7 Days, 7 Guests - Red, White And Blue

Today's post is by Stephen Brandt you can follow him on Twitter @KingKennyfanlfc his article is a tale about being a Liverpool fan and living in America. I think a lot of my readers may be able to relate to this post by Stephen, for more from him his blog can be found here.

Those who know me, know I’m obsessed with the UK.  I blame my father, but I also thank my father on that one. Everything from the Avengers, to The Bill, to soccer I pretty much watch or do something with. But let’s step this back for a minute. What if said person wasn’t from the UK, or haven’t ever been in the UK? Would that be normal? Or would the be Stephen Brandt?

I’m not saying I’m abnormal when it comes to the global sport, but for where I live, and the media coverage of the sport, it should be a shock. A little history on me, I’m Stephen Brandt, and I was born in Columbus Ohio. I was raised in Rochester NY, and went to high school in Minnesota. So there’s no real hot bed of European soccer coverage for a 32 year old man. Yes I know calling myself young is kind of funny.
               
But what made me a Red when the only matches I could see are the German league, Manchester United, AC Milan, and Chelsea matches? Well, Bill Shankly,  and yes I know I just  said I’m only 32, and how would I know him? Well, I was fortunate to be maturing at the time of the internet. Anything and everything about Liverpool is easy to find online.
               
The man had so many quotes, so many ideas, so many ways to drag a club that was in a poor state, that to pick one, would be wrong. So what did I do? Pick one! It wasn’t that easy, because he spoke so much during his time. I wish I had been alive during his time, to witness most of it.
Talking about the Liverpool fans - 'I'm just one of the people who stands on the kop. They think the same as I do, and I think the same as they do. It's a kind of marriage of people who like each other.'

               
So what does this mean? The manager is one of the fans. And how many managers has Liverpool had who aligned themselves with the fans? Only the good ones, that’s where that manager who started out the season went wrong to start. Kenny is a supporter in a legend’s body, Bob Paisley loved the fans and didn’t want the manager job, and then there’s Shanks, who constantly praised the fans.
               
Why I bring this up is, that in so many cases the management, players, etc think of themselves as better than the fans. That has to stop, if the great man could all those years ago see it, why can’t more people, probably just as smart as him do the same? Think of Kenny, while he never was directly influenced by Shanks, had it second hand. And he loves the fans, almost always talks about the supporters.  If you can connect with the fanbase, no matter what sport it is, that is one major way to get yourself instantly loved.
               
If you are getting a theme with me talking about Kenny a lot, I love that man, he’s the main reason I’m a LFC fan.