The Second Coming of GOD

Greetings, gentle readers.

So the weekend has drawn to a close and what do we find? What we find is this: the forces of goodness and light have been thrown into disarray. Not only have Liverpool’s last three league matches yielded a measly single point out of a potential nine, but two of those games have been lost to “big” teams, meaning that looking at the standings now, Liverpool trail Man Ure by six points and Chelski by a whopping twenty-one points. We still have two games in hand, but we’re going to be playing those over the next two weeks, as, in typical marathon-style, we play Charlton away at the Valley Ground on Wednesday, 8 February, then Wigan away at the JJB the following Saturday, before playing Arsenal at Anfield on Tuesday. And then to cap off an exhausting week, we play Manchester United in the 5^th Round FA Cup tie that everyone wants to watch. Things look bleak.

Not only have the results of recent note been rather less than encouraging, but the game against Chelski caused even more problems. Pépé Reina, the stalwart goalkeeper who has been providing Liverpool with solid protection at the back, and safe, confident assurance in defence, has been suspended for the next three games. Now this is not necessarily bad, as this means a return to action of the Pole in Goal, the Dude himself, the man with the magic thighs that stunned crowds by the Bosphorus — Jerzy Dudek. Of course, he hasn’t had a first team start all season, so he may be a tad rusty, but it’s still a bad sign when you have to play without your first-choice keeper for three games, or in this case for Liverpool, six days.

On the positive side, Rafa Benitez and the new Boot Room Boys have pulled off the transfer miracle of the season, signing God himself to a six-month contract on a free transfer. That’s right. The Toxteth Terror has come home. More than four years after his sad departure for Leeds, and then later to Manchester City, Robbie Fowler has returned to Anfield where his fans still swell in their legions. He never looked like enjoying his football whilst he was away, always doing a steady journeyman’s work, racking up the most goals for the Man City squad last year, but without any sense of pride or accomplishment. Now the home-town boy is back, reunited with the other home-grown Scousers, and how we need him to pot some more of his trademark goals at the moment. It was too much to expect divine intervention to intercede at this stage of the season, but lo and behold, such deital assistance has come.

For those of you who aren’t aware of Robbie Fowler’s god-like status, I’ll endeavour to re-post my original angst-ridden dirge when I heard the Gérard Houllier had sold the legend himself off. And to Leeds, of all places. (shudder)

In any event, I shall be watching the Charlton game with baited breath, and awaiting the true Second Coming of God as Robbie lashes down his holy wrath upon Charlton Pathetic. I’ll dredge up my older article and post that later, and I’ll have to get back on track with my top 20. After all, the Premiership is past the half-way point, and I haven’t even reached #14 on the list yet. I shall return, and hopefully bring news of wondrous things and amazing exploits. Good night England, and the colonies.

-mARKUS

¥Justice for the 96¥