Birmingham 0 Liverpool FC 0: Dominic King on how an instant fix is not a reality for the Reds

PATIENCE is a quality lacking in the modern world but patience is needed more than ever in the modern world of Liverpool FC.While goals rained in at grounds all across the country on Saturday, that happy trend did not continue at St Andrew's yesterday as the Reds laboured against a hard-working, determined Birmingham City side to secure a point.Judging by some of the post-match chatter among certain anxious fans, this was evidence that the season - four games old, remember - is already moribund; here, after all, were Liverpool playing as if they had forgotten the Anfield mantra of pass and move.It would be easy, then, to sit and pick holes in a lifeless performance and make proclamations that the end of the world is nigh; a side with a modicum of attacking verve would have put Birmingham to the sword in the final 15 minutes here but Liverpool never threatened to do so. Of course, it wasn't good enough on many levels. That Ben Foster never made a save of note was a damning indictment of what they did in the final third and brows were furrowed that Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard did not get the service needed for them to make a significant impact.But, hard though it might be, the display needs putting into context with the whole situation. Liverpool are in a state of flux right now and huge changes have been made on and off the pitch - it would, therefore, be naïve to expect them to start playing fantasy football straight away.Waiting for them to get to that point, however, is proving to be torturous. All Liverpudlians want to see is the side they idolise slip effortlessly into a groove that will bring an avalanche of goals and enable them to carry on old traditions.

Source: Liverpool_Echo