Among the many excuses bedevilling my beloved club in 2009–10 was that matches were overshadowed by fans’ venting their spleen at Tom Hicks and George Gillett, the American owners. Actually, I thought the Kop were really good, giving tremendous backing to the boys and Rafa while making their point about Tom and George. The Americans were unfortunate that the global economic crisis complicated their re-financing of Liverpool. High finance would not feature high on my picks as a specialist subject on
Mastermind
but I’m sure there were an awful lot of people borrowing money to buy assets at that time. So George and Tom ran into a blizzard of difficulties, which would have been exacerbated if they hadn’t brought in Ian Ayre as commercial director, Christian Purslow as chief executive and Martin Broughton as chairman. All are excellent people, doing important jobs to safeguard the club’s future.
I understand the Kop’s frustration at the waves of embarrassment that have washed over Liverpool, but plenty of positives have happened off the pitch. Ian helped increase the commercial side by 83 per cent and sponsorship money is up as well. Liverpool’s success in the Seventies and Eighties attracted millions of fans around the world, who are passionate about the club, and, finally, Liverpool are tapping in to our huge global support. In Singapore last year, I saw a man whose back was tattooed with the club’s honours. He loved Liverpool yet had probably never set foot inside Anfield, let alone on Merseyside, but he was still a diehard Liverpool fan. The club must cater for men like him around the world.
Where I understand the punters’ anger is that Tom and George promised a new stadium, with a spade going into the turf of Stanley Park within 60 days, and it hasn’t happened. Building up supporters’ expectations and then smashing them is a recipe for trouble. Once an owner makes a pledge to fans whose life is Liverpool Football Club, they never forget. Rafa was given £220 million to spend on players over five years. As a fan, the transfer budget is never enough but Tom and George couldn’t give more because of the borrowings. But for all the gloomy headlines, I honestly don’t believe Liverpool are financially poor.
When I think about how Liverpool’s future may unfold, I’ll admit to a concern about filling a new stadium every week. It’s assumed we’ll sell out but that will depend on how well the team are doing. In the first season, I’m sure Liverpool will pack out a 60,000-seater stadium, because everybody will want to experience Liverpool’s new home. Once that first rush is over, and curiosity has been satisfied, the fans will turn up in numbers only if Liverpool are prospering. Otherwise punters will pick and choose games. Liverpool must be competing for silverware to make the new stadium work. I’ve read all the figures stating that an awful lot of people are on the waiting list, and the passion and loyalty of Liverpool fans can never be questioned, but it’s one thing being on the waiting list and another being asked to part with money. If all the season tickets aren’t taken up, I’d like to see Liverpool set aside tickets for some games for school-kids. I often worry that we risk losing the next generation of supporters through availability and cost of tickets.
I know I’ll be accused of nostalgia, even stupidity, but I’d prefer Liverpool to pour resources into extending the Anfield Road end upper tier, and re-configuring the Main Stand, to increase capacity towards 60,000. I honestly feel the best scenario would be to keep the Kop, the most famous stand in sport, and build up around it. That’s my personal wish but I understand it is unlikely ever to be fulfilled. The big question eating away at me is why should Liverpool and Everton both spend hundreds of millions of pounds on a new ground each? Purely from the perspective of raising funds, perhaps it would make sense for Liverpool and Everton to share. The only way that would work is for the Council to step in. I’m sure the Council could build a magnificent new structure as a thank you for how well both clubs have served the community, and then charge them a rental fee. For Liverpool and Everton, a shared facility would be fantastic financially because neither would have the burden of forking out fortunes.
Of course, many obstacles stand in the way of this shared dream becoming reality. What happens if Everton or Liverpool cannot afford the rent? Which colour should the stadium be, red or blue? And what about the rivalry? The animosity at Derby games now is unacceptable. Stevie gets abuse when he takes corners near the Everton supporters, although insults have always flown. Evertonians sang that I was homosexual while Marina was sitting at home with the kids. David Johnson used to get terrible, merciless stick because he played at Everton. Souey was always slaughtered by Everton punters but that was hardly special. Most clubs’ fans had a pop at Graeme. The atmosphere at Derby matches has definitely darkened over the past few years, though. Maybe a shared stadium wouldn’t work. In fact, the more I consider the options between Liverpool and Everton, the more I feel it’s better for the two neighbours to continue living apart.
I know there are many clouds on Liverpool’s horizon but important steps are being taken to build a better future. When Rafa received his new contract in 2009, he reorganised the Academy at Kirkby. An awful lot of staff lost their jobs as Rafa replaced them with people of his choice. Rafa put Frank McParland, a good man, in charge of the Academy and brought in a Spanish technician, Pep Segura, as Academy Technical Manager and Rodolfo Borrell as coach of the Under-18s. Rafa wanted to restart the conveyor belt of talent, educating kids in the skills and mind-set they’ll need for Liverpool’s first team. People keep saying the Academy hasn’t produced a player for many years but many have emerged to earn a decent living elsewhere. Stephen Warnock went on to Blackburn Rovers, then Aston Villa, and made it to the World Cup with England. Stephen Wright went to Sunderland, David Thompson to Coventry and Neil Mellor moved on to West Ham, Wigan and Preston. These Academy graduates are not where we’d like them to be, in Liverpool’s first team, but a couple are on the fringes, including Martin Kelly, Jay Spearing and Stephen Darby, and a good few are on loan. If they have the ability, they’d be in.
I love being at Kirkby. My office has huge pictures of Liverpool fans celebrating in Istanbul. The Academy is a special place, strengthened by coaches such as Rodolfo, who has an amazing record of working with kids, including Lionel Messi and Cesc Fabregas, at Barcelona.
‘I could have stayed at Barcelona but I wanted to come and work here because Liverpool are a great club,’ Rodolfo told me. Quite rightly, Rodolfo demands so much of our young players. ‘If you don’t share my ambitions, don’t stay here,’ Rodolfo tells them.
‘Having good facilities doesn’t mean you’ll be a good player,’ I tell the youngsters. ‘You have to want it enough to be a professional footballer. No hunger, no chance. We’ll help you with your academic education, because there’s no guarantee you’ll make it as a footballer. There’s a safety net.’
I know many people worry about youngsters’ hunger, but when I look around the Academy, I see kids equally as ambitious as I was. When I was growing up at Celtic, I played with kids who were probably better than I was but lacking the dedication to make it as a professional. I believe it’s even more difficult to break through now, because of the demands on the first team. Managers have a responsibility to stay in the Premier League because of the damaging financial repercussions of relegation, so many play it safe, ignoring the kids and relying on more experienced players from abroad. At Sunderland, Steve Bruce has been brave with two midfield players, David Meyler and Jordan Henderson, who look promising, but Steve started playing them together last season only when Sunderland were safe.
When I spend time with our Academy kids, I also admire the desire and dedication of their parents, who must show a real commitment to bring their sons training four nights a week. Parents are passionate about their kids, praying they will become football stars, and at some clubs that can cause problems. Liverpool’s Academy players understand the honour of playing for the club, having been taught the club’s history by their mums and dads, uncles and aunties. That’s the Liverpool way, the passing down of club traditions from one generation to the next, and some Liverpool traditions are known about all over the world. A German kid arriving here will know all about ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.
Here at the Academy, there are pictures of Rafa in Istanbul, of Fernando Torres, Michael Owen, and they even managed to squeeze in a picture of Al and me with a trophy. Tradition lies down every corridor. The meeting room at Kirkby is called the Tom Saunders Theatre, which is only fit and proper given Old Tom’s contribution to Liverpool Football Club. I’ve trained a few times with the 13s, 15s and 16s and sometimes I’m convinced they think I’m just a stupid old guy trying to get a kick of a football. Actually, having got to know the kids, I’ve discovered most are Liverpool fans anyway, and know exactly who I am. At the start of last season, I was watching the Under-9s when the ball rolled off the pitch. I side-footed it back and one of the Liverpool boys shouted, ‘Kenny, you’ve not lost it, have you?’ Respectful Scouse humour from the wee boy.
My Liverpool family may not appreciate the sentiments but I strongly believe that many clubs should look and learn from Alex Ferguson’s early years at Manchester United – the way he came in and had a right good look at the youth side. Fergie needed a few years before he was properly up and running but the foundations he put down were deep and gave United a great platform. He employed some people from Manchester City and got hold of local boys, including Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the two Nevilles. He didn’t gauge their progress in terms of trophies but through progressing their ability.
Fergie and I have had the odd disagreement down the years but I stood up for him when he first came south from Aberdeen. At one North-west football writers’ dinner in Manchester, Fergie didn’t turn up because he was getting pilloried in the Press. So I made a wee speech, trying to correct the wrong impression the media had of our relationship.
‘You have Fergie and me in a conflict,’ I said. ‘I’m in competition with him, I want to beat him, but I don’t have a problem with Fergie. He hasn’t got a problem with me, so you are inventing the problem. And another wee thing. You are presumptious in your critical thinking about him as a manager. Fergie’s a good manager and you need to take a rain check on that. Give him time.’ It wasn’t the greatest speech but I wanted to explain my relationship and respect for Fergie.
United’s old physio, Jimmy McGregor, was at the dinner and came up to me later on.
‘I’m sure the Gaffer will appreciate that support,’ said Jimmy. ‘He needs it.’
‘Jimmy, it’s only the truth.’
Given how well United have done since then under Fergie, I probably should have kept my mouth shut, but his success is no surprise to me. Fergie’s got the work ethic, toughness, ability and knowledge, and he’s built United the way he wants it. When I look across at Old Trafford, it’s like the old days with Liverpool, bringing in two or three class acts every year. At the same time, Fergie has installed a load of promising players, such as Rafael, Macheda and Hernandez. Fergie’s really clever. He develops a player such as Fraizer Campbell, gives him a few games in the first team, builds up his reputation, the price soars, and then sells him to Sunderland in a deal that could net United £6 million.
One of the more distressing developments in the modern game has been diving, which is a stain spreading across the game. I believe the influx of recruits from the Continent, is the reason diving has proliferated to the point where it is now almost routine. If a player attempts to be honest nowadays, staying on his feet after being fouled, and misses with his shot at goal, the moment he walks into the dressing room somebody will hit him with a barbed remark, amounting to ‘Why didn’t you go down?’
Diving has become accepted practice and I sympathise with referees struggling to combat this curse because it must be incredibly difficult to make an instant decision about simulation. Football is so fast and the human eye can only follow so much, particularly in a crowded penalty area. If I were playing today and a referee accused me of simulation, and television evidence proved the defender had caught me, I would seriously consider taking legal action because my integrity would have been impugned. That’s why I feel for Stevie, who gets accused of diving, which is laughable really. Anybody with an understanding of football – or knowledge of Stevie’s personality – can see that he simply takes evasive action, riding the tackle. Technology should be introduced urgently to protect the innocent and punish the real culprits. I honestly believe that an extra official, sitting in the stands reviewing footage, would require only two or three seconds to rule on penalty calls. The game would stop until the official told the referee whether or not to award a penalty. Even a small delay is nothing in establishing something that could decide the game, or damage a player’s reputation. Referees want to get decisions right and I think a screen judge would really help them.
Michel Platini’s experiment with extra officials behind the goal in the Europa League in 2009–10 seemed farcical and impractical to me. There are simply not enough officials around, as people who know about Sunday League football keep telling me. Somebody should invent a fertility drug to bring some more referees into the world, and quickly. To improve standards, I’m convinced referees should be called to account for mistakes and asked to explain themselves. The authorities should not simply shuffle an errant official down to the Championship. Tell the truth, everybody makes mistakes, but clarify the situation so everybody knows and learns.
Another sadness troubling a footballing traditionalist like me has been the decline in prestige attached to the FA Cup. Winning the Cup, a trophy I always held close to my heart, used to be special, but the lustre has been rubbed away by frequent format changes, weakened teams and the lengthening shadow of the Champions League. Chelsea’s positive attitude, invariably putting out their strongest XI, deserves real praise. The Football Association should encourage clubs to think more imaginatively about the cost of Cup tickets. When the third round of the Cup comes around, punters have just forked out for Christmas, have already invested substantial sums on a season ticket, and must then find the funds to afford passage through the turnstiles on Cup day. Football must beware fleecing fans in times of economic hardship. Clubs are going to the well of public loyalty too often.