Sometimes, it is only when you move away that you find out most about the place you left behind. After years of scrutinizing, it is this very wonderful paradox which has allowed me to become closer to understanding the nature of English football & the fundamental reasons behind its success. Whether it is a new found maturity, a clarity born from escaping the social constraints of home, safe from hazardous distractions, or simply because I now have something to compare it to; I’m not entirely sure. Nevertheless, moving away has certainly opened my eyes to a concept that many managers have seemingly failed to grasp; that it is the fans who make football what it is, & any club chasing success has to consider them when building a successful team.

This was something Bill Shankly was only too aware of, & probably why he seemed light years ahead of his contemporaries. My sincere apologies for bringing it up again but his ‘more important than life or death’ analogy of the game showed more insight than it is ever given credit for. Yes, it is the most famous, overused (often misused) football clichés of them all, but read between the lines – which a country the size of America failed to do when Lennon made an equally profound observation about human behaviour – & Shankly was beautifully emphasizing how much football meant to the English people. He realised the importance of the people, the major role they played, & by understanding the social fabric of a club he was unlocking the door to success. After what he installed at Liverpool, it’s no surprise his legacy shines perpetually through the corridors at Anfield & his veracious philosophy of ‘placing his faith in the fans’ becomes more poignant by the day.

Two contrasting situations at Liverpool & Newcastle in recent weeks, indicates further the power of the fans & the importance of having their backing. There is no doubt in my mind that if Liverpool fans had turned against their manager – in what has been a turbulent few months at Anfield – then ‘the Americans’ would have given Rafa the boot faster than it took Hilary Clinton to turn on the crocodile tears when she was told it would help her election campaign. And Allardyce; if fans hadn’t become so disenchanted with the ‘Big Sham’ style of football, then Mike Ashley would have certainly waited until the end of the season before making any sort of decision.

You see, football has never been about the players, the chairman – even if he has his own agenda – or even the manager. It is the happiness of the paying public that dictates the destiny of a club. And if a club loses sight of this, then failure is inevitable; & someone, usually the manager, has to pay the price. Of course in light of what happened to Phil O’Donnell, the irrelevance of football pales in significance, but where football is concerned, then it is the supporters who have to take precedence.

I have the utmost respect for the two sets of aforementioned supporters, both for their impeccable football knowledge & their judicious demand for entertaining football – which many sets of supporters often lose sight of. I was shocked by Chelsea fan’s lack of protests after the departure of a man who had brought more success to their club than anyone in its history.

Yes, there are wider issues to be considered, but the fundamental purpose of our game is to be entertained & it is this factor which has worked in favour of Benitez at Liverpool & against Allardyce at Newcastle. It is testament to the people of the Northwest & Northeast whose primary loyalties lie with seeing good football.

Despite Liverpool’s title aspirations becoming ruefully unstuck in December, fans are not fickle enough to forget everything Benitez has achieved & how the cultured, often complex football, which his sides adopt, is a far cry from the wing-backs of Souness & the defensive counter-attacking of Houllier. It would be interesting to find out how the hoi polloi of the Toon – who have been used to watching flair players inspire their team to victory over the years (Keegan, Waddle, Mirandinha, Gazza, Asprilla, Ginola to name just a few) – viewed Big Sam’s appointment in the first place. It appears new chairman Mike Ashley was against it from the start & should maybe bear this in mind when he’s appointing a new man at Newcastle; & that fans are consulted.

Great managers have always taken the thoughts & feelings of the fans into careful consideration when building their teams, & the traits of people they are representing have reflected in the team’s style of football. Busby, Stein, Kendall & Clough – all from mining backgrounds – managed their clubs like factory owners, in keeping with the working class northern & midland cities they represented. And it arguebly paid dividends.

There is Ferguson also, who is made from similar stock; although his more cosmopolitan warehouse has moved with the times & won numerous prizes for innovation over the years. It was Shankly though whose philosophy first created a club for the people. Placing his faith in the supporters, he created an image of Liverpool FC in the likeness of its citizens. This laid the foundations for continued success & turned a struggling club into a bastion of invincibility. Liverpool of the seventies & eighties reflected the image of the city itself; hardworking, canny, passionate, resilient & creative, & his faith in the people was undoubtedly rewarded. Benitez has similar respect for the fans & their traditions, & that is why they’ll back him indomitably. Often it is a case of pleasing the masses & more often than not it’s a case of – the public gets what the public wants.

Watching my home-town team Stoke City against the Barcodes, was an enlightening experience & strengthens my argument further by two apposing expectations of these two, once similar, sets of supporters. It has been quite some time though since Stanley danced on the wing in the Potteries, and the glory days of Banks, Conroy & Hudson, when Stoke were a mainstay in England’s top division (& even League Cup winners in ‘72’) , have long since diminished. For the moment at least, the good people of the Potteries are content with watching their players running their bollocks off & expect nothing less than ‘getting stuck in’ as a requisite for playing for Stoke City. But Potters, once famed for their highly skilled craftsmanship, like Geordies, albeit rather more surreptitiously, long to see players of similar stature playing at the Britannia & witness football akin to the quality of the pots they once skillfully produced not all that long ago. Get to the Premier League & they just might!

But, despite the increased television coverage of football – & living in Ireland where amazingly there is more English football on TV than in England – the older I become the fussier I have become about the type of football I like to be watching. It is possible my newly found liberty is down to leaving the territory of teams I support, or that the organically neutral Irish are rubbing off; who knows? But if Liverpool fail to win the league – which looks increasingly likely – & Stoke don’t win the cup or get promoted, then I would like Arsenal to be triumphant, after their easy-on-the-eye football added me to their growing list of admirers. Their vibrant multi-cultural style, refreshingly youthful approach to football has been a joy to watch this season & thus paints an inviting picture of modern London. In fact, you could say they have put London on map in some respects. (Well maybe not, but you see what I am getting at)

The point I’ve been trying to make is that football should be a matter of basic economics & comply with simple laws of supply & demand. Football in England is more popular than Jesus Christ, so it is only wise – regardless of the money factor – that fans are consulted & considered. And before Americans get their frilly knickers in a twist, start to burn effigies of my name, or go persecuting any more civilizations that differ from their own; this, for once, is not about you. My statement reflects trends in the culture of heathen England & is merely an observation. And Catholics (of which I stand accused) alas! Pope Benedict XVI has recently acknowledged the increasingly powerful role of football within society, suggesting that – despite its obvious(?) exploitation & corruption – football has an important moral message about life to teach us all. Sounds familiar doesn’t it?

And for what it’s worth, I would like to see Shearer, with Keegan as a director of football, to return to the healm & lead the renaissance up at their beloved Newcastle. And I would like to wish them every success in the future, as God knows, the people of Newcastle surely deserve it.

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