We should be setting pace rather than playing catch up

Nov 2 2006 Red Watch by Andy Proudfoot, Daily Post

THE regrettable outburst by an anonymous director - later unmasked as Noel White - was thankfully an aberration; in fact it's rare indeed that you hear anything at all from our board.

This is probably how most fans like it, and certainly there's many a manger who would kill for the sort of passive support which has been the hallmark of Liverpool over the years.

Yet this incident has had the unfortunate side-effect (for them) of heightening scrutiny of the 'faceless ones' who control the destiny of our club.

Just what do these guys do, and what skills and expertise do they bring to the party?

For me, the prime responsibility of the board is to appoint the right manager, and then provide him with the funds to do the job.

In this respect I think they've been largely successful over the years: each of our managers has won trophies, and few can complain that they were starved of funds to buy the players they wanted.

Also, by and large they've stuck by their man, until it became obvious to all that change was necessary. So far so good.

The area that has always given me more cause for concern, however, is on the commercial side.

The essential conservatism of the board has meant that, though we haven't been subject to the whim of the City boys like Man U and Co, we've been slow to capitalise on our enduring fame and keep financial pace with the likes of the behemoth down the East Lancs Road.

The continuing uncertainty over attracting new investment to the club and financing the new stadium are only the most highly visible examples of our failure in this respect; we always seem to be following the crowd rather than setting the pace.

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