Back in the day, it was customary growing up as a football fan in Scotland to have an English team to support. It didn’t matter a jot which Scottish team you preferred, you had to declare an allegiance to a club south of the border if you wanted to be part of the in-crowd.
As I recall, two clubs attracted the lion’s share of the attention in that regard – Manchester United and Liverpool. The reason for this, of course, was quite obvious. Each club had a significant Scottish contingent on their playing staff, and both were relatively successful.
It’s fair to say that, of the two, Liverpool could lay claim to the most vociferous fan- base in these parts when I was a lad. In those days, the Anfield club were claiming leagues and European Cups for fun, and the likes of Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness and Alan Hansen were in their pomp.
These days, the unrelenting efforts of another Scot, Sir Alex Ferguson, ensures that United retain a generous slice of support north of Berwick Upon Tweed. However, you would be forgiven for seriously doubting whether Liverpool have retained a similar fondness among the tartan masses. Sightings of Liverpool FC strips are now very rare indeed.
It’s surprising to consider that Liverpool won the Champions League as recently as 2005, in that astonishing comeback in the final against AC Milan in Istanbul.
More shocking still is the fact that more than two decades have passed since the league championship trophy was lifted at Anfield, and surely even the most optimistic of fans wouldn’t place a bet on that changing any time soon.
The current malaise can be traced back to last season, when Liverpool, under the petulant tutelage of former hero Kenny Dalglish, became mired in the racism row concerning Luis Suárez. The image of the club took a severe dent, as the club’s league form lurched to a painful and somewhat embarrassing run-in.
The replacement of Dalglish with Brendan Rodgers during the summer was supposed to herald a new dawn, although Liverpool are already attracting headlines for all the wrong reasons.
The decision to allow £35m striker Andy Carroll to go on a season-long loan deal to West Ham United may not appear a ridiculous move in itself – the forward has hardly set the heather alight at Anfield since his transfer from Newcastle United, after all – but the lack of signings before last month was out has left serious questions hanging over the club owners’ signing policy.
Liverpool supporters won’t be consoled by the rather surprising fact that, over the course of the last four seasons, the club’s total net transfer spend is an impressive third-highest, behind only Manchester City (obviously) and Chelsea.
However, it seems that the assumption Clint Dempsey would sign on Thursday from Fulham has seriously backfired, as the United States internationalist decided to plump for Tottenham instead when Liverpool failed to match Fulham’s demands for the player.
This, in turn, has left the club seriously short of attacking options, and you would have to be concerned for their plight should, for instance, the aforementioned Suárez pick up an injury.
A creditable 2-2 draw at home to champions Manchester City was sandwiched between an ominous opening day defeat to West Brom, and they were turned over at the weekend by Arsenal with the minimum of fuss. They were hardly more inspiring over two Europa League ties with Hearts, which is particularly worrying when you consider the gulf in status between the two clubs.
As things stand, it’s difficult to envisage a sustained league challenge by Liverpool this season. Whatever the resources at his disposal during the next transfer window, Rodgers will need time to stamp his mark on the squad he has available, however modest it may be.
In terms of that squad, Jamie Carragher isn’t getting any younger, and even captain courageous Steven Gerrard can no longer be relied upon to propel his colleagues to unlikely wins against the other top sides in the Premiership. Worryingly, Pepe Reina has suddenly assumed a distinctly fragile presence between the posts of late.
The only hope is that Stewart Downing can finally begin to show the form that led to the club paying £20m for his services, and that recent recruits such as Fabio Borini can settle quickly into the team.
Calls for the return of former Anfield hero Michael Owen, appeared to be borne out of desperation as opposed to a meaningful attempt to restore the club’s fortunes. Besides, that ship seems to have finally sailed, as the former England striker has finally agreed terms with Stoke City.
The other day, principal owner John W Henry was sufficiently moved by criticism of the club’s failure to recruit during the recent transfer window to issue an open letter to fans, in which he attempted to allay fears over their signing policy. However, set against a backdrop of Liverpool’s worst start to a league campaign since 1962/63, those words sound distinctly hollow.
Laudable as his actions may appear at first glance (calls for financial prudence are not unreasonable in these tough economic times), some will inevitably perceive his words as a thinly-veiled admission that Liverpool are unlikely to be a key player at the top end of the transfer market for the foreseeable future.
The season may yet be in its infancy, but the feeling persists that Liverpool’s fortunes will need to take a serious upturn sooner rather than later, otherwise the natives will become very restless indeed.