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| One way or another, this ship's getting steadied. |
Those paying attention know that Fanning is one of the few truly noteworthy individuals regularly covering Liverpool for the news outlets, and he's been right on the ball since last summer when he wrote an article widely read by the Liverpool faithful in which he attempted to honestly look at the position the club was in, declaring that in six months, the Benitez era will seem like a golden age.
Admittedly he might have been a little conservative with the timeframe, but otherwise it was--and is--an absolutely spot on piece of top-notch journalistic punditry.
But this entry isn't about his work from four months ago
, rather it is to point any readers who may have missed it towards his most recent column in the Sunday Independent, a thorough--and thoroughly captivating/depressing--interview with the manager of Inter Milan where he re-affirms a line many will remember from his departure: "Liverpool is my home and I will come back."
It's hard to pick out any one line for inclusion here, and it's difficult for me to figure out how to present all this without having it turn into a Rafa love-in or Roy hate-fest. So I'll just skip through any further pleasantries and snip out (one of) my favorite part(s), when after being asked about a recent quote from Carragher that suggested Rafa may have damaged Liverpool's reputation by being too contrary with other clubs and managers he replied thusly:
"I didn't see his quote but I like Carra as a player and he has to keep focusing on doing things well for Liverpool. Maybe he has an opinion but I don't think Shankly would agree with him. For me the manager of Liverpool Football Club has to defend the club and his players against everyone. The name of the other manager doesn't matter."
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For anybody who cannot appreciate just how deeply Rafa cared about the club--for those who would joke about "Rafa FC" supporters without understanding that he may well have cared more for the club they claimed to support than they did, and that it is from this that he earned the loyalty of so many--I can only feel a little bit of sadness, but that's a fight for another day. Now go read the rest of the article even if it probably won't make you feel all that good about the club's current situation, try not to feel too broken up about said current state, and I'll be back in a couple of hours with a monster post on tactics and the evolution of the game that doesn't even mention Roy Hodgson.
And in the meantime remember that we've got two weeks to look forward to where nothing too horrible can happen to Liverpool on the pitch (he said nervously), so hooray for silver linings. With a bit of luck we might even be a few tumors lighter in the boardroom by the time the derby rolls 'round, and wouldn't that make everything that's gone on in the last little while... well, at least not quite so shite?