The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:08 PM PDT

SEPT 1 ― Liverpool fans have endured so many false dawns in the last few years, they'd be excused for refusing to trust the daily emergence of the sun as it rises over the horizon.

It's now 22 years since the famous Anfield club last lifted the English championship trophy ― it wasn't even called the English Premier League back in those days ― and, although there has been a smattering of cup success in the intervening period, a return to domestic supremacy is the prize that the global legion of Reds supporters value more highly than anything else.

There have been plenty of unfulfilled promises over the last couple of decades, starting in the mid-Nineties when Roy Evans assembled a stylish team based around the fabulous goalscoring powers of Robbie Fowler, but the team couldn't finish any higher than third.

Then came Gerard Houllier, who capitalised on the goals of Michael Owen to lead the Reds to a memorable cup treble in 2001 (League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup) and a second-placed Premier League finish the following year. But he still couldn't clinch the ultimate prize.

Next up was Rafa Benitez ― and when the canny Spaniard secured the European Champions League at the end of his first season with that unforgettable penalty shoot-out victory over AC Milan, hopes were raised for a return to the glory years.

Although Benitez came close in 2009, finishing in second place four points behind Manchester United, his reign ultimately flattered to deceive, and the long wait for the elusive championship continued.

Roy Hodgson and Kenny Dalglish made no progress whatsoever during their brief spells in charge (quite the reverse, if anything), so now the latest man in the hot seat is young and ambitious Northern Irishman Brendan Rodgers, lured from Swansea this summer despite having just one season of Premier League management under his belt.

Rodgers's first League game in charge a fortnight ago was nothing short of a disaster as his new team were reduced to 10 men and suffered a 3-0 drubbing at West Bromwich Albion, causing the knee-jerk reactionaries amongst the fan base to bemoan the appointment of such an inexperienced boss.

Last weekend, though, hope was restored with an exciting and high-quality performance against reigning champions Manchester City, which only failed to be rewarded with a famous and deserved victory after a late defensive error by Martin Skrtel gifted an equaliser to Carlos Tevez.

Will Rodgers be the man to return Liverpool to the summit of English football, or will this prove to be yet another false start? It's far too early to say, of course, and only time will tell ― assuming that "time" is an ingredient that Liverpool will be prepared to grant to their new manager.

And that is an absolutely fundamental point to remember. Liverpool's owners and fans must constantly remind themselves of this crucial point: it will take time ― potentially a very long time ― for the Reds to win the Premier League title. There is no way it can happen this season, and almost certainly not next season either.

There is a lot of work to be done and the financial gulf between Liverpool and their would-be title rivals ― the two Manchester clubs and Chelsea ― is so great that it's not really fair to even suggest that Rodgers should be challenging for the title. Instead, relative success would be a consistent return to the top four and the knockout stages of the Champions' League.

The ongoing decline of this weekend's opponents, Arsenal, has presented a genuine opportunity for that to become a realistic ambition for Liverpool. But it will not be quick or easy because Rodgers is intent on instilling an entirely new footballing philosophy at Anfield ― and that process takes time (yes that word "time" again).

Immediate success occurs occasionally, but only very rarely ― especially when the team concerned finds itself so far from competing for honours as Liverpool are now.

Most famously, Sir Alex Ferguson failed to win the title with Manchester United until he'd been in charge at Old Trafford for nearly seven years. And at Barcelona, the seeds for the recent achievements of home-grown talent playing in a specific style were sown way back in the 1990s by Johan Cruyff, and only started to bear fruit more than a decade later.

Considering the demands for instant gratification that prevail in contemporary life, it's almost unthinkable that Rodgers will be given that long in charge at Anfield if he fails to land the big one, but the general point is inescapable: long-term success takes time.

For now, Liverpool fans should be prepared to completely write off this season's results. A new style of play and a new set of players are bound to lead to inconsistent outcomes in the short-term, and there will be more afternoons like the one endured at West Brom before Liverpool truly find their feet under Rodgers.

All that can be expected is a gradual year-on-year improvement. This season, poor results should be excused if there is a discernible development in terms of the playing philosophy and tactical approach.

Next season is the time to start to judge results ― but only small improvements should be expected or demanded. Only then, when Rodgers has enjoyed two full seasons in charge to instil his philosophy and develop his own squad to execute it, would it be fair to increase expectations towards Champions League qualification.

But the question is this: will Liverpool and their fans be prepared to wait until 2015 before they start to see Rodgers deliver significant results? If they have the long-term interests of the club at heart and they can perceive small improvements along the way, they should.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

The Beach Boys magic

Posted: 31 Aug 2012 04:55 PM PDT

SEPT 1 ― There's something special about the letter "B" when it comes to band names in pop and rock 'n' roll. For normal pop and rock 'n' roll fans, The Beatles and The Beach Boys are obvious touchstones.

For power poppers like me, there are even more touchstones to add to the two, with Big Star and Badfinger being the most prominent examples. When you're crazy about bands this old (and you're as young as me, haha!), you just take it as an accepted fact that you will probably never get to see them with your very eyes, especially when you're way out here in Asia.

There's practically no chance now for me to ever see The Beatles, Big Star and Badfinger live as their key members are all gone now. And with The Beach Boys having already lost two of the Wilson brothers in tragic dreamer Dennis and the angel voiced Carl, I've long given up hope that I will ever get to see them live as well, especially considering the rifts between the surviving members of the band which resulted in various incarnations and lawsuits pertaining to the use of the Beach Boys name for live shows.

So I truly considered it a miracle when out of the blue, all the surviving members of The Beach Boys united to release a new album, "That's Why God Made The Radio", earlier this year and then announced a world tour to celebrate the band's 50th anniversary. Even more of a miracle is the fact that they announced that Singapore would be one of their stops.

So, even though the concert was on August 22, 2012, which was the fourth day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, there was never a doubt in my mind that this was a concert that I would never want to miss, even if I had to limp to go see it.

Everyone knows how big a deal the Raya holiday is, so I'm truly thankful that my mom knows me well enough to know that The Beach Boys have been a huge part of my life and didn't make a single fuss when I told her that my Raya holiday at home this year would have to be cut short by my need to see Messrs Brian Wilson and co.

There was another show happening the same night in Singapore as well, with 80s legends New Order. So even though I expected that there will be a drop in turnout because of that, I was still frankly shocked to see how few people turned up to see what's probably a once in a lifetime chance to see such a giant of a legend like The Beach Boys live in concert with a lot of the key members still there in the line-up.

This being their 50th anniversary and also the first time they've made their way here, it's surely very unlikely that another concert will come anytime soon, especially since the band members are probably now in their 70s already.

The audience was mostly made up of older people decked in Hawaiian shirts, obviously fans from the band's 1960s heyday, and it was fun listening to their conversations, mostly recalling moments when they first or last heard or saw the band.

Knowing how old The Beach Boys are now, I've significantly lowered my expectations when it comes to their trademark vocal harmonies. I've already kind of expected that their backing band would be a monstrously tight one, the backbone of which consists of power pop geniuses The Wondermints alongside many other familiar names in the power pop scene like the honey-voiced Jeffrey Foskett, percussionist Nelson Bragg, keyboardist Scott Bennett and former drummer of The Cowsills and Tommy Tutone, John Cowsill.

But right from the start it was just hair raising how beautiful the Boys' harmonies still are. Launching into "Surfer Girl" very early on in their set, I felt like a helpless little girl listening to the wondrous blend of their voices, and "Surfer Girl" is not even in my top tier of favourite Beach Boys songs.

All in, I think they played around 50 songs that night, with some of them medleys of course. Highlights would surely be Pet Sounds era songs like "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "God Only Knows", "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" and established classics like "Good Vibrations", "Heroes And Villains" and of course their classic and car and surf songs like "I Get Around", "Don't Worry Baby" and "Surfin' USA".

My true favourite moments though, were when they surprisingly went into deeper album cuts, songs that were never made singles and were therefore not 'hits', but which I personally think are extraordinarily beautiful.

"Please Let Me Wonder" from their album "Today!" is one of my all time favourites, and was given a stunning rendition that almost left me in tears. Same goes for "Kiss Me, Baby", "Darlin", "Wendy" and "This Whole World", a gorgeous gem from their 1970s era that deserves to be better known.

The sight of Brian Wilson looking incredibly tired and quite unwell on stage was quite a sad one to witness, but the undeniable songs and the obvious joy of everyone onstage made all of us forget for a while how exhausted these old dudes must be feeling to go on a world tour and perform 50 songs a night. It was surely the most magical concert that I've ever been to, and one that I'm unlikely to ever forget.

Thank you, Boys!

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Sabtu, 1 September 2012

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

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