Finding it hard to believe in football

George Caulkin

1. The new X-Files movie has not been a notable hit at the box office on either side of the Atlantic, but its official title, I Want to Believe, is deserving of a wider audience. So here we go: football – the truth is out there.

I want to believe that Newcastle United’s hierarchy did not deliberately undermine Kevin Keegan by releasing details of James Milner’s transfer request – submitted a week earlier – on the morning of the manager’s meeting with Mike Ashley, the club’s owner. Knowing Keegan’s resonance with the club and its supporters and the energy with which he has set about enthusing a small squad, I want to believe that everybody is pulling in the same direction at St James’ Park.

Speaking of which, I want to believe that managers manage and directors direct. I want to believe that Keegan, Mark Hughes, Alan Curbishley and Rafael Benitez, proud football men to their core, all make the final decisions over which players join and leave their clubs. I want to believe in owners who invest in youth, celebrate their club’s location and history, who do not chase losing bets and then, with little notice, slash costs.

I want to believe that Liverpool’s decision to book Steven Gerrard in for groin surgery had everything to do with medical advice and nothing to do with the forthcoming international break, when England face World Cup qualifying matches against Andorra and Croatia. I want to believe Barclays Premier League clubs look upon their host country with pride and not as an outmoded inconvenience. I also want to believe that Fabio Capello knows what he is doing.

I want to believe that Bobo Balde believes; that, in spite of making only 14 appearances for Celtic over the last two seasons, the 32-year-old believes he can force his way into Gordon Strachan’s team and that explains why he has rejected moves to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Sunderland and now Birmingham City this summer. I want to believe that footballers who earn £30,000-a-week or more actually want to play football.

I want to believe that Bate Borisov could beat CFR Cluj in the European Cup final. I want to believe that the top-four is not the preserve of the big-four and always will be. I want to believe in romance, in fairness, in cynicism being the preserve of real life, not sport. Why do I find it so hard to believe? 

2. By most club’s standards, Liverpool’s late victory over Standard Liege, a result which propelled them to the lucrative group stages of the Champions League, would have represented unparalleled drama, but in this regard, Liverpool are not most clubs. Over time and with enough repetition, even the dramatic becomes mundane.

What is drama? According to my dictionary, it is “a dramatic situation, or series of exciting, tense, tragic etc events.” Yet midway through extra-time on Wednesday night, as Rafael Benitez imparted a few rushed orders to his players, Anfield stood silent. Not quiet, but silent. Had the well of emotion run dry?

For most of the evening, the stadium choir had been in fine voice, but the poverty of Liverpool’s performance and the sense that the team would still dredge up some last-gasp heroics, made for a peculiar atmosphere. True drama for their supporters would be a 4-0 victory with all the goals scored in the first ten minutes.

3. Perhaps Roman Abramovich had a point. The decision early last season to dismiss Jose Mourinho, the most successful manager in Chelsea’s history, looked like the sulky act of a spoiled child wanting his ball back. A stated desire for more expansive football felt flimsy and vain. And yet …

Abramovich’s wealth and Peter Kenyon’s ambition may not make the Londoners an easy club to love but if, as expected, they complete the transfer of Robinho from Real Madrid, their makeover will be well and truly underway. Under Luiz Felipe Scolari, the team may finally play with the freedom their talent deserves. Less easy to loathe is a start.

Matt Hughes is away

Comments

[Bryan]

Dear George, were you Frankie Laine in a previous life?