Editorial 275
Welcome to Issue 275 of Red All Over The Land.
As this Issue gets put together the new season is still in nappies yet so much has happened it’s hard to know the best place to start, but here we go.
On the day of the Kops Last Stand in 1994 I, along with my nephew and niece queued for about half an hour to get on the Kop. We all had tickets but even so, there was a long queue. From then on, by comparison, it seemed queuing became a thing of the past. When the club went from season tickets in paper format to a card, we coped apart from the first day they were used, the same can be said when membership cards came into being. If you so wanted, you could stay in the pub until a quarter of an hour before kick off and still be inside Anfield for YNWA.
Enter Near Field Communications.
Enter chaos and queues outside Anfield not seen since the sixties and seventies. The club announced suggested timeslots, but this is England, travel does occasionally become disrupted by traffic on the so-called smart motorways. I don’t know which body of incompetence was behind the introduction of a system guaranteed to cause crowd congestion during a pandemic when we’re being warned everyday about the risks of Covid and death rates increasing but I’m sure they meant well. It’s also causing havoc with Fanzine sales!
The Transfer Window came and went and there were reports Michael Edwards is considering leaving his job. As one former Fanzine Editor suggested, possibly he was getting bored? I understand why Liverpool don’t follow the road of the two Manchester clubs and Chelsea. I think Manchester United only spent big to pacify the revolting masses – and Gary Neville. Manchester City and Chelsea do it because they can. However, they all recouped a few quid by selling players. Those in charge at Anfield may have just taken the safer route because the club didn’t get the chance to cash in on the title last season and match day revenue was virtually nil. No matter how anybody looks at things, if you ain’t got it, you can’t spend it. On the other hand if we had spent £50m+ on someone what would a player such as Harvey Elliott be doing? Maybe another spell on loan; maybe squatting on the bench or even back in the Under 23 side playing in front of one man and his mate. Harvey Elliott won’t save Liverpool multi-millions because that’s not how it works but he could emerge as a player in the Steven Gerrard mould and money can’t buy them. He may not; but that’s a risk worth taking and don’t forget, any big signing is a risk. I still remember Sean Dundee!
Oh yeah, there was football. As this issue winged its way to Mister Printer, we’d played three and picked up seven points and extended the unbeaten run to thirteen. We’ve got a tough looking Champions’ League group, which is usually the case and if you’re a League Cup aficionado I’m sure you’ll enjoy another trip to Norfolk. If there’s anybody left in this world that still enjoys the International breaks, well this first one has been fun. Brazil v Argentina abandoned after a pitch invasion by health officials; Naby Keïta arrives in Guinea only to find his country can’t play because of a coup and of course, Harvey Elliott goes to play for England Under 21’s and gets injured. Ever thought about giving up?
JJP: If time passes slowly, why are we always in a hurry?