Rambling on my mind

by StuartC · April 18, 2022

AN ARTICLE BY SUPERSUB

Sunday afternoon & can’t be arsed watchin Palace/Chelsea. It’s not a game that affects us, coz we’ll batter whichever one of them is ‘lucky’ enough to get through. Either/or really…meh.

And I’m tired of hearing so much about how great we are at the moment. Not in a bad way or anything, it’s just that I’m pacing meself ya see. We have to at our age, don’t we Stu..?. As far as I see it, there’s gonna be much more of this in the foreseeable future, this is just the beginning. More & more every day, this is reminding me of the early 1970’s & the kick-start of the Shankly/Paisley/Dalglish dynasty that Shanks built. It’s got exactly the same kind of feel to it, but with the added spice or us taking on the BIG money sides & teaching them a lesson or three. I love that part.

Just been watching the Celtic/Rangers Cup semi-final. What a cracking game of football that was. As far as ‘star’ names go, the most recognisable on display today were probably Aaron Ramsey, who’s with Rangers on loan from Arsenal & Joe Hart, who cost Celtic about £1m from Spurs. The most expensive player on show today was, I think, Ryan Kent & we all know about him.

So, for Luis Diaz, you had Ryan Kent & for Alisson Becker, you had Joe Hart and….for Virgil van Dyke…. you had Cameron Carter-Vickers, who’s on loan (from Spurs) & ‘valued’ around £2.5m. But those three, alongside the other players from both sides, fought out what I can only describe as a pulsating battle for 120 minutes plus.

You wouldn’t argue that the skills on display today were at the same level as what we’ve seen here recently, but the passion made it an occasion. It was just two football teams goin hell-for-leather at each other non-stop. End to end stuff & with a capacity Hampden crowd, split 50/50 between the two sets of fans, the atmosphere was summat else. It was like watching an old fashioned, proper game of football. It was just…..real.

Scottish football does get some stick at times, which I think is often unfair. It has to be said that, after Celtic & Rangers, there is a considerable drop off in quality, but that’s what you’d fully expect in today’s financial situation. The PL is another example of that.

But these two teams are quality. It’s been argued that, hypothetically, if you could drop these two into the PL next season, they’d be instantly rivalling teams like West Ham, Leicester, Man U, Wolves etc. Leaving aside any notions of the potential for trouble with fans (coz this is hypothetical…thankfully, maybe), give them 4 or 5 seasons of PL experience & the vast sums of money that goes with it & who knows…?? These are two massive clubs, with a great history & a massive, passionate, fervently loyal fan base. It’s all speculation, but the likes of Arsenal, Spurs & Chelsea would need to watch out I reckon. There’s some cracking young players up there right now.

I can’t see that happening, but there’s nothing wrong with thinking hypothetically every now & again I guess.

Summat else the game reminded me of, was the matches we had with Everton in the 1970’s & 80’s. Before football changed.

They’re bonkers now, but back then….🤯🤯🤯

My first ever Merseyside derby, was back in the 70/71 season. Me & a mate, with me Dad & Uncle in the Paddock at Anfield. If I wasn’t hooked on LFC before this game, I certainly was afterwards. I was already hooked tho, coz me dad had made sure of that. Thanks dad.

I saw some crackers over the years;

The 5-0 (Rush scored four) at Goodison Park, in 1982/83. The Park End was a horrible, sh!tty little terrace & your view from near the front was just about above pitch level, but what an afternoon that was.

The 75/76 at Anfield which, if I remember rightly, was an early kick off, due to the Grand National later that day. This game saw David Fairclough’s finest ever Liverpool goal. It’s a goal that Maradona must’ve seen & practised long & hard, before showing us his version of it vs England in the 1986 World Cup. DF was far more than just a one hit wonder.

The all-Merseyside Wembley cup finals in 84 & 86, where we collectively took over London. The images of fans dragging each other up the Wembley walls, with their scarves knotted together…both red & blue, it didn’t matter.

A group of young scallies in the Paddock at Goodison one time, tryin to provoke a fight with some Everton fans in the Glawdys St end & being swooped up by a couple of big, burly, donkey jacket wearing Dockers & told to “F*ck off to Glasgow if you wanna fight at a Derby game”. They ‘calmed down’ somewhat after that.

The Derby at Anfield (early to mid 80’s if I recall rightly), where the Kop was about one third full of Everton fans. That couldn’t have happened with any other team, without there being a more than a few hospital admissions.

And that’s even before we go into the role of Everton fans in this city post-Hillsborough, but that really is a whole other subject in itself

I’ve only ever owned one half & half scarf in me life & it’s a commemorative red & blue one from back then.

It’s different nowadays of course. There’s an edge to it. It’s dodgy at times. The reasons for that are many & complicated which, in themselves, would provide yet another whole new topic for discussion. Can’t be arsed with all that right now tho, it’s time for a Bovril & a smoke.

This is just a ramble really & isn’t really going anywhere, except to say that no matter how funny I think it is to see Everton struggle so much, I don’t really wanna see them get relegated. I love the Derbies with them. Yes, they’re thugs at times & we’ve lost key players through their bitter nastiness, but they’re from Liverpool, fellow Scousers & I’d rather they remain bitter & being also being beaten by us at least a couple of times a season. The only thing that would please me about their relegation (which I doubt will happen anyway), is the failure of Frank. Now that would be comedy gold, but his time will come.

For now, I’m quite happy to look forward to the end of May, where we’ll be watching (probably) Evertonians wildly celebrating staying in the PL, whilst we count our trophies, (whether it be one, two, three, or four), look forward to our victory parade(s) & rubbing our hands with glee, at the thought of this all starting up again in August.

End of ramble. Sorry Red…..😉

Liverpool vs Everton. 1970/71