Liverpool: A Campaign That Offered Little But Laughter

Following the unimaginable scenario of their Merseyside neighbours having their season reviewed before them, thus meaning they finished below them, it's time for the Red half of Merseyside to face the music...And the laughter, oh the laughter. Final League Position: 8th Deep in the bowels of the 2010-11 season Liverpool fans were heralding a 'second coming'. New owners and King Kenny in charge meant that the slights of not being the champions of everything was over, Champions League football, League Titles, everything was coming to Liverpool. And apparently, according to these fans, it was happening this year. However it seems that, no matter how self entitled a group of fans are, it does not bring success. Neither does splurging hundres of millions on an overweight Scotsman, overweight Geordie, basket case Uruguayan and the most vacuous players imaginable in Jordan Henderson and Stuart Downing. People may say this season has been an anomaly, but from looking at that list of big money signings, this team is decisively mid-table, and this showed. Cup runs aside, this season was a laughable farce from beginning to end, be it the poor performances against supposedly lesser teams (Swansea, West Brom, Wigan), the poor showings of their signings and the despicable support of a footballer who admitted to racially abusing another. When push came to shove, the question of whether a Carling Cup victory on penalties against a championship side who didn't make the playoff final is enough to save Kenny's poor second showing as Liverpool manager, it just wasn't and he was ousted after providing much of the comedy of this years campaign. Fair to say everyone was quite sad that day...After the laughter. Oh the laughter. Liverpool's question now is how they fix this, Financial Fair Play shouldn't be an issue as they are quite a distance from the Champions League, they need a young manager willing to take on a long term project to slowly rebuild the club, from the players to the structure, it's going to be a long process and the question is whether the fans have the patience to put up with being a mid table side for a little while. They finished this year closer to the relegation places than they did to the top 2, they never looked like pushing for the Champions League and only embarassed themselves with poor PR, a new beginning is happening at Anfield. But it's going to be a slow, long and tedious one before any positives are seen from it. Summer Transfer Targets: It all relies on the new manager and what he wants, fans want big managers like Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp, but the reality is that they are not in a position to attract those kind of names. Martinez or Lambert are men who could offer plenty of time to build the squad up from the bottom and the signings will depend on who they want. Pace is desparately needed, a more technically gifted center midfielder so that their only option isn't 'Hope for Gerrard to do something spectacular after he has finished rocketing glory balls in to the growd' and a striker who can put the ball in the net. They need to cut a lot of the tat from the side, but may have to face the fact it will come at a loss on the huge transfer funds paid. Next Seasons Goal: Consolidation, steady improvement and more league consistency. Cups can still play a part but can't become too much of a distraction for clubs and fans. If they can push for the Europa League that would be a bonus, whether the fans are accepting of this will be the most difficult obstacle a new manager has to face.