The Monday Football Column: Keep laying Liverpool

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"Don't it always seem to go", sang Joni Mitchell, "that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." Ok, so You'll Never Walk Alone will always be the number one song at Anfield, but this week, at least, it seems Big Yellow Taxi might be number two in the charts.
It was more of a claret-and-blue taxi that took Andy Carroll away from Merseyside to go to West Ham last Thursday night. Who would have thought he would be missed so much, so quickly?
From the moment that Kenny Dalglish spent 35m to sign the big centre forward from Newcastle last January, there was always a large contingent of Kop fans who didn't want or rate him. Not a Liverpool player, they said. His touch wasn't good enough, he wasn't mobile enough, he wasn't creative enough. Waste of money.
And when Brendan Rodgers took over, it was soon pretty obvious that he shared those views. Within days the signals were being given through the media that Carroll could go, and when subtle hints weren't working Rodgers said it outright.
He got his wish when Carroll went. But Clint Dempsey, the man the manager thought was lined up as a replacement, went to Spurs instead and right now Liverpool are a team without anybody to do the most important job in football - put the ball in the net.
All the optimism that surrounded the appointment of Swansea's former manager has evaporated already. Back in early July, I suggested laying the Reds for both a top-six finish at 1.558/15 and a top-four finish at 3.7511/4. My reasoning was that Rodgers' attempts to change the style of football would take too much time. What we didn't know was that his attempts would also be hampered by a lack of resources in the transfer market.
This morning, the Reds are anywhere up to 2.77/4 for a top-six finish, and 5.24/1 to reach the top four. There's still value in laying both of them. Talk of an approach to Michael Owen might bring some romantic headlines but will his fitness record stand up to playing regularly in the Premier League?
Rodgers was recruited by Liverpool's owners who had wanted a different direction after spending huge fees on the likes of Carroll, Luis Suarez, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson without seeing any value for their money. But it meant his first task was to trim the wage bill. He's got eight players off the books and saved around 20million, which is smashing - except it has left him with a squad of just 19 to work with.
And while he was allowed to pay out 15m to bring in Joe Allen, at the moment the pocket-sized midfielder is not on the same wavelength as those around him. During his debut at West Brom, I lost count of the number of times he moved into space and showed for the ball, but didn't get it. A look at the TV pictures from yesterday's defeat by Arsenal suggested that hasn't changed too much.
Rodgers is undoubtedly a talented young coach. He's a deep thinker about football, about tactics and strategy. He has the ability to make the most of what's available.
But like any football manager, he's only as good as the players he can work with. And if his squad doesn't have a goalscorer, his team won't score too many goals.
Liverpool have got a recall clause for Carroll that kicks in on January 1. By then they might be preparing a Big Red Taxi to bring him back!