There: I’ve said it. the first step to recovery. Yes, I’ve always been a bit compulsive – checking the teamsheet online one hour before kick-off (knowing the starting XI isn’t enough, teaching my daughter songs from the terraces, checking my favourite messageboards (Red and White Kop and The Liverpool Way) several times a day.

But I’m not just an avid football fan but an addict. I recognised my addiction when I noticed the extent to which I had stopped enjoying games – and even the aftermath of a victory. It isn’t just recent Liverpool results: I hated the last few games of last season, from Fulham away onwards. And after Liverpool’s defeat to Fulham last weekend, I couldn’t even bring myself to watch the La Liga games on Sky Sports.

Like all addictions, my wife doesn’t approve and neither would my daughter if she were old enough. And it’s an activity that costs too much money and takes too much time, given the relatively short ‘hit’ of a game. As with other addictions it’s too frequently indulged with other ugly, socially excluded men in dark, dinghy pubs.

Like an addiction periods of absence are awful, mind-numbing affairs (or international breaks as FIFA prefers to call them).

The build-up towards satisfying the addiction isn’t much fun. The anxiety over ticket availability, the performance of the opposition, the pre match assumptions. As with any other addiction, doing it isn’t much fun either. just a tense ritual. Mostly, the sensation at the end is a relief now, followed by anxiety about the next match, the financial health of the football and the stability of the club.

But I’m not ready to kick it just yet. The highs – however fleeting – are still too high. I even enjoy the despair as I know it’s just a prelude to another high. And reliving previous highs is too fun to abandon the present.

So in the short term, I’d settle for Rafa keeping his job, a good cup run and a top 4 finish. But maybe one day, by the time I’m 30, I’ll be slightly deadened by the highs and lows and ready for a more passing acquaintance with a former vice.

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