Taking a lesson from 33 years ago...

If your team had been pipped to first place in the league and were unlucky in a Cup Final. you could be mistaken for thinking that next season is "same again, just try a bit harder." In his first 2 seasons as Player Manager, (now Sir) Kenneth Matthieson Dalglish took Liverpool to a League & Cup Double (plus the Screen Sport Super Cup), a share of the Charity Shield, a runners-up spot and lost to Arsenal in the League Cup. Success in (almost) anyone's book... but standing still is to go backwards in a race. The King tinkered with what he had, bringing in the triumphant trio of Aldridge, Barnes & Beardsley to take "my" team to a new luscious level. During the enforced early closed season, this Player Manager is taking a leaf out of the Glaswegian God's book.

The kit may have been packed away for a while and the nets taken down. The food in the freezer for the unhosted hospitality has been distributed to those in need. Votes have been counted for the Player of the Year, whilst Manager's Player and WotW are being deliberated over. The past season (and perhaps the remainder if we belatedly get to play it) has been a turnaround with only 2 games lost, a first Cup Final (albeit not played), an unfinished league that if finished could have seen us challenge for the title and a current swing in positive Goal Difference of over 60. So Doing things differently has resulted in improvements, so standing still would be an anathema to this attitude. Social Distancing need not mean not making contact. Enhancing the squad with new signings on WhatsApp whilst working with the current collective to hone and hew themselves in this fallow time has occupied some of my time. Additional sponsors and improved kit are being sought, as well as fitness programmes planned and post-match meal recipes read up on.

Last season we operated on a squad of 26... including 3 emergency Goalkeepers. At our age, with undoubted changes in individual's priorities and an increase in games, we will need to be different once more. Standing still is not an option. In the seasons subsequent to the summer of 1987, Liverpool went on to win 3 Charity Shields, 2 more Titles (as well as runners-up), an FA Cup and plaudits from Sir Tom Finney. If truth be told, we should have had won more, but winning is always about being better than before. I want White Roding SuperVets to win more.

The lockdown is expected to last at least another 2 weeks and therefore it is fitting that football (as well as footballers) takes this time to be better than before. In 2 weeks, as a fan of the football club and a football fan, I will remember those that were poorly treated by the tragedy of Hillsborough. Kenny and his wife steered the club & the city through those terrible times. 3 decades on, the game and those that now benefit from it have a duty to repay those that support the sport in the current climate... both at grass-root level and above. In the meantime, stay safe everyone, stay in touch and I will see you all once the curfew has been lifted. YNWA