Topic: RAWK's Round Table Season's review.

[Hinesy]

To be a fan is to feel. Anything less and you're not really a fan. Of any club. I'm a Liverpool fan and they make me feel.

Over the last few weeks I've been angry. Frustrated. Elated. Surprised. Pleased. Fucking delighted. And proud.
The eternal argument of whether you're allowed to be pissed off with a team or not, makes you some sort of superfan is bollocks. But there are people who have had less perspective than a Tory benefits minister. Its ok to be fucked off and proud simultaneously. Its ok to want to kick the cat and jointly know this was a good season. For me, to feel is football. I don't support football. England, foreign teams (ok I have soft spot for Scunny), I'm a Liverpool supporter. And so yes I'll grumble about bloody Glen Johnson, but I'll back him to the hilt. And I'll refuse to read the papers after a defeat but know we're nearly up that hill.
Its an interesting statistic that the majority of tacticians and analysts are male. Because we like it as a hobby, as a job, an interest. Or a series of hard facts to hide behind in times of difficulty, and we don't like to be emotional ever do we? But whilst you can be a fan of LFC and a tactical analytic genius, you still have to feel. Explaining why we lost is interesting, informative and certainly useful for the players, and perhaps for us a shield of justification, rationalisation as to why we didn't pump the other side 29-0. But its not being, feeling, letting yourself just be.

Its not the reality of being a fan. The reality is shown in every and any commercial for the game. You never see an advert for The World Cup that has 4 lads round a whiteboard with magnetic markers. You invariably see them spilling their pint in slow motion. We are all right now, emotional and emotional wrecks at that.

This isn't me having a go at our home grown pundits at all, I love reading their stuff. But it is a 'go' a 'dig' and poke and whatever else, at those newspapers, and online 24hr news hungry rumour mongering desparadoes who can 'explain' why the club, my club, (our club not fucking yours by the way); fell away, lost it, didn't win, didn't do the deed.

I've often said that I'm not in any way skilled at noticing the finer nuances of our play. Feelings not facts for me. So my season review starts with this: I want you, as a fan, to sit back when the dust dies down, with your dram, and smile and let the pride bubble up. Because we have had one hell of a ride.

This season has been about the moments. Those moments of such small detail. Winning a set of early season 1-0's instead of losing them, or drawing them. Mignolet saving a pen against Stoke, fouls not given, shots inches wide, chances taken for a change and the early season put us up top. And how we laughed at the preposterous-ness of it all. But what's interesting for me is that we went on to be taken seriously and for many of us, take it seriously We could win. We might win. We believed

To be honest, we didn't lose the league this last week. A defeat to Chelsea? Not really earth shattering news. A draw against a Pulis side who'd beaten and taken on the rest of the best? Not amazingly unusual. The manner in which the results were achieved, maybe so, but we all know the league was lost at Hull, where we were rotten; at Stamponluis Bridge when penalties were scandoulsy omitted; at home to Southampton, drawing 2-2 to Swansea, these were the moments where the latter pressure came from.

So my season review is very simple: others will happily, extensively and properly look back and calmly discuss this season, rationally, factually perhaps.

Me? I'm just thankful I could watch it, be part of it, take such joy from the highs and feel the hurt of the lows. Emotion makes us know we are alive, and this year, that beautiful sleeping giant that is Liverpool Football Club, came alive once more and ripped through some teams like they were properly shit.

Highlights:
Suarez's goals against Norwich at ours. Just wow.
The first half against Everton, no, Spurs, no I mean Arsenal, no fuck it, Utd, er all of em.
MichaelA and I travelling to Shank's grave on the anniversary, the day we beat Man Utd at ours. A proper day out. With meaning. Emotion. Feeling. oh, and Coutinho's goal at Anfield against City.

Lows:
Frustration and disbelief at times until the reality kicked in: We would all, every single one of us, have taken up the simple offer of this: At the end of the season, you could still win the title on the last day. Up for that? Yes.

When someone cooks you a wonderful meal, you don't immediately say after the last crumbs have tumbled off your fat belly onto the dog, "Well, the gravy needs looking at". You relax and enjoy the moment. You don't say"Well, the potatoes weren't as good as the one's next door but they cost £40 more than ours so I'm not surprised" So whilst yes we can say we came 2nd to the most expensive team in sport, and yes look how much they cost and we've come on, right now, I'm not really bothered as much as I'm just proud.

I'm proud to be a fan, a Liverpool fan and out of all the many seasons I've seen us succeed and fail, this is up there. Not for some grand failure melancholy gesture but really truthfully because we enjoyed our days out. We developed a style, a elan, an elegance. Make us dream. That shiver you get when you think of that phrase. That's why we watch football, that's why we watch our team. The reason banner saying 'Make Us Dream' works at a football match (because it should be plainly nonsensical) is simple: It provokes an emotional response. It makes us smile, and it makes us like kids on Christmas morning, excited. To be alive to be aLiverpool fan.


Well done to my team, our team. Apparently there are other teams available but I wouldn't swap mine for anyone. Right now, I feel proud, knackered and excited. Frustrated a little sure, but most of all, we can hold our heads up high and know that we support, feel and are fans of the best fucking team in the world.

[Hazell]

I'm not as down as I probably thought I'd be and today's game wasn't particularly great for us, taken in isolation. But it was important to finish second and with a victory to end the season on a positive note.

The season's given me a lot of joy with the football we've played, the goals we've scored like Suarez's goals against Norwich - His  third was the bets but his first is my favourite for the sheer 'what the fuck!' reaction I had -  or his incredible hat trick against West Brom - a header from outside the box! and not in the Carlton Palmer sense - his incredible performances and goals when Sturridge was out in December. Or Sturridge's performances in showing he was more than a half season wonder for us and becoming the second best striker in the league - those goals at Villa Park and against West Brom were incredible. Or watching Sterling and Flanagan develop - one who a lot of people always felt had all the ability in the world and brain to match and another who not many people including myself would perform at the level he has. Both came through the Academy (albeit one we got from QPR) and have been excellent this season. Sterling especially, after some criticism earlier on in the season, has been one of the best players, not just young players or wide players (he's a total footballer anyway) in the league since December. Or Henderson going from being laughed at to being one of our best players and probably on the plane to the World Cup. And of course Rodgers - who's been responsible (along with his staff and the players themselves) for all of the above.

But what this season has given me more than anything else is hope. All of the above points to how much we can improve next season, from Suarez being in his prime and Sturridge showing just how talented he is, to our younger players like Flanagan and Sterling improving in an already good side and our other youngsters waiting in the wings, to our already improving players continuing to do so and Rodgers continuing to improve as a manager. All of which will benefit this club.

And football is about hope. A big part of it is anyway. It's obviously about winning and we take and celebrate our victories but it's looking forward to the next game or in this case, the next season. And there's lots to be hopeful about.

We've had numerous close seasons in the recent past where we're not quite sure where we are or where we'll be - be it due to low league positions, players wanting out, having terrible owners or other such things - but right now, it feels like we're going places with this team and this manager and it means I'll have a happy summer even though we came so close to a title and didn't win it, because it doesn't feel like that was our only chance. We've plenty more of this to come.

[-HH-]

We Go Again

A special season now is done
And sadly there's no title won.
But memories of how we played
Will hold us through these summer days.
One memory for me stands out
Our captain gives a rallying shout.
Emotion strong, he tells his men
We Go Again.

Those words so heartfelt and inspired
Don't change because of what transpired.
For Stevie is a man who leads
Desiring always to succeed.
Pushing himself and those around
To always reach for higher ground.
He bottled it? Go boil your head
Support your fucking team instead!
As we back ours and know that then
We Go Again.

So Chelsea came and things went wrong
And now they sing that fucking song
And flood the web with endless memes
Our captain's slip, their bitter dream.
Don't let them take those words from him
As if it's ruined by what they sing.
Don't let them say he fell on his arse
And gave the ball to Demba Ba.
Because though he did, we know he slipped
And from there they were well equipped
To defend their lead, to waste our time,
To keep their deep defensive line.
We know that horrid twist of fate
Was just one game of thirty-eight
As Mourinho spouts his bitter chat.
The Special One? The "Special" Twat.
I'll stick with backing Rodgers men.
We Go Again.

I'm proud of reds who backed their team
And lined the streets as they made us dream.
I'm proud of our courage and conviction
As we battered all pre-season predictions.
I'm proud that at 33-1
We oh so nearly had it won.
I'm proud of our captain and proud of his words
And proud I'll remain despite internet nerds
Who hide behind computers and type on their screens
And have no idea what that passion means.
It means that they care, that they'll fight for the club
For those in the ground and for those in the pub.
For those who support us home and away
And even the gloryhunters who turn up in May.
The importance of that passion cannot be diminished
Though our best season for years had a frustrating finish.
You'll see how it matters next season when
We Go Again.

[doghouse]

'Like Football Honey' – Ballad of LFC’s Season, 2013/14

Like all the reds for many years
We’ve shared the joy, we’ve shared the tears
When leagues went by we’d drown in beers
Will it return, oh when?
But then emerged in 2014
Brendan’s amazing football team
It made us sing it made us dream
Oh yes we dreamed again

We played so sweet
Like football honey
But City bought the league
With dirty oil money

We hit them all with shock and awe
In no time we’d score three or four
The Arse they couldn’t take no more
The Toffees did surrender
Man U a double, they got stuffed
Luis Suarez, we couldn’t get enough
And Spurs felt sick and very rough
Bowed down to our red splendour

We went to hell when Steven fell
But we’ll support our captain well
That’s because we’re Liverpool
You’ll never walk alone

We went to hell when three goals fell
The Palace bells rang our death knell
But we’ll be back, we’re Liverpool
You’ll never walk alone

He made the Kop roar
Like Shanks did before
Brendan Rodgers made us dream
Let’s go again once more

[DanA]

Was a cracking season across the board with a heartbreaking end but it woke us as a football fans, i've been a bit numb since the summer of the owl and Joe Cole's signing four years ago. Anfield a bit sterile but that changed just a tad by the end hey!

The highlight for me was Flano's game against Everton. It was a great turning moment in his career.

Summing up the season though the biggest thing I take from this season is progress. One of the youngest squads to finish top 4. 101 goals and from seventh to title contenders. How far we've come. The team we started with is nothing on the team we finished with. It took a fair bit of tinkering and development from Rodgers but he moulded a team that won 12 in a row in the back half of the season. Imagine if we had that team in the bigging, talk about not being able to challenge next season....pft, how can we not be favourites?

Look a how we progressed.

The first few weeks we started with Moses and Aspas playing as number 10's which didn't really work for us but fortunately we nutted out some early 1-0 wins. It still cost us points though.  We switch to a back three when Suarez returned and while we were better with Suarez the system didn't work for us. We dropped more points against Southampton but still results were solid.  The Hull abomination December 1st was the last of it. The last time Moses started and the first Sterling did, a crucial change IMO SAS gained an S. Later we shifted Coutinho to a deeper midfield role, used Gerrard  as a single pivot and it was the bigging of our run. Around the same time Flanagan took over from Cissokho. Suddenly we were the form team of the competition....12 wins in a row. Week by week Rodgers tinkered and week by week we got better.
   
The great thing for me is the clear evidence that Rodgers is learning, that the players are responding to his methods. Players have found roles a flourished, getting better every week.  Set pieces became lethal weapons, and we eventually worked out how to defend them. But the ceiling is not hit. There's clearly still work to be done on defence and think about this..we got one solitary goal in general play from a player outside what finished as our best eleven. What's going to happen now we can afford a bench capable of supporting this team?  Rodgers hasn't taken steps forward, he's hopped on giant fucking stills and started bounding forward. Neil Armstrong on the moon like bounds.....on giant stilts. Leaving the rest in his wake. It's fanfuckingtastic