5 Stages of Anfield Grief

  

So now we have a Big Three. Liverpool’s membership, granted in the wake of their 2005 European Cup victory, has now surely expired with their 18th (eighteenth) successive failure to challenge for the English league title. Sure, they’ll be back next August heralding a couple of ropey signings as world beaters but without a wholesale clearout of management and owners I think we can safely write off Liverpool for at least the forseeable future.

How can I be so sure? Aren’t I just another United fan gloating in the wake of another night of comedy gold at Anfield, former home of the country’s most fearsome football team. Trampling on the grave of Messrs Daglish, Rush, Souness, Paisley and the rest. Well, that’s true, I can’t hide my schadenfreude – Liverpool were once a club that invited begrudging respect, “We’re all geared to success here, from the tea lady up” as Sir Bob told Tony Gubba on yet another Football Focus special in the early 80s.

So yeah, I’m pleased as punch that Kop season ticket holders will only see the Premier League title from the comfort of their Plasma TV screens and that it will be decked out in the colours of Arsenal, United or Chelsea, for that is the nature of rivalry. But I also have a scintilla of sympathy for what the fans are going through because I’ve been there.

After all United failed to win a title until I was 22 and the parallels between the failings at Anfield and Old Trafford are remarkable. United’s decline after 1968 was every bit as dramatic as Liverpool’s after 1990. For Best, read Barnes, for McGuinness, Souness and so on.

United’s title woes flowed like a river of tears through my adolscence. After the excitement of the Tommy Doc era during which the club’s supporters undertook the formation of a bizarre Clockwork Orange inspired youth cult based on violence in rural and suburban areas, came the Sexton era – more successful and longer than the Allardyce reign at Newcastle but about as exciting. Then came the messiah, Ron Atkinson, to flash the cash and, briefly re-ignite hopes of a title with a couple of cup wins – sound familiar?.

So to my mind, Rafa is their Big Ron – two cups, nowhere near in the league, signings that flatter to deceive, an heroic captain (Robbo/Stevie G) before a fall out with the chairman over the forced sale of a beloved asset (Sparky/Mascherano) triggered unrest with the supporters.

This title odyssey takes in the five stages of grief – Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. United only really got round to winning the league when the accepted they were never going to win it.

This happened in 1986 when the team had started the season with a record 10 straight wins but still finished fourth behind you know who. When Ferguson arrived later that year he was under less pressure than Atkinson because everyone realised we were nowhere near and falling further behind in all departments and this allowed everyone the manager to build a team and make mistakes, something not afforded Benitez at the moment by the owners or fans.

The problem if your a Liverpool fan is that the game has moved on since the late 80s. Big money at Villa, City, and Newcastle threaten the coveted 4th place. All of a sudden Liverpool look vulnerable.

Lies, Damn Lies and United’s Profits

 

The stage-managed release of Manchester United’s ‘record profits’ this week has fooled few in the media and has only left clued-up supporters surer of their opposition to the Glazers occupation of Old Trafford.
The bare bones look impressive: Turnover up to £245m, pre-tax profits of £59m and after tax profit of £42.8m – all of course designed to turn the head of the football world and re-assert United as the biggest club in the Premier League following Arsenal’s cheeky anouncement that they now topped the pile late last year.
The Press Conference was timed to coincide with the feel-good factor emanating from the club in the wake of a successful 18 months during which they regained the Premiership, discovered they had within their ranks a genuinely world class player and acquired several others that might turn out to be coveted by fellow European giants. The re-iteration that Ronaldo was not for sale at any price emphasised the bullish feeling among the hierarchy that the club is on the up and up.
There was even praise for the Glazer regime, if only in comparison to some of United’s rivals who now have dodgy (to say the least) owner/investors. ‘Compared to Messrs Ashley, Shinawatra, Abramovic and Gillette & Hicks at Anfield, the logic seems to go, the Glazers have been exemplary. Well apart from the debt at least.
Unfortunately, what was not announced in this report were the debt repayments which amount to £60m a year, meaning a loss of approximately £18m overall. Having moved the debt from the club into the Glazer vehicle Red Football, there was no sign of this on the MU balance sheet.

Moreover, David Gill also glossed over the Automatic Cup Scheme, a choice piece of Season Ticket legislation that has only succeeded in outraging the rank and file supporter meaning that many are thinking again about their STs in the light of the credit crunch and impending recession.
There are more and more empty seats at each home game. If the financial year goes as tits up as expected the number of non-renewals in the summer will be interesting and the Glazers, already unable to re-finance because following the August upheavals, will sink the club further into loss – then what: sell naming rights to the stadium, break up the PL TV agreement – you name it, the lot will be on the table.
So, far from announcing a record profit, United should have announced a loss of £18m, and Gill should be answering awkward questions concerning the Glazer’s husbandry of a club hitherto debt free, happily in profit and so far of the other English clubs that they were worth more than the 2nd, 3rd and 4th teams on the PL rich list COMBINED.
It may be old news to some but United are effectively paying out all their profit (and more) to be run from America by a family with little affection for or knowledge of the sport they are being paid to take an interest in… Even in the twisted logic of the Premiership, that takes some beating.