If Wigan's owner can see that Liverpool are 'in a mess', why can't Rafa's critics?

By Ian Cruise in Liverpool Fans Blog

Published 16:35 10/03/10

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No-one can defend Liverpool's performance in Monday night's defeat to Wigan, but the increasing voices calling for Rafael Benitez to be sacked are growing tedious.

If the Anfield hierarchy were to dismiss the Spaniard from the dugout, it ought to be after an adequate period of managing on a level playing field – the same as virtually every other club in the Premier League. Since 2007, he has been forced to tread muddied waters and been bogged down by meddling owners.

Many people are refusing to acknowledge or do anything about this, yet will no doubt attempt to take full credit if or when George Gillett and Tom Hicks are ousted. In the meantime, they are happy to blame it all on the manager and echo what so-called experts are saying.

No-one can take any comfort from the humiliation of losing at the DW Stadium, but the words of Latics' chairman Dave Whelan after the game deserve acknowledgement even from the Kop ostrich brigade dreaming of idealism and Jose Mourinho as the next Liverpool manager.

The sports retail magnate uttered five words that sum up the previous two-and-a-half years for most supporters - "Liverpool are in a mess". He also said that he sympathised with the club's supporters for enduring the reign of Gillett and Hicks.

If the owner of Wigan can see this, why is it that Liverpool fans, who have been facing this problem since late 2007, are blind to it?

Quite simply, they refuse to accept that it is happening because it is “the manager's fault”. It is easier for people to bury their heads in the sand and sing from the same hymn sheet about Benitez's time being up because they are scared to have an opinion of their own.

This is because success, no matter how minor, leads to delusion, which in turn breeds apathy and ignorance. It was for this reason and this reason alone, that voices speaking out against the Americans were stifled last year in a bid to avoid distracting attention from the club's title challenge.

Liverpool have been one game away from crisis throughout the season but the bigger picture shows that a real Doomsday scenario is imminent at every turn thanks to Hicks and Gillett. No one can disregard the shambolic performance at Wigan but this issue runs deeper than on-field affairs.

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