Liverpool FC and Ryan Babel

Wowzers. This sure is a biggy - one which I'm going to skim over as briefly as I can, because I could probably go on forever. I'll admit, I should have no connection whatsoever to Liverpool Football Club and its proud traditions. I'm not from Liverpool, or the closely surrounding area. None of my family originate from Merseyside. In fact, I've never even been to the place. It just so happens to be that in Primary School, a couple of footballing loving friends of mine supported the club, so like the sheep that I am (cheers, Welsh blood) I followed suit, and took on the vibrant red of Liverpool FC. I've been a fan for 10-11 years now. Happy times they were. Obviously the club's been through a hell of a lot since then. The treble-winning season (albeit in the most obscure and easiest combination possible), the sale of lil Micky Owen, that night in Istanbul, the FA Cup recovery in the year after, the signing of a certain Fernando, (of course) the sudden decline that the club now finds itself right in the middle of, and everything in-between. It's been a brilliant time. Mostly.

Oh Steven, you beautiful Scouser...

But in all seriousness now, without raging over the bulging shortcomings of Rafa Benitez, the total failure but unfair treatment of 'Woy' Hodgson, and the financial ineptitude of those wanker Yanks, where the hell does the club go from here? Kenny 'The King' Dalglish is back, in a move that will surely lift the Kop's (and Steven Gerrard's holy) spirits, but that doesn't change the fact that since his appointment, nothing's really changed on the pitch, and there doesn't seem to be any urgency to make things happen. The situation only gets more worrying the more times you take a look at it. A glance at the league table will teach you all you really need to know. Liverpool are absent from the top half - further still, they're a meagre four points adrift from the relegation zone. It's sickening to see the once mighty Liverpool Football Club in this state. Then there's the squad itself. It's clear to me, from what I've seen this season (thanks to Match of the Day, God bless you BBC), that there's no real unity amongst the players. A lack of understanding is bad enough, but the majority of the team simply isn't good enough to challenge for the position and honours that a club of Liverpool's ilk deserve to be involved in. Unfortunately for the Scot, Kenny Dalglish is the man who has inherited the transfer disasters of both the club's previous managers. I mean, really, why the FUCK is Paul Konchesky the starting left back?! Oh, and Krygiakos at centre back...brilliant. Wait, we still have El Zhar?! Bloody hell. There's a hell of a lot of ground to make up. After a reasonably promising start to the season for the (anti) Brazilian, Lucas Leiva is as pathetically incompetent as ever, the once universally feared Fernando Torres looks hopelessly dejected and downtrodden, Martin Skrtel apparently can't tackle for the ball any more without taking out the man, and Joe Cole just...sucks - that man makes his £0 signing fee look a a bit dear. Don't even get me started on that man David N'gog. What even is he?! Apart from utter dog-shite of course, because I already know that. So, with a pretty weak team (that not even Super Stevie Gerrard can lift), surely players need to be signed where possible, no? No. Transfer activity is so 2010, everybody. Let's go the 1991 way - the year in which Dalglish was sacked from his first stint at Liverpool Football Club. Dalglish has reportedly not even spoken to the owners yet about bringing new recruits in - instead, Ryan Babel is being ousted. Fantastic stuff...

Reason to be upset

Of all the seasons, I really thought that this time my frenzied transfer speculation could come true - because this time, it's imperative that the squad is improved, and then bolstered. With the new owners, there must be some spare cash lying around, but it seems as though that would be a inaccurate notion. Even if Liverpool was to be totally active in this January transfer window (which would be bloody bad enough as it is), it mystifies me to see Ryan Babel being let go of. Trust me, I'd be one of the first people to tell you that Babel's performances for the Reds were largely unimpressive, but don't get me wrong, I'd also be one of the first to defend his potential. He showed glimpses of being a quality player, but only when he was given what he wanted; a striker's role and/or a starting place. When he first signed for the club, I was really excited about him, but then he was so rarely played. Benitez seemingly opted for anybody instead of him. It screams of the Mark Gonzalez saga. He rarely featured in the squad, and was shipped out soon after. What was worse about Gonzalez though is that his performances were actually consistently rather good. In fact, he's one of the paciest wingers I've ever seen, and was pretty skilful to boot. Ryan Babel has been left to fester at Liverpool, and it's such a crying shame. I've got a bit of a soft spot for the lad, despite his alleged attitude and work rate problems. He was promised first team football, and it never came. He's now 24 years of age, and his reputation has hardly been enhanced. At least not in Howard Webb's eyes, anyway... If the deal to Hoffenheim (for around a reported £7million) goes through, I wish Ryan Babel all the best for the future. I still believe he could become one of the game's top forwards.

But back to the bigger picture. Liverpool Football Club are too big to go down, that's for sure. They're a footballing giant, with a rich history drenched in success. It doesn't make sense for their legacy to die. Some would argue that without a title win in 20 odd years, the club's already died a bit of a death, but I don't think so at all. For all they've done, Liverpool FC deserves to bounce back. God knows how, but they do. It's going to be slow, it's going to be painful, and it's surely going to be controversial along the way, but I have faith that in my life time, the glory days will return. A lot needs to be done; a hell of a lot. But dare I say, surely from her the only way's up? For Kenny, for Steven, for Alan, for Jamie, for Michael, for Mark, for Ian and for every single club legend (that my unfortunately limited brain and years of living struggle to cover), let's make it happen. Hell, even for Emile. And well, if the club gets really desperate, I'll give the manager's job a punt. Failing that, I'll just write an ill thought out blog post about it, while my mother half jokingly tells me I should get in touch with someone in the LFC hierarchy, with a view to appointment.

Ben out. *salutes*

You'll Never Walk Alone