By Mark Deeks
January 8 2003

NEW YEAR PERIOD (ii)
Liverpool Home
January 1st.

First things first. Happy New Year to all. But not from the Tyne and Wear transport companies. Not a single bus or metro in sight left 52,000 to make a car run to SJP, for perhaps one of the biggest games of the season. Daft.

On getting to the bookies in the Leazes stand, and reading the respective team sheets, I was worried. Kerr and Acuna vs Gerrard and Riise was not what I wanted to start my new year with. Despite Liverpool's appalling recent run, I admit it, I was worried. The fact that some of you may remember that my other half, Gill, is a red, was really not helping that slightly queasy feeling in my stomach that still had a hold from the night before.

But what can I say? Acuna and Kerr played like their lives depended on it. In fact every single man in stripes put in a decent display. We worked, we grafted, we tackled, and yeh, we got our slice of luck with the goal, but by Bobby we deserved it! Nifty footwork from Bellamy and co ensured that Gerrard and Diou were booked early on, and from some of the tackles that were flying in it was only a matter of time before one of them had to go.

Sure enough, a Cantona style kung fu tackle on Griffin midway through the second half ensured that it was Diou who walked early. By that time I think Gerrard just looked too crestfallen to do anything more. Rarely have I seen such a dejected player. He really looked to be the only one in red who was feeling Liverpool's recent results. Players like El Haji Diouf were too busy with their displays of petulance to get anything off the Toon.

With five minutes to go, I remember actually feeling breifly sorry for the Liverpool fans. There they were singing "You'll never walk alone" and they were being presented with an absolutely woeful performance from their team. Like many fans who left SJP, I was left wondering if I had just witnessed one of the worst Liverpool performances EVER. Their passing regularly went straight out of play, and few looked like they really wanted it.

But then I remembered the suffering we have endured at the hands of the scousers, particularly in recent years, and then just started dancing and laughing. A huge boost of a result, and admittedly one that I didn't expect, especially when I saw the team sheets. Perhaps I should have remembered the old adage I often end these columns with.

Keep the faith.