All friends again. Until the next time, that is. As Derby manager Jim Smith fumbled with both his post-match cigar and his excuses, Liverpool's wretched week of exposed frailties and home truths ended with chastised players and disgruntled punters kissing and making up like B-movie sweethearts on a railway platform.
Anfield was awash with conspiracy theories on Saturday. From behind the grassy knoll, the stadium's public address announcer demanded that a spirit of unity be displayed throughout as he had read "so much rubbish" in the newspapers about his beloved club.
Ah, so it's the media's fault once again, is it? The fact that Liverpool manager Roy Evans publicly admitted to disillusionment and all but invited criticism of his team after the defeats at Everton and Strasbourg was an irrelevance, perhaps even an invention. Hang the DJ, as they say. After the match Evans conceded that Liverpool's final margin of victory was probably flattering whilst Smith picked nervously at his Havana, his head shaking slowly in disbelief.
"That was the strangest four goal defeat I have ever been involved with " he said. "I say that because this was one of the most comfortable afternoons I have ever had at this ground." Comfortable but frustrating, too, I'll wager, for at the precise moment Robbie Fowler swept in Michael Owen's astute square pass midway through the opening half, there was mutiny in the air.
A near silent audience was moving swiftly from patient understanding to finger-jabbing fury when Fowler's sweet finish effectively broke Derby's resistance.
What so lifted Evans' spirits was the highly improbable clean sheet. After the embarrassing shredding it had received in France, Liverpool's defence was at least reasonably efficient, although that is to state the obvious for had Neil Ruddock and Steve Harkness been replaced by fullyladen bin bags, the same claim would certainly have been made with confidence.
Until Oyvind Leonhardsen's accomplished finish sent Derby scurrying away for the white flag, the problems, this time, lay in midfield. Although Steve McManaman eventually overcame an initial hesitancy to grasp the afternoon by its throat, too often the desire to create something beautiful from raw material was eclipsed by a willingness to fashion something merely useful from the surrendered possession of an opponent.
Leonhardsen is a collect and carry man, a box to box player, yet one who might just prove to be every bit as integral as Paul Ince when, that is, he is awarded a specific role in a settled team. Earlier in the week, Ince `the governor' had been referred to as Ince `the governess' by a local newspaper by way of condemning his dismal contribution to his first Merseyside derby. For one who likes to believe he is the fulcrum which supports and sustains, well, everything, the `lion of Rome' remains a curiously peripheral figure at his new club.
"This one result does not solve all our problems" said Evans, sensibly. "Derby played a more open game than they did here last season - presumably because they thought this was a good time to be up against us.
"But, after the week we have had, I am happy. The criticism we received was right. This is a great result, but we mustn't get carried away."
Guardian Service
Liverpool: James, Jones, Kvarme, McManaman, Leonhardsen, Fowler, Redknapp, Ince, Owen, Matteo, Bjornebye. Subs Not Used: Harkness, Ruddock, Murphy, Thompson, Nielson. Booked: Leonhardsen, Fowler. Goals: Fowler 27, 84, Leonhardsen 65, McManaman 88.
Derby: Poom, C. Powell, D. Powell, Wanchope, Trollope, Laursen, Dailly, Solis (Hunt 70), Burton (Sturridge 70), Kozluk, Baiano. Subs Not Used: Hoult, Rowett, Carbon. Booked: C. Powell. Attendance: 38,017.
Referee: G S Willard (Worthing).
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