Editorial
By Steve Kelly
From Issue 51, Spring 2001
You may notice even more errors than usual in
this issue. Some of the writing is very good,
but one or two articles came in late and there
was a bit of frantic editing to get some things
in and take some stuff out. For one reason or
another, the final week was very hectic and I
apologise if you find this has affected the fanzine's
quality in some way. There are also one or two
jokes at the expense of Everton's hilarious cup
exit that may blow up in our faces on April 8th,
but if we lose to Wycombe frankly what Evertonians
think will be the least of our worries. Numerous
people wrote in or e-mailed on the deadline day,
and my apologies to David Nash, Kevin M, Steve
Horton and especially to 'The Realist'. Your stuff
will be in the summer issue.
This issue went to print two days after Man U,
four days before the Nou Camp and a week before
Villa Park. For some reason, I just haven't been
able to time it well this season. The last issue
went to print just before Rome, which was one
of our best results in the last 5 years - certainly
our best European result since 1984. Auxerre was
a great comeback of course, but we had shot ourselves
in the foot over there and shouldn't really have
needed any miracles. Once again, though, our fans
were used as target practise by the gutless scum
of Rome. I have always tried to steer clear of
anything racist or stereotyped as you may know
by now, and I wasn't very happy to see another
fanzine refer to the Italians as "the greasy
bastards", but in the immediate aftermath
of the attacks I felt my own political correctness
go hurtling out of the window. I'm not too proud
of it, but anger is often expressed in less than
liberal terms and for once I'll turn a blind eye
to anyone who did the same. It irked me quite
a lot to hear chants of "same old eyeties"
at Anfield, however - strictly Manc behaviour,
that, and though the volume made it a Kop night
to remember the sentiments expressed certainly
weren't anything to be proud of.
And then a couple of weeks later it was Cardiff.
I've written plenty on the subject in #51 so I'll
let you get on with reading it. By this time we
were standing outside Anfield with a fanzine that
was only a few weeks old but had missed at least
two major highlights of the whole season! A fanzine
can't have been more badly timed, but then I suspect
most Liverpool fanzines can claim the same thing.
Such has been the dizzy rush of events that an
issue is no sooner 'on the streets' than it's
dated - even the prolific ones! Whatever happens
in our next two cup ties, it's been a season to
remember for mostly the right reasons. Whether
the so-called priority - a top three finish -
will be achieved is another matter altogether.
Two of the articles dropped from this issue were
(a) a fairly churlish critique of Gerard saying
that the league was the only thing that mattered
and that cup success was worthless (pardon the
pun) and (b) my reply, which basically said that
we were on the verge of a unique cup achievement
and that we should go for that instead. It's not
as if the Champions League or G14 or G22 or Ghowmanygreedyfuckersitisnowadays
won't be waiting for us in another 12 months'
time. Some of the clubs mentioned in these super
league talks didn't even compete in Europe this
year, never mind get to a semi final. Both articles
should be revised and reprinted in issue 52 this
August, and hopefully I'll be the one that's gloating!
You see, there's been something quaint and old-fashioned
about our season. The cups are almost our last
link to the past. Even the fixture congestion's
great. The game of football itself consists of
long periods of tedium heightened by brief explosions
of excitement. To me , it symbolises the beauty
of the game that we will be playing Barcelona
on a Thursday and then Wycombe Wanderers on a
Sunday. From the sublime to the rather less sublime
but no less important. G22, super leagues, champions
leagues? Well, they want to tell you that they
can take what's special (and Liverpool in the
Olympic Stadium in Rome and the Nou Camp certainly
comes under that heading), multiply it by 8 or
12 or even 20 - and end up with 8/12/20 helpings
of 'special'. Bollocks. What was great about Inter
65, Celtic 66, Gladbach 73, Barca 76 and so on
wasn't the excess of such occasions but the rarity.
Take that away, and you will make the Great merely
drab and commonplace. The glorious power of football
at its summit is being diluted in order to make
a few greedy gets extremely rich. What the hell
do they care what's left of the game in 10 or
20 years' time?
It's not as if we have our league position in
our own hands any more anyway. Games in hand are
all very well, but when they come as thick and
fast as they will do in the next few weeks not
even our squad will be able to cope. Talking about
outdated fanzines brings us to Man U. I can now
say this without it sounding like a cop-out after
defeat, but it's been ages since I was so blasé
about a United game. Their lead in the Premiership
slightly diluted the pleasure in beating them.
That's not to say I didn't go off my head today,
mind! Of course I did, but I was there when we
last did the league double over them - way back
in 1979 - and that was a Liverpool team that still
holds the points and defensive records. The double
this year does not indicate any sort of hegemony
over our detested rivals (who knocked us out of
the cup that year, anyway) that we had back then
- it simply illustrates one aggravating fact about
this team at the moment. We do not hold any fears
against the great sides - it's our tendency to
chuck away vital league points against sub-standard
opposition that has made the Champions League
spot so difficult to attain. Whether it's Rotation
or Arrogance, we are just not "up" for
these games. That will be Houllier's next task.
Facts have to be faced by cynics like myself,
though - he has got an awful lot closer to our
ultimate goal than we had a right to expect way
back in November 1998.
Enjoy the fanzine, despite its flaws. I'm going
to try and do 6 next season, but I need your help.
I always do of course, but next season very much
so (© Ron Atkinson). Please write or e mail
about anything you think may be of interest -
and I do mean anything. I'm not planning a take-over
of articles about music, films, TV, books, even
fashion (though you'll have to write those!).
Just a few here and a few there to let everyone
know what a cultured lot we are at LFC. Readers
lists, top tens, reviews - whatever you like.
And please make mine a treble, you lovely Red
bastards!
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