Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher is relishing the beginning of a new Premier League campaign, with a new air of optimistic expectation enveloping Anfield in the wake of the arrival of new manager Roy Hodgson.
Last season ended with the club in something of a shambles, with the off-pitch ownership issues compounding a miserable performance by former boss Rafael Benitez and his squad.
But Carragher expects things to be much better this time around.
"We have got to look forward with great excitement," he told his club's official website.
"Last season never went well but we have got to forget about it and put it behind us. Just like when Rafa Benitez and Gerard Houllier came in, everyone got a lift.
"That's the way it is. We are not a club that changes manager every couple of years. But it's not just that. We have made a couple of good signings, like Joe Cole. Not only that, two of the best players in the world has just committed their futures.
"That is absolutely massive and has given everyone the kind of lift we needed. We have got to be positive and I see no reason why we can't do well but the proof, as always, will be provided by the performances we produce on the pitch."
Carragher believes that the Reds' players have learned valuable lessons from last season and will now need to use that experience to their advantage.
"You have got to remember that right until the end, we were still in with a chance of getting into the top four," he said about last season.
"I know people are writing us off and saying we have got no chance but I've no doubt that we will improve.
"We are not the type of club that says we are going to do this or that. But now is the time for everyone to come together again and show that we can leave last year's form well behind. There will be new ideas, difference voices on the training ground and all that helps."
"You never know what might happen," he said. "Last year after a few games, the whole world had written me off and said I was finished.
"But in the second half of the season, along with Mascherano and Pepe, I was probably one of the most consistent players and when you look at how the defence played, we managed to keep 18 clean sheets."
The former England defender is also sure that he still has a full part to play under new boss Roy Hodgson, although he admits he'll have to fight to retain his place in the team.
"That's gone now and you have to do it all again. There is going to be a challenge and it has always been the case that players will want to take your place but you just have to be ready for the challenge.
"I played every week for Rafa for six years but I've got to prove myself again. Even if Rafa had still been here that would have been the case. There will be a time when I don't play 50 games a season but I've no intention of it happening this year."
"There is one thing that will never change. Liverpool will always be expected to do well and the pressure for us to be successful is just as intense as it was all those years ago; it might even be more. It will be like that for years to come."
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