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Author Topic: We Salute You  (Read 2892 times)
booder
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« on: May 13, 2007, 02:52:58 PM »

It's not for nothing that Robbie Fowler is known as God by those on the Kop. One of the most revered figures in Liverpool's recent history, Fowler is also one of the most naturally gifted goalscorers to have graced the famous red shirt.
 
His striking exploits are already the stuff of legend and his halo will never slip in the eyes of the fans who have adored him for so long.
 
Since scoring on his debut against Fulham in a 1993 League Cup tie, Fowler has enjoyed a long-running love affair with Kopites that has never wavered and shows no sign of abating.

An instinctive goal-poacher, he claimed his first league match ball after just five senior outings and ended the season as Liverpool's top scorer with 18. Excited Kopites viewed his arrival on the first team scene as divine intervention from up above and he certainly answered their prayers in the years that followed.
 
His first full season in the limelight saw his reputation blossom from promising youngster to fully-fledged superstar, this rapid elevation no doubt aided by a fastest-ever Premiership hat-trick against Arsenal, a Coca-Cola Cup winners medal and the PFA Young Player of the Year accolade.
 
He also topped the Anfield goalscoring charts again, breaching the 30 mark for the first time, and the so-called 'Toxteth Terror' was suddenly one of football's most feared finishers.
What Fowler lacked in pace and height he made up with an uncanny ability to sniff out goals. No opposition net was safe when he was in the vicinity of the penalty box. Close-range tap-ins or long-range super strikes, the 'Growler' was wonderfully adept at both and, as the goals flew in by the bucket-load, his stock rose higher and higher.
 
In 1995/96 he plundered over 30 goals for the second successive season, made his full England debut and comfortably retained his Young Player of the Year award. He outshone Eric Cantona on his over-hyped 'return', much to the chagrin of Sky TV no doubt, and fired the Reds to an FA Cup Final appearance at Wembley.
 
Four goals at home to Middlesbrough in December 1996 saw him hit the milestone figure of 100 goals for the Reds quicker than striking mentor Ian Rush, while another 30-goal haul the following season took Liverpool to the closest they've been to a 19th League Championship.
The classic 'local boy made good', Fowler's popularity among the fans was at a scale not seen since Kenny Dalglish was in his pomp. To them, he could do wrong, even if his infamous 'Spice Boy' image of the time brought him some unwanted off-field attention.

Controversy seemed to follow him on the field also during the late nineties but his faithful flock stood by him through the bad times. A lovable rogue, Fowler never forgot where he came from and in 1997 famously went public with his support for the sacked Merseyside Dockers during a UEFA Cup tie against Brann Bergen.
 
Two serious injuries then forced him to endure a lengthy and frustrating spell on the sidelines, which coincided with the emergence of Michael Owen. But although Fowler temporarily lost his 'golden boy' status, Owen could never boast the same kind of rapport with the Liverpool crowd and it was no secret who they favoured most.
With Gerard Houllier in sole charge Fowler encountered more problems and found himself a victim of the Frenchman's controversial rotation policy. He may no longer have been guaranteed a regular starting place but Houllier was well aware of his importance to the squad in terms of team spirit and handed him the captain's armband as a result.
 
In February 2001, Fowler scored a spectacular goal on Liverpool's first visit to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and became the first Reds skipper to lift a trophy in six years as Birmingham were beaten on penalties in the Worthington Cup Final.
 
It was to be the first leg of an unprecedented cup treble that season and Fowler also figured in the FA and UEFA Cup Final, coming off the bench in both and netting in the latter. Four days after the drama of Dortmund he was on the scoresheet again as Champions League qualification was clinched for the first time.
 
But despite these goalscoring heroics, speculation that Houllier wanted to sell him refused to disappear and in November 2001 the unthinkable happened; Fowler was offloaded to Leeds, against his will, in a record-busting transfer.
To say the Kop was shaken by this would be a gross understatement. Letters of protest flooded the local press and even the massive fee received failed to soften the blow.
 
When Fowler failed to set the world alight at Leeds and then Manchester City the anger at his sale subsided slightly but the general consensus remained that he was suffering from a broken heart at being forced out of his beloved club. He remained a big Reds fan and even travelled to Istanbul to watch the 2005 Champions League Final.
 
Talk of him returning occasionally popped up in the sports pages but was always shrugged off as pure fabrication. Until January 2006 that is; when Liverpool's prodigal son sensationally returned to a hero's reception.
 
His free transfer capture from Manchester City delighted Kopites. Fowler, himself, admitted it was a dream come true and it warmed the hearts of everyone when he finally pulled a red shirt once again.
 
His second spell at Anfield was never going to be as glorious as the first but over the past two seasons supporters have been treated to occasional glimpses of his past magic.
 
During the summer of 2006 Rafa Benitez extended his contract until the end of the current campaign and now the end of an memorable era is nigh.
But as he prepares to bid the Kop an emotional final farewell on Sunday maybe there could be one more glorious chapter of the remarkable Robbie Fowler story to be written.
 
Whatever the future holds, it's hard to envisage him being loved by the fans more than he already is but with a Champions League Final in the land of the Gods to come, who knows?
 
There could be no more fitting finale, that's for sure.
On behalf of everyone at Anfield and Liverpool fans all over the world, Robbie - thanks for the memories.



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im not speculating, either, but id have been pretty peeved if i missed the thread and i ended up getting clipped, kindly accepting a lift home.

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Martin Luther King Jr
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« Reply #1 on: May 13, 2007, 02:58:21 PM »

shame he will always be remembered by all those outside Liverpool as looking like a cock with those silly plasters on his nose Cheesy
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booder
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« Reply #2 on: May 13, 2007, 03:01:09 PM »

shame he will always be remembered by all those outside Liverpool as looking like a cock with those silly plasters on his nose Cheesy

people in glasshouses shouldn't throw stones
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Quote from: action man
im not speculating, either, but id have been pretty peeved if i missed the thread and i ended up getting clipped, kindly accepting a lift home.

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Martin Luther King Jr
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« Reply #3 on: May 13, 2007, 03:07:28 PM »

people in the glass house arent allowed weapons.
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kinboshi
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« Reply #4 on: May 13, 2007, 03:13:54 PM »

Robbie Fowler



Nice touch from Rafa to give him the captaincy today.  A goal in front of the Kop would be nice.

Although we're a goal down already... and Arbeloa missed a sitter when he should have scored OR passed it to God who would have scored easily.

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« Reply #5 on: May 13, 2007, 05:12:29 PM »

He will allways be remembered by me for missing a penalty for City against Borough in the last game of the season. Cost us a spot in the Uefa cup.  Cry
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The Baron
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« Reply #6 on: May 13, 2007, 11:42:28 PM »

Legend.
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TightEnd
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« Reply #7 on: May 14, 2007, 12:43:08 PM »

I am sorry but I cannot eulogise over this player

Clearly an extremely talented goalscorer but extremely dim witted. I was at Filbert Street the day he chose,on celebrating a goal, to mimic snorting coke along the white line marking the edge of the penalty area. I had to explain to my then 11 year old nephew what he was doing.....


less a "loveable rogue" to me than an object of disdain for my footballing affections

he then chose to waste his natural talent by putting in only half hearted efforts at Leeds and Man City. Although no fault of his own that Leeds chose to grossly overpay for his services in terms of wages it summed up to me much of what is wrong with the modern footballer that he chose to be so half hearted

If you asked me to eulogise say Steve Gerrard I'd happily join you, but Fowler...no thanks
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« Reply #8 on: May 14, 2007, 12:54:53 PM »

Quote
I had to explain to my then 11 year old nephew what he was doing.....


he would have read about it in the papers the next day anyway.....
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Nakor
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« Reply #9 on: May 14, 2007, 01:01:24 PM »

Imagine how good he would of been with a right foot as well as a killer left.

Will not be missed Arsenal fans, but some wonderful memories he has left.

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Shit post Nakor, such a clown.

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TightEnd
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« Reply #10 on: May 14, 2007, 01:05:20 PM »

Quote
I had to explain to my then 11 year old nephew what he was doing.....


he would have read about it in the papers the next day anyway.....


true, but doesn't make it acceptable.
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« Reply #11 on: May 14, 2007, 01:17:31 PM »

Imagine how good he would of been with a right foot as well as a killer left.

Will not be missed Arsenal fans, but some wonderful memories he has left.



Not least trying NOT to win a penalty like many cheats would have.
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byronkincaid
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« Reply #12 on: May 14, 2007, 01:23:08 PM »

Quote
Clearly an extremely talented goalscorer but extremely dim witted. I was at Filbert Street the day he chose,on celebrating a goal, to mimic snorting coke along the white line marking the edge of the penalty area. I had to explain to my then 11 year old nephew what he was doing.....

I don't get it. Every time you open a newspaper there are pictures of models, pop stars, soap opera actors, cricketers and Blue Peter presenters doing drugs. When I was a kid Grange Hill had story lines about doing drugs. I imagine that children's TV these days still does the same? You get taught in school that drugs are bad. Your average normal 11 year old probably knows more about drugs than you or I do.

Robbie got loads of grief from people who said he took drugs. He always denied it. he was just taking the piss out of the people who were taking the piss out of him. Shows a sense of humour imo.

What's so bad about what he did?
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kinboshi
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« Reply #13 on: May 14, 2007, 01:27:48 PM »

I am sorry but I cannot eulogise over this player

Clearly an extremely talented goalscorer but extremely dim witted. I was at Filbert Street the day he chose,on celebrating a goal, to mimic snorting coke along the white line marking the edge of the penalty area. I had to explain to my then 11 year old nephew what he was doing.....


less a "loveable rogue" to me than an object of disdain for my footballing affections

he then chose to waste his natural talent by putting in only half hearted efforts at Leeds and Man City. Although no fault of his own that Leeds chose to grossly overpay for his services in terms of wages it summed up to me much of what is wrong with the modern footballer that he chose to be so half hearted

If you asked me to eulogise say Steve Gerrard I'd happily join you, but Fowler...no thanks

As a footballer it was his way of responding to the abuse he and his family were constantly getting from members of the public and many parts of the media regarding his supposed drug use - which he consistently denies. 

If you had to explain it to an 11-year old, you could have just echoed Houllier's explanation, that he was pretending to eat the grass like a cow - or whatever he came up with Grin.

I'd find the actions of Roy Keane on Haaland, and also Di Canio's facist salutes a little harder to explain to an 11-year old.
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« Reply #14 on: May 14, 2007, 01:29:32 PM »


Robbie got loads of grief from people who said he took drugs. He always denied it. he was just taking the piss out of the people who were taking the piss out of him. Shows a sense of humour imo.




if this is the case (and I have no reason to doubt you) it just shows how one persons perception of another (ie mine on Fowler) can be coloured by only part of the overall picture as I did not realise this context.
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