It’s been a rough few years if you’re a Liverpool fan.
For a club with 60 major honours in their history, to have gone more than a quarter of a century without a league title is an undoubtedly barren spell.
It’s been over a decade since that famous night in Istanbul when they last claimed the European Cup and the FA Cup hasn’t brought them much joy either as of late.
One League Cup title in the last 10 years is hardly enough to satisfy a fanbase hungry for success, but they’re not exactly at the level of a team like Aston Villa or Leeds United who know that another major trophy is a long way away.
While Villa and Leeds fans have been freed by just how shit their teams have been as of late, Liverpool supporters still cling to that most dangerous thing: hope.
Last season Liverpool showed flashes of brilliance like this. Just hope they don't turn flashes into consistency. #LFC
— Hesham Bilal-Hafiz (@hesham786) September 16, 2016
It’s something every football fan knows. We’ve all experienced it. It’s not the loss that crushes you, but the hope. That hope that next year things will be different. Without hope, defeat is powerless.
Jurgen Klopp has brought back hope to Anfield in a way that’s not been seen in a long time.
There was hope when Luis Suarez almost fired them to the title back in 2013-14, sure, but that was fleeting. The arrival of Jurgen Klopp on Merseyside has instilled a collective sense of long-term hope.
But the results haven’t quite caught up with the expectation yet. Never mind, though, because hope will step in to fill that deficit. Hope will come and wash away any doubts. Hope will make you see things that were never really there.
This is the only explanation for what is happening to Liverpool fans right now. This is the only explanation for why supporters are seeing the liver bird – the symbol of the city of Liverpool – in everything.
Like sightings of the Virgin Mary in a puddle or Jesus Christ on a slice of toast, Liverpool fans have taken cosmic meaning from some pretty tenuous connections.
https://twitter.com/Dumi_jae/status/733623948060020736
When it comes to the liver bird, some are a little more convincing than others.
There’s the apparition from some pyrotechnics at the Reds’ EFL Cup defeat of Derby County on Tuesday night.
https://twitter.com/NickyAllt/status/778537102870994944
And others started to share their visions. Like this liver bird appearing in the form of a cloud.
I took this picture a couple of years ago. Golden sky pic.twitter.com/gwXg7nncbF
— Kopites (@storeaa) September 21, 2016
There was another claimed sighting in some pyrotechnics at another game a few years ago which basically amounts to a bit of smoke with a curvy bit at the top.
@knoller2 Fulham a couple of years ago pic.twitter.com/XLRmlYW5kP
— Ian Hogg (@Hoggyboi) September 21, 2016
If that doesn’t satisfy you, there’s this one from a piece of bird shit strange light reflection on a windscreen.
https://twitter.com/ChrisHurst__/status/778824794229792768
While we can see where most of these are coming from, this one is the biggest stretch as one Liverpool fan claims to see the liver bird in the Northern Lights.
@SimplyJurgen I'm a big fan of this one from the Northern Lights the night before we beat Man City in the 14/15 season pic.twitter.com/BDTfd9361r
— The Fresh Prince of Bell End (@KloppClips) September 21, 2016
So what does this all mean? Are Liverpool destined to rise again?
Eh, probably not. As Twitter user @Scoach_M put it, that’s just smoke mate.
https://twitter.com/Scoach_M/status/778735013248405504
We can’t see it to be honest, but maybe they’re just trying to distract us from their real plan…
