A real Christmas cracker...

With hopefully some champagne to follow come May? Ooooh, let's hope so...!

Two of our best performances of the season to cap off the end of what's been a faith-renewing year for Liverpool Football Club. Who'd have thought it considering where things stood twelve months ago?

If you cast your minds back, it was on December 30th a year ago that we drew 0-0 with Manchester City; a game we should've won but could not find the back of the net to save our lives. That result - followed hotly by that gobsmacking Titus Bramble equalizer in the 1-1 draw against Wigan on January 3rd - were when even the most optimistic of Reds realized their rose-tinted specs were decidely of the "beer goggle" variety. We flattered to deceive (mainly ourselves), and any boozy dreams of winning the title in 2008 felt downright silly only 3 days' in. There was disappointment of course but also a bit of embarassment; who the hell were we kidding anyway? It was over, wasn't it? I mean it disn't take much to convince one that if we couldn't beat the likes of Wigan with both Torres and Gerrard in the side, we'd never win anything with players like Benayoun and Lucas?

There was also the ongoing farce between our owners and Benitez. The Dubai lot stringing us along like a lovesick teenager. The evaporation of any hopes for a new stadium anytime within the next 5 years. Transfer sagas that made us look complete naifs.

But it's turned around now and thank god for that. We can all only guess at what had made it do so - I threw some ideas out there already in my November 21 post. But the most important part is that the boardroom tempests are no longer overshadowing what's happening on the pitch and the people that matter - players, manager/staff and the supporters - are all pretty much on the same page and moving forward together. I won't say everything's perfect (not at all) and how different the story would be if some of those nailbiting wins early this season had been draws or losses. But if we can't take heart from the steady progression we've made (much less believe both #19 and I'll say it, #6, are distinct possibilities) then ffs, please go find a club where wallowing in misery is the norm - there are plenty around at the moment.

Yes, there were some moments in 2008 that should be confined to the scrapheap of history but boy, there were also some absolute beauts:

• Babel's scuffer against the Mancs after that great buildup from Masch & Kuyt!


• Fernando's double against the Bitters!


• Mascher's belter against Reading (and brilliant "f*** you" celebration after)!


• The humilation of Wenger's kids at Anfield!


• The so perfectly appropriate deflected winner from Xabi against the Chavs!


• The euphoria of one seemingly impossible comeback win after another! (and making it look easy)


• Topping the Champions League group in style!

Oh, and did I forget to mention again that we're on top of the league by 3 points?!

Baby!!

We're getting there, folks - we are getting there. It's as the great Lester Freamon once said (as any fellow The Wire devotee will know):

"We're building us a case, piece by piece... and all the pieces matter."

So savor those shiny pieces from the year that was ... and roll on the ones to come in 2009. If things continue along the lines of 2008, we are in definitely in for a good 'un.

A very happy and healthy new year to one and all!

Back in NY...

Would love to say it's great to be back but that's only sort of half true, especially as it was absolutely freezing upon my return. I was on holiday for eight lovely days in my adopted home of Curacao. It's a wonderful place - the mosquitos certainly think so too this time of year - and even the U.S. and Russian militaries have taken a shine to it in recent months as a loud-talking fellow named Hugo lives a mere 20 miles south over the water. But I really love the island, and if nothing else it will always get props from me for making that bright blue stuff our own Russian Paul drinks post-match at the bar. (Anything that turns an alcoholic beverage into something you feel insecure drinking without a radioactive suit on is alright in my book.)

The only negative is that we've got no cable/satellite/internet service where we stay down there - who needs it when looking at an expanse of sea? - but that leaves me pretty much Liverpool-deprived for the duration. I was thankfully able to keep up to speed with the West Ham match thanks to the kind texting service of an 11th St. Kopite (who probably needn't have bothered considering?!) and by swiping a friend's Blackberry when I could to check the OS and the LFCNY forums. Whew - talk about roughing it!! But even down there, someone must've recognized my plight as I espied a young migrant worker on the flatbed of a truck wearing a 2002 away replica top - can't tell you how much that brought a smile to my face. Come to think of it, I've only seen about 4 locals wearing replica tops over the years (baseball's the bigger sport down there, Dutch island or no): one Barca, one Holland (with van Horsehead on the back but I'll forgive - at least it wasn't a Manc or Madrid shirt) and two - count 'em two - Liverpool shirts. Great island or what? :-)

Anyway, dire game or not to start December (and a not so much better one 5 days later), I return to Brooklyn with us sitting atop the league table! Though by god you'd never know it from the moaning in some quarters. Could we play "prettier" football - sure. Should some players step up more - no question (though I think they're starting to get the idea going by late at Ewood Park and in Eindhoven). But I'm not quite sure what people expect. How many seasons have gone by that we've complained - with begrudging admiration, mind - about other teams grafting (or, if you want to be less kind, spawning) their way to the title? I can certainly think of about a dozen jammy Lampard deflections and last-minute ridiculous winners that nonetheless helped the Chavs and Mancs to their respective titles in recent seasons. I'll guarantee you that as "luverly" as Arsenal were in their "invincible" season, there were some less than fabulous performances along the way even though few of us could name them off the top of our heads. But with twelve draws - only one less than we had last season btw - how could there not have been?

So why are Liverpool the only club seemingly exempt - even by some of our own supporters - from doing it the less than 100% aesthetically pleasing way?

Perhaps we expect - no, demand - the best every time out as the "knowledgeable fans" that we purport to be. There's not really anything wrong with that ... well, except for the fact that there are always dips and sways along the way to a title and always will be. That's the way it works. The trick is sometimes as much about minimizing the damage when not at your best as pummelling your opponents when you are. No surprise that the evergreen Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher have been our best players in recent games while others have been getting slaughtered. I only pray that when Jamie's hung up his boots and is pointing out the various honours he's won to Mia and James that there's a Premiership winners' medal up there on the shelf next to the rest (alongside knees and hip bones preserved in fomaldehyde, no doubt).

Seems hard to fathom that the dips and sways are forgotten about or seem a complete surprise; especially since we've been mainly a team of sways and dips in the league for too much of our recent history. So, long and now short - we're almost at the halfway point of the season, folks, and we've not seen the best of most of our players yet. A reason to be cheerful if ever I've heard one. Let's just take a deep breath, sit back and try to enjoy the thrills and spills to come.

Just one last word about that West Ham game. While certainly not one for the record book, the efforts of the club and the Spirit of Shankly group before the match on behalf of the Michael Shields' appeal must be acknowledged. Tremendous work all around - here's hoping he will be released soon. This, along with the JFT96 protest last year, really keep things in perspective. And frankly, it's incredibly reassuring to see that this high a level of integrity and principle remain to make such a public statement as many other things around the club have been compromised. To be perfectly honest, I can't think of another club that would take such a stand. (And will just add that Sue Johnston once again shows why she is a legend! Well in, Barb.)

Should be a cracking game - and Xmas party - at the weekend. Will check back in a few if not sooner.