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Time to leave the Past Behind by Chris Bascombe

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treble2001:

--- Quote ---After the ultimate football experience on Tuesday night, it's time for a confession.

Prior to Liverpool's destruction of Roma there was something about the club which was becoming very irritating. It can be summed up in two words. 'The Past'.

For the last 20 years a generation of Reds fans have had to put up with the over-romantic brigade, lecturing the young un's on 'how it used to be in Shanks' day' and explaining why Gerard Houllier's players weren't fit to lace the boots of the likes of St John and Hunt.

We've heard all the stories from the old pros and former players who've undermined the current regime with every tale they couldn't wait to tell about how much better they were. Some did it deliberately. Others have been nothing but supportive to Houllier from the moment he arrived, but with every celebrity half-time draw over the last decade still offered a stark contrast between their class and the abilities of some of those since.

There are so many chapters in the Liverpool history book, there was no escape from the legends. Tales of Inter Milan in '65 and St Etienne in '77 have entered mythology to the point where they've almost become cliched and patronising. Dare one say it, boring?

As soon as someone starts telling me the story of Ron Yeats' wearing the all red kit for the first time or David Fairclough coming off the bench, it's time to nod off. Heard it before, again, again and again.

Sure, these were occasions to cherish and always will be, but clubs who talk so much about the past and celebrate old successes stand still. They hinder those working in the present.

When a phrase 'remember the glory days' becomes attached to a club, they're in decline. Before Houllier arrived the 'glory days' could only be witnessed on video.

The old stories were becoming very sad. Why? Not because of lack of respect. Not because these achievements don't matter. Far from it.

The reason for despising these stories is far more simple. It's envy. Many Liverpool supporters have experienced some of the greatest European nights in the history of English football because they were born 20 years before us 'young 'uns'. Jammy sods, the lot 'em. Why should they be allowed all the fun? What about those who were born after the legends retired? What about Liverpool supporters who were sucking a rusk when supersub raced through against the French?

What about those who thought the 1984 European Cup win was merely the fourth of ten victories and looked forward to an adolescence touring the continent?

Where were their European glory nights? Why should it be older Reds who've had a monopoly on the sense of ecstacy following the club can bring?

The twentysomethings have been demanding their own sense of history and on Tuesday they finally experienced it. It truly was an 'I was there' moment when Houllier reappeared and Roma retreated amid a cacophony of Kop sound.

Even now, of course, there is a regrettable but unavoidable tendency to try and compare Tuesday with the past.

Phil Thompson did it before the match, we journalists (myself included) have done it in our match reports and no doubt fans will use their own memory and insert Roma in the appropriate chapter of their minds.

But we shouldn't compare. It stands alone.

This is why Roma 2002 becomes so important. This was the kind of evening those fans who've only experienced those other occasions through books or word of mouth have been waiting for.

The legends of the past can now slip quietly back into their history books and join the rest of us in acclaiming the legends of the present.

Yes, the younger mind is right to say Sami Hyypia, Stephane Henchoz, Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen compare favourably with Yeats, Hansen, Souness and Rush. They are the new legends. Players who've provided memories which mean more to a 27-year-old Kopite than St Etienne and the rest. Why? Because we were there in 2002 and babies in 1977.

Older reds ma y dismiss this based on the luxury of having witnessed many great sides, but please don't impose your sense of reality and perspective on the rest of us.

Surely Hyypia and Gerrard and the rest could wear the red jersey in any era? They would already have done enough to earn statues outside the Main Stand at lesser clubs. In years to come, a statue of Houllier will be erected alongside Shankly.

Many will say a European Cup (or three) and league title (or six) must be won before such a bold acclamation can be made.

If anyone says this to you, ask them their age. Bet you they're over 30.
--- End quote ---

Anthony:
"He who ignores History is doomed to repeat it!"

No! Hold on - you know what I mean...  ;)

One of the main features of Liverpool's success in the 60's, 70's and 80's was the line of continuity - Shanks led to Paisley, Paisley led to Fagan, Fagan led to Dalglish. (I think, incidentally, that this is one of the most telling points of the current season with the Mancs unable to unveil a ready-made successor to their Manager despite knowing for at least 18 months that he was due to retire!)

At this point the wheels came off the conveyor belt - some would say before Dalglish left with an aging squad, some would say after his premature departure with 2 disasters in 4 years weighing on the club's collective conscience. We brought back a prodigal son who had found success outside the club but who then determined that the answer lay in demolish and rebuild. Sadly that did not work and after another hasty (yet drawn out) departure the club once again turned to an internal candidate for a period of consolidation.

In the meanwhile, a teacher-turned-football-coach was rising to prominence in France. He had spent time in Liverpool in the 60's and carried with him particular memories of watching Liverpool v Dundalk from the Kop. He became friendly with the powers-that-be at Anfield and, having used what he had learned to take France to the top of the footballing world in 2000, was persuaded to swap his application for the vacant Managerial Position at Sheffield Wednesday for a specially created joint-managerial role at the club which had first awakened his love of football.

And the rest is History!!

Many questioned his credentials. Many regarded him as an outsider. Some (who should have known better!) referred to him as "That Frenchman"! But a few saw the passion burning in his eyes for his club - a passion that came from remembering, and being a part of, the history of a great club led by a man from Glenbuck!

PS - a statue alongside Shanks? Maybe - but there's a space to be filled first by a man from Hetton-le-Hole - who indeed won 3 European Cups and 6 League Championships in 9 seasons - or even the first English Manager to win a Treble. But then again, I am 33!  ;)

Barrettski:
Nicely put Tinky Winky.

I'm 29 and I disagree with Chris Bascombe on this occasion. One banner in Placa Reial said it all. "Those that remember the past are destined to repeat it"... or something like that - hey I was pickled at the time.

archie:
sorry but i have to agree with this article.
i suppose it's all relative to when you were born
i'm 21 and only have a smattering of the end of the "glory days" to remember and alot of the unglorious endured,as we all have had,during the 90's.
we have no right to win things just because we used to,and although i am extremely proud of our history from day 1,i personally would like to have my own memories to be able to tell the younger generations,converting them to the ways of the pool and away from the dreaded conglomerate that is utd.
that is probably why last year and this year have been truely truely special and have once agaain made people sit up and take notice.
but our "bread and butter" as we all know is the league and a 12 year absence has been heartbreaking perhaps even more so due to the past glories.
it is because of these past glories i feel that our set of players as they strive to the finishing line this year have the weight of the world on their shoulders.
not only are they trying to win the league for themselves/club/fans now there is that added pressure of the past. when we do can we posssibly go from strength to strength once that weight of the past has gone.
as we get closer and media goes crazy towards the end of the season you can be sure that any interview of one of our players will be accompanied by footage of past captains lifting the trophy.
i just long for the  season when we go for 2 in a row the media will show the players of the now celebrating the seasons before triumph and whether we can do it again.
is that not a healthier kind of pressure?
maybe/maybe not.
i am sooo proud of our history and please do not think i am bringing it down in any way,as a younger fan i also recognise the need to break free and celebrate the liverpool of the now and not have to revert to waxing lyrically about days that i don't truely remember when some arse supporter of an opposing side goes on about how great some team is and how they are better than all the rest now and then.
i hope i made some valid points (i think i did)
my two cents
the arch

saph:
horrid feeling chris bascombe is the fella on my train back to manc: only scanned the article and do not want to cause WWIII but what a pile of shite!

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