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Not every milestone is one to be celebrated. Tomorrow marks the 25th anniversary of Liverpool’s last league championship, 25 years since the Reds were top dogs in this country.

I left Anfield at the start of that 1989/90 season, moving to Real Sociedad. And if you’d have told me then that the club would fall away as it did, I'd have said you were off your head.

Liverpool, at that point, was a machine. A winning machine. We thought that success would last forever. We had a great management setup, a great backroom, brilliant mentality, and a scouting network that enabled us to sign great players and mould them in the Liverpool way. Honestly, Liverpool was a machine.

What happened, then? It’s easy to point the finger at individuals, and to look at the various examples of mismanagement, throughout the club, that have gone on in the last 25 years. But for me, Liverpool’s demise comes down to one thing above all others; bad recruitment.

It’s a hot topic at the moment, transfers. It always is, to be honest. But in my eyes, it’s the single biggest reason why Liverpool fell off their perch, and the main reason they have been unable to get back on there.

Think about it; how many players have we signed since that last title win? I’ll tell you, it’s 185. One hundred and eighty-five players brought into the club. How many of those players would you say were unqualified successes? I’d suggest not many. Fifty, maybe? How many, on the other hand, have been unqualified failures? I’d estimate, conservatively, at least 100.

A hundred footballers signed by this club in the last quarter of a century, who would not have got into our reserve team during the 1970s and 80s. That tells you everything.

You expect mistakes in the transfer market. It’s not an exact science. And hey, one man’s flop is another man’s superstar. We all have our opinions on players. Nevertheless, it’s been a huge problem, from the early-90s to the present day.

Whoever the manager, whoever is in charge of the signings. we just don’t buy well enough, and it costs us dearly.

Look at this season, for example. How much different would our campaign have been had we got our business right last summer? How much different would it be had we had signed Alexis Sanchez?

We held all the cards with that one. We had Luis Suarez, and Barcelona wanted him. Suarez should not have been allowed to join Barcelona until Sanchez was signed on at Anfield.

If we’d have done that deal, our season would have been very different. And so would Arsenal’s.

As it happens, they’re up where we want to be, and we’re looking at another season without Champions League football.

Fans are right to boycott Hull

There will be a few empty seats in the away end at the KC Stadium tomorrow night. Good on the Liverpool supporters, I say. It won’t have been an easy decision to boycott one of their team’s games. These are some of the most loyal fans in the world, and they follow their team over land and sea, at home and abroad, at huge cost.

For them not to go to the game is a big step. But it’s a right one, too. Ticket prices have long been getting out of hand, and it is about time supporters made a stand against this.

The fleecing of fans cannot be allowed to continue - it’s by no means just a Hull City issue, either.

I hope the Premier League are taking note tonight. Enough is enough.

Coutinho will get even better

It was no surprise to me to see Philippe Coutinho named in the PFA Team of the Year on Sunday. It hasn’t been the greatest season for Liverpool, but the little Brazilian has been one of the few shining lights.

When you consider what he’s had to work with, in terms of forwards ahead of him with movement and speed, then I think we can say he’s had a very, very good season.

There’s more to come from him, as well. He’s here for the long term now, and we have to build around his talents. He needs to up his goals and assists tally, but what a wonderful prospect we have on our hands. A few more like him would do me!

Tranmere must bounce back quickly

How sad it was hearing the updates from Plymouth Argyle on Saturday afternoon. I’m gutted to see Tranmere Rovers lose their Football League status, absolutely gutted.

It’s a desperately sad day for the club, and for the area as a whole. I had thought, halfway through the season, that our worst fears had been eased. Micky Adams seemed to have got them playing again, and I thought that they would steer themselves clear of danger.

They were up to 17th at one point. But it’s just been a desperate slide over the past few months, culminating in this. What a horrendous feeling for everyone connected with the club, and everyone who, like me, still has Tranmere in their hearts.

Make no mistake, it won’t be an easy task getting the club out of the Conference (or the National League, as it will be known from next year). It’s a tough, tough league, and they need people who know it, both on and off the pitch.

They need to acclimatise to life at a lower level, where reputations count for very little. They have to believe they can get out of there quickly. Two of my former clubs, Newport County and Oxford United, have managed it in recent years, and now Tranmere must follow suit.

I’ll be backing them all the way.