By LFC Vancouver member Keith Perkins, 13 December 06.

Liverpool FC have changed their club crest over the years from a simple Liver Bird, to the version that we see today. The latest club badge or crest includes the Shankly Gates with “You’ll Never Walk Alone” above a shield with the liver bird and the words Liverpool Football Club, a banner with Est. 1892 below, and the eternal flames on either side. All of the elements of the club crest have an important place in representing the history of the club, but it could be argued that nothing means more to all of us than those flames. They constantly remind us of the 96 members of our family who went out one morning to watch a match and never came home.

The first few weeks and months following the Hillsborough tragedy were spent conducting official inquiries and studies to determine the cause, and if possible to find who should be held responsible for the unnecessary loss of life. The studies continually came back with the result that Liverpool supporters were not in any way to blame for the tragic consequences of the day, and that the South Yorkshire Police were negligent in their duty to protect the safety of the public in attendance. One study after another has shown this to be the case. The police allegations of drunken fans arriving late, and fans without tickets attempting to enter illegally were all found to be totally groundless.

In May of 1989, Lord Justice Taylor conducted a comprehensive study of the disaster which took thirty one days and received three and a half thousand statements and over five hundred letters. An interim report was published, laying the blame squarely on the shoulders of the South Yorkshire Police. Again, the stories of drunken fans rioting were all dismissed as fabrications. A second report followed later with a series of recommendations as to how to avoid such a disaster in the future. That list of recommendations included the elimination of standing areas, and the requirements that all top division clubs would be required to have all-seater stadia.

For many Liverpool supporters, this was the most difficult time in their lives. Some were able to console each other in their grief while some of us were completely alone. Being thousands of miles away in a place where the entire sport has a tarnished image made it all the more difficult. Immediately following the tragedy it was automatically assumed that the cause of the disaster was the despicable behaviour of the fans on the day. It was no easy matter to try to convince these people otherwise. Fortunately, the local papers were reporting on events and on the findings of the various inquiries and studies. And then along came the story that hurts us all to this day.

It was reprinted in our local papers as a summary of a story from the British press that accused Liverpool fans of all manner of disgusting acts, going as far as suggesting that they were stealing wallets and jewellery from the deceased on the ground, and urinating on the bodies and on the police and rescue workers. I could not believe this! Things would have to change on a scale of world-wide proportions for something like that to occur based on my own experience of years earlier. Never had I seen anything of the sort at any of the matches that I had attended. Nor had I ever heard of such behaviour anywhere else. Some time later it turned out that the original report was from “that paper” - even now I hate to say its name. At least now I knew that it was from a source that ignored journalistic standards and ethics, and was almost certainly a sensationalised account made up by someone who was probably not even there. It wasn’t until a year or two after that when I saw a copy of the original front page that bore the headline “The Truth.”

It’s often been said that the truth hurts, but in this case it was the exact opposite. No other paper or news reports made any mention of those alleged incidents, and were soon exposed as the lies that we knew them to be. For some reason, the paper was reluctant to retract the story, with only a partial apology being offered to anyone who was offended by the report. Offended? That just isn’t the word! To this day, that paper is boycotted by every Liverpool supporter, and any decent person who knows the real truth. That should be the end of the saga, but somehow it isn’t. The families of the victims, and those of us who support their cause, are still fighting for justice more than seventeen years later. No members of the South Yorkshire Police have been held accountable, and nobody has had to take any direct blame. The injustice is compounded by the compensation paid to the members of the police and ambulance service who claimed post-traumatic stress following the incident, while the families are still suffering. It’s a sad part of our history, but it’s one that we would like to close with a satisfactory conclusion.

We would like to, but some people just won’t let us. It was a complete shock to me, and to all Liverpool supporters (and of course any decent human being) when the original editor in charge of those reports of “TheTruth” came out publicly a couple of weeks ago with the statement that he will make no apology for telling it like it was. Former editor Kelvin MacKenzie said “I was not sorry then and I’m not sorry now” for the paper’s infamous coverage. He goes on to claim that the only reason he backed down from the story back then was that the owner, Rupert Murdoch, ordered him to do so. In the face of all of the evidence to the contrary, this moron still wants to claim that the original report was based on fact. The question has to be why? Why does someone keep bringing up painful lies? Why do they have to do so in front of an audience, knowing that it will be in the headlines within hours? Why do they want to cause more pain to those who have surely already suffered enough? We’ll probably never know the answer; we can only hope that this is an isolated incident and that it will not happen again.

But it does happen again. This time from across the Atlantic, during a national television broadcast in the USA. In this incident, a couple of “experts” are in a studio taking calls from viewers concerning their opinions on various clubs and players in the Premier League. The Fox Soccer Channel broadcasts this ‘Fox Football Fone-in’ every week, which is claimed to help “educate” viewers who are not as familiar with soccer as they are with other American sports. Last week’s programme gave us all an “education” that we didn’t need. One of the hosts, an admitted Chelsea supporter, began attacking Liverpool’s constant bragging about how many trophies they have won. Stephen Cohen said “There’s a disgusting side of Liverpool’s history that I’ll be happy to talk about.” He openly accused Liverpool supporters of “directly causing the worst two disasters in English football history” referring to Heysel and Hillsborough. Apparently this is not the first time that he has made such comments, while claiming that he is “sick of Liverpool fans ramming their success down his throat…there should be 39 coffins to go with the 5 stars on the badge”

This is exactly the same kind of “truth” that Kelvin MacKenzie believes in. That is, if you say it often enough, and loud enough, and with enough conviction, then it must be true. Of course, no discussion followed the statements from this “expert” nor was any time given for any caller to challenge the statements that were made. The only justification from this malicious bastard was that he was “entitled to his opinion” and he has “a right to speak freely”. If it was an opinion, then it may be acceptable. Saying something that is plainly wrong and that goes against all of the facts is inexcusable. Freedom of speech applies to facts, not to lies. It is not an opinion to say that Mozambique is a part of Europe – it’s wrong! It’s not an opinion to state that Pierre Trudeau was once convicted of murder – it’s wrong! It’s not an opinion to say that Liverpool always wears blue shirts with pink cuffs – it’s wrong! How many examples would it take to convince someone that there is a huge difference between facts and opinions?

It may be okay for some people to be misinformed or unaware of facts; but when someone who is in a position where they should know the truth, but ignores it then there is a serious problem. When those people are then given a public platform to spread the inaccuracies, then it compounds the problem even more. We rely on our newspapers and television reports to give us facts, not lies. They should take that responsibility seriously and treat us with the respect that we deserve.

How much of a coincidence is it that our darkest day is brought up by two completely separate people, thousands of miles away from each other? I’m not one to give much time to conspiracy theories, but I have to wonder about this one. The Fox Soccer Channel is part of the Fox television empire which is owned by Rupert Murdoch. That’s the same individual who owns “that paper”. Is that really just a coincidence then, or do I see more in it that than I should?

A video clip of Mr. Cohen’s broadcast of a supposed apology was forwarded to me shortly after I had finished writing this article (thanks to my LFC Vancouver colleague Lance Litwin for passing that along). At first I thought that I may have to take back some of what I had said about Mr. Cohen, mostly because the original story was received second hand. But then I watched the clip. His entire speech takes about thirty seconds, during which he makes a few excuses and then the supposed apology comes at the end. He admits to having “made some very disparaging remarks about Liverpool Football Club and their supporters.” His excuse is that “in the heat of the moment” he made the comments in response to some attacks against his beloved Chelsea, and claimed that “I know that I’m a passionate Chelsea fan and it takes up almost all of my waking hours.” He goes on to say “I also know that when I am wound up about comments against Chelsea that like many fans I resort to insults that can be very hurtful. As a broadcast professional I should know better and not let it get to this stage. I’ve apologised on our radio show ‘World Soccer Daily’ and I’ve also apologised to the management here at Fox Soccer Channel. But most importantly I wish to apologise to all our viewers.”

The apology comes across like it was prepared by a public relations department, who then had him read it out word for word on air. It’s exactly the type of speech that you would hear from a politician or a celebrity who has been told to make “a statement” which is then supposed to be accepted by the general public as a way of saying “sorry, I didn’t mean it”. Any of us could do the same; just take some previous statements and copy and paste as needed. It’s not exactly a sincere apology, nor are the excuses acceptable. The worst part is that in his list of who he has apologised to, he badly misses the mark. He should be begging forgiveness from the families of the 96, not apologising to the management of Fox; “apology” not accepted Mr. Cohen.

What do you think? Give Keith your comments at Keith [at] lfcvancouver.com.

By LFC Vancouver member Ste Speed, 13 December 06.

Another week goes by and another four – nil victory for Liverpool, I could get used to this! We were absolutely brilliant in the second half against Fulham last Saturday. One of the things I’ve noticed this season is that if we go a goal in front we just go crazy and look like scoring with every attack, contrasted with the exact opposite result when we go a goal behind.

It was particularly enjoyable to see our first two goals scored by Gerrard and Carragher. Carra’s goal was particularly satisfying and, for me, undoubtedly the biggest highlight of the season so far. It was great the way we all cheered the goal and then gave a second even louder cheer once we realised who had scored. I texted my dad, in Liverpool, at that moment describing the scenes at LSPH and he responded by saying he could hear it from there!

Stevie & Jamie’s goals were yet another reminder of how we need local players to form the spine of the side, were would we be without these two players? I can say for sure we wouldn’t have five European Cups, that’s certain in my mind.

It now looks increasingly likely that the club is going to be bought by Sheikh ‘Mo’ and his organisation some time in the next month. I am very excited about this, especially as the media is reporting that he will be financing our new stadium and paying for it with cash. It is clear that this organisation, D.I.C., will want to build and invest rather than use the club as just another asset. It’s clear from their experiences and successes in horse racing that they have what it takes and the desire to take us to the next level of success.

There is one thing niggling at me though and it is something that will only be eased in my mind with time. What I am concerned about is that with the large sum of cash we are expecting to receive, to finance the purchase of top quality new player’, will be at the expense of bringing through local kids.

Just think of some of the talent that we’ve brought through from the youth team in the last decade or so, thanks to the brilliance of Steve Heighway and his staff at The Academy. To name just a few of the players who’ve come up through to the first team after arriving as kids there is, Gerrard, Carragher, Michael Owen, Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler and you could go on from there.

I shudder to think what we may of achieved in the last few years without these players, that don’t forget cost us absolutely nothing in the transfer market. There would have possibly been no treble in 2001. Fowler scored our goal in regular time in the League Cup Final against Birmingham and Carragher scored the decisive penalty in the shootout. Then we come to the 2001 FA Cup Final against Arsenal. A game we should have lost but won in the last five minutes thanks to Michael Owen. Then finally the UEFA Cup Final against Alaves a few days later, a game in which Gerrard and Fowler scored and Owen won a penalty.

There was the League Cup final victory against Man Utd in 2003, thanks to goals from Owen and Gerrard. The Champions League Final 2005 with performances from Carragher and Gerrard that surely deserved all the honours and plaudits that the England Cricket team stole from them. Then finally there was the “Gerrard Final” against West Ham in May this year.

There is no doubt we have a great staff running The Academy and I just hope that we don’t buy too many highly paid superstars that prevent any decent young talent from progressing to the next level. As a recent example, I feel Neil Mellor showed flashes of being a talent for the future with important goals in massive games, but he never really had a chance of getting a regular place.

I’m sure however Rafa will do the right thing, I have seen and heard enough to know that he is aware of and respecting of the history and traditions of Liverpool FC. I also hear that David Moores will be staying on the board in an advisory capacity and I think that is a very important thing to maintain a local and influential voice in the boardroom, I know that Moores is a lifelong Red’s fan as well as being a successful businessman.

What do you think? Give Ste your comments at steSpeed [at] lfcvancouver.com.

By LFC Vancouver member Keith Perkins, 14 December 06.

Choosing a team captain can be a very delicate matter. It is easy to offend some players by passing them over and inadvertently affect their performance, while some players can take the honour of the captaincy and raise their game to a whole new level. The trick for a manager is to know which players will be affected in which way by the decision, and be prepared to answer for it. Sometimes the choice is easy, and sometimes the choice is near to impossible.

Phil Thompson was one of those obvious choices to be honoured by awarding him the captain’s armband in April of 1979. Nobody could question his loyalty to the club and his constant dedication on the pitch. He was never labelled as a “star” but he was certainly a leader. That quality of leadership is really the most important quality for any prospective captain. But, when the inevitable day comes, it is also necessary for the captain to have the character to accept that it may be right for someone else to replace him in that role. That was precisely how it transpired for Thommo. He was the first Liverpool born captain to raise the European Cup for Liverpool, as well as leading the team to a few League Championships and a long list of other trophies. To say that he was inspirational and that he led by example is no exaggeration. But all of those achievements were put aside in January 1982 when the manager made up his mind that the time had come to make changes.

Bob Paisley had made the difficult decision to take the captaincy away from Thommo and to give it to someone else. He called him in to his office and said: “I’m taking the captaincy off you for now. I think you need something to help you with your game. You are taking too much responsibility on your shoulders. I think it will do your own game a lot of good without the pressure of the captaincy.” Thommo’s feeling at the time was that Bob Paisley knew exactly what it meant to him and that Bob had a real understanding of his pride in being captain. For a local lad to have risen to being the captain of the only club he ever wanted to play for, it must have been heartbreaking to be told that he was no longer worthy of the honour. He must have had many emotions going through his mind as he was being told about the decision, but being the professional that he was, his reaction was only to say “I don’t agree with you, but because you are the manager I will accept it.” He latched onto that “for now” part and decided that it would be worth trying to earn it back by showing renewed determination. (Quotes taken from “Stand Up Pinocchio”; by Phil Thompson and Ken Rogers; Trinity Mirror Sport Media, 2005).

The new player to be named captain at that time was of course Graham Souness. We can debate whether this was a good move or a bad one for a long time, but we do know that Liverpool under Souness’s leadership went on to more glory, including one more European Cup in 1984 and lots of other silverware besides. We also know that Thommo continued to be one of the most loyal servants of the club for many years, and is still one of the most fanatical supporters. In retrospect then, it was probably a wise move for Bob Paisley to make the change – he must have seen qualities in Graham Souness that he no longer saw in Phil Thompson.

What are the qualities, though, that determine whether a player would make a good captain? As I started researching some answers to this question I came across a website with the following statement:

Selection of a captain is an important choice for a manager of a football club – he will be the manager’s correspondent on the pitch and the relationship between a manager and a captain is a crucial one. Likewise it is also important the captain has a good rapport with the club’s supporters. Crucial qualities of a club captain include determination and stamina, being able to get on with everybody, and being an intelligent and tactically minded player.

It’s also important for the captain to be able to raise the morale of the team when things are not going as well as they should be. He should also be the first to congratulate others, while remaining modest in his own achievements. He has to realise that he is the leader, but that without his team-mates he is nothing; that together the whole team is greater than the sum of all of the individual players’ parts.

All of those above qualities can be seen in Steven Gerrard. As with Phil Thompson, he’s a local lad who grew up supporting the Reds, and it must have been an ambition to be captain of Liverpool. Surely his loyalty would never be in doubt (or would it?). We only have to remember back to his performance in the Champions League final where he was driving his team-mates on and definitely leading by example, showing how they could not only get back into the game but go on to win it. All of last season he was out there working his socks off, scoring goals, lunging in with tackles, and being the consummate leader. Whenever he was asked about his latest man-of-the-match performance, he simply praised the hard work of his team-mates and said little about himself. All of those qualities were recognized late last season with his award as the PFA Player of the Year. As if that was not enough, he ended the season by leading Liverpool to their seventh FA Cup victory, setting up the first and scoring the other two in a thrilling three goal performance. There was no question in anybody’s mind that Stevie G. was the right man for the job as captain. So what happened?

For some strange reason, Steven Gerrard looks like a lost soul during many matches this season. He doesn’t appear to be inspiring his team-mates or leading by example. Success is too important to worry about hurting someone’s feelings, so perhaps it is time for Rafa to have a similar talk with Stevie as Bob Paisley did with Phil Thompson. If that should happen, then there is only one choice for the man to take that armband – Jamie Carragher; yet another local lad, although he grew up supporting the blues.

Jamie Carragher has been the vice-captain for a couple of seasons and is surely ready to step up to the responsibility of being the full-time captain. It would probably do his game good to give him that vote of confidence. Meanwhile, Stevie G. might just re-examine his role with the club and see if he can prove himself worthy of taking the captaincy back. The change would not have to be permanent, and of course with Carra being Stevie’s senior by a few years, then there’s plenty of time for Stevie to earn it again.

Our Jamie is widely noted as being a natural leader in the dressing room, in training, and on the pitch. He’s always there in the penalty box defending set pieces, yelling instructions to his team-mates, and he definitely leads by example. Think back to the crucial games that he’s played in and think about how he gives every ounce of energy to the cause. That has to be inspirational to everyone around him. When things are not going well, he holds his head up and gets the rest of the lads around him going again. Stevie tends to drop his head as if to say “it’s over, we’ve lost, let’s just get out of here” and then watches as the entire team subsides.

Steven Gerrard has talked on more than one occasion about “considering his options” and “thinking of his future” which was a way of saying that if he doesn’t win enough trophies with Liverpool then he’ll be willing to leave for brighter prospects. Carra has never complained about the number of medals he has won. He knows that he has more medals than that other scouser who used to be a blue - and a lot more than the vast majority of players in the Premier League. There’s no way that Carra would think of leaving Liverpool to go elsewhere. The funny thing is that Stevie grew up as a Red while Jamie grew up as a blue. Who has proven the greater loyalty to the club?

When Stevie G. scores a goal, he parades around pointing to the name on his back as if to say “look at me, I’m great.” When Carra scores he is so shocked that his only reaction is a mixture of amazement and delight. There’s no self worship with this lad – just get the ball back and let’s get on with the game.

Steven Gerrard is a great player; there’s no question about that. He could be said to be our best player, and the one who has the most impact on the outcome of a game. Or, I should say, it was that way but it doesn’t seem as true now as it was last season. We don’t have an explanation as to why his game has dropped off so much this season, but it could be the best thing for Rafa to “take the responsibility of the captaincy away” and “do his game a lot of good without that pressure” as it was between Paisley and Thommo. There’s no reason why the “best” player should be captain, but there’s every reason to say that the captain should be the best leader. For that reason, at least for now, it has to be Jamie Carragher.

What do you think? Give Keith your comments at Keith [at] lfcvancouver.com.

Standings as of 27 December 06.

Rank	Member	Points
1	Lance	18
2	Kevin	17
3	Ste	13
4	Mark Aston	12
5	Andy	11
5	Dennis	11
7	Glenn Whyte	10
7	Keith	10
9	Dave Curtis	9
10	Quentin	5
11	Glenn Whitt.	3
12	Chris Cole	1

To enter the members contest see the rules below.

RULES:

• Only open to paid LFC Vancouver Members.
• You list the names of the players you think will start the next LFC match.
• You must submit your list to lfcvancouver [at] gmail.com at least 12 hours before kick-off.
• This contest will include every match that LFC plays this season. Starting with Blackburn.
• The member(s) that correctly guess the starting XI will be awarded 5 points.
• At the end of the season the player with the most points will win the prize.
• What is the prize? It is a surprise!
• The standings will be included in each week’s newsletter.

Scoring System:

• 11 Correct picks = 5 points.
• 10 Correct picks = 3 points.
• 9 Correct picks = 1 point.
• 0-8 Correct picks = 0 points.

YNWA/JFT 96,

Andy Neumann