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The following will be a random set of thoughts that I just need to get out of my head. "The Liverpool Way" is a term that is thrown around a lot on here and yet if you ask someone to define it you will get a plethora of different answers all based on age, experience, location, family tradition and so on. When I was a boy I remember I used to watch the successful teams of the 80's and then less so early 90's, my support and love for the team was unconditional and the game was about football and nothing else. I may or may not have known very little about the boardroom of LFC and I know for damn sure I didn't care or know about that of any other clubs. It was a simpler time, a time when players values were not the first topic on their arrival or at least it didn't seem like it. In the old days all you needed to know was appearances, goals, assists perhaps but now thanks to OPTA we are blinded by the science of how many yards a player has ran, how many passes he made with each foot, where he spent the majority of his time on the pitch and so on. People view the game in a completely different way and it seems we are no longer fans but now we are frustrated coaches, scouts when once we were just frustrated players who still dreamed that one day Kenny would shout over "get the lad from the paddock there we're one short and he looks like he can do a job". For some people older than myself usually these new fangled ways have little to no place in the game. Sports Science should be left to the boffins and football is still a matter of gut instinct and heart. If that were true then Kenny Dalglish would have won the league in his first season back because no man in the game has more heart, love for his club (and it will always be his club regardless of who buys it or runs it) and guts as our King. I hear time and time again about how times are changing but in our case they changed and we missed the boat. The most important season in English Football that I have witnessed in this regard was 1995-1996. Kevin Keegan was leading his Newcastle side to the title but Manchester United obviously had something to say about that. It was a season that encapsulated all that had changed from the game I knew and loved and all this when I was merely 14 years old! Ferguson's mind games, Keegan's break down, Liverpool with one of the best attacking lines we've ever had with Macca, Fowler and the mercurial Collymore (has there ever been a more wasted talent in this league?) and let's not go into the FA Cup Final. Ferguson didn't have his side playing the wonderful brand of attacking football that Newcastle were playing, sure he had some great young players but Ginola, Beardsley, Lee and Ferdinand were stealing the show and then came Asprilla. So why didn't Newcastle or even ourselves with top scorer Fowler and top assists man Steve McManaman win the title? It's because Ferguson was years ahead of us not only on the pitch but off it. His wasn't a side of flash and individual brilliance, it was a team 1-11 and with squad players chipping in. His players weren't out on the pop all the time as Lee Sharpe will tell you when Ferguson destroyed his career to make a point. Ours were. I don't know if it's true but it's said that Ruddock used to carry round a coin on the pitch and see if he could pass it to other players without getting spotted on the tv, probably bollocks but conceivable at the same time given the whimsical attitude we played with at that time that held us back from being definitive contenders. It would be remiss to not acknowledge that Cantona's end of season form was massive in United winning the title but even with all his baggage and arrogance Ferguson had him playing as part of a team, he made him a leader. Anyway back to Liverpool and Houllier was in next and he did a great job though much maligned. I once met him at Athens Airport in 2007 and while there were so many questions I wanted to ask the only word that came out of my somewhat awestruck mouth was "thanks", he smiled and explained he was looking for his flight and I left him to it. Perhaps it was a dream, it certainly felt surreal. Having brought back pride and professionalism to the club it was time for Houllier to step aside for his good and ours and in came a man who took us to the next level Rafa Benitez. I believe Houllier and Rafa were very similar in their approach and that had things been different Houllier could have won us the title, just as Rafa could. As always where Liverpool are concerned it is all about ifs buts and maybes since the "premiership years" began. “When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened.” John M. Richardson, Jr. quotes I believe Brendan Rodgers like Rafa and Houllier before him and those who make it happen. While there are those that are panicking and thinking that the end of the world is nigh I say only this to you ... We've been in worse situations. In 93-94 was it Souness (who I actually believe was ahead of his time and changed too much too soon) was sacked after we finished 8th. Roy Evans came in and we finished 4th the next season. Roy Evans of course was another man who many of us myself included have great time for but could you really say you thought we were ever going to progress with him as manager? I think there are a lot of parallels to be drawn from his sacking and that of Dalglish and I believe and hope the outcome will be the same. The point is we all would love the bootroom way to work nowadays but it simply doesn't, it didn't work under Evans (though the brand of football was intoxicating and it left some fantastic memories). I am glad to have a young respected unproven at this level like Dalglish was to carry the team forward and give us a new modern direction that will allow us to compete where we should again. What good is it loving Kenny Dalglish and being inspired by him when all it seems to create is hatred towards others, as Kenny himself would tell you that is NOT what supporting this club is about and as he has said many times as much as he loves us and we love him LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB is the most important thing. Feel free to support Kenny and to continue to love him as I will but not at the expense of the future of this club.

Don't see a thread solely for the discussion of who our next manager should be so thought I'd start one. Four names stand out to me for different reasons and they might not all be realistic but I'd still like them all to be at least considered: Capello, Klopp, Villas-Boas and Benitez. Who tickles your fancy? I'll put a link to the blog I wrote about the four men mentioned above here if anyone wants a quick read of it ( One Man & His Blog: FSG's Most Wanted (Hopefully) ). Not going to post all the text as I didn't want to get too deep into it on this actual thread, it was more a case of finding out who everyone thinks we should appoint next.