So, wadda ya think...??? Just another media twat or does he have a point.? From The Scotsman by Tom Lappin: "When princes start to falter, everyone looks around for a usurper. After Arsenal’s recent streak of fallibility and Manchester United’s continuing ineptitude, voices started to suggest, with increasing conviction, that Liverpool were ready to claim their first English Premiership title. Until Tuesday night, when such confidence looked distinctly misplaced. The claims were bolstered by Liverpool’s 12 unbeaten games at the start of the season, albeit a little too quick to forget the team’s early-season ability to surrender two-goal leads. Now though, despite last weekend’s defeat at Middlesbrough, there seemed to be a widespread acknowledgement that after finishing fourth, third and second in successive seasons, this time Liverpool can stay on top. Gerard Houllier says they can, but you don’t need to be the subtlest reader of that frog-like countenance to realise that he has his doubts. It’s perhaps an unusual charge to level at the club that has won the most English League titles (as well as four Champions Cups and three UEFA Cups) but Liverpool simply don’t shape like champions. The credibility gap is, in part, the fault of recent history. For most of the Nineties Anfield became the repository of a generation of flashy under-achievers, characterised by their tendency to worry more about their hairstyles than their passing. To be fair some of these players have redeemed themselves since leaving Scouseland. David James is now the only reliable member of the West Ham defence (mind-boggling I know, but, unfortunately for Hammers fans, true), Steve McManaman scores more regularly for Real Madrid than Ronaldo, David Thompson is thriving in the Blackburn Rovers midfield, while Jason McAteer has shown a splendid ability to needle Roy Keane at every opportunity. Still the memory lingers and the suspicion persists that in the eye of the Premiership storm, Liverpool’s players may cower. Only in part though. The other serious doubt about Liverpool stems from the very changes that Gerard Houllier wrought at Anfield in an attempt to dispel the pernicious image of narcissistic failures. This week marks the fourth anniversary of his appointment as sole chief in the Liverpool dugout. He has replaced the showbiz glitz with a stern, professional dourness that induces a yawn just at the whisper of the name Stephane Henchoz. Houllier’s ideal player is a powerful, hard-tackling midfielder. He seems to be forcing Steven Gerrard into that role at the expense of Gerrard’s more creative leanings. Meanwhile Dietmar Hamann, the tough, vindictive German destroyer is invariably one of Houllier’’s first picks. In the summer, Houllier signed Senegal’s two most impressive players, El-Hadji-Diouf and Salif Diao. In keeping with the manager’s promise to be more adventurous this season, Diouf was immediately blooded, with the plan being that Diao would stay at Sedan at least until January. Nevertheless, rather like a glutton who knows there’s an ice-cream gateau in the freezer, Houllier simply couldn’t resist the lure of another tough-tackling midfield ball-winner, and Diao was summoned from France and quickly slotted into the first team, where he quickly became a far more important cog than his flashy countryman. At 3-0 down in Basel on Tuesday, Houllier briefly dithered about sending on Diouf, before reverting to type, and despatching Diao to shore up the midfield. THE first 30 minutes on Tuesday night witnessed the sort of debacle that can happen to anybody, although such calamities usually befall sides who play the likes of Djimi Traore in the centre of defence. What will be interesting will be the repercussions of Liverpool’s ignominious early exit from a relatively simple group. They may find that the less crowded fixture list will be a boon in their attempt to sustain a title challenge, with Arsenal and Manchester United forced to stretch their resources into another six European games at least. Of more concern to Houllier will be the consequences for Liverpool morale. In Europe his players have been made to look naïve, unimaginative and considerably inferior not only to the majestic Valencia but to the so-so abilities of Christian Gross’s Basel. You wonder how easily they will shrug off not just the disappointment of elimination, but the stark evidence of their own deficiencies. Belated questions may be asked about Houllier’s own abilities, or at least about his willingness to adjust his approach in the face of its obvious limitations. The danger is that Houllier may see Liverpool’s spirited fightback in the second half against Basel as vindication of his approach. He hinted as much in his post-match comments. He is still harping on about the youth of his players (although Hamann is certainly no spring chicken, while the estimable Danny Murphy looks like he’s pushing fifty), and making excuses for their lack of vision. You wonder whether Houllier is an old chien unwilling to learn the new tricks on daily display in Europe. The most basic one is that rather than make a fetish of ball-winners, he would be advised to find a midfielder who can do something with the ball once it’s won. In the fifth year of the Houllier reign, it might be time to call a halt to the wholesale suspicion of indulgence at Anfield, and bring back a spot of imagination. Otherwise Liverpool will bore themselves out of any chance of glory."