Liverpool succeed in spite of the club's leaders

Rafael Benitez had woken up on Sunday morning to a new plot development on the back pages of his papers.

The clandestine meeting between Tom Hicks, George Gillett and Jurgen Klinsmann he knew about. The presence at that meeting of Rick Parry, he didn't.

And he intended to quiz the already pressurised chief executive "within hours".

Just when football looked like sneaking back onto the agenda at Anfield, it was pushed out by politics.

For Liverpool to produce such a professional, polished and productive performance against such a backdrop was enormously commendable - particularly coming days after that immense effort against Arsenal.

The disappointment is that once again the players' efforts have been pushed into the background.

The Steven Gerrard-Fernando Torres axis clicked consummately once again against Blackburn Rovers.

Gerrard scored his 21st goal of the season, without the Spaniard's contribution, then produced yet another cross for Torres to head his own number 30.

On any ordinary afternoon such an astonishing debut season might have dominated the back page headlines, either that or his flourishing partnership with the club captain.

Instead it was back to bitterly depressing boardroom shenanigans.

Benitez has much to clear up in the next few weeks - not least his relationship with his chief executive.

He still has no idea where his team will be playing pre-season, while his summer spending plans are clouded by confusion.

Does Tom Hicks sign the cheques? Is it George Gillett? Or is, according to one weekend report, Jurgen Klinsmann rubber stamping Rafa's choices?

For fans looking for clues about the identity of potential arrivals, the Reds boss perhaps dropped a small hint in his programme notes.

"David Bentley has been one of Blackburn's best players this season," he wrote.

"He has broken into the full England team this year and is a player with quality and a good delivery from his right foot."

That delivery was seldom seen yesterday as Mark Hughes elected to use Bentley in a central role, although a wickedly curving free-kick 12 minutes from time showed the quality he possesses.

But happily the majority of the quality on display was in red and white . . . usually.

Dirk Kuyt's Anfield career was encapsulated in one first half flashpoint.

The Dutchman chased and harried and tackled back superbly to snatch back possession from Steve Warnock, but then his cross lacked the quality to pick out the unmarked Torres.

But it hardly mattered on an afternoon when a win gives the Reds boss scope to focus on his other priority.

With Champions League football all but ensured next season - the gap is now five points over Everton with a far superior goal difference - Benitez can think about resting one or two key figures for next weekend's trip to frantic Fulham, with the Champions League semi-final just three days later.

Oh alright, he craves the spotlight so let's offer him a morsel of publicity.

Alan Wiley is a portly little chap from Staffordshire who seems intent on introducing a brand new concept into top flight refereeing.

He would call it 'letting the game flow.'

The suffering spectators suggest he just ignores everything that goes on around him.

Penalty claims, stone-wall free-kicks, clear-cut corners, potential yellow card offences . . . all are met with the same two-handed gesture like he's smoothing out a table cloth.

Happily he didn't have an outcome on the final result.

Neither did the warring factions behind the scenes at the football club.

Rafa Benitez's buzzword is "focused" - and his players remained just that to see off the potentially difficult obstacle of Blackburn.

But how much more of that focus can be retained is a moot point.

Liverpool are succeeding this season in spite of the club's leaders, not because of them.