I doubt if there's a single person with a few miles on the clock who doesn't occasionally, if not often, hanker back for 'the good old days'. But perversely there's a line of thought to suggest that History as a subject is a waste within the school curriculum.

Well it does seem to me that an awful lot of us would do anything to put the clock back when it comes to Liverpool Football Club. Where has so much gone wrong along the way? What could we learn from the recent past?

But then, to which year would you send your Tardis?

For myself, as somebody who is on the PC from dawn until dusk, I can hardly justify arguing for a time before the arrival of computers, electronic mail and interactive websites. And yet there surely cannot be any getting away from the reality that is the speed of change today; when tiny machines have the ability to latch onto the slightest slip of the tongue and tiny tactless comments can result in the most enormous amount of fall out.

But for the sake of a date, let me return to the days of Smith and Robinson at the head of affairs at LFC. Why was that arrangement, that partnership, so utterly effective?

The danger in answering that question is to rationalise affairs into just two or three compartments when the reality would have been far more complex. However, for the sake of this blog, permit me to simplify some of the issues.

During the time of Kenny's first coming, virtually everything to do with the running of the club took place at Anfield. Melwood was the training centre, but even then the players changed at the Stadium and took a rackety old bus there and back every day. This in turn created a terrific amount of camaraderie not simply within the playing staff but also in the interaction between players and administrative personnel and groundstaff. There was never the slightest hint of us and them. The Club was a unit.

If a player had a query he could pop into accounts, the ticket office or even see Peter Robinson in person. They were all there in the one place and there were few perceived different levels of status. One of the most feared people in the whole of Anfield was Peggy, the ticket manager, yet on some occasions she was more like a foster-mum to some of the players whose domicile might be away from Liverpool.

John Smith was Chairman, but for the most part he trusted Peter Robinson on everything. Such was the relationship that even the other directors would never look to rock boats; reliance on the twosome was total.

As for the manager he would meet with the CEO every day after training. He would raise and discuss every item that impacted on the running of the club and anything the slightest bit untoward would be resolved and nipped in the bud immediately. No mobile phones; instead face to face meetings; looking each other in the eye.

Not everything since those days has been for the worse. The facilities at Melwood are second to none -literally. It's a magnificent complex which the best footballers in the world would be happy to access. But it is a couple of miles from Anfield and indeed at least six from the city centre and Chapel Street. Mobile phone conversations between the two sites will be the norm.

So what sort of relationships are now the norm? Well, most certainly remote ones. And more to the point what about relationships within the city offices themselves?

Anyone who's visited Chapel Street will have seen four floors of impressive décor and spacious, open plan office space. But my understanding is that as far as the different sections are concerned, never the twain shall meet. One member of the accounts department, recently retired, told me that they'd rarely see the section heads; out of the lift, one goes left, the other right; messages by e-mail; occasionally a direct phone call.

Meanwhile any resemblance to a football club is next to non-existent apart from a few impressive wall displays. Players are as remote to personnel as they are to the ordinary fan.

Ian Ayre is LFC Chief Executive and everything I've heard about the man is that he's a genuinely nice person who has almost personally put together some fantastic sponsorship agreements, including Standard Charter. But as a figurehead there are plenty who question his impact because he's a remote figure. At the Theatre of Wet Dreams, for all Ferguson's immense persona, you'd straight away question whether his status is greater than that of CEO David Gill; they certainly come over as an equal couple in harness even though the latter has admitted to having rows in private.

The mics are thrust in Kenny's face at the most inopportune moments and while the Scot is usually well able to manage most questions, nevertheless, he is a football manager first and foremost and he sometimes needs a person of standing at his elbow. Those notorious post-match scenes at Anfield which sparked off the Suarez-Evra rumpus not only demanded a cool head but also one with a presence that even the two officials might seek to take a lead from. As it was they basically deferred to Ferguson's gravitas.

Meanwhile, who gave the licence to wear the t-shirts at Wigan? And then who was at Kenny's side for the press conference on Saturday? You may have noticed an occasional arm touching the managers's elbow, but how much clout had that person got when it came to reining in a fiery Scot who's wound up like a coiled spring. Where was the Chief Executive when he made the spontaneous and arguably needless remark last week regarding Suarez's absence?

It's not that I personally disagree with some or all of these incidents; it's just that in times of high emotion a respected guiding hand is often needed.

When I staged kids' games pre-match at Anfield in the 1980s, you could guarantee that Peter Robinson would be round and about. He'd rarely if ever go into the dressing room but his very presence in the corridor was felt by everyone. This is the man in charge; the figurehead of the Club; what he says goes.

Right now, Liverpool Football Club does have a figurehead but it is the wrong person. It should not be the team manager.

All the word has been that the owners were instrumental in putting out the statements of apology on Sunday. So why has the Club been briefing journalists this morning to make sure all the credit is given to Ian Ayre? The Liverpool Echo has played ball; it remains to be seen how the national press react.

My own opinion, a tiny, insignificant one within the big picture, is that the Club offices should be transferred to a purpose built accommodation at Melwood. Then and only then can all players, executive and staff once again mix freely and regularly and Liverpool Football Club have a proper and complete unity of purpose.

Mike Hopper