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ECHO Comment: "Fears of Witch-hunt Against Liverpool FC" part 2

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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/29/liverpool-northern-austerity-tory-cuts-council

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/devastating-numbers-show-just-how-15728239

Honestly if you don’t get the “scouse not English” thing that’s fine. But if you’re from the city or have any idea about how it’s viewed and been treated for a long time then you know it means more than just some footy fans giving it the big one. The RS don’t help the scouse image that’s for sure, but I can personally attest that I’m far prouder of my city (for reasons outside of football) than I am of this country. Nothing Kopite about that mate.
This.....spot on mate. ;)
 
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/29/liverpool-northern-austerity-tory-cuts-council

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/devastating-numbers-show-just-how-15728239

Honestly if you don’t get the “scouse not English” thing that’s fine. But if you’re from the city or have any idea about how it’s viewed and been treated for a long time then you know it means more than just some footy fans giving it the big one. The RS don’t help the scouse image that’s for sure, but I can personally attest that I’m far prouder of my city (for reasons outside of football) than I am of this country. Nothing Kopite about that mate.

I understand all that. Everyone & every area has problems, has Liverpool been more harshly treated than the N.E? I doubt it (you will probably prove me wrong with numbers). To be anti-English because of few years of a govenment you don't like vs 2000 years of history seems like a bit of an over-reaction. Obviously its your perogative but by the same token you can understand why it rubs people that are proud of their country up the wrong way.
 
I understand all that. Everyone & every area has problems, has Liverpool been more harshly treated than the N.E? I doubt it (you will probably prove me wrong with numbers). To be anti-English because of few years of a govenment you don't like vs 2000 years of history seems like a bit of an over-reaction. Obviously its your perogative but by the same token you can understand why it rubs people that are proud of their country up the wrong way.
England has been run by the south east, for the south east, for the past 1000 years.
 
I understand all that. Everyone & every area has problems, has Liverpool been more harshly treated than the N.E? I doubt it (you will probably prove me wrong with numbers). To be anti-English because of few years of a govenment you don't like vs 2000 years of history seems like a bit of an over-reaction. Obviously its your perogative but by the same token you can understand why it rubs people that are proud of their country up the wrong way.
You haven't got a clue mate have you? A "few years of government"? My arse!!
 
I understand all that. Everyone & every area has problems, has Liverpool been more harshly treated than the N.E? I doubt it (you will probably prove me wrong with numbers). To be anti-English because of few years of a govenment you don't like vs 2000 years of history seems like a bit of an over-reaction. Obviously its your perogative but by the same token you can understand why it rubs people that are proud of their country up the wrong way.

It’s not about being anti-English though. Thats such a simplistic and reductive viewpoint. When people like myself stick up for the “Scouse not English” adage it’s not simply about our identity as a citizen. It’s not about what do you put on your passport or census under the question of nationlity. It’s about values. About morals. About ideas. About character. It’s about people who don’t turn up outside Buckingham Palace when there’s a royal wedding waving their plastic flags and instead prefer to focus on things that actually matter in their community. It’s about people who haven’t voted for almost a decade of Tory cuts and austerity. It’s about people who were there when Thatcher was in power and know what it’s like to live in a city on its knees and your government do sweet F.A about it. To reduce it to a “few years of a government you don’t like” is absolutely ridiculous.

Personally I’m neither proud nor un-proud to be English. I don’t judge myself or base my identity on the place where I was born. I’ll leave that to UKIP. Adopting “Scouse not English” as a mantra may seem like a bit of an oxymoron in that regard, but like I say it’s not about where you’re born. It’s about what you stand for. What you identify and empathise with. Other sections of the country may not be so vocal and may not have a mantra so notorious as ours but I can assure you that outside of the south bubble there’s a lot of people who feel the same as we do.
 

You haven't got a clue mate have you? A "few years of government"? My arse!!
But it's a point to remember, most people from outside the area probably think that apart from a run in with the Tories around Maggie time, it's not been that bad has it? And why would they? They're probably dealing with their own sack of cr@p in their own part of the world. I don't care about what's happening in Chester or Sheffield and they're practically next door to where I spend most of my time and I'm sure they have their own important matters that they can't believe I don't know about.

As for Scouse not English, it's the same with the Mancs, and over in Yorkshire. It's not an uncommon mentality with a considerable proportion of people from a lot of places that feel like they've had the rough end of a stick somewhere down the line.

Anyway, let's all join together as English in our loathing and contempt of the rs. Surely that will balm our troubles more than any internet squabble!
 
I understand all that. Everyone & every area has problems, has Liverpool been more harshly treated than the N.E? I doubt it (you will probably prove me wrong with numbers). To be anti-English because of few years of a govenment you don't like vs 2000 years of history seems like a bit of an over-reaction. Obviously its your perogative but by the same token you can understand why it rubs people that are proud of their country up the wrong way.

The scouse not english thing is a bit cringey, as often it's partaken in by Liverpool supporters who are not from Liverpool and have no connection to the city. I'd also say, the southern fanbase of LFC are a committed to the "ingerland" team as just about any other fan base so it doesn't make any sense.

To me it seems a bit of a false argument re the north east. I suppose it would depend on the metric. The fact that a predominately tory government treats another area similarly badly doesn't disprove the validity of our own disagreement.

Recently some data showed Liverpool council has been treated the worst out of any councils. You've had memo's to try and run the city into the ground, the cover up over Hillsborough and how the government screwed us over re Heysel. Yet the response of most of the "ingerland" tools when it's put to them is basically that we are whinging.

That's the problem really. The cultivation of English identity is basically a continuum of southern knobheadery. It's the priority status of the city of London at the expense of others, to the monarchy (based in the south) to public schools (again mostly in the south) to a parliament in the south, filled with mostly people from the south. It's upheld by thuggish blokes from the home counties with union jack and st georges tattoos. If England had 2000 years of history, you'd have to concede these people represent the very worst of it.

Liverpool as a city is a relatively modern city (probably own 200 years of real history in that time). From moment one it received very little support from the governing bodies of this country. Within that context, a counter hegemony has formed and it's nationalism and stories are a far more compelling one than the English story.

That being said (ironically enough) I have grown sympathetic to English history recently. I've been reading a fair bit around the Normal invasion, and how the context of Englishness against their Normal rulers remained strong and even motivated the English Civil War, Parliamentarianism and Republicanism. The monarchy were seen very much as descendants of our French overlords and traitors. Perhaps that's how we should view the modern "nationalists" who stand very much in that Norman tradition, as opposed to the previous English tradition that exists?

Who knows, either way I'm an Evertonian first, second third and any number of numbers after that before I'd even consider being English. I'd say English people disliking scouser because of what a group of people with no connection to the city feel is a tad embarrassing, but then little surprises me anymore.
 
But it's a point to remember, most people from outside the area probably think that apart from a run in with the Tories around Maggie time, it's not been that bad has it? And why would they? They're probably dealing with their own sack of cr@p in their own part of the world. I don't care about what's happening in Chester or Sheffield and they're practically next door to where I spend most of my time and I'm sure they have their own important matters that they can't believe I don't know about.

As for Scouse not English, it's the same with the Mancs, and over in Yorkshire. It's not an uncommon mentality with a considerable proportion of people from a lot of places that feel like they've had the rough end of a stick somewhere down the line.

Anyway, let's all join together as English in our loathing and contempt of the rs. Surely that will balm our troubles more than any internet squabble!

Englishness (as I've stuck above) is a construct of southerness in this country. It's normal people outside of that bubble (who generally don't get preferential treatment) seek to craft their own identity.
 
Not really a good weekend for Liverpool so far. As I think I've noted previously I think you will see sides slipping up far more often now. The extra games the top teams have played well start to be a factor as will the intensity of Champions League games beginning to kick in. Often their opponents will be well rested. I suspect Liverpool will slip up more, but so will City.

Spurs are well worth a watch. Winning ugly at the moment, but due to get Kane & Alli back soon. Lets put it this way, if Liverpool lost Salah, Firmino & Mane for a prolonged period of time I doubt they'd be as close as Spurs currently are.

Clop's tactics have always been get out in front and hope to hang in as long as possible. All of his front 3 have played substantially longer minutes than any of his rivals front 3's (Sterling, Mahrez, Sane & Aguero) (Kane, Alli, Son, Lamela). He is gambling on injuries not occurring and the players remaining sharp for the entirety of the season. He has hardly rotated.

To give Klopp credit he has got his team out in front for much longer than previously. Thanks to a 3rd choice 59 year old goalkeeper they won a game V Palace that 99% of the time they would have lost. That has given the PL an artificial look, and their recent form a gloss it doesn't deserve. They have undoubtedly had a dip, but has been semi-fortuitous to get through it.

To try to be balanced I predicted the slip but also suggested they likely come out of it some time soon. That's normally been how it's gone under Klopp. They do tend to finish seasons relatively well, once the mid season dip has been taken into account. The initial key question will be how long this dip in form lasts for. Tonight is a gimme game in all honesty, they will win comfortably. However Watford will provide a sterner test and sides like Newcastle and Wolves will be increasingly challenging for them to put away.

The hope has to be (from an Everton perspective) that the sort of tiresome displays that we have seen over the last few weeks are not just a symptom of the mid term dip, but actually of a playing squad that is quite fatigued. There's no doubt he has got himself out in front but at what cost? The next few weeks will tell us.

A closing point will be (and this deserves further examination) is to look on and enjoy this moment. It sounds perverse to say it. But however bad you feel about Everton, if they mess up this title push, it will be crushing for them. It will be far far worse. They are already at each others throats after the Leicester game. As Paul Scholes said, this is before the pressure really kicks in in March/April. They will struggle to have the humility and reflexivity to handle the level of expectation. Essentially their fan base are for the most part a bunch of losers who haven't really got many mates or ability to cope with human interaction. Every game will be killing them. If they mess it up, the fall out will be worse than in 13/14 for me. I think some of them will just pack it forever.
 

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