The League Cup Effect part 2 : The Club

 Sunday wasn't just about a day out for the fans and medals for the players, it was an important occasion for the club as a whole. We've had alot of negative press over the course of this season, some of it hyped up over-reaction and some of it brought on by the club's own actions, the image of Steven Gerrard lifting a trophy gives our season something else to be remembered for and hopefully will bring us back into the affections of the neutrals we may have lost along the course of the past few months. With a little luck and alot of hard work we can add the FA Cup to the Carling Cup and that can only add to our positive worldwide image. I truly believe that Liverpool are not hated the way clubs like Chelsea and Man Utd are, ok we have certain rivals who despise us, but in the eyes of the football community we're basically a good club who is fairly well liked. Winning silverware will help our image amongst supporters of other teams, the line 'Liverpool Football Club exists to win trophies' sounds a bit hollow unless we can back it up on the pitch.

 There are still people out there who believe the appointment of Kenny Dalglish as manager was a purely sentimental decision, the team achieving success on the pitch justifies their decision to put Kenny back in charge. I was one of the sceptical ones when he came back as boss, I thought he had been away from the game a little too long but he has won me over with ease and must be doing the same with others. It's fantastic to see someone so respected within the sport having the success his profile, attitude and love of the game deserves. Kenny has made some big calls throughout the League Cup campaign and Sunday's victory owes more to him than to anyone else.

 Post match video from the dressing room shows Ian Ayre and Damian Comolli celebrating with the owners in a dignified but clearly very happy manner. The sight of John Henry in the dressing room with a glass of beer is great, and the more the owners enjoy our success the hungrier they will be for more. For them, new to the sport, seeing the team win something is a clear sign of progression and even though we're not where we want to be in the league yet it shows that spending money on players will bring rewards. The money we have spent could be expected to bring more than just the Carling Cup but we don't yet have the spending power of the Manchester clubs or Chelsea so it is a case of taking small steps on the way to the summit. The support from the fans on Sunday and the exposure the victory brings us is another good advert for a new stadium, the increased revenue from that would allow us to kick on and join the other biggest spenders in England and Europe. This first taste of success could tempt the owners into spending on more than just players..

 While the League Cup doesn't have the same appeal outside of England as the FA Cup does, it is still respected domestically and winning it will help attract new players to the club. Experienced big name players may not join purely on the strength of one League Cup success but promising young players will be excited to sign for Liverpool if they think a medal is a realistic possibility.

 There are probably more positives to be drawn from Sunday as an occasion than as a performance, if we can capitalise as a brand aswell as a team on the momentum generated from winning the Carling cup then the future can be alot brighter than it has looked for a few years. All in all a good weekend at Wembley.