Source: Liverpool_Echo
DAVID RANDLES: Liverpool FC in chaos both on and off the pitch
Reds in chaos both on and off the pitch[LNB]IT seemed like business as usual for Rafa Benitez last night. But this has been an unusual week.[LNB]The Liverpool manager remained composed and unflustered as he answered some pressing questions about his team's FA Cup exit to Championship strugglers Reading.[LNB]'We have to improve defensively but we also have to take our chances,' he said.[LNB]Of course, we've heard it before this season as Liverpool have lurched from one problem to another.[LNB]At least the headlines might be dominated by events on the pitch again.[LNB]The 2-1 defeat completed a couple of miserable days when, not for the first time in recent years at Anfield, football has taken a back seat.[LNB]In what should have been an uneventful build-up to the third round replay it was off the field matters that caused the club further embarrassment.[LNB]Following the postponement of Saturday's league game with Tottenham, it should have been a slow news week.[LNB]Instead, in the time it takes to send an e-mail, all hell broke loose.[LNB]Liverpool's decision not to hold a pre-match press conference ahead of last night's match seemed wiser with each trans-Atlantic digital exchange.[LNB]That decision had been taken long before Tom Hicks Jnr decided to log on to check his inbox in the early hours of Saturday morning.[LNB]Coincidentally, it also prevented Benitez having to field further questions about matters that really shouldn't concern him.[LNB]Just like Yossi Benayoun's injury time trip on Shane Long for the penalty that forced the tie into extra-time, the presence of last night's game appeared on the fixture list like a hangover that's been lingering since New Year's Day.[LNB]It was as inconvenient as it was inevitable once Simon Church had fired Reading into the lead in the first leg at the Madejski Stadium. [LNB]But even the fact Liverpool now have just the Europa League and fourth place to play for bears little comparison to the headache being addressed at Boardroom level as a result of the now notorious message sent to a fan by Hicks Jnr.
