LIVERPOOL fans know the drill here. Another crisis, another spill of headlines flowing against Rafa Benitez. Same as it ever was, but maybe this time there's something different, something worrying.

Manchester United won last night, Chelsea won comfortably too and Arsenal are a result away from a place in the knockout stage of the Champions League with just three games played. Sitting pretty.

Liverpool are in deep trouble and Benitez has the haunted look of a man fighting against the odds with the dawning realisation that the cavalry won't arrive in time because there is no cavalry. The fans feel his pain but they are definitely getting restless.

There is no more patient, single-minded and doggedly arrogant supporter than a Liverpool supporter, but since Kenny Dalglish stepped off the treadmill, his mind and body overwhelmed by the intense grief which followed Hillsborough, these three characteristics have been a necessity rather than a strength.

All the while, they have stayed loyal to the ethos of the club with much more clarity than those running it and it must be like a slow grinding of chalk to hear the daily litany of bad news spiralling around Anfield.

They watched Graeme Souness tear down the old and replace it with something infinitely less solid. The indulgent Roy Evans partied with his mates in the squad and sparkle replaced substance.

The graph spiked sharply upward on a few occasions in the intervening two decades and Houllier's treble briefly raised hopes in 2001.

But he too had no real depth and wasted money on callow French lads who came and went without a murmur. When he was replaced by Benitez, the same pattern continued but incredible Istanbul kept the show on the road.

valuable

It is worthwhile noting that not much more than a year ago, the Forbes rich list confirmed Liverpool as a billion dollar operation and the fourth most valuable club in the world behind Manchester United, Real Madrid and Arsenal.

Those valuations were done exclusive of debt. The top three in the Forbes elite table are no wall-flowers when it comes to accumulating vast borrowings, but for entirely different reasons than Liverpool.

The Glazers keep rolling the dice with Alex Ferguson and the Old Trafford brand is stronger than ever. There is no sign of penny-pinching, though there's still plenty left over from the Ronaldo deal.

Madrid bucked a recessionary trend all over the world and created their own mini-credit boom, but who's counting. Florentino Perez was listed in the same Forbes magazine as the 667th richest billionaire in the world. The man can afford it.

Arsenal have been struggling for the last five years with the financing of the Emirates Stadium, which has forced Arsene Wenger to produce a team from the bottom up. But he worked all the time with the knowledge that he wouldn't be able to buy a team. It was youngsters or nothing, so he made sure he had the best he could find.

But Liverpool? Benitez has spent a lot of cash and like Houllier, never seemed to get value for money. The new stadium is as far away as ever and the men who promised it a step away from selling. They won't get anything near the Forbes valuation -- even if they manage to snare a rich oilman.

Step by painful step, a great institution is being diminished and the huge optimism generated by last season's near miss in the Premier League has been replaced by the awful realisation that seven points behind Manchester United would be a serious result come next summer.

Twenty years ago, Liverpool were a few months into their sixth title winning season of the decade, but nobody thought then that they would see the century turn and the first decade as well without another.

Just a few months into the season and that's the reality for Benitez and his meagre squad. In the background, the money men twist and turn and it's hard to see anyone with a passion for Liverpool at the top table guiding strategy.

No wonder Benitez tried so hard to win total control of every facet of team affairs, but it looks like he put far too much effort into winning a mere skirmish. In the real war, he's all but irrelevant.

Once the decision was made by David Moores to sell to Tom Hicks and George Gillett, football ceased to be the most important currency at Anfield.

Within months of doing the deal, and with Hicks and Gillett in conflict, Moores said this: "It's heartbreaking. I'm almost lost for words about the damage that's being done to the club at the present time. As a fan, and as someone who loves the club, it is totally unacceptable to see this being played out in the public arena. When things are played out like they are at present it virtually makes the club a laughing stock.

"All I can say is I feel very sorry that it has come to this. I do feel let down. With everything that's going on, I have to feel let down. This is not how I foresaw it and I'm sure it's not how the fans foresaw it."

There's a split in the ranks when it comes to the blame game. Moores sold out and takes the hit from many, but Rick Parry is also cited as a major factor in the deal that brought American debt to Merseyside and the gradual erosion of a once great football club -- now a parody of Bill Shankly's great work.

It's hard to feel any great sympathy for Benitez who seemed to tie himself up in knots last season and made the fatal error of mixing business with football.

However, he has stitched himself into a strong position off the pitch. Apparently, it would cost €20m to get rid of him and Gillet was quick to anoint his man with the owners' blessing despite four successive defeats.

"We have just entered into a long-term agreement with Rafa. Our family is extraordinarily pleased with him, we think he is absolutely as good as there is in the business and I am sure the Hicks feel the same way. We just extended his contract," said George.

Confidence

The old vote of confidence won't fix the team though and his squad is so light at the moment that he must regret some of the decisions he has made in recent years.

His treatment of Robbie Keane was shameful and so unlike anything that had ever been done before -- either by Benitez or the club. Footballers are revered on Merseyside and while it's entirely possible that the court of popular opinion would have found Keane wanting where it matters most, they still felt he deserved a chance.

Benitez used Keane as a stick to beat Parry with and it didn't take a genius to work out that at some point in the not too distant future, he would regret shipping players like Craig Bellamy, Peter Crouch and Keane out the door and most bitterly of all, his decision to opt publicly for Gareth Barry when Xabi Alonso asked for a new deal.

The last few days have been hard for the Liverpool faithful and the next four will be harder. Right at the moment of greatest vulnerability, Fergie will arrive at Anfield, brimming with bile and arrogance. Rubbing their noses in it.

- Paul Hyland