I stared at the headlines in mute disbelief.
I gestured to Najia and attempted to curse out loud, but the words died in my throat. I choked out a few more inaudible sentences, but there was really nothing I could say.
You know that feeling you get when your instincts tell you something bad is going to happen and you’re quite sure that it will materialise, but you’re still hoping against hope with all your will and might that it won’t, but it eventually does anyway?
That’s not what it was. It was much worse.
How could they?
After digesting the news, I staggered towards the library’s exit, passing by people oblivious to my state of shock, horror, disgust, resentment, anger and disappointment. The first from the crowd to have caught me was Mardhiah, who offered a much needed and appreciated long hug.
Everything just…hurt. Even breathing. The world spun a bit faster in those few seconds.
It wasn’t that I didn’t know it was looming. I just denied it outrightly and thought it was a bad joke that would go away.
And all I want to do is to ask Mr. David Moores,
Why??? Kenapa??? Porque??? Limaatha???
This team has won numerous trophies and stands as the most decorated football club in the EPL, all without the help from big money and most definitely not from a foreign country who doesn’t know squat about football and insultingly defiantly call the game "soccer".
Admittedly, there have been struggles with finances, and many potential players targeted during open transfer windows have often slipped through fingers as a result, but this club has prevailed. Spectators were proved wrong when they thought West Ham would take home the FA Cup last year, and who could ever forget that unforgettable electrifying summer night in Istanbul, 2005? This club has pushed forward and worked hard with all that they’ve got within limited resources. All the silverware flooding the trophy room was the result of sheer struggle, talent and ambition. That was all there was to it, and this club has bounced back again and again. No big flashy $$$, just basic drawing board strategies and varying formations. They’ve earned respect and admiration for their undying fighting spirit, and their humility. I don’t think I remember any arrogant comments coming from Anfield since the days of Gerard Houllier.
And that’s another thing. Anfield stays. Stanley Park just sounds so gay.
Now we’ve joined the lowly ptuih ranks of Man United (Glazor), Aston Villa (Lerner) and of course the one who started it all, Chelsea (Abrahamovich). We’ve become just as shallow and plastic and boring as all these 3 put together.
We sold out.
No, they sold us out.
And to 2 Yankees who have hillbilly-sounding names, no less. Perlulah kan? Ok, maybe that was rude. But seriously. Hicks?
Surely Mr. Moores, surely you don’t think Honorary Lifetime President actually means something, do you?
Hana says her brother (a fellow Reds) opines that this sell-out is a good thing, and asked why I thought otherwise. I told her that part of my love for the team was because I was assured that all their achievements and accomplishments on the field came from nothing but pure good football and mental planning rather than off-field-intrusions. Now though, I will never be able to tell the main factor of this club’s wins. The game or the money? That is why I despise Chelsea with a passion. They started this trend and proved that money could win titles. They have the Cup, but not the glory.
Besides, I liked the idea of a fairly ‘poor’ team, making its way to the top going the hard way, taking the ‘road not taken’. You know. Rags-to-riches. Going against the forces of the norm. To conquer over the powerful. Fulfilling the ultimate destiny. That kinda thing.
Hana called me a romantic. Maybe I am. Or maybe I just want the team to stay the same unlikely hero I fell for 11 years ago.
Give us back our team!
Enough said here.
