The boos that echoed round Anfield tolled the knell of Rafa Benitez' rapidly parting Liverpool day.
It was not just the defeat by Lyons that raised the spectre, more the angry reaction of many Reds fans to the decision to replace Yossi Benayoun with Ukrainian flop Andriy Voronin.
With Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson now joining Fernando Torres as major doubts for Sunday's make or break home game with Manchester United, Benitez knows he is on the rack.
But while the Spaniard may believe that events outside his control are conspiring against him, the seeds of Benitez' downfall were sown by himself nine months ago - and given extra encouragement to grow by one catastrophically wrong transfer decision in the summer.
On January 9, Liverpool were in prime position to finally win back the crown that has been out of their grasp since 1990.
A Steven Gerrard-inspired 5-1 thumping of Newcastle meant Liverpool began 2009 two points clear of the rest despite a catalogue of dropped points on home soil against the likes of Stoke, Fulham, West Ham and Hull.
Benitez had been increasingly angered by the behaviour of arch-rival Sir Alex Ferguson, who had assume the role of his personal bete noir since Chelsea sacked Portuguese braggart Jose Mourinho and, believing himself in a position of strength, decided to go on the offensive.
It was, without question, the biggest mistake he could have made. What Benitez said was, in the main, not only justified but also accurate.
Fergie does get away with more than any other manager. Always has, always will. Referees, the Premier League, the FA - let alone the media - are terrified by him and he plays on those insecurities to ensure he gets what he wants by blast and bluster.
But saying it so publicly, calling it on with a man who would never be shy of fighting back, and who knew his own players would not wilt under the pressure of the title run-in, left Benitez' own players harbouring doubts.
If the manager could not keep calm from a position of strength, one or two of them ventured privately, how would he react when it started to get twitchy, as it always does?
What followed was almost inevitable, successive draws against Stoke, Everton and Wigan that saw Liverpool tumble to third, five more costly points dropped against Manchester City and doomed Middlesbrough the following month, the championship slipped from their grasp in the space of just seven games.
Even then, as Benitez and his players ruefully know, it might have changed after they thumped United at Old Trafford, only for the gods - and referees - to come to Fergie's aid: the extra minutes against Aston Villa which allowed Federico Macheda to emerge from nowhere and, most infamously, Howard Webb's shocker against Spurs that was the pivotal moment of the entire campaign.
For Liverpool and Benitez, just four points adrift in the final reckoning, it should have been the launchpad for the coming campaign, with all their rivals under clouds.
United had to cope with life after Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as the absence of Carlos Tevez; Chelsea, under new management again, with an ageing team; Arsenal having lost Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure.
All Benitez needed to do, surely, was hold things together, add a couple of new faces, keep a steady hand on the tiller. Instead, he sold Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid, taking the £30m and spending most of it in Alberto Aquilani, who may make his Liverpool debut for the successor to the man who bought him.
Alonso provided balance and security, the ability to win the ball and play an early pass. By contrast, Javier Mascherano appears to be pining for the move to Barcelona that did not materialise, while the manager's faith in Lucas Leiva seems increasingly unfathomable with every passing week.
So it comes to this. Twelve matches in the competitions that count. Six defeats.
Under the financial "masterplan" drafted by those footballing giants Tom Hicks and George Gillett, the Liverpool manager was only supposed to spend £20m per year for the next five seasons.
But that was predicated on a guarantee of Champions League football into the knockout stages, and the £30m that produces annually.
Suddenly, on the verge of group stage elimination, this year's income stream will be cut. Failure to make the top four - and if it becomes five defeats out of 10 in the league on Sunday, while City, Villa and Spurs keep on winning, that becomes a genuine possibility - and the drama does indeed become a crisis.
In Rafa we trust? Not any more, it seems. Those boos told the story and the truth.
It was not just the defeat by Lyons that raised the spectre, more the angry reaction of many Reds fans to the decision to replace Yossi Benayoun with Ukrainian flop Andriy Voronin.
With Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson now joining Fernando Torres as major doubts for Sunday's make or break home game with Manchester United, Benitez knows he is on the rack.
But while the Spaniard may believe that events outside his control are conspiring against him, the seeds of Benitez' downfall were sown by himself nine months ago - and given extra encouragement to grow by one catastrophically wrong transfer decision in the summer.
On January 9, Liverpool were in prime position to finally win back the crown that has been out of their grasp since 1990.
A Steven Gerrard-inspired 5-1 thumping of Newcastle meant Liverpool began 2009 two points clear of the rest despite a catalogue of dropped points on home soil against the likes of Stoke, Fulham, West Ham and Hull.
Benitez had been increasingly angered by the behaviour of arch-rival Sir Alex Ferguson, who had assume the role of his personal bete noir since Chelsea sacked Portuguese braggart Jose Mourinho and, believing himself in a position of strength, decided to go on the offensive.
It was, without question, the biggest mistake he could have made. What Benitez said was, in the main, not only justified but also accurate.
Fergie does get away with more than any other manager. Always has, always will. Referees, the Premier League, the FA - let alone the media - are terrified by him and he plays on those insecurities to ensure he gets what he wants by blast and bluster.
But saying it so publicly, calling it on with a man who would never be shy of fighting back, and who knew his own players would not wilt under the pressure of the title run-in, left Benitez' own players harbouring doubts.
If the manager could not keep calm from a position of strength, one or two of them ventured privately, how would he react when it started to get twitchy, as it always does?
What followed was almost inevitable, successive draws against Stoke, Everton and Wigan that saw Liverpool tumble to third, five more costly points dropped against Manchester City and doomed Middlesbrough the following month, the championship slipped from their grasp in the space of just seven games.
Even then, as Benitez and his players ruefully know, it might have changed after they thumped United at Old Trafford, only for the gods - and referees - to come to Fergie's aid: the extra minutes against Aston Villa which allowed Federico Macheda to emerge from nowhere and, most infamously, Howard Webb's shocker against Spurs that was the pivotal moment of the entire campaign.
For Liverpool and Benitez, just four points adrift in the final reckoning, it should have been the launchpad for the coming campaign, with all their rivals under clouds.
United had to cope with life after Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as the absence of Carlos Tevez; Chelsea, under new management again, with an ageing team; Arsenal having lost Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure.
All Benitez needed to do, surely, was hold things together, add a couple of new faces, keep a steady hand on the tiller. Instead, he sold Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid, taking the £30m and spending most of it in Alberto Aquilani, who may make his Liverpool debut for the successor to the man who bought him.
Alonso provided balance and security, the ability to win the ball and play an early pass. By contrast, Javier Mascherano appears to be pining for the move to Barcelona that did not materialise, while the manager's faith in Lucas Leiva seems increasingly unfathomable with every passing week.
So it comes to this. Twelve matches in the competitions that count. Six defeats.
Under the financial "masterplan" drafted by those footballing giants Tom Hicks and George Gillett, the Liverpool manager was only supposed to spend £20m per year for the next five seasons.
But that was predicated on a guarantee of Champions League football into the knockout stages, and the £30m that produces annually.
Suddenly, on the verge of group stage elimination, this year's income stream will be cut. Failure to make the top four - and if it becomes five defeats out of 10 in the league on Sunday, while City, Villa and Spurs keep on winning, that becomes a genuine possibility - and the drama does indeed become a crisis.
In Rafa we trust? Not any more, it seems. Those boos told the story and the truth.
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