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| The Boot Room |
Evans had taken over under very similar circumstances to those of Kenny Dalglish with the club in free fall following the turbulent tenure of Graeme Souness. After 4 years in charge Evans had successfully assembled a talented squad, who were pleasing on the eye with their attacking football and were arguably the most exciting and aesthetically pleasing team of the 1990s.
Liverpool won the Coca Cola Cup in 1995. However, that turned out to be Evans' only trophy at the club. He came close to winning the FA cup in 1996 but Eric Cantona's winner destroyed his dream.
An over-reaction to that FA Cup final defeat would lead to another round of misjudged overspending to grab a title that still alludes them. Some things never change.
Liverpool under Evans played wonderful flowing football and challenged for the title, but inconsistency plagued the team at times. Fourth-third-fourth and third place read Evans' league record in his four years in charge. Liverpool had shown genuine promise of being able to win the title in 1995-96 and 1996-97 but in the end everything fell apart.
He then was forced into an 'arranged marriage' with Gerard Houllier, which was never going to work, and it lasted a little over three months when Evans 'resigned'.
This led to changes in the playing staff with Steve McManaman's much publicised move to Real Madrid under the Bosman ruling, also out went Paul Ince, David James and Rob Jones.
In came Houllier's relatively unknown foreign signings - Sander Westerveld, Titi Camara, Vladimir Smicer, Erik Meijer, Dietmar Hamann, Stephane Henchoz and Sami Hyypia. Phil Thompson was reappointed as Houllier's assistant but an early exit from Europe and a 7th position finish in the league meant no European football the following season. Fortunately for the new managerial team it was somebody closer to home than the array of foreign signings that would save their masterplan.
Steven Gerrard emerged as a youngster who had the potential to take charge of matters in the dressing room and on the pitch. Gerrard was almost single handedly about to gloss over the cracks during the coming years.
Houllier’s most successful year came in 2000-2001 when success in the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup brought silverware to the club. A makeshift treble was widely celebrated even though it did not contain the trophies Liverpool had once set as a benchmark - the League title and European Cup. Nobody allowed the details to get in the way. It took a penalty shoot-out to beat Birmingham in the League Cup, a Michael Owen late show to win a FA Cup final dominated by Arsenal and a last minute 'golden goal' against little known Alaves in the UEFA Cup final.
A 2nd place finish to Arsenal in 2001-02 followed which gave everybody hope. Yet, despite another FA Cup final victory over arch rivals Manchester United a season later the club fell to a 5th placed finish. Relative success in the eyes of some, but not any closer to a consistent title challenge. Following a 4th position finish in 2003-2004 season, the manager’s excuses became more and more difficult to listen to. The cups were simply not enough. Some things never change.
It seemed clear that Houllier was living on borrowed time. Four trophies in five seasons gave the supporters some unforgettable memories but in the end an unattractive cautious approach to games and too much money wasted on players that just weren’t up to the job ended an era.
Rafa Benitez arrived on the back of guiding a Valencia side to the title in Spain. Against the odds and splitting the domination of Real Madrid and Barcelona, fans rallied around their new boss citing the Spanish example as proof they had a title winning coach at the helm. Benitez, it was claimed, would be a tactician who played the long game. A manager who knew how to win a league and not just deliver cup success.
What happened next changed Liverpool’s outlook for the best part of a decade. A European Cup victory that defied explanation was won in the most unusual circumstances in Istanbul. A team that was in transition and mainly playing with Houllier’s DNA won the biggest cup of all. European Champions were hailed .... but only a 5th place finish in the league.
The only other success was to be an FA Cup final win over West Ham in a penalty shoot-out and although finishing a creditable 2nd in the league in 2008-2009, the £229 million spent was seen as poor value. With alleged disharmony within the squad and numerous altercations with the new owners, Sir Alex Ferguson and other managers, Benitez departed after 5 years in charge. In the end the cups just were not enough. Some things never change.
The recent reigns of Roy Hodgson and 'King Kenny' Dalglish further question how flamboyant spending and cup winning sides have disfigured ambitions and the goal of getting back to the roots Bill Shankly once famously laid. ‘The league is the bread and butter’ claimed Shankly and never has it been more the case than in 2012.
Liverpool used to be the example of how to win with a prudent and simple approach. A club who used to be comfortable in its own skin. The current owners will take a large portion of the blame for robbing Liverpool of its soul by sacking Dalglish when the rebuilding job was just beginning.
Looking back, they are just the latest in a long line of mistakes that have plagued Liverpool Football Club.
When Roy Evans was shifted from his managerial role it was supposed to save Liverpool from the wilderness. To stop a club falling behind the modern game. Instead, a similar ‘boot room’ approach has seen Barcelona be hailed as the masters of pass and move football that Europe had been overwhelmed by - it used to be Liverpool’s trademark.
If David Moores had ploughed the money wasted on a succession of managerial changes into updating Anfield in the late 1990s, if he had given Roy Evans only half of the transfer budget that has been given on over-exaggerated rebuilding of squads that were quite decent to begin with, Liverpool would have firm foundations to build on.
Takeovers are a nonsense in football. They change very little other than hike up players wages. Unless you catch the biggest fish in the pond.
Perhaps if David Moores had focused on catching the biggest fish rather than taking the bait of the biggest spenders, Liverpool could be enjoying the riches that Manchester City have now.
More gut-wrenching for Liverpool fans is that the answers did not lay in Texas, Boston or Abu Dhabi. They were already on Anfield Road. Quite simply if Liverpool had stayed true to themselves, their boot room philosophy, updated their home instead of filling it with the latest expensive fad - they could have ruled doing what they used to do best.
Barcelona have their own slogan ‘Mes Que Un Club’ - more than a club. So is Liverpool. John Henry will no doubt find that out sooner or later ... Liverpool needs to get back on the road that served them so well.. if they have not gotten too lost some place else.
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