Blackburn Rovers v Liverpool - Peter White's big match preview
BLACKBURN Rovers, fighting for their Premiership lives, will meet a team in transition when they take on Liverpool at Ewood tomorrow.
And Gerard Houllier has pleaded for a bit of "peace and quiet" as he gets to grips with trying to lay the foundations on which he can build a return to successful ways next season.
Anfield has been rocked by a series of setbacks but Houllier dismisses any suggestion that he will turn his back on a momentous challenge as absolute nonsense.
There will be no European prize claimed next month - a rare enough event in itself for Liverpool.
Steve McManaman is bound for Real Madrid in summer, Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen won't play again until next season and the team has blown hot and cold. But Houllier brings his team to Ewood determined to succeed. "I know we are having some poor results at the moment but I am enjoying myself here. I know where we are and I know where we are going," said the man who now stands alone after Roy Evans' departure. "It's just that we have a huge task ahead, it's a tall order. I believe the task is tougher than I first thought. It worries me that this team is capable of such good performances but sometimes it just drops away. We haven't cured the inconsistency. We can play some good bits of football and have some good movement but, suddenly, everyone seems to forget about it." Controversy has also not been far away and Houllier wants events such as Fowler's recent indiscretions to belong to the past.
"The balance of the team is always fragile," he said.
"So you must have peace and quiet to prepare yourselves and I think we have had too many stories off the field that have affected us."
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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