THE obscenities that emerged from the fingers of Tom Hicks Jnr were nothing compared to those raining down from the Anfield stands last night.
After a week dominated by the potty-mouthed outburst that prompted a board reshuffle, the air of resignation spread to the first team as Liverpool crashed out of the FA Cup in truly dismal fashion.
A dreadful campaign plumbed new depths as Coca-Cola Championship strugglers Reading fought from behind to deservedly triumph in this third round replay.
And it will serve only to cast further doubt over whether Rafael Benitez’s side can afford to go without any major squad reinforcement this month as the Spaniard desperately aims to salvage the season – and possibly his job.
Let’s make no bones about it. This was an absolutely pathetic performance from a Liverpool side that, already out of the Champions League and the race for the Premier League title, had talked up the importance of this competition.
So where was the urgency? Where was the passion? Where was the desire? And where was the quality?
Reading’s problems hovering above the relegation zone of English football’s second tier are such that they haven’t even got a full-time manager, although caretaker Brian McDermott must surely be given the job on the strength of this result.
Yet Liverpool have made the Royals look Premier League material in their two meetings this month. And it has been a recurring theme this season, supposedly inferior opponents repeatedly given the chance to prosper.
That has happened far, far too often. So too has a failure to perform without the help of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, Liverpool’s reliance on their stellar duo evident in the manner in which they let victory slip from their grasp with the pair having departed through injury.
Torres was first to depart on the half-hour with a twisted knee and was followed at half-time by Gerrard, who tweaked a hamstring. Both are major doubts for the weekend visit to Stoke City – the latest game that Benitez dare not lose.
The Spaniard has earned a tremendous amount of goodwill from supporters but the faith of even his most fervent backers is being tested to the very limit by the travails of the past six months.
There are completely no positives to be taken from last night’s performance. Nothing. Which is exactly what Liverpool deserved.
To think they were within seconds of progress after being given the helping hand of Ryan Bertrand’s 45th-minute own goal, only to press the self-destruct button in spectacular fashion when Yossi Benayoun clipped the heels of substitute Shane Long to give Gylfi Sigurdsson the chance to equalise from the spot.
Extra time merely brought extra misery with Long heading in the winner to consign Liverpool to a fifth defeat to a lower-league team in the FA Cup in the last 11 seasons – and earn Reading their first away win against top-flight opposition in the competition since 1902.
Even when Gerrard and Torres were on the pitch, Liverpool lacked the inspiration and quality to force penalties and the game was up long before the final whistle.
Despite prices being almost halved for last night’s match, there were still plenty of empty seats at Anfield, the locals passing up on the opportunity to watch their team at a reduced rate. Maybe the stayaways knew what was coming.
While Reading not surprisingly kept faith in the starting line-up that secured a 1-1 draw in the initial tie 11 days ago, Liverpool made five changes with Alberto Aquilani, Diego Cavalieri, Benayoun, Daniel Agger and Philipp Degen all coming in.
