Tony Barret: Have Liverpool Rediscovered One of the Secrets of their Past Success
http://thekop.liverpoolfc.tv/_Have-Liverpool-Rediscovered-One-of-the-Secrets-of-their-Past-Success/blog/3409635/173471.htmlDURING the era in which Liverpool were dominant at home and abroad, with one trophy following another with glorious monotony and standards were set for others to try and reach, the question that continuously nagged away at their rivals was what was the secret of the Merseyside clubâs success?
The obvious answers put forward included the quality of players signed, the continuity that ensured the coaching staff was renewed from within and the winning mentality that was passed on from one team to the next.
But one thing that went almost unnoticed may actually have been the most important element of all in the Liverpool success story â that was the harmony that existed in the boardroom and the sense of unity and togetherness it engendered throughout the entire club.
At that time, the only occasions when the wider world got to know the names of Liverpoolâs directors was when something out of the ordinary happened and board members were mentioned in the press. Supporters knew who they were, of course, because their names were listed as a matter of course in the matchday programme. But they knew little else about men like Sid Moss who played a crucial role in the calm and assured running of Liverpool, all they did know for certain was that these directors actually existed.
In recent years, all that changed. Boardroom anonymity gave way to near celebrity, if not notoriety, and it wasnât all down to the increasing demands of the media during the internet age when publicity became almost impossible to avoid. Internal strife was the key reason for it with internecine battles being fought out in the kind of public glare that Liverpool had never experienced before.
It was unseemly, undignified and it did nothing but destabilise the entire club, with the division it inevitably engendered undermining everything that Liverpool had previously stood for. To misquote St Francis of Assisi: âwhere there was harmony, there was brought discord,â and so on and so on.
One thing that recent events prove is that this regrettable period in the clubâs history has now passed. When John W Henry cited the Liverpool Way following last weekendâs victory over Sunderland he did so with all the certainties of a man who knows the club is now back on track.
This feeling only grew in midweek when Ian Ayre was appointed as managing director, a promotion from within that harked back to halcyon days gone by when Liverpool rewarded their most loyal and effective employees rather than going outside the club to fill vacancies. Ayreâs rise in the ranks also ensured that for the first time in far too long, Liverpool now have a clearly defined internal structure with their former commercial director at the summit.
In some respects, it isnât the identities of those who fill the roles that matters most, it is that there is a hierarchy in place that ensures responsibility is taken and the club is able to function with the minimum of fuss as a result. It sounds simple, but the reality is that it rarely is, particularly at football clubs where the balance between personal and collective ambition can be notoriously difficult to strike.
Liverpool now have that equilibrium and with it comes an inner calm that can only assist Kenny Dalglish and his players as they endeavour to live up to the lofty standards that were set by their predecessors. It is a new era at Anfield and it is one in which anything and everything all of a sudden seems possible because everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.
Having benefitted from unity and suffered from division, there is no question which is the best route to glory. The former gives you a fighting chance of outdoing your rivals, the latter gives you none. With the recent change of owners and an ongoing revolution throughout other areas of the club, there is a palpable feeling that this is a fresh start for Liverpool and that is engendering a togetherness that is unparalleled for the club in recent years.
It is this, as much as the positivity caused by the signings of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll and the return of Dalglish, which is powering the growing sense that exciting times lay ahead. There are no guarantees that the reunification of the Liverpool boardroom will usher in a new period of unequalled success but at least that possibility now exists. That is the greatest achievement of John W Henry and his colleagues at Fenway Sports Group, they have made Liverpool look, feel and act like a class outfit again and in doing so they may just have helped the club to rediscover the secret of its success.
