The current fiasco at the club stretches from the off-field mess and endless PR spun by the owners, to the recent shambolic showings on the pitch.

Yes, the owners have broken plenty of promises, stadium funding, not putting the club in debt. This has all led to Rafa having to wheel and deal a lot more than he would have liked in order to make us complete at the top level.

However, Rafa has successfully wheeled and dealed up till now, and has given us, by and large five successful seasons operating under more limited financial situations than the likes of Man Utd, Chelsea, Madrid, Barca, etc.

The current financial mess is no worse now than it was the start of last season, yet we achieved our highest points tally in two decades and almost won the league last season. For the people who put all blame at the yanks door for every last thing, do we blame them for our excellent form last season too?

We have only lost three players of note in Arbeloa, Alonso and Hyypia. We received approx £40m for those exiting and re-invested that money in two players of notes Johnson, and Aquilani and that Kyrgiakos came in at centre half for a small fee. New improved contracts were given to Agger, Benayoun, Reina and Rafa himself in the summer.

The team/squad this season has not changed dramatically from last season, yet the players are spectacularly failing the manager and the fans at present. Who is too blame - the manager, the players, the owners - all of the above?

People complain about a lack of money and granted we have less of it than other big teams, but you cannot get away from the fact that we signed a player for £18m(almost half of our total transfer budget) when he was injured. Rafa has to carry the can for that. £18m is a lot of money for any club and although it’s early days since he got back from injury, Aquilani looks currently hopelessly out of his depth in English football. I’ve heard nonsense about paying only £5m upfront and future payments being dependent on add ons, etc, but as someone on here proved the other week, this is nonsense. All incoming and outgoing transfer fees are usually paid over the course of a player’s contract, so despite spin by some, Dossena did cost £7m, Aquilani will cost £18m, etc, etc. If Rafa makes mistakes in the transfer market, like every manager does, then people need to stop making excuses for him and trying to manipulate people into believing players cost us less than we paid. Our mistakes in the transfer market are highlighted and hurt us more as we have fewer margins for error given our current monetary constraints. Our big transfers have to work for Rafa almost everytime, and if they don’t then a mistake is a mistake and he has to carry some blame.

Rafa's big signing of last summer Robbie Keane came in for £19m, didn’t work out and was shipped out for a £5m loss 6mths later. I’ve heard people claiming that Rafa didn’t want the player, and Parry signed him and was therefore to blame, but I’m not buying that. Rafa himself admitted publically when he sold him that he wanted the player, but it just didn’t work out. Rafa threatened to walk recently if Gerrard or Torres was sold so why would he tolerate being given a £19m player he didn’t want? Doesn’t make sense. Rafa made a mistake with Keane and cut his losses fair enough, just stop blaming other people for signing him in the 1st place.

The lack of players coming through into the academy into the 1st team has been put down by some to Rafa only just getting control. To put his thumbprint on the workings of the academy will take up to 5 yrs to bear fruit and the current shortcomings in players coming through are somebody else’s fault. I don’t accept this at all. In Rafa’s first 3 yrs in charge, the youth team won the FA Youth Cup twice, under the stewardship of Steve Heighway. That trophy is the League and Champions League rolled into one at that level and those kids brought through by Heighway were the best in the country. The fact that only Stephen Darby and Jay Spearing are the only two who have come remotely come near the 1st team since then is not too be blamed on Heighway in my opinion.  I believe the gap between academy football and 1st team has never been greater, and the demand for instant success at the big clubs mean managers are under pressure and cannot or choose not to nurture young talent by and large, and instead choose to buy cheap or free transfers (Degen, Voronin, etc) for squad players instead of using youngsters. I cannot see any changes that Rafa has introduced at the academy changing any of that.

There is obviously some merit in the argument about us having lesser resources than other big clubs, yet this cannot explain our dreadful showings against teams this season which cost a fraction of what ours did, with players on far less wages than ours. Portsmouth, Reading, Blackburn, etc,etc,etc. Our team, even with a few injuries, should still have the strength in depth and quality to beat those teams, but we are looking second best in these matches. Who is to blame for that? The players for letting the manager and us down, or the manager for buying those players in the first place or failing to motivate them or play a tactical system to get the best from them? Either way, we are failing badly. We cannot get away from the fact that Gerrard and Carra aside, all those players who failed us last night were Rafa signings and players and manager have to start taking blame and responsibility sooner rather than later if Rafa is to keep his job.

Maybe the players don’t want the manager to keep his job, and maybe some media rumours about him losing the dressing room have an element of truth? Have the players lost faith with the manager? Alonso, Crouch, Bellamy are three players who largely kept a dignified silence when they left but it was common knowledge they were barely on speaking terms with the manager come the end.. Who is to blame for that? Manager, players? Im unsure. Are the current crop of players also feeling alienated by the managers demeanour and has the loss of Pako behind the scenes removed a key man as a buffer between players and management?

One thing is for certain, the players, and we certainly have a lot of quality ones at the club, are playing well below the levels they are capable of and putting the managers very future in jeopardy. Whether or not it’s the players, manager, owners or a combination of all who are to blame, things have to change and change fast..

I have good match going mates who do lay the blame at the manager’s feet and want someone new in to motivate the players and turn us around, but I am unsure if a change of manager would actually make a difference.

I don’t know if Rafa is to blame for the current malaise in our form at present, but I do know he is to blame for some exciting times as a Liverpool supporter including four final appearances, a Champions League win, an FA Cup win, 2nd place and 86pts, top ranked european side, etc, etc. For these reasons, I hope we stick with him and he turns it round sharpish.

Football however is a fickle game; previous success will count for nothing unless we get back on track soon. The buck stops with the manager and whether he’s to blame or not, if we continue to fail, Rafa with pay the price with the loss of his job.

Written by Lee Hemmings