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The Slovakian centre-back says the input of Kenny Dalglish and Steve Clarke has helped him win over the Liverpool fans

The demands of a young family have reduced Martin Skrtel’s interaction with the Liverpool public yet he remains acutely aware of how they perceive him. It was four years ago today that Rafael Benítez’s search for a young, commanding central defender concluded in the £6.5m signing of the Slovakia international from Zenit St Petersburg. It is only now that he feels the unconditional acceptance of Anfield.

A reflection of Skrtel’s form, and the finest compliment to his partnership with Daniel Agger, is that Jamie Carragher’s time as an automatic selection in the heart of the Liverpool defence has ended in smooth transition and minus the consequences that would once have been inevitable. Only Manchester City, Liverpool opponents tonight in the Carling Cup semi-final first leg, boast a better defensive record than Kenny Dalglish’s team in the Premier League. The most consistent and authoritative performances of Skrtel’s Anfield career have been instrumental in that foundation and, though he flatly denies feeling assured of a starting role under Dalglish, he concedes the fight to prove himself at Liverpool has finally swung his way.

“I don’t go to the city centre now because I am busy with my young baby but, of course, I can see people look at me in a different way now to how they were looking at me before and I am happy about that,” the 27-year-old says. “I can say that two years ago there were doubts about me. I could see in their reaction that they didn’t think I was consistent. They were undecided about me so I hope for the last year I’ve shown that I am good enough and that I can play for Liverpool.”

Skrtel, after much cajoling, is prepared to admit that “this is the best period in my career and definitely since I came here to Liverpool,” and credits Dalglish and his assistant, Steve Clarke, with improving the entire back-line during their year at the helm. “We work a lot in training on defending with Steve and that has probably helped not only me but all the guys who play at the back,” he says. “Since Kenny and Steve have come in [one year ago this week] the atmosphere changed around the team. Everything is much, much better now. If I feel the confidence from the manager that is important for me and maybe that is the reason.”

As with so many centre-halves at a new club and with a sizeable transfer fee, Skrtel made an ignominious start to his career in England. His full debut for Liverpool came in the remarkable FA Cup fourth-round tie against Havant and Waterlooville when, having erred as the non-league side twice took the lead at Anfield and given a nervous display, he needed consoling words from Benítez to recover.

“I remember just going back to my hotel knowing it was not my best performance,” Skrtel recalls. “I knew the people were talking about me – that I wasn’t good enough for Liverpool and that the club had paid a lot of money for me. For me it was important that Rafa said, ‘Don’t worry about this game. Look ahead to the next game, I will give you a chance and you have to show you are a better player.’”

Skrtel improved rapidly but those early months in a strange land continued to present problems. He admits: “It was very difficult at first. I came from Russia, everything was different. It was a big club. One of the biggest in the world. It was a little bit strange for me, you know, because I came here to be in the dressing room with players like Stevie [Gerrard], Fernando [Torres] and Carra. I wasn’t used to that. I couldn’t speak English, I couldn’t understand the lads and the first thing I did was to try and sort that out the language problems. On the pitch I didn’t start well either, against Havant.

“For me the Premier League is the best competition in the world with the best players and it is not easy to settle down. I also needed to learn the way of the game, the speed of the game. The game here was much, much harder than it was in Slovakia and Russia.”

One aspect of Skrtel’s Liverpool career that has not changed is his luck at City, or, more accurately, his lack of it. The Slovakian ruptured a cruciate ligament in a 3-2 win at what was then Eastlands in 2008, suffered a head injury in another visit and last week conceded the penalty that sealed City’s 3-0 league win and prompted Roberto Mancini to wave an imaginary and unsavoury red card demanding his dismissal.

“This is a chance not only for me but for everyone who is working at the club,” insists Skrtel. “It is a semi-final and I think it will be a totally different game to the last one in the league. We have two games and have to give it all. Personally, I got an injury there and there was the penalty in the last game. I think it is time for a change in my luck.”

Liverpool, meanwhile, are interested in Sporting Lisbon’s promising 18-year-old midfielder, Joao Teixeira.

Defensive duos of the past at AnfieldLiverpoolAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

Forget Mein Kampf. It’s a collection of the 1980s precursor of Loaded, Viz et al which has beaten Jamie Oliver and everyone else at the tills

We’ve had a fair bit in the Northerner this past year on independent publishing – eg here and here -so it’s nice to round things off with a pretty sensational success story.

An anthology of the legendary fanzine The End, reprinting all 20 editions, is this year’s Christmas best-seller in Liverpool’s bookshops, beating Jamie Oliver into second place and outselling perennial chart-toppers such as the Guinness Book of Records.

At £20 a copy, that’s very handy for Sabotage Times, the excellently-named online journal and publisher of the book whose logo is an anarchist’s round bomb with a sputtering fuse. They have added a series of essays and comments on the fanzine whose admirers included John Peel. He said of it:

My favourite magazine is The End from Liverpool which concerns itself with music, beer and football. The very stuff of life itself.

That endorsement came after Peel was bombarded with latters from The End which took him severely to task for his choice of music. At a time when much of his work was slavishly adulated, they caught his eye and appealed to his own sense of independence. He gave an interview to the team, led by Peter Hooton who went on to become lead singer of The Farm.

Hooton has been involved with the new anthology which marks 30 years since the first copy of The End appeared, with its appealing home-made look and cover price of 20p. Five hundred copies were printed for £90, giving a £10 profit for a sell-out. Result, happiness.

The fanzine anticipated lads’ magazines but with a lighter touch and sure powers of observing and describing Liverpool in the days of Militant, Derek Hatton and economic decline. It went wittily for hot-dog sellers and wearers of bobble hats and derided non-Liverpudlians; in spite of that, it built up a particularly large following in Leeds and West Yorkshire, including the future editor of Loaded, James Brown, who now runs Sabotage Times

The Christmas proof of The End’s lasting appeal delights Hooton, who says:

We were hoping it would still be popular but we have been overwhelmed by the demand. To be the best-selling book in Liverpool when you think of all the competition is amazing. It’s been a real team effort.

James Brown says:

We have sold nearly 4000 books in six weeks and over 1200 to Waterstones in the city alone. It’s a triumph for independent self-publishing as we’ve done this without a distributor.

Merry Christmas, one and all. There will be Northerners during the week, but not as many as usual and at excitingly unpredictable times.

LiverpoolLiverpoolLiverpoolMartin Wainwrightguardian.co.uk

• Hillsborough Family Support Group welcomes motion
• Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish praises MPs

Hillsborough campaigners believe they are edging towards discovering the truth of what happened in the tragedy more than 22 years ago after a momentous occasion in the House of Commons.

Last night a motion calling for all documents – including cabinet notes and briefings – to be handed to the independent panel set up to review the papers for public release was passed unopposed in the House of Commons.

“We are all very pleased with the outcome last night. I thought the MPs did a great job,” Margaret Aspinall, chairwoman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, told the Press Association.

“I thought Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham were fantastic. To mention the names of the 96 in the House of Commons makes sure it goes down in Hansard and was amazingly emotional.

“We have always had caution but after last night I am hoping it will help the families in some way. I feel so much better about it. We are getting nearer and nearer now – hopefully our day will come.

“To hear Theresa May’s speech was really pleasing, not just for us but for the whole of the city, the fans and the survivors. I think it sends out a message that a cover-up like that will never happen again.”

The debate was sparked after an online petition was signed by almost 140,000 people and the campaign gathered pace through social media with a number of high-profile footballers throwing their weight behind the cause.

“It has taken 22 years to get this far and it was said in the House of the Commons that it was down to the power of the people,” added Aspinall, who lost her 18-year-old son James at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final. “It is never too late to get to the truth.

“There will be no end for the families because we have lost our children and loved ones and we lost them needlessly. Now the families may feel that, at last, everybody is listening.”

For Kenny Dalglish, who was in charge of the side at Hillsborough in his first spell as Liverpool manager, the disaster took a huge personal toll and contributed to his shock resignation in 1991. Now back at the Anfield helm for a second time he was full of praise for those who had maintained the fight for justice.

“Congratulations and thanks to Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham for bringing so much hope to many people who have suffered too long,” the Scot wrote on Twitter. “Steve and Andy have only one objective. Justice for the families. No political side. Only humanitarian issues. Thank you to everyone, whatever team you support, for helping the families move closer to getting justice.”

Hillsborough disasterLiverpoolAndy BurnhamKenny Dalglishguardian.co.uk