When the fixture list for this season was published back in July even those Liverpool supporters suffering from the most virulent strain of optimistic amnesia (widespread among fans of most persuasions at that time of year, and I count myself among them) might have noticed one detail sure to curb their enthusiasm, if only just a tad ? the opening away games looked pretty tough. You can rest assured that if the job of picking the Reds? early-season away-days were to fall to the fans due to FA super-computer failure, then the names of Sheffield United, Everton, Chelsea and Bolton would hardly be first out of the hat. An opener against one of the newly promoted sides, all bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and eager to please the Premiership-starved faithful followed by a trip across the park to the jealous neighbours is one thing. But then a trip to the champions, and how about a day out at the Reebok too? Well? thanks, but no thanks. And that?s before Sky got their hands on the fixtures.

Thanks to whoever makes the programming decisions, Liverpool are yet to kick off away from home before one-thirty and though you can be sure no excuses are on offer (from me or the team), you can?t help but feel that the schedule hasn?t exactly helped matters any. However, even the more cautious among our number back in July might now baulk at the points tally reaped from four road trips to date. One solitary point in all is simply not good enough and though Anfield remains a fortress intact, there remains the bleak prospect that any close involvment in the title race come the business end of the season may already have been fatally undermined by all-too-familiar early season stumblings.

In the week of his twenty-fifth anniversary, Shankly?s memory deserved to be better honoured. A vintage European feast had been served midweek, with Galatasaray following the script to perfection before tearing it up, setting it on fire and generally scaring the willies out of everyone. At least Peter Crouch had a fine old time - until he got home, anyway. The banners in Istanbul tend to welcome you to hell. There?s a somewhat more civilised sign to greet visiting teams as they trot out of the tunnel and onto the Anfield turf. In truth, Shankly had always intended it as something more along the lines of a warning, but on Wednesday it might as well have read ?Welcome To Anfield? oh, and help yourself to a couple of late goals while you?re here?.

Liverpool were clearly still in equally generous mood come Saturday, finding themselves mugged by an opportunist but resolute Bolton side and a linesman with a sense of humour. While Shankly once boasted that his side would become invincible, ?so they?ll have to send a team from Mars to beat us?, Benitez? side have been routinely crumbling to more local and mundane opposition in recent weeks. There were no Martians on view at the Reebok on Saturday, although the strong suspicion remains that the referee?s assistant was on another planet. It?s hard to know what to think, never mind say, when a decision as bizarre as that puts you on the road to ruin. Put simply, it was the work of a comedian ? a comedian yards away from being in line with play.

Needless to say, the Liverpool bench didn?t get the joke and they certainly weren?t laughing when Finnan gifted Campo a second Bolton goal minutes after the break. There was precious little else to smile at with Alonso providing the now obligatory woodwork-whacking, and the Reds enjoying the usual amount of luck available to them in this particular fixture ? absolutely none. Garcia had a perfectly good equalizer ruled out at the Reebok when making his Liverpool debut two years ago, and Benitez has been cursing his misfortune at this venue ever since. In fairness to Bolton, this latest episode lacked the physical edge of some previous encounters (most notably last seasons) and victory was deserved for one, or should I say two, simple reasons ? they took both the chances they were given.

The usual shrill cries of ?Rotation! Rotation!? are nowhere to be heard now, because Benitez put out a relatively settled and rotation-free eleven, allowing the front pairing of Kuyt and Bellamy to develop further. One problem there, though ? only one half of the partnership appears to be doing any developing. Kuyt?s stock amongst Kopites soared still higher when he returned to the field after treatment with his hair roughly the same hue as his shirt. The Kop loves a trier, and as for a trier who sheds blood for the cause? well, go to the top of the class. Bellamy meanwhile will just have to stick at it. It?s always a concern when a player of obvious quality arrives at Anfield only to seem? well, ordinary, (and God knows it?s happened before) but that quality remains evident nonetheless. His early games for us put you in mind of Peter Beardsley?s early days in 1988, when he was put in the shade by John Barnes? almost atomic impact, and there?s a vague whiff of Crouch?s early travails too. Still, Bellamy is no quitter and though you sense his concern, his time will surely come.

In the meantime Pennant remains something of an enigma, best summarised by one scribe recently as being something between a John Barnes and a Mark Walters. Somehow I suspect he?s more Mark than John in the minds of most onlookers, though it must be said Walters (he of the multiple step-over) was a decent player. Pennant lacks the strength and grace that Barnes had in abundance, but does possess the neat feet and the trickery of Walters. More pertinently though, he lacks the impact and goal-scoring threat of our erstwhile number ten? Digger was a match-winner; and no one who saw him play can argue with that. In the unlikely event of being allowed a quick word in Jermaine?s ear during training at Melwood, I think I?d ask him to penetrate the box a little more often and maybe go for goal himself. Still, it?s all in the assist as he proved last season?

Benitez? squad-building days are now virtually done, and now that the transition is over and he?s moulded a team in his own image he?ll find that he?ll be judged accordingly. I say virtually, as the failed move for Blackburn?s Lucas Neill left one position without cover or competition; that of right-back. We could use some there. Finnan remains to my mind the most improved player in the squad over the last three seasons and has become what Carragher was ? the proverbial unsung hero, but his recent lapses seem to epitomise the current lack of solidity in a recently feared defence. This has to be corrected, and given Rafa?s track record one senses it will be. But throughout all of Rafa?s near-relentless progress there has been a pattern of sorts ? no sooner is one thing put right than something else gets broken. For two excellent unbeaten runs during last season, everything worked. And if everything works, Liverpool are a force. Until then, the difference between us and Chelsea is stark. They get wins at the Reeboks of this world, we don?t.

So until all of the pieces are working all of the time, more questions than answers remain. Perhaps the loudest question in Benitez? mind over the weekend has been this: just how did Liverpool contrive to lose a game in which they enjoyed 70% possession (depending on whose stats you enjoy with your match report) and mustered 13 shots on goal whilst restricting their opponents to just two? Pehaps he should ask Mr Allardyce?

The rest of us can console ourselves only in the knowledge that three of the season?s biggest banana skins are out of the way at a relatively early stage of the season. The problem is we?ve slipped on them all, and much more slipping and all our sterling efforts at home will count for nothing. And God knows that?s happened before, too?

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