Andy Gray on Liverpool's off-field issues
Every week, Betfair Football's star tipster Andy Gray will be picking out and answering his favourite question out of those he is asked on Twitter and Facebook. Here's his answer to this week's poser...
"What is your take on the ownership situation at LFC? Don't you think it is affecting Liverpool's performance on the pitch?" - @empireofthekop
It's easy to make excuses when things aren't going your way on the pitch. But it's one thing to say your side has had bad luck on the injury front, that the referee didn't give you a clear penalty or that you hit the woodwork three times without the ball going in. It's a completely different thing to say you're not getting the results you'd like because of boardroom unrest or ownership problems. That's an argument I find hard to stomach.
Of course, it's a little easier for all concerned when you don't have such problems, everyone's happy and just focussing on the football played on the pitch. But for my money what's going on in the board room isn't for the players to worry about. They're still paid to train and play to the best of their abilities, whoever is in charge of the club. And if other issues are affecting their performances, the truth is they shouldn't be.
If Liverpool don't finish in the top four this season, it's because they have underperformed on match day and not made the best of a very useful squad. Any non-football-related excuses are just that...excuses.
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Published: 30 Sep 2010
west derby red (September 30, 2010 5:04 PM) said:
utterly ridiculous to say that boardroom problems wont affect how a team plays. Liverpool have made a profit on sales for the last three seasons in order to pay interest that the board landed the club with. If Liverpool had no boardroom problems we would still have Xabi and Masch and would have been able to attract top quality players. Is anybody really surprised that the players are unsettled by what is happenning to their employers. If the company you worked for was constantly in the news because it was heading into receivership I think you would be unsettled. You certainly would not want to join a company in that position