The Door Closes on Season 2010-2011

The season itself started early due to our inclusion in the Europa League and things began to look promising.  Not only did it appear that the lads were adjusting to their new boss but he was also including some of the youngsters from the academy in the early rounds of the competition.  This did not last though and once the premiership games started it became evident very quickly that all was not well on the pitch as our results began to plummet, as we headed towards the relegation zone.

Meanwhile off the pitch, the supporters had become increasingly worried about the situation surrounding the club. It had been made public that the club was facing possible administration if a new buyer could not be found.  There had been no investment poured into it for the past three years and with the banks about to call in their loans the situation had become dire.  If a buyer could not be found a famous institution could collapse.  Thankfully though, at the last minute New England Sports Ventures brought the club and our future once again became secure.

Meanwhile off the pitch, the supporters had become increasingly worried about the situation surrounding the club. It had been made public that the club was facing possible administration if a new buyer could not be found.  There had been no investment poured into it for the past three years and with the banks about to call in their loans the situation had become dire.  If a buyer could not be found a famous institution could collapse.  Thankfully though, at the last minute New England Sports Ventures brought the club and our future once again became secure.

Meanwhile off the pitch, the supporters had become increasingly worried about the situation surrounding the club. It had been made public that the club was facing possible administration if a new buyer could not be found.  There had been no investment poured into it for the past three years and with the banks about to call in their loans the situation had become dire.  If a buyer could not be found a famous institution could collapse.  Thankfully though, at the last minute New England Sports Ventures brought the club and our future once again became secure.

The owners were names as John Henry and Tom Werner.  Now John and Tom both admitted very quickly that they knew nothing about the English game called football, but would take their time and learn everything they needed to learn.  To enable this to happen, they said that they were satisfied with the manager and that he would be left alone to do his job.

his they did and it became evident very quickly that Roy was completely out of his depth.  The team were playing the most awful football and as the team spiralled towards the bottom of the division, calls for his to be replaced began to reverberate around Anfield.  The name that could be heard was Kenny Dalglish and he was the man that most supporters felt should have been given the job at the beginning of the season.  This continued as the year began to come to its end and it was only when the supporters began to stay away from Anfield that you felt something might be done.

The new year arrived and towards the end of the first week, you sensed that something was about to happen.  On the 7th January, Roy's normal weekly press conference had been cancelled and a statement issued instead. Now I have a habit of sensing if anything is amiss, and contacted a friend who told me to stay alert because something was definitely going on.  That evening those events began to fall into place, when the club announced that Roy Hodgson had left his position as manager of Liverpool Football club.

The following morning, we were all told to log onto the clubs website at 11.00.  Waiting for us would be what we wanted to hear.  It was there in black and white our king had been returned to his throne and would be our manager until the end of the season.  This of course immediately brought all the factions of the club back together again. The club, the supporters and the players, all become one again. Or did they?

There was still the small matter of an unhappy player to deal with and Kenny set about doing this in his own special way.  As the team's performances improved so did this particular player's but it become clear that he wanted to move on?  With the January window heading towards its closure he was sold and two players were brought in with the funds raised.

These two players of course were Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez.  Andy unfortunately has been injured for most of this half of the season, but Luis has already become the Kops darling.  His movement and his goal scoring exploits have become one of the reasons why our results have improved to the point where a month ago people were saying that we could possibly make fourth place and find ourselves back in the Champions League.

Fate though has a way of intervening and suddenly we were faced with a series of injuries to several key players, One of these was our captain, Stevie G who had a recurring groin injury and it was soon announced he was out for the rest of the season.  Andy Carroll, too seemed to be unable to recover completely from the injuries he was carrying when we brought him.  Martin Kelly who had been brought into the side fairly early on in Kenny's reign also found himself side lined with a hamstring injury just as his career was taking off.  This meant that Kenny would have to use some of his fringe players. Most of these were players that we knew were simply not good enough.

Kenny though had other ideas and introduced some of the young lads from the academy and the way they have fitted into the team has been amazing.  They are of course, Jay Spearing, John Flanagan and Jack Robinson and they have proved that if you put a scouser back into the team that most people see as their birth right, it can work wonders for the morale of the others.  I have no hesitation whatsoever in saying that I am proud of what they have achieved and look forward to watching them all progress in the future.

With the season drawing to a close, several appointments were made within the club. Ian Ayre was promoted to Managing Director, Damien Comolli became the Director of Football (to me he is just a glorified scout and I will admit to being worried about his authority) and Kenny became the club's permanent manager.  Our future is now secure in the hands of the man that we know can deliver everything the club and the supporters want.

As always happens though, the team began to show signs of the end of season tiredness and our results began to suffer.  After winning a fantastic game against Fulham, we lost the next two, including our game against Aston Villa today.  It was I think just a game too far and having lost the previous one, we had slipped slightly backwards which meant our European place was in peril.

Now don't get me wrong, but I get the feeling today's team selection not only put three players at least into the shop window, but it was designed to ensure we did not enter Europe next season. The last thing Kenny wants is a meaningless European competition to interrupt his plans of staking his claim on any of the English competitions and of course the Premiership.  It is far better for all concerned to concentrate on that this season and then hopefully we will go straight back into the Champions League in the 2012-2013 season.

The door though has now been closed on the 2010-2011 season and we can consign it to the history books. We now have our club back and a manager that we all love now in charge.  The future is bright and hopefully come August 2011 we can begin our climb back to where we belong. 

But first, at midnight tonight, the silly season begins and the rumour mill begins to turn in a furious manner - yes the transfer window is open for business once more.