"Chasing the Impossible and a Sword of Damocles" - Epilogue. My self-published book

Put simply, this is the epilogue to my self-published book on Liverpool Football Club covering seasons 2021-2022 and 2022-2023.

For further information and larks:

(1) This "take" of a simple chapter took me forever!
(2) I intended this, naturally, to be the final part of my readings in this mini-series.
(3) But I'm obviously having far too much fun.
(4) So there are further episodes now recorded and still planned, including (hopefully) some readings from beside the River Severn in beautiful Ironbridge.
(5) So stay tuned to the "only BBC you're ever going to need!"

For the here and now, here's an extract from the epilogue being read here together with a link to a book I'm incredibly proud of and other ways and means of supporting me (if you are able) to thumb the eye of the traditional publishers who refused to read my original manuscript!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6W6TYCL

https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford

"Only Southampton’s relegation could ruin the end of this two season story and mine in particular! “A lifetime of Southampton Away”? Well not any more as they’ve been dismissed through the trapdoor into The Championship and it’s been a long time coming and fairly pleasing for this Portsmouth born writer who’s more than a little conflicted with them ruining the narrative of my overall story!

From one single Premier League point, the outrageous performance of Thibaut Courtois in the Real Madrid goal and the width of one of his Parisian goal posts, to humiliating defeats to a brilliant Brighton team on the crest of a European wave, and insipid surrenders at Wolves, Nottingham Forest and Brentford. It’s been a quite incredible couple of seasons in the history of the storied football club so close to my sporting heart.

As you will recall, last season’s wave convinced me that Klopp's red machine would collect the lot as every passing game the certainty rose that they would indeed fulfil every single possible fixture on their calendar at the start of the season. Faintly ridiculous stuff, but so was the “PlayStation Football” being played that swept aside the best club football team in the world with “the best we ever played” football at a Wembley bubbling with Liverpool Red.

From the Tottenham game onward the Reds simply ran out of gas and couldn’t find that extra attacking gear or piece of luck, yet still won an incredible FA Cup Final, pushed Manchester City to a point of the Premier League title and outplayed a ragged Real Madrid for an hour in Paris.

I called this season, ridiculously but I like it, a “Sword of Damocles” season in a grovelling gesture to the team who have thrilled me beyond measure since Jürgen Klopp arrived. To go from winning everything possible in, arguably, a “once in a lifetime” season, the only direction was down and that’s very far from a criticism. Just a stone cold fact. Injuries have ravaged a squad hungover from last season’s heroics and missing the Senegalese spirit of Sadio Mané. His miss will be mirrored by that of the departing Roberto Firmino, the overlooked “glue” between those “lines” and “pockets” in the opposition’s half of the pitch.

Thanks for the memories Bobby!"

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