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**Dunny** · May 13, 2013, 06:41 PM

I am putting Rafa forward for this job!

**Sir X** · May 13, 2013, 06:50 PM

Yuh buss di secret, who else , you want CL title and EPL ?...1st thing Rafa a guh duh , get Alonso and put im beside Toure ...it dun !!!!

**Dunny** · May 13, 2013, 07:09 PM

Originally posted by X View Post

Yuh buss di secret, who else , you want CL title and EPL ?...1st thing Rafa a guh duh , get Alonso and put im beside Toure ...it dun !!!!

Alonso? The same one that he wanted to get rid of at Liverpool so he could bring in Gareth Barry? You have a short memory not to worry Barry is at City already!!

**Sir X** · May 13, 2013, 07:13 PM

Yep the one he had to sell to buy , now he can buy , buy ,buy and buy.If city ave any sense , they want a man of steel , used to the battles of the prem, used to bussing big men ass , used to knockout cups and rotations , not fazed by frauds like Fergie...RAFA is the man .

Only Mourinho would stand in his way and he will be swept aside with a paint brush.....caaant wait.

**Sir X** · May 13, 2013, 07:15 PM

Rafa survived this and won trophys ...bwaaay mi a tell yuh !

Some of the recent decisions by the ownership group have been divisive: sacking a club legend in Kenny Dalglish and replacing him with a young manager with great ideas but little pedigree. How do you see the ‘blueprint’ the club is looking to follow? And if you had to point to one club in world football that Liverpool should realistically aspire to follow, who would it be?

Is there a defined blueprint? I’m not so sure. It would seem the club have an idea of what they would like – a younger manager with ideas, to grow into the role and to implement his ideas, build something, something sustainable. What didn’t help the owners was the lack of information and seemingly contradictory decisions and statements they made prior to this. These are still things they need to address. Look at when they first arrived. Roy Hodgson is in charge and they seemed resistant to change, wanting to see if they could wait it out despite it being clear to everyone that Hodgson was reaching a dead end. They appoint Dalglish as a stop gap. He performs. The contract is extended. We don’t have a great league season, but we win a trophy and reach the final of another. The owners seem to enjoy us winning trophies and the club comments publicly on the cup finals. Then Dalglish is removed and Rodgers appointed. We are told it’s all about top four. Yet we are miles off.

I’m not saying let’s replace Rodgers because he hasn’t got top four. Personally, I think it is a ridiculous ask to expect us to achieve that. Yet a manager needs the club to be pulling in the same direction as a whole to have the best chance of success, yet the admitted mistakes of FSG have hampered this – Rodgers has been pressured with unrealistic targets and expectations due to comments from the club.

It allows speculation – are we about just top four, or winning trophies? If as a club we all set out what we want and expect, have that clearly defined it’s a bit easier.

Whether we can have a blueprint is a question of how long we expect the current owners to stick around. Any new owners are likely to have their own ideas. Places where this is implemented tend to be the ones who have a sustainable and continuous ownership – Barcelona for example. Even FC United of Manchester have their own blueprint for how they want their club to be. There’s a theme here, supporters….

How do you see the current ownership model at Liverpool? Do you think that given time FSG can be good custodians?

It’s difficult to comment on FSG. When we have done it in the past, people have jumped on us, asking who we think we are to question them, give them a chance and so on. As an organisation with a stated aim to hold whoever owns LFC to account, we were always going to ask questions. In fact FSG are well aware of that because we talked about it when we meet them a few days after the takeover. They seemed willing and happy to discuss our concerns and issues, to answer questions. After that, it’s gone cold. Communication was ignored for long period of times and questions remain unanswered. The only answer was a four page letter that amounted to little more than a ‘we won’t be answering your questions’. It’s why I suspect they set up the Supporters’ Committee, to establish an alternate forum in which to communicate with supporters in an ‘established’ group.

All we seek to do, and have sought to do, is ask questions, get information and make sure the past doesn’t repeat itself. We aren’t saying ‘these are just the same as the last lot’ or ‘don’t trust them’. We just want to make sure it can’t happen again. As it is, what do we know? Very little. The accounts due to changes in accounting years haven’t told us a lot. Players have been bought. A stadium solution still seems some way off. There has been a lot off high profile staffing changes. It’s an unclear picture yet. Whilst that remains the case, FSG should expect and understand supporters’ concerns and questions.

A lot of supporters are resistant to a model of self-sustainability; do you think that is the right path for Liverpool FC and why?

Financial Fair Play is setting the course for all clubs to be self-sustainable. We’ve met and spoken to Sefton Perry from UEFA at a football supporters’ event and listened to UEFA’s plans for how it will work. In theory, it will. Whether it will in practice is another matter. I’m sceptical. I’d like to see it happen but for all the plans to clamp down on oligarchs and sheiks using their wealth to distort the league and proclamations that the rules won’t be circumnavigated, I fail to see how the richest clubs won’t employ the best legal teams and experts to show them how to get around the rules. So if it works in practice, all clubs will have to be self-sustainable. Whether that happens in practice is another matter.

However, as a football club and given our recent history, we should be very fearful of not living within our means. Too many clubs have gone into administration – high profile clubs like Portsmouth and Leeds. I remember us going to Leeds United in the League Cup during the Hicks and Gillett saga. We had a banner saying “LFC – THE NEXT LEEDS?” People laughed, told us not to be stupid. Our away end sang to Leeds fans “One Peter Ridsdale”. They failed to see the irony, or didn’t think it was the same. I wonder what they thought when we were just hours away from the same destiny ourselves?

So for us, it’s clear. Self-sustainability. I don’t think the club and supporters could even deal with going through that again.

I am not sure a lot of Liverpool fans to this day realise what a mess the club was in both financially and mentally following the departure of Hicks & Gillett. As somebody that was close to that process, can you summarise the state the club was in?

You’re right; I don’t think many supporters do. Just look at the answer to the previous question. Tony Barrett of The Times, who was a great help to SOS and to me personally in our campaign against Hicks and Gillett describes it as a nuclear bomb going off in the heart of the club. It’s right. The damage is still evident and in some cases yet unknown. We went from a football club regularly competing in European Cup semi finals and finals before the wheels began to come off and we began a slide downwards. We’ve slowed that slide, maybe stopped it, but climbing back up will be long and arduous. Look at the stadium situation – millions spent by the previous owners on supposed drawings and plans, with nothing to show. It’s incredible really.

As someone who was part of it, day it and day out, it was horrendous. Brian Reade’s book ‘An Epic Swindle’ gives a great overview and many supporters read it saying “I didn’t realise how bad it was”, even supporters of our own club never mind the Evertonians and others who I know who have read it. Yet the reality is it doesn’t tell the full story of everything that happened. It would be like the Britannica Encyclopaedias if it was ever written down – about 20 books long, with hundreds of pages in each one.

If you speak to many of the people involved, they say it’s changed how they view football. Personally, I liken it to looking behind the curtain at a magic show. From the front it looks great, awe inspiring. Peek behind the curtain, and you see how the ‘trick’ works and it ruins it for you forever. You don’t watch it or enjoy it quite like before, it’s changed in some way, a way you can’t quite describe. It’s similar now for me with football. I love going to the match. It’s just different now. I’ve seen what football is really like.

If there was one message that Spirit of Shankly wanted Liverpool supporters to unite behind: what would it be?

We are the many, they are the few. Seriously, supporters are the most important aspect of the game. We helped build our club. We will be there, through thick and thin. So why do so many just shrug their shoulders and say “What can you do?” when it comes to making our views and opinions heard? We need to stick together and show the club and the authorities that they need us – only then will we get treated the way we really expect to.

This isn’t anti club. We want the best for the club. It shouldn’t though come at the expense of the supporters or the future of the club.

Finally, how do you see our progress under Brendan Rodgers, and what are your expectations for next season?

I like Rodgers. He needs backing by the club including supporters, not just financially. I think we just want to see that we are progressing, moving forward next season.

My Conclusion

I think that it is clear that the primary aim of the Spirit of Shankly is to put the voice of supporters firmly back at the heart of the game, and that is an aspiration to be admired. But there is also a great deal of common ground with the club. The ‘them’ and ‘us’ relationship that was the fallout from the previous regime will take time to heal completely, as Jay points out when he talks about the fallout from that turbulent period.
There will always be differing agendas between supporters and owners but there is one common theme that both can unite behind; and that is finding a formula for success. I was pleased to see that SOS are behind a model of self-sustainability as that is the foundation the club can build upon for future success; and in fairness to our current owners, that is a foundation they are building.
I also fully agree with Jay that the club needs to define better what the new ‘Liverpool Way’ is and what its ‘Values’ look like. Those values can be developed with supporters so that the culture of the club will continue to be defined by the people who ‘own’ it.
Ultimately it is in the best interests of the club and its supporters to find common ground. Whilst SOS are not representative of the entire fan base, they are an influencial voice in the grass roots support. There will always be disagreements between club and supporters, but I think there is plenty of scope for constructive conversation that will help to drive the club forward as one in the future.
A huge thanks to Jay (@jaymckenna87) for taking the time to answer our questions. For more information on the Spirit of Shankly see www.spiritofshankly.com.

**Dunny** · May 13, 2013, 07:21 PM

Originally posted by X View Post

Yep the one he had to sell to buy , now he can buy , buy ,buy and buy.If city ave any sense , they want a man of steel , used to the battles of the prem, used to bussing big men ass , used to knockout cups and rotations , not fazed by frauds like Fergie...RAFA is the man .

Only Mourinho would stand in his way and he will be swept aside with a paint brush.....caaant wait.

Rafa haven't got a hope in hell of picking up another top job, he will be running off in the sunset next Sunday with his tail between his legs.

**Sir X** · May 13, 2013, 07:34 PM

Pellegrini yuh say..lol

**Paul Marin** · May 14, 2013, 08:34 AM

Originally posted by Dunny View Post

Rafa haven't got a hope in hell of picking up another top job, he will be running off in the sunset next Sunday with his tail between his legs.

Rafa would be a very very good fit at City. With the backing City game Mancini, he could make them both a domestic and European force. He just has to learn to keep his mouth shut. Now that d-evil one is gone, the rest of the league will be a more level playing field, which statistics show has not been the case in the slurgie era.

**Bricktop** · May 14, 2013, 08:47 AM

Why you don't tek him at your eediat team...we don't waan no fool fool Rafa...thanks...

**Paul Marin** · May 14, 2013, 11:01 AM

Originally posted by Bricktop View Post

Why you don't tek him at your eediat team...we don't waan no fool fool Rafa...thanks...

My, my...summady soun' touchy LOL!!! We a'ready have a good coach but for your team, it would be an "upgrade". LOL!!!

**Dunny** · May 14, 2013, 11:18 AM

Originally posted by Paul Marin View Post

Rafa would be a very very good fit at City. With the backing City game Mancini, he could make them both a domestic and European force. He just has to learn to keep his mouth shut. Now that d-evil one is gone, the rest of the league will be a more level playing field, which statistics show has not been the case in the slurgie era.

I think Manchester City is trying to take a new direction in how the club is run from grassroot level to the first team and realized that Mancini wasn't the man to take them forward. Mancini apparently haven't been seen in the Man City academy once in his 3 years at the club, he is a manager like Rafa that just want to buy buy buy. Clubs are getting smarter now and going for a more sustainable model like the Arsenal, Barcelona, Manchester United, Liverpool and the German clubs who try to bring young players through as well as recruiting stars. There are not many coaches out there better than Pellegrini if they want to shape their future, playing good football and getting the best out of their current players.

**Paul Marin** · May 14, 2013, 11:27 AM

Originally posted by Dunny View Post

I think Manchester City is trying to take a new direction in how the club is run from grassroot level to the first team and realized that Mancini wasn't the man to take them forward. Mancini apparently haven't been seen in the Man City academy once in his 3 years at the club, he is a manager like Rafa that just want to buy buy buy. Clubs are getting smarter now and going for a more sustainable model like the Arsenal, Barcelona, Manchester United, Liverpool and the German clubs who try to bring young players through as well as recruiting stars. There are not many coaches out there better than Pellegrini if they want to shape their future, playing good football and getting the best out of their current players.

I think you are correct except that you can't forget that Rafa was very involved when he was at Liverpool in reshaping the academy. Some of the players that Rodgers can now call on (e.g. Sterling, Wisdom, Kelly), and some that we should have shot at birth, (e.g. Spearing) were the product of an increased focus on the academy by Rafa. Rafa would be an excellent manager for City. He has done a credible job at Chelsea and stabilized the team. There are many Chelsea fans who quietly believe that Rafa should remain in the manager's seat at Chelsea but are too frighten to come out and say it.

**Dunny** · May 14, 2013, 11:45 AM

Liverpool have always had good young players who came through their youth system, i will give Rafa credit for making it more modern but that is where it ends. In all of Rafa's years at Liverpool please tell me one young player of note who Rafa played in his first team? I can show you young players from Arsenal and Man U at that time but none from Liverpool. My memory of Rafa is just buying and selling players and moaning about he haven't got money to spend. Rafa would be a good manager for someone who just want to throw money away, hence his options are limited.

**Paul Marin** · May 14, 2013, 01:25 PM

Originally posted by Dunny View Post

Liverpool have always had good young players who came through their youth system, i will give Rafa credit for making it more modern but that is where it ends. In all of Rafa's years at Liverpool please tell me one young player of note who Rafa played in his first team? I can show you young players from Arsenal and Man U at that time but none from Liverpool. My memory of Rafa is just buying and selling players and moaning about he haven't got money to spend. Rafa would be a good manager for someone who just want to throw money away, hence his options are limited.

Rafa made some poor signings but made good ones too. He was the biggest spending manager in Liverpool's history, but compared to Chelski and the scum, he had a pauper's budget. That's what he complained about. One player I can think of that came through the youth system and played regularly for the first team was Stephen Warnock. Rafa could have done more to keep the first team connected to the youngsters; they have to believe they can make the first team for that kind of system to work. Having Steve Heighway leave was a big loss...he was a connection to the great Liverpool teams of the past and a man the kids could look up to. I still contend though that Rafa's biggest mistake was losing Pako Ayesteran as assistant coach.

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