Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.9MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Blubrry | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | Youtube Music | RSS | More
[print_link] |
Each week on languagecaster’s podcast we feature a main listening report and on this week’s show Damon, a Liverpool fan, talks about the club’s recent problems. You can listen to the report by clicking the link below and can also read the transcript. Explanations of vocabulary in bold appear at the foot of the post.
Listen to the main listening report on Liverpool FC’s problems here.

Being a Liverpool fan used to be so easy. You’d celebrate winning the league, and cheer another cup final victory – maybe the League Cup or the FA Cup. Then of course you could go crazy as another European Cup was added to the trophy room, or there was another famous victory against a big club in Europe. Of course, the ‘winning-the-league’ bit hasn’t happened for a painful 20 years, and come to think about it there haven’t been that many cups recently – two in the last five years. But Liverpool still managed to run Man United close a couple of seasons ago, and did the double over both United and Chelsea in the process.
But then there was last season… and a seventh place finish. And then there was a dreadful start to the season, only one victory in the League against yo-yo club West Brom, and that a painfully dull 1-0 win. Oh yes, and I’ve had to watch Liverpool get knocked out of the League Cup – again at Anfield – to a side in the fourth tier of English football and get beaten by Premier League newcomers Blackpool – again at Anfield! Suddenly the Reds were in the bottom three. Surely that was rock bottom?
Well it turns out it wasn’t. Next was a court case with the threat of administration and a deduction of nine points. The club was in court trying to find new owners. The board was split between the old American owners who want more money for a sale, and those board members looking for new American owners – looking to make money. In the shadows was a Singaporean business man – with a plan to make some money – and it seemed as though everyone was beginning to fight over the dead body of LFC.
But… at the end of this storm, there is a golden dawn and the sweet silver song of… not a lark, but the new American owners singing of no debt for the club and a new future.
So, Liverpool lies on the canvas, in the relegation zone, with a manager under pressure and worried fans gathered around as the club stumbles to its feet. Have we bounced back from the bottom? It’s been a bit of a roller-coaster ride and only time will tell. But its going to be a long hard struggle through storms, wind and rain… starting this weekend at cross-town rivals Everton.
Come on Liverpool!
Vocabulary
trophy room: were the award sand cups a team wins are kept
come to think about it: a phrase meaning ‘thinking more deeply’ ‘thinking more about something’
to do the double over: to beat a team in the same league home and away – twice
yo-yo club: a team that is often relegated and promoted, that moves between leagues many times
rock bottom: the worst situation, the end of a number of bad events
administration: when a business is taken over by a bank (for example) because they cannot pay their debts
at the end of (this) storm, there is a golden dawn and the sweet silver song…: part of the famous song sung by Liverpool fansA (and others), ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone‘
on the canvas: the floor of a boxing ring – knocked out/down
to bounce back: to recover