Source: Liverpool_Echo
DAVID RANDLES: Liverpool FC in chaos both on and off the pitch
Reds in chaos both on and off the pitchIT seemed like business as usual for Rafa Benitez last night. But this has been an unusual week.The Liverpool manager remained composed and unflustered as he answered some pressing questions about his team's FA Cup exit to Championship strugglers Reading.'We have to improve defensively but we also have to take our chances,' he said.Of course, we've heard it before this season as Liverpool have lurched from one problem to another.At least the headlines might be dominated by events on the pitch again.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.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.Following the postponement of Saturday's league game with Tottenham, it should have been a slow news week.Instead, in the time it takes to send an e-mail, all hell broke loose.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.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.Coincidentally, it also prevented Benitez having to field further questions about matters that really shouldn't concern him.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.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. 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.