DEATH OF THE ZINE SCENE - Statement from Red All Over The Land

As you know here at The Anfield Shrine we are regular contributors to the Liverpool fanzine Red All Over The Land and in general a supporter and advocate for independent fanzines and their importance in the support of our club and keeping football ours as opposed to the prompted of the corporate money men. However, fanzines and RAOTL specifically have been finding it harder and harder to survive... the recent death of a Utd fanzine no less, promoted this statement from Red All Over The Land...

The Manchester United Fanzine ‘RED ISSUE’ has decided to call it a day after 26-years and 295 Issues.  They’re not citing declining sales but simply, because it ‘can’t stand the stench’ of football any longer.  In their final issue that went on sale outside Old Trafford at the game against Southampton they said: “The game we’ve been clinging onto is gone.  Football now is happy-clappy families, half-and-half scarves, tourists and selfie sticks; there’s no point trying to fight that.”

‘RED ISSUE’ didn’t give Liverpool, Liverpool players or Liverpool supporters an easy time; just the opposite but even so, ‘RED ISSUE’ stood against the tidal wave of modernism in football especially amongst their own.  They didn’t care who they upset and a lot of the time they said what many of us were thinking when it came to modern football.  I never really took offence at what they said or did because they said what they wanted to say.  They were a Fanzine.

If we’ve had anything in common it’s the contempt we feel for the modern game but whereas they apparently still sold enough copies to make the effort of producing a Fanzine a viable venture I’m afraid that’s not really the case for Liverpool Fanzines.  I can’t speak for Dave from ‘The Liverpool Way' nor Neil from ‘We Are Liverpool’ but I’m sure they’d agree that this season has been more toil than pleasure and not just because of the lousy weather we’ve often encountered.  A couple of seasons ago this Fanzine encountered a lot of problems that were beyond anybody’s such as flooding and damage to a PC causing data to be lost and problems aplenty.  However, we still got the Fanzine out and because sales were pretty good we stayed afloat.  This season we’re sinking fast.

I’ve received well meaning comments about the clubs poor form this time around affecting sales; well that’s not necessarily the case.  During Rafa’s final season and the few months of Hodgson’s reign sales weren’t too bad at all and after Kenny came home they picked up further.  In fact during times of trouble [if you like] supporters would take a Fanzine to read the real thoughts rather than the ones that were in the official publications and although the local press would voice critical opinions they had to draw the line at some of what they printed.  Fanzines didn’t have that problem.

Over the last season or two we’ve seen growing numbers of overseas visitors to Anfield and I’ve nothing against them but they’re not going to buy something that’s obviously unofficial and printed in English.  Add to this the huge number of others that now arrive and who definitely fit into the ‘happy-clappy families, half-and-half scarves, tourists and selfie sticks’ group.  They are happy to pay an extortionate amount of money for their ticket and all the trashy tack that gets sold in the club shop, pay well over the odds for food and drink inside the ground but don’t give Fanzines a second glance.  To them football is the circus.  They are what the clubs want and win, lose or draw they go home happy with their bag of goodies and selfie pics.  They feel that being part of the famous Anfield atmosphere is to stand up and shout, “Who R Ya” at the noisier away support.

We've tried hard to work with the club but the club rarely, if ever, now respond to an email, that in itself is disappointing.

I’d ask you all to rally round and help spread the word about Fanzines but is there any real point; you are the converted or whatever.  Since August this Fanzine has lost between 25 and 30 subscribers.  Match day sales on the first day of sale have dropped by around a third.  The time spent putting it together is hardly worth the effort if I’m honest but I actually love doing a Fanzine.  We’ve never had a huge audience if that’s the right way of putting it and even in what I’d call our better era we’d sell only to around 3% of the Anfield crowd.  However, that was good enough.  Now it’s less than .5% so it’s hard to justify carrying on.  I can join the exodus of the old time supporters and maybe go to a non-league game or stay at home and watch telly.  Or I can trundle on hoping that there’s a light somewhere in the tunnel.

We've tried special offers, special deals competitions and everything.   At a loss now as to what to do next.  

Its toss a coin time.  My first thought on hearing Red Issue had thrown in the towel was to think, well if they can’t beat the apathy how the hell can we?  The next few weeks will determine that.

    

Regards

JJP (RAOTL Editor)

Visit RedAllOverTheLand.com to subscribe or pick up Issue 209 at the Bolton game. 

Sunderland 0 Liverpool 1 - Reaction

Whether it was a general malaise or a football specific one, but I woke up on the morning of Saturday 10th of January feeling pretty pessimistic. The transfer window has been open a few days now and the usual plethora of rumours have emerged, but nothing concrete and glaringly nothing at either end of the pitch in either a keeper or a striker. Contradicting what is in the press, Rodgers has insinuated that there will be very little activity from the club this window.

In contrast, Utd have snapped up Valdes on a free... a hugely experienced keeper, who on a free seemed happy to join us a few weeks ago. Now no one knows what goes on behind the scenes, and I'm not doubting that Valdes isn't the player he used to be, but it couldn't help feel like we had been usurped by our biggest rivals again.

So it was with this pessimism that I looked forward to the Sunderland game, expressing on Twitter that it was going to take a look to cheer me up... specifically 3 points, a clean sheet and a performance.

Well I certainly do feel a bit more optimistic now - I'd say I got 2.5 out of 3. The performance was impressive without being outstanding but we kept a clean sheet and got a vital 3 points and all with Sterling sunning himself in Jamaica.

We were very good in the first half, although it is fair to say Sunderland were atrocious. But we should have had a penalty within the first 5 minutes and then we got our reward from some nice play from Gerrard and Borini before Markovic finished neatly through the keeper's legs after a positive run into the box. Any sensible football person knew that any early criticism of Markovic was hugely unfair, the lad is still only 20 and I would defy anyone to settle quickly in a foreign country at one of the world's biggest clubs. Now I think we are starting to see his talent shine through and he certainly looks a lot more confident. He very nearly scored a wonder goal a while later, volleying a ball that popped out of the Sunderland defence with incredible technique only to see it crash against the ball.

We were in complete control of the first half and Borini missed a great chance just before the break, which you couldn't help worry might come back to haunt us. Gerrard was replaced by Lovren at half time, supposedly as a precaution as he was feeling a tight hamstring and as a result Can moved higher up the pitch and into the right wing back position with Markovic moving inside. Instantly our fluidity from the first half felt a little compromised, but as it often does Sunderland going down to 10 men seemed to galvanise them as opposed to help us.

I couldn't help feeling sorry for Birdcutt, the two yellow cards he received were pretty soft, albeit you could argue professional fouls. But regardless, the numerical advantage didn't seem to assist us as much as you'd have liked and in the end we saw out the 2nd half and the collection of 3 points as opposed to killing the game off.

There were many positives to be taken, I felt every player on the pitch had a decent game with no one having a shocker. Some shone more than others, Coutinho again was magically and really kept our game running. Markovic obviously was very impressive and although he tailed off in the 2nd half looked much more confident and could have had more than one. The back three looked fairly solid and a bit of game time for Lovren won't do him any harm... even if he did continue to look a little rash at times. Lucas was again outstanding. He has started 11 out of the last 12 games and we didn't lose any of those 11 games. The game he didn't play, against Utd, we lost 3-0. That has to tell you something and it is imperative that we keep him. Mignolet also had a good game, he looked more confident and caught and punched a couple of crosses well, especially considering the wind. The usual idiots on Twitter have decided to focus on him losing sight of the shot from Johnson as opposed to all the good things he did and considering how good Johnson's strike was and how much it moved in the air I don't think any keeper would have dealt with it very well. I think we're all still unconvinced as to whether is he good enough long term and he needs his confidence and form to seriously improve but that is why not bringing in an experienced keeper seems even more puzzling. Surely someone like Valdes would not only have challenged him for his place but also perhaps helped him developer. I suppose we'll see what the rest of January brings.

So suddenly the pessimism has definitely lifted, we're still in all 3 cup competitions, we're only 4 points off fourth and Sturridge is still to return. Even so, I'd like to see us strengthen this January with a keeper and perhaps another striker if we can.

Tweet @anfieldshrine with your thoughts.

Gerrard Tribute

So Gerrard has ended all speculation and announced that he will be leaving his lifelong club at the end of this season.

Where do you start in a tribute to Steven Gerrard?

The tributes are already pouring in from fans, players and pundits and over the next few days thousands upon thousands of words will be written about him by far more accomplished journalists and writers than myself. But I couldn't let this moment pass without penning a few words.

Terms like legend get bandied about far too much these days, but there is absolutely no doubt that Steven Gerrard is a legend, not just of Liverpool Football Club but the modern world game. You only need to look at some of the plaudits he has received from players like Kaka, Totti and Zidane to know that.

For me he is the greatest Liverpool player to have ever played for the club. Now I know that many will point towards Dalglish, Rush and Liddell and that is understandable but for me and my generation, no one comes close to Gerrard as being the best player I have ever seen at Anfield. He may not have won what Dalglish, Rush and others of that generation have won but at times he has single handedly dragged Liverpool Football Club through some of the worst periods in our recent history and won countless games for us on his own. The fact that he will never win a league medal for Liverpool is one of the most upsetting things to have to deal with as a Liverpool fan, but no one can ever take away what he has won... especially the European Cup, of which the story we all know so well. Add to that the FA Cup winners medal in 2006 with which he won with perhaps his greatest ever goal.

Trying to pick out his best moments is almost impossible... there are genuinely so many to mention, Olympiakos... Istanbul... the 4-1 at Utd... the West Ham Cup Final... scoring countless brilliant Derby goals.

Some of the talk around Gerrard being past it of late has been moronic, we have all known that he is nearing the end of the career but the modern game and support breeds such inane knee jerk opinion which makes you utterly depressed about not just football in the modern era but society itself. Gerrard has shown again this season that he is still a class above the majority of players in Europe. You only need to remind yourself of the Basle free kick or his inability to miss from the penalty spot to see that. He is still playing passes that most players could only dream of playing at 24, let alone 34, Gerard Houllier summed him up in one word - class. It is almost the perfect word for him. He is a class act on and off the pitch. Considering some of the horrific abuse and threats he has had to endure in the past and more recently, he has always remained 100% professional, calm and dignified. He is a true inspiration not only to young footballers today, but to all of us.

I am honest terrified at the prospect of Liverpool without him, forget what he does on the pitch I think his influence off it and in and around the dressing room will be missed just as keenly. We are now entering an era where loyalty means nothing in football, where no player is likely to ever play their whole career at one club again, where local, home grown talent is dying out.

It is virtually impossible to articulate what Steven Gerrard means to Liverpool and what he means to me. Quite simply there will never be a player or a man like him again in football.

Liverpool 4 Swansea 1 - Reaction

God that was good wasn't it?

It's only after a great performance and 3 points like we saw against Swansea last night that you realise just how difficult the last few months have been. I don't think anyone predicted the drastic swing in Liverpool's fortunes that saw us nearly win the league 10 months ago to sitting 10th in the league at Christmas.

After back to back wins and perhaps more importantly an impressive display and four goals last night Liverpool FC end 2014 if not on a high, certainly on an assent.

I'm not going to go in for a big review of the year as there will be hundreds of those around, plus I can barely remember last week let alone 6 months ago, but I do want to make a few observations about last night...

Coutinho is class - I thought he was absolutely majestic last night, full of running, clever and his deft touch for Lallana's goal was sublime. He is still very young and I just hope he can develop into the world class player that he has the potential to be. Our only problem will be keeping hold of him if he does.

Lallana looking the part - He was one of the signings I was most happy with and despite not exactly setting the world alight I felt Lallana had been one of our better performers this season. He has undoubted ability and class and last night that began to show through more comprehensively. Now I just hope he kicks on and starts to gamble a bit more in the final third and has more shots and looks to slip those clever balls in... as opposed to always checking back the way he seems to love to do. Definitely he best performance in a red shirt so far.

Can, can - It's puzzled me why Can has not featured more so far this season, but his introduction into the back three has a been a revelation. I know we didn't buy him as a defender but he has experience at CB for the German U21 and at Leverkusen and on the evidence so far he could have a future there for Liverpool. He looked utterly composed and extremely calm - exactly what we've been crying out for at the back.

Henderson is better in the centre - I don't think there was any doubt about this really. but I enjoyed seeing Henderson back in the middle and he looked much more comfortable himself. He was able to sit in with Lucas when needed, but with Lucas doing the dirty stuff he was also able to join in with the front three and make those bursting runs that we enjoy so much.

Mignolet is better than Jones - again, I don't think there was any doubt about that really. Mignolet does not look like the long term answer for us, not in the slightest and we desperately need to buy a keeper in January but I feel happier with Mignolet in goal than I do Brad Jones.

Sterling Finish - Sterling has looked fantastic playing as a makeshift centre forward his movement and intelligence is way beyond his years and he can just start to add better finishing to his game he will become unstoppable.

I also think Manquillo and Moreno should get a mention, they performed well in those wing back positions. Manquillo will never be as attacking as Moreno, but he does a decent job. Lucas as ever did all the simple stuff really well, I'm so glad to see him back in the side regularly. Sakho as well deserves a mention, their goal was as much Skrtel and Henderson's fault as it was his.

Let's just really hope we can continue this sort of form into the Leicester game and 2015 might just start to look a little rosier again.

Stick or Twist

This morning I was thinking back to the last game of last season... we'd just beaten Newcastle but narrowly missed out on our first title for over 20 years. Stood on the Kop I was applauding and saluting an incredibly exciting group of young players... who had been fearless in one of the most exciting seasons I had ever experienced. Deep down I knew I was probably waving goodbye to Suarez... but I still had faith. I had faith in the man who was saluting us, small... determined... passionate. Shankly like. Brendan Rodgers.

Less than 6 months later and that optimism and excitement has drained faster than Chelsea fans take to start singing about Gerrard. 

Suarez is sunning himself in Spain and we've been without Sturridge for most of the season. Our dodgy defence has been exposed by our lack of fire power and over 100 million's worth of new talent is taking it's time to fire. Many are doubting its quality in the first place. Rodgers' claims that any side spending that sort of money should be challenging for the title are starting to look very foolish.

This week was heralded (as they often are) as the week which would make or break our season. After two wins on the bounce, and what looked like a small resurgence we suffered a disappointing draw against Sunderland at home. Now we face 90 minutes against Basle to save our season and then a tricky away game at The Theatre of Wet Dreams against a Utd side who look to be ominously getting back on track. They feared us last season... and who can blame them? You fancy they aren't quaking in their luminous boots this week.

Rodgers despite recently being backed by FSG is under intense pressure. Some say a Champion's League exit and loss at Utd could lose him his job. Despite the so called support there are clear whisperings in the press that FSG are assessing their options... bizarrely one of whom is a man who oversaw another huge overspend and then subsequent disappointment,  one AVB.

These sort of mumourings do nothing to help the situation. FSG, the club and the fans have to decide if they are going to stick or twist with Rodgers. He deserves more than to have a sacking constantly looming over his head during this crucial period. Liverpool, FSG... fans... players... collectively need to decide to back Rodgers now regardless of what happens in the next week. Otherwise he may as well go now for whatever happens this week, when the next bad patch comes around... it will start all over again. That is not how to build stability at a club.

The problem Rodgers and FSG have is that modern football is an unforgiving world. You need instant success to survive and instant success starts with regular Champion's League football.

FSG aren't blameless in any of this however... if they are seriously questioning Rodgers credentials as the man to achieve prolonged success at Liverpool I would question their judgement. If it is instant success you want, I would question a policy of investing in youth and potential... not just in terms of players but the manager too. Appointing a young and exciting coach, but one with no European experience is not an approach guaranteed to bring you instant and European success. It is a policy which requires a huge amount of patience and an ability to hold your nerve and stick by your convictions. If FSG do oust Rodgers by Christmas I would suggest that they don't really know what their policy is.

Amongst all of this, I think we do need to keep a sense of perspective. Our season has been hugely disappointing so far, but I believe Rodgers deserves time to turn things around. However I would also suggest that the Basle game is largely irrelevant... aside from the financial boost of the next round,  a win will only prolong the wait we have to be dismissed from the competition by superior opposition. That may seem incredibly pessimistic and there is no doubt of the confidence that a win would breed, but for me more important is a win at Utd and a sustained and march into the top four places. A disappointing first campaign in the CL is not the end of the world.... not being in it again next year is a disaster.

If we can get through Christmas still in touch with the top 4 I will be happy. Sturridge will be returning, Rodgers and 'the transfer committee' can make a honest assessment of the squad and make some difficult decisions on who to stick with and where we need to strengthen again.

Rodgers appears to learn from his mistakes quite quickly,  despite a perceived stubbornness around his 'philosophy.' He has taken a lot of the new signings out of the equation over the last few games and gone with players who if not considered the most talented (Lucas, Enrique, Toure) he knows he can trust and who have experience. It's a wise move, the new players can have the pressure taken off them a bit and continue to settle in and acclimatise. Meanwhile hopefully we can grind out some results and stay in the hunt.

I have had my doubts about Rodgers, I think anyone would have had... but at this stage I feel that we as fans and FSG as owners have to hold our nerve and back him. It might backfire... but personally I see absolutely no value in bringing in someone like AVB who would want to impart his 'philosophy' and bring his players in... after all, worked for him in the past hasn't it?

Liverpool 1 - Stoke City 0 - Reaction

After enjoying a full weekend in Liverpool for the Chelsea game, it was back to day tripping for the visit of Stoke to Anfield. I don't half miss Liverpool as a City... and it is great to get back, for however long.

Although it was undoubtedly disappointing to concede late on in Bulgaria and only come away with a point and indeed our defensive ability still under scrutiny... I couldn't help feel some positivity from Wednesday night. It was absolutely crucial that we built on that against Stoke.

In the car up I scrolled through Twitter and there seemed to be a general consensus that Lucas and Toure should keep their places; with Gerrard perhaps given a rest. When the teamsheets came out, many had got their wish, Apparently Rodgers hadn't realised it was the 16th anniversary of Gerrard's debut... but even if he had, what difference should it make to his selection? He has continually said that he has not been picked on sentiment - so it really should have been seen as a non-issue.

I think the Gerrard thing has been blown out of propotion a bit - in the modern game there are very few players in any team that will play every single game of a season that contains the league, Champion's League and two cup competitions. I should imagine that whatever the result on Wednesday night, or indeed our form over the last few weeks, Gerrard may have been given a rest in this one. He has played more minutes for us this season than any other outfield player - that is not how he needs to be utilised at aged 34.

I was a little surprised to see Enrique in the starting 11, I don't know why... I think purely because I'd forgotten about his existence a bit, but I was perfectly happy with his selection. I'm a fan of Moreno, but Enrique is pretty experienced and I think relatively solid. The Johnson hate club were not appeased however, as he started at right back. Again - I don't just blindly back Liverpool players, but I do believe in getting behind anyone who puts a red shirt on (Paul Konchesky perhaps being a push) and I feel the criticism has; as if often the case in this day and age; been disproportionate and unfair. I don't doubt that Johnson's career is on the downward trajectory but again he is a player with enormous experience and I believe more passion and desire than many give him credit for - something which became apparent in the 85th minute. Yes he has played poorly at times this season, but who hasn't?

Anyway - me and my Dad were in the Main Stand for this one, a departure from our usual spec in the Kop. I am never enthused about being in the Main Stand with it being the worst of our four stands, both in terms of facilities and atmosphere, but there was actually something quite exhilarating about entering through the old turnstiles and into a proper old fashioned football stand. You can feel the history in that stand, even when you are stood in an inch of piss in the toilets.

The lack of wide screen TVs everywhere was quite refreshing and I settled in to a coffee and a good read of RAOTL. It was also a nice surprise to bump in to an old work mate, and after a good chat we went to take our seats and he departed with a pumped fist and "let's get the win here eh?" It was a burst of positivity and unwavering passion for our club that you see so obviously lacking amongst the Soccer AM; Twitter trolling LADBible twats that are so endemic of the modern game.

I had seen some comments pre-match from Spion Kop 1906 about the Supporters Club Committee meeting and their decision to not bring the usual flags on to the Kop. Instead they replaced them with protest banners - it was stark and effective action. The absence of flags on the kop was striking in the way the atmosphere was effected. I also felt like there was a deliberate avoidance of singing and chanting, aside from YNWA. It was a strong message to the club and FSG that the Liverpool 'brand' that they peddle, sell and commercially rape is built on loyal and true supporters that they need to listen to as opposed to marginalise and rip off. If they don't, what has made Liverpool FC what it is and therefore such a commercially viable 'product' globally, will die forever.

Whether the lack of atmosphere was deliberate or not the first half did nothing to ignite it - it was a truly awful first half of football. We looked nervous, one dimensional and lacking in ideas. Stoke were not much better, although Bojan was a player who caught the eye.

I was entertained more during the first half by observing Gerrard's warm up and his wonderfully down to earth reaction to Stoke fans giving him stick... obviously over 'the slip' but also references to his punching technique. It really took the sting out of what could have become rather unsavoury.

I don't know if Rodgers is one for a half time rollockings but whatever he did say at the break seemed to have an impact. We were much better in the second half; although so were Stoke. They created a great chance when Bojan put Diouf clear and I had the perfect view of Mignolet's hesitation off the line - at first I thought it was fatal, but in the end he did enough to block the shot.

A little later Bojan then rattled a shot against the bar and we were lucky not to be one nil down. We had our chances too, and I will fully admit to being in the majority in the main stand who thought Henderson's volley had gone in and was celebrating for a good 10 seconds before realising it had gone wide. Our best chance perhaps came from some of our best football as Sterling looked more himself, driving in to the box, playing a great one two with Coutinho and setting up Allen who shot just high.

Stoke still threatened however and Sterling made a match wining contribution at his own end by blocking a Diouf chance off the line.

Despite our improved second half, you always felt that Gerrard's introduction was imminent and it was good to see him introduced as an impact player high up the pitch, with Henderson swapping in to the middle and Coutinho going wide. Gerrard's presence will always be a lift and we continued to threaten to win the game. The winning goal however, came from an unlikely source with Johnson the first to react to the ball breaking free off the bar and he was hugely brave in stooping to head the ball in whilst receiving a boot to the head in the process. Anfield went wild - and momentarily even the Johnson hate club were perhaps celebrating? I for one was pleased for him.

Now we just needed to hold on. I was expecting Johnson to go off after his head injury, but Lovren came on as we moved to 3/5 at the back. Hang on we did... although I couldn't help observe a lot of confusion and indecision in our back four. Rather than Lovren suring up our defence, it almost looked like he confused matters with him, Skrtel and Toure all trying to act the leader and the three of them positioning the back line at different points... people stepping up / back out of unison. More worrying than that was the slight disdain I noticed at one point from Skrtel to Mignolet after the keeper had barked some instructions at him.

We have to be pleased with the a clean sheet, but our defensive problems are still far from resolved, something needs to change. I would say that there is very much an argument for Toure keeping his place after today. Mignolet had an improved game, but there are still question marks over him and without a real alternative in the squad he has to play himself into form. Today was a start.

Ultimately despite not being a brilliant performance this is exactly what we needed - a clean sheet and 3 points. Now we need to build on this and it feels like the fact another league game is just around the corner in the form of Leicester away in midweek is no bad thing.

Onwards and upwards - let's keep the faith.

@AnfieldShrine

Palace Reaction

After the Hull game I wrote about the need to back Brendan Rodgers. There was no doubt that we were in tough spot, but there was a series of games in which we could turn things around. I’m sat here writing this after we’ve just been bullied and beaten by Crystal Palace and it’s palpable that we are still waiting for the green shoots of a turnaround to our season… let alone a full blown fucking tree. We have now lost four games in a row; our worst league start for over 20 years and we’ve lost more league games already than during the whole of last season. I am the last one for knee jerk reactions, but as Carragher said in the aftermath of the Palace game… this is more than a poor start, something is seriously wrong. 

We now have Ludogorets in a few days’ time in which a win is absolute crucial to us staying in the Champion’s League and I think it’s fair to say no one would have great confidence in us winning it. We’re running out of games to ‘turn our season around.’

Carragher is right, something is seriously wrong… the difficult question is, what?

I’m getting more and more sucked in to Twitter these days (@anfieldshrine) and after Palace there was the usual idiotic overreactions, calls for Rodgers to be sacked and the sort of idiocy associated with both modern society and modern football. I will not get sucked in to the calls for Rodgers to be sacked. We have to give him time to get it right… but in the modern game, that time is running out. If we don’t get back into the Top 4 and drop out of the Champion’s League at the group stage… our great progress of last season will have completely vanished and we’ll have been set back years.

In my heart, I can’t help but look at Rafa and his comments about wanting to move back to his family in Liverpool and long for him to return triumphantly to Anfield. But my head tells me that I should discount that and get behind Rodgers. He deserves more time and he deserves another full season to be judged on.

At the moment, things are so bad that there are more questions than answers… 

• Is Rodgers to blame or should the players shoulder most of the responsibility? 

•  How much control does Rodgers have over transfers? Who should be held accountable for poor buys?

• Where is the Lovren that we bought from Southampton? 

• What has happened to the form of Sterling… Coutinho… Henderson… 

• As painful as it is to admit… can Gerrard handle the deep lying role and offer out back four enough protection? Has he got one eye on a move abroad to play out his years… ? 

• Did Suarez and Sturidge make Rodgers look like a great manager last season? Has he got a Plan B… or more importantly s Plan C, D and E. 

I just hope to God that we begin to see some answers on Wednesday… another defeat and Rodgers position will become even more uncomfortable, whether we think that is fair or not.