Welcome to Issue 259 of Red All Over The Land.
Just a word about problems with issue 258. Due to time constraints caused by Christmas, things were done in a bit of a hurry so I apologise for any typos that slipped through the net; I do try you know. There was also the yearly battle with the Christmas post but I hope all the copies I posted eventually reached their destination. They tell me Christmas is supposed to be of fun and good cheer, well its not when your trying to get a Fanzine done. This one hasn’t been any easier to be honest. A congested fixture list ain’t easy to cope with but as I said, I do try.
Anything else worth mentioning? Well sadly we’ve gone out the Carabao League Cup after fielding what was not even a full strength Under 23 side. On the other hand we’ve become Champions of the World and I don’t care what the rest of English football thinks, I quite like that label. Against overwhelming odds we’ve even managed to increase our lead at the summit of the table and to add further to New Year cheer we knocked Everton out the FA Cup. These things do get a mention in this issue.
When I looked at the number of games Liverpool had in December and right up until the FA Cup clash I couldn’t see how we could get through without tripping over somewhere but, leaving the League Cup game out of the equation, we did so.
Full credit to Jürgen and the players. I don’t know how they got through despite having around half a dozen players on the sick list as well. We’re in a good place at the moment but as the manager keeps on reminding people there’s a long, long way to go. And as Sky smugly kept reminding us, we’re the only side to have been top during the last decade or so at Chrimbo and failed to win the title. I’ve never tempted fate and I’m not going to start now. There are tough games on the horizon, and because where we currently are and what we’re achieving every team wants to be the one to put a spoke in our wheels.
The Everton Cup-tie, like the League Cup game against Arsenal gave an insight into what players are floating just below the surface. From what I can gather Jürgen has changed the direction of things at the Academy and possibly for the first time in years we’re being made aware of what players we actually have. I’d rather see players such as those we saw against Everton staying around the club and the first team than being farmed out on loan. We may have also got a belated explanation as to why Jürgen opted out of big money deals in the transfer windows. Had the club recruited two or three players in the summer, the likes of Curtis Jones and Neco Williams would have been pushed further down the pecking order. Harvey Elliot was brought in and probably 90% of our support had no idea who he was. I think they know now. If this is the clubs policy, then we should be grateful. If just these three players make it, how much have the club saved, in fact profited, by the decision?
JJP If I’m On Borrowed Time What’s The Interest Rate? Or Isn’t Anybody Interested?