverpool did not bring in cover for him during the January transfer window. Since then the Reds have struggled to find a central midfield that works, with any number of combinations of players used.

Kenny isn’t the type to say publicly if he did have any problems with Comolli, but he made it clear there were no hard feelings between the two as far as he was concerned: “It is sad to see anyone leave the football club. He goes with my best wishes and I hope it is not long before we can meet up again. For me, we had a good relationship.”

Asked if it was disappointing to see Comolli leave he said: “It is disappointing – but I suppose nothing much surprises me in football.”

The news was announced as Liverpool were making their final preparations for Saturday’s cup semi-final and Dalglish was asked if it would mess their plans up: “We are having a meeting with the players this morning so it may have delayed that a bit. It is a big game on Saturday. It is a cup semi-final with more added to it because it is a local derby.”

More added to it perhaps because of how much it means to Liverpool to get into that final and then to get their hands on a second trophy.

More added to it perhaps because Comolli’s departure isn’t necessarily a sign that the owners have full faith in Kenny Dalglish.

In the eyes of the more impatient fan the Carling Cup isn’t enough, but the FA Cup alongside it isn’t enough either. The more considered supporters – as frustrated as they’ve been by Liverpool’s performances and results in the league – know that it takes time to fix a problem as big as the one Roy Hodgson left behind and know that mistakes are going to be made along the way.

It’s not just on the pitch where mistakes have been made and there have been questions asked about who is actually steering the club at the higher levels.

The owners are obviously in touch long distance and keep an eye on things from the States – but is that enough for what Liverpool need? Ian Ayre has been MD since FSG came in, temporarily at first and then permanently, but the club have never filled the vacancy of CEO. Efforts were made and Liverpool were reportedly close to bringing in José Ángel Sánchez for the role but the search would prove fruitless.

A question that also needs to be asked is if the club is being steered in the same direction at all levels. Is the ‘unity’ Ian Ayre spoke of recently still there? As the dust settles on that turbulent period the new owners walked into some of the other underlying problems and bad decisions of, particularly, that last six months under Hicks, Gillett and Purslow, might just be standing out like a sore thumb.

Also imminent are the club’s first accounts since the owners took over, due by the end of this month.

Short of some genuine personal crisis hastening his departure Liverpool would be highly unlikely to remove Comolli without having someone lined up to at least take over some parts of his job.

A new CEO – of the right kind – would be able to negotiate transfers and contracts, a role that doesn’t seem to be one that Ian Ayre would relish, but that would still leave a requirement for someone to take charge of the scouting part of the role Comolli was doing.

A new CEO might just help out in other ways. Liverpool lack the influence other clubs have at The FA and The Premier League, another issue that needs to be addressed.

A new CEO – of the right kind – would also be able to share some of the load heaped on the manager by the press. Despite Comolli playing a large part in what would ultimately lead to Luis Suárez losing his case with the FA he wasn’t heard speaking out in support of either the player or his manager. The MD and the owners also kept very quiet throughout and despite denials of leaving Kenny ‘out to dry’ there was a lot of anger from fans at the silence from everyone at the club from Kenny upwards.

Communications from the club aren’t the best, especially with the press, and something definitely needs to be done. Changes already made in the area of press relations haven’t improved those relations.

It’s no surprise the club are suspicious about some media, but when they’re acting suspicious towards those who actually have the club’s best interests at heart perhaps it’s time for a change there too.

Comolli leaving should be the first of a number of changes – but not just of personnel. The club’s structure needs to be looked at again.

A new CEO wouldn’t necessarily leave Ian Ayre out of a job but it might lead to him shifting his focus full time back to the commercial side. The boardroom would be a little cluttered with a CEO, an MD and a Director of Football all treading on each other’s toes.  A CEO, a commercial director and someone acting as the bridge between the boardroom and the manager and the academy and the manager (not necessarily given the title of Director of Football) might give each member the room to do what they do best.

For now Kenny Dalglish has to get his players focussed on what comes next, which is what he does best. And what comes next is that FA Cup semi-final, a game Liverpool really need to win.