Mr Shake Hands Man
MAN found guilty of a charge he feels he is innocent of by an organisation with a 99.5% conviction rate.
Man is aggrieved at being found guilty and the subsequent ban imposed.
Man not too keen on shaking hands with his accuser who he feels is responsible for his eight-game ban.
Och, the mock indignation, the faux outrage, burn him, burn him as a witch.
Forget Abu Qatada, his links to Al Qaeda and his support for the terrorism that crippled the Western world with fear, no, according to George Galloway, it is not Qatada who need to be deported, but a far more sinister threat.
“If Dalglish doesn’t sack Luis Suarez the Home Secretary should deport him.”
Cried Galloway, who knows a tyrant when he see’s one, he’s been mates with enough of them, including Saddam Hussein, of whom he once said :
“Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability.”
While presumably in the midst of a far but firm handshake with the butcher of Baghdad.
So, murder thousands of your own people, including women and kids, fine, dare not shake the hand of someone you feel has wronged you, well, now that’s a different matter altogether.
To be clear, this is not an attack of Evra, if he believes, as the FA panel did, that he was racially abused by Luis Suarez, then he has every right to be upset, the same right that Suarez has to believe he has been wrongfully convicted on nothing more than hearsay.
He also has the right, however childish, to play up to the cameras and, if he see’s fit, engage in a little triumphalism, football isn’t supposed to be sterile, it’s an emotional game but this isn’t about Evra.
This is more about the pantomime dames who are determined to drag this out as long as humanly possible. For some, it’s easy/lazy copy, for others it’s a chance to get some air-time on TV – some are using it to practice their thinly veiled xenophobia, and then some just like to stick up for a team they definitely don’t support.
First up, is PFA Chief Gordon Taylor, who said yesterday that the whole episode left him feeling
“Quite sick in my stomach”
Adding:
“It is something we cannot afford to ignore if we are going to succeed with our battle against racism.”
This is of course, the same Gordon Taylor who had spent the previous few days excusing a man, the current England manager no less, who once called Paul Ince “An arrogant black cunt”, even at the time, Taylor was keen to make light of the situation, saying:
“Stuart will be ringing Paul to apologise. Stuart regrets what he said. It was in the heat of the moment.”
No handshake then?
Next up, we’ve got the doyen of the Guardian sports-desk, the newly promoted Daniel Taylor, who accused Kenny Dalglish of being:
“Outraged by everything and ashamed of nothing”
And then, turning his considerable invective on his favourite subject, he added
“What Suárez did was callous, premeditated”
This is the same Daniel ‘Ambulance Noises’ Taylor who later that evening on Twitter, excused this, from Manchester United fanzine ‘Red Issue’, as a ‘spoof’.
Of course, it’s all a big joke, the Ku-Klux Klan and the brutal murder of black teens, church bombings and campaign of organised lynchings is something to be made fun of – ‘Klanfield’ t-shirts, ho-ho, how funny, how clever.
Greater Manchester Police, fortunately, took a more dim view and confiscated every copy of the magazine on the grounds of ‘Inciting Racial Hatred’
Given the flavour of Taylor’s articles, you’d be forgiven for thinking that he had a soft spot for Manchester United, not so, he claims, unless of course they are playing Liverpool.
Then you have the biggest hypocrite of them all, Mr Ferguson, whose anger on the subject turned his nose a purpler shade of puce as he raged.
“[Suarez is] A disgrace to Liverpool Football Club, he shouldn’t be able to play for Liverpool again.”
Of course, Sir Alex is right, such behaviour is totally unacceptable, much worse than assaulting a member of the public or missing a drugs test, and should be condemned in the most heinous terms and the perpetrators of such uncouthness should be banned from these isles forthwith, as happened with Roy Carroll and Paul Scholes, didn’t it Alex………Alex.
Alex? Are you there?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2374021/Ferguson-not-at-the-races.html
Fortunately, some have had the sense to see yesterdays ‘flashpoint’ for what it was, absolutely nothing, and don’t let anyone else convince you otherwise.
“If you don’t like someone, don’t shake their hand.”
Gary Neville
Simple eh?
This is a fantastic piece, Andrew.
Not much to say, just 100% agree, love it.
Exactly right and Evra started trouble yestrday during Ht by trying to follow Suarez to his dressing room Skirtl stopped him. You can’t blame Suarez for the actions of Evra. Every action leads to a reaction. I am so proud of Suarez for not reacting the way evra hoped to his vile provocation. Evra is the one who is a disgrace is whole attitude yesterday was disgraceful. Its no wonder racism exists when youhave vile players like him who only endorse racism.
Boom
Brilliant this, Andy.
United Fan here, still feel the need to state that and here’s a thought…is it entirely possible that this has been blown up BECAUSE from the words of SAF/KD in the build up to the game it was intimated on both their parts that a handshake WOULD take place?
The fact that it didn’t and KD’s comments post interview where either he didn’t genuinely know it hadn’t or was “playing dumb” due to lack of options suggest LS DID let down KD and LFC? Had he not wanted to do the handshake, should he not have just told KD/LFC and have them choose the best course of events which may have included the whole handshake event being forgone?
And to offer a more balanced view in terms of allegations thrown SAF’s way, he has said very little on the LS issue until yesterday. Granted that may not have been the case if Evra had not been found guilty. That’s not to say his comments were helpful at all but I feel it’s a little rash of LFC fans to point the finger at him and use previous examples and events and query why he did not take the same action. He never called for LS to be sold or a disgrace even on when being found guilty. He only did so after the handshake issue….which isn’t as a big a deal but given the context and the assumption it would be buried, an action by LS resulted in it not being so.
I’m sure someone will counter with a point about Evra withdrawing his hand, I saw this suggestion and I wanted to wait until I saw the footage a number of times to confirm if this was possible. It was not. The footage is clear. LS has no intention of shaking his hand and it disappoints me that some LFC fans have resorted to taking this position.
I agree, the refusal to shake hands is not that big a deal but the manner in which it took place without the club and KD being aware suggests someone was let down.
Suarez did not lower his hand evra did, maybe they should both man up?
I think Evra “lowering” his hand has been put to bed by LS’s apology now.
But agreed, both men need to man up and bury it, they both make a very good living off it and ego should not come into it.
Evra clearly did keep his hand lower. That is a fact you can see on the replays and the apology doesn’t change that. However that doesn’t mean Evra wouldn’t have shaken his hand had Suarez made an effort. The statement from club and Suarez lead me to still believe what I said below (posted before I saw the apology). Suarez definitely took the opportunity to skip Evra though whatever the height of the hand proffered.
It’s done now, if only Daniel Ogden had the decency to apologize to Kenny.
I suppose they both could have been hesitant,neither wanting to be left looking like a dick,when the other refused to shake.
Suarez didn’t apologise to Evra. He apologised to Dalglish, the club and the fans. He apologised for nothing making more of an effort. He apologised because he is a man of dignity and he took the high road, whilst Evra wallows in the gutter.
Crip, regarding LS not telling KD that he wouldn’t shake Evra’s hand, this is why I believe that he did intend on shaking it. I think he didn’t want to for sure but he did intend to or as you say it would have made much more sense to just tell Kenny beforehand.
But when it came to the moment both Evra and Suarez didn’t really want to initiate the contact. Evra definitely held his hand lower and closer to his side and Suarez definitely made no real effort to go looking for Evra’s hand. Neither extended their hand forward in a direct manner and Suarez took the opportunity to move past.
As you say it’s not that big a deal. Suarez and Evra played the rest of the game with great restraint and class. Evra let himself down at the end and Suarez dealt with it beautifully but whatever. It’s not worth making a big deal of that either.
Andy’s piece about the coverage from everyone else and Fergie’s comments is spot on.
Jonno,
I sincerely believe we’re clutching at straws to suggest Evra’s hand movement suggested he was angling to not shake hands, I think it’s very unfair to level that at him. I agree it would have been an awkward moment for both but by suggesting that you perpetrating a myth, a myth some extreme LFC fans will clutch onto to justify LS’s actions.
As for Andy’s comments re: Fergie. They make for a great blog but they skim over the facts, understandable why but I don’t believe they are spot on and comparable, They can be debated on merit and faults can be found, we’re humans after all and very fallible.
Agreed, Evra did let himself down. Understandable on a human level given the nature of allegations that have come his way as well, the final whistle and result was a “release” but not helpful at all. Just like it is understandable LS’s reaction as well.
People need to stop believing their club and players represent them as well as holy and beyond reproach. YOU represent you and no one else.
Crip, like I said I’m not saying Evra’s hand position was such that Suarez couldn’t have shaken it if he wanted to. But it was definitely more withdrawn than for the other players. Doesn’t really matter anyway. If Suarez didn’t want to shake it (and I think he had that right) he should have said so to KD beforehand, since he said he would he should have grabbed Evra’s hand unless it was behind his back.
Agreed. Hopefully now a line has been drawn under it. I can’t say in general United fans would have behaved any different had the roles been reversed. I think LS apology and Ian Ayre’s words hit the right tone and reflect well on both in this moment.
Oh God, people are de-constructing Evra’s “hand position”.
Suarez admits he didn’t go to shake his hand, which was already clear to be honest.
Hi, another Man united fan here. Suarez. Great restraint and class? Did you see the same game? At half time when he booted the ball at the home bench were you thinking great restraint and class? He should have been sent off for that, you should be thankful the media for whatever reason are not showing replays of it over and over because he would end up getting a retrospective ban.
I do agree a huge mountain has been made out of a molehill here, but when it comes to racism thats always gonna be the case. Judging by the apologies coming from Liverpool and Suarez, Suarez did mislead his club and manager. You could see Dalglish’s surprise when he was told he didn’t do the handshake. Evra was wrong to rub it in Suarez’s face at the end but you can understand why he felt compelled to do it.
And one last thing. What is Suarez on about when he is repeatedly saying “everything is not as it seems”? Theres no mystery surrounding anything about this. Pardon the pun but its pretty black and white.
evra was lucky to stay on the pitch in the 1st min when goin into a tackle on suarez, luckily rio got in his way but almost ended up with a broken back because of it.
Suarez did not boot the ball at the home bench, he booted it off the field and it actually went towards the away bench. Stop telling lies.
Watch it again if you think you are correct. Otherwise stop your lies and dry your eyes. He nearly took the head off a Man U coach.
Self-serving justification – you want to give evidence that Evra did not withdraw his hand?
brilliant article especially that bit on pearce/ince and the double standards that gordon taylor shows are a fucking disgrace as for that prick from the guardian youve just exposed him for what he his
Excellent stuff.
Always glad to see some common sense around.
Every time the media continually re-uses whatever crumbs they can to relight the Suarez-Evra issue and paint it even more controversially than before, the more one simply loses faith in humanity as a whole.
Now one can be accused of a grave offence, be judged by a kangaroo court and have that kind of mud stick with you until you’re finally chased out of the country.
It is a sad, sad state of football, it is.
Spot on Andy.
Great piece! Took me a couple of plays of the video before I spotted carrol and Scholes refusing to shake hands.
Only one word for the whole affair – hypocrisy… Hypocrisy and victimisation. Two words…
Absolutely spot on! The faux outrage purely because it’s Liverpool is laughable, would the ManUtd anger merchants be reacting the same if this were a Wigan player we were talking about? Of course not, the Liverpool obsessed clowns from Old Trafford who sing about us even when we aren’t playing them are just happy to sit atop their own little moral high horse passing judgement based solely on the fact Suarez is a Liverpool player!
Schmeichel, Cantona, Giggs, Rooney have all brought the club into disrepute yet were all backed by Alex ‘double standards’ Ferguson and all still viewed as heroes, George Best described Pele and Andy Cole as niggers! Yet they have a statue to honour him at Old Trafford, why didn’t that get torn down never to see the light of day again as they are calling for Suarez?
I hate ManUtd and I hate their arrogance and their superiority complex but most of all I detest with a passion their double standards and holier than thou attitudes.
2side’s to every thing and you’ve shown the way with this piece.
Great piece, especially on Daniel Taylor.
Crip
Who did Ferguson sell Schmeichel to after he racially abused Ian Wright? Don’t forget, that was being investigated by police, and it was only after Wright came under immense pressure behind the scenes (who from, exactly? Hmmmm I wonder) that the issue was ‘sorted’ with a handshake.
The cant and hypocrisy on this are a true sight to behold.
Bobby,
As stated in my original post SAF did not call for LS ot be sold after the guilty verdict. Had Peter Schmeichel subsequently undermined his position and the clubs, you can certainly then pose that question. At the end of the day, the Wright/Schmeichel issue was put to bed as should have Evra and LS yesterday.
As for “immense pressure behind the scenes” comment is nothing more than an insinuation without any basis of fact. I know LFC fans tend to think we United get the rub of the green on decisions, I can assure you MUFC fans feel we are targeting by the association/media just as LFC fans are feeling now.
Absolutely brilliant piece mate…
making such a big deal out of a f***ing handshake is ridiculous! You are spot on!
YNWA!!
Fantastic piece Andy, one of you’re best to date imo. You summed up exactly what I want to say.
Fantastic. I also really appreciate that you don’t discredit Evra and his rights to feel offended, like many people do, it really strengthens the piece. Although having said that, I still think he is an utter cunt.
Spot. Fucking. On.
A good read Andy,
For me the idea of footballers as professional and well behaved sportsmen went out with Sir Tom Finney and Sir Stan Matthews. We’ve been in a steady decline for years but now the public seem to be genuinely offended at any given opportunity, regardless of the matter. Unless you happen to be John Terry who still seems to be coasting by this issue almost without any censure.
For people to think footballers are all role models and should behave accordingly is as gullible and naive as the the football writers (and the public at large) who still seem to honestly believe that rugby players dont talk back to the ref.
People will be disgusted by Suarez as is their want. Fine, but dont forget Evra’s too. It’s hardly the behaviour you would expect of a man who is captain of a national side….
no, wait!
Wonderful stuff but youre preaching to the converted on here…E mail a copy to Taylor(s)Galloway and everyone trying to suck up to black lobbyists.
Wonderful stuff but youre preaching to the converted on here…E mail a copy to Taylor(s)Galloway and everyone trying to suck up to black lobbyists with their own agenda
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/luis-suarez-i-m-sorry
Credit to LS and LFC now, he’s at least acknowledged the mistake and will put to bed the mindless idea that Evra withdrew his hand.
‘ .. put to bed the mindless idea ..’ – of course it will; in the cognitive dissonant ‘minds’ of those who believe Evra has done no wrong
right on the money, wont stop the sermons from the fleet street pulpit tomorrow (or today see Patrick Collins DM)
suarez has subsequently issued an apology which may spike their guns
Being from Ireland journalist integrity is always something we take for granted. In troubled times we have relied on journalists to always get at the truth and tell the news exactly the way it is. I think that the english media is an absolute disgrace, after all they are going through a lot of court cases at the minute calling into question the integrity of a lot of journalists. I never ever bought the sun anyway and now I have stopped buying english papers altogether. This past few months watching the english media tear apart a young man (Luis Suarez) with the most heinous venom I have ever seen. (if he was a mass murderer, serial killer or Pedophile I would understand) but this young lad is just a footballer playing for one of the most decorated clubs in english history. The English media trying to fill space in their newspapers again. They are the ones that are keeping the story going. I cannot understand this. As for Fergie, what a hypocrite, did the Crystal Palace manager tell him to sell Cantona and that he should never put on a MU shirt again. Dont think so. Fergie needs to apologise to Kenny Daglish and Luis Suarez
Someone returning from a ban they didn’t appeal against, then during a handshake refusing to even acknowledge the person he was found to have racially abused….. That’s hard to defend and understandably garnered many varied responses from worldwide media…
Don’t see what the argument is really….
that’s because you don’t want to mate
Well, you could just make a cogent point maybe, no…?
Crip – as expected, weasel words.
Ian Wright was unequivocal about what Schmeichel called him, and he was subject to immense behind the scenes pressure to shake hands and drop the matter. Ferguson described Wright’s protests as a ‘slur’ against Manchester United and its reputation. When Ferguson felt the heat, he made sure it was all brushed under the carpet so that a vital member of his team didn’t face the music.
Bobby,
I’m sorry you had an expected already mapped out in your mind.
Unless you can prove any of the above, it’s just hearsay. And again I’ve said this before, SAF never called for ANY action on LS before the handshake, even when found guilty.
Further you can also go through previous comments I have made on this site that I defend KD’s right to support his player, I can point them out to you if you feel this is needed. SAF’s defending his player at that time is not different to KD’s of LS. If you condemn SAF, then condemn KD as well.
Perfect; of all comments the untouchable Ferguson took the biscuit. Great piece – thankfully it could now, finally, be all over. We need to get league points, not media flack.
Really excellent article. More!
Well said! I hate to admit it, but galloway’s comments annoyed me. He should stick to cat impressions next time he wants to get publicity.
Kenny & Suarez apologising for yesterdays conduct. Is the club going spineless behind the scenes, pandering to the MU media circus.
From the false accusation the Ni@@er (which was bound to make the FA over investigate to find something) word was used by Suarez to yesterdays handshake set up by Evra (ducked his hand then brought it back up after Suarez had passed then cause a scene).
There’s been calculated plans and moves from the angelic MU victim quarters throughout recent times. Sadly the spineless LFC string pullers are pandering to the manipulative influences from down the M62.
Yup ManU are setting up and taking the pish out’ve Lpool via their media circus. It’s obviously instilling something in the Lpool towers of power. They didnt have the spine to take on the FA report and its bias, unfairness and gaping holes. Now apologising for the handshake incident.
Thank fcuk i dont live my life like Liverpool is being made to look in some quarters. They’ll be inviting ManU over to the Xmas party next.
Great article Andy. I think George Galloway needs to get a clumsy handjob from his mate Abu Hamza. What a disgraceful moron putting his two-cents in…
i speculate its much more likely that Evra lowered his hand in order to take the position that if Suarez didn’t offer his, then Evra would look the good guy.
Whether he did that because he genuinely believed Suarez wouldn’t handshake, or if Luis saw Evra lower his hand and took that as a refusal, as I say, we can speculate till the cows come home.
I am still at a loss to understand why the handshakes were taken – its not like nobody ( the media) wasn’t drooling over speculation either way. Look how the matter was dealt with between Chelsea and QPR.
And a petulant moment by someone who believes he has genuinely been aggrieved, robbed Liverpool of its dignity, which has been trampled out like a bad circus to appease the corporate owners of our so called family. it would seem the Liver Bird brand is now more important than integrity and honesty.
As for Ferguson – he has shown for all his seven decades, he has less maturity than Luis.
Ferguson…
His star striker has been caught goosing grannie brasses
His gobshite defender missed a drug test and was banned for months
His model iconic professional giggs was shagging all kinds for years, even his brothers fucking wife ffs!
Another fucking player jumps into the crowd & kick someone in the head before beginning to beat him
A load of the team where accused of raping someone on their xmas night out one year
Nicky Butt twatted an old man in a restaurant
Ferguson himself was fined by uefa for racist comments about italians
Schmichael racially abused Ian Wright
But that drunken old twat has the audacity to tell another fucking team to get rid of their player because he refused to shake the man who tried to destroy his career and reputation!!
Oh & daniel taylor is the biggest hypocrite out there, condoning KKK racist masks after all his moral outrage towards Liverpool, twat of a journo!!!
Love it! Well said mate. Laugh out loud true.
That’s probably the best and most concise argument for any decent journalist to make that I’ve read so far. Well done. It just amazes me why the club or maybe some journalists who have an affinity towards LFC don’t point this shit out to the rest of the world. They’re either stupid, lazy or too scared to ruffle some feathers.
Crip
I’m pointing out how Ferguson helped to engineer along with others in the English football establishment the marginalising of a black player who was racially abused by one of his best players. We can add that fact to the long list of cant and hypocrisy that this hysterical episode has exposed.
Absolutely brilliant. If only this could get printed in the national press instead of the utter shite that was churned out today by people with agendas looking to make a name for themselves
Excellent riposte. Panto dames, sums it up. Well done, Andrew.
JB has just been on Talk Sport, he was totally brilliant, went on the offensive and even took Barclay to task for good measure!
Feel let down by that spineless puppet Ian Ayre and as far as I’m concerned if the yanks are going to pull the strings and order directives (after the fact) from the other side of the Atlantic they should fuck off.
It can be argued that Kenny has brought it on himself but as far as I’m concerned, he has been hung out to dry and forced to back down. I hope he relays Shanklys trinity message to our corporate owners and has taken names, especially Maddocks, who in his own right is a despicable diseased horrid cunt
Mate this whole issue has thrown up areas of obvious weakness within the club.The PR and legal side has been shite but blame the tumours they gutted the club of a lot of good people before they were kicked out.
A campaign too far? Lets all shake hands and agree that the football authorities who ever they may be, must have an over inflated view of themselves for ever believing it was and could be a leading light in any anti racist campaign.
Football is and always was a tribal game where folks who would never normally take part in any anti-social behaviour will happily trade the vilest of insults with the fans of opposing teams and egg on their team to take the opposition apart both physically and mentally.
All the FA have achieved with their inspector Clouseau-esque investigation is to inflame these passions even further. The weighty tome produced by this investigation, all 115 pages of it has not one single piece of real evidence, not one person heard what was said to Evra, not one.
The judgement by the FA is purely based on one man’s word against another and relies heavily on interpretation of body language and facial expressions from video footage, it is understood that this is not a legal case and so the quality of proof and evidence need only be of a lower degree, in fact it is not even of the quality that would be expected in a civil case, the verdict was purely subjective from an organisation under pressure from the “Kick it out campaign” and at the time of the Stephen Lawrence re-trial.
This is not an attack on Patrice Evra or a defence of Luis Suarez but an exasperated expression of frustration at the suits at the top of our game who are so far removed from the ordinary fan they have no time let alone interest in their view but are petrified of the press and in particular one or two campaigning journalists, who without doubt are the real problem with their evocative and inflammatory language all dressed up in a “campaign for a fairer society”
Journalists those guardians of the moral high ground are going to save us all and create Nirvana in the process and when they are finished and everything is a damn sight worse they can always tell us “we told you so”
A thousand FA investigations in what is a profoundly tribal sport can only ever inflame passions further without real and substantial evidence to support its findings, they let down Evra, they let down Suarez and Liverpool and Manchester united and were bowed not by public opinion, or campaigning journalists but by their over inflated view that they are leading lights in an anti-racist agenda.
The one voice of reason I have heard in all of this is John Barnes, at the moment a voice in the wilderness, keep talking John we may just be beginning to listen.
Racism charges should never be judged under the same laws as a dangerous tackle.
For a man,a club and it’s fans to be judged on the “Balance of probabilty” for such a serious charge is simply unjust.
Great article Andy. The club maybe need to look at the PR operation as we now live in a world of 24 hour media and there were articles caning the club online within hours yesterday. It does also look like Suarez put Dalglish in an impossible position after today’s developments.
Daniel Taylor has taken plenty of stick on here but Richard Williams isn’t much better. David Conn put the following a tweet out today praising LFC for their swift apologies today, Williams response???
“@rwilliams1947: @david_conn Disagree. All window dressing.”
The Guardian has gone badly downhill over the last couple of years and not just on the sports pages.
Totally agree. Williams hasn’t written anything decent in years and his anti-LFC bias is a happy coincidence. The majority of them are a bunch of comedian wannabes with little clue about football. Paul Hayward was even worse, but he’s gone now. Ever read a Barney Roney article? Words fail me, but they positively conspire against him! Sid Lowe and Said & Done is the only thing worth reading in the Guardian’s football section, however good the rest of the paper is.
Look to your own sins & sorrows before you caste aspertions on others. For you are guilty as sin.
Evra is an angel. The amount of blinkers towards his actions and behaviour is hard to comprehend. He seems to do no wrong, when in reality he does and very wisely too. Trained by the finest.
Sadly LFC didnt have the spine and decided to stand up the to the questionable FA investigation & findings of the original incident. Liars and tricksters seem to rule the media and LFC have decided to bow to them, even apologising now. Thats not the LFC i’ve grown up with so I guess they have gone soft and allowed the Man U media circus to play a blinder.
Water under the bridge indeed, bygones be bygones but on this occasions the liars and tricksters have got one over on LFC. Long will such people continue.
SiMon – Bang on!
Have to say spot on Simon – isn’t it incredible that the one person not to have any scrutiny in this whole affair is Patrice Evra; the ‘non’-victim?
Very misinformed and inflammatory to suggest Evra has lied when the case was clearly proven.
No it fucking wasn’t you tit.
If you look the report you’ll see it was I’m afraid.
Also, no need to become abusive.
There is need when it’s a stubborn robot like you.
It wasn’t clearly proven. 3 men – handpicked by the FA who have a 99.5 per cent conviction rate in all disciplinary cases, 1 of whom is a close friend of Ferguson’s, found that IN THEIR OPINION, Luis Suarez PROBABLY said something racial to Evra. There was NO proof, and nothing was proven.
Excellent piece, Andrew. The club have reacted because of pressure from the owners after the New York Times article by Rob Hughes. It seems to me that Suarez has felt he has been unfairly treated , was probably persuaded by the club not to appeal, and , even though agreeing to the handshake, balked at the moment due to his own sense of justice. So he let down the club & Kenny and now has had his spirit broken. Who could blame him for leaving for Spain or Italy should Real, Barca or Inter come calling?
Of course you’re right, football is full of infuriating contradictions and characters only concerned with feathering their own nests.
Equally, you’ve spectacularly missed the point on a number of occasions and to suggest Red Issue were making light of the brutal murder of black teens – get a bleedin grip. Next you’ll be suggesting a selection of our most controversial comics be rounded up in a jail cell for ‘inciting racial hatred’.
If Michael McIntyre is in that list – then I’m all for that Connor.
I am still baffled why the complete footballing world and all of journalism ignored the blatant exaggeration/lies of the start of this whole thing, and then the absurdity of the whole process after. There were no 7 n***ers, no ten times, there was no chance of justice from the FA, Evra has got form with the Chelsea accusation and a video proving he is a liar about not wanting to use the N word. I stopped buying the Observer after reading it for 25 years because of the bias of Daniel “Denial” Taylor. He put out a double page spread of manchester articles before every one of the last three games, with only negative comments about Liverpool. What a disgrace to employ a sports editor who only writes and commissions biased writing like that. Our best hope now seems to be if there is a parliamentary enquiry and Kenny Dalglish speaks his mind.
((((Racism charges should never be judged under the same laws as a dangerous tackle.For a man,a club and it’s fans to be judged on the “Balance of probabilty” for such a serious charge is simply unjust))))
^^^ This is correct Steve. Evra’s initial accusations constituted a criminal offence. But if it was subject to the standard of criminal court there would be no case to answer.
Why would a sports body use criminal court standards….?
Also, it was the flexible civil standard of the balance of probability, so that is a higher standard than many civil cases.
Furthermore, neither Liverpool or Suarez have openly disagreed with any of the specific contents of the report.
A well written article however it leaves out one point. In the build up to the game Kenny clearly said that he had spoken to Luis and the handshake wouldn’t be an issue.
I have no problem with Luis not wanting to shake Evra’s hand. I have a problem with him hanging his manager, who has repeatedly backed him to the hilt, out to dry the way he did. Especially when that manager is Kenny Dalglish
Richard Williams comes from that bastion of truthful and balanced journalism that is the music press. A part of the 4th estate which was never subjective, never hyped some artists, while ignoring others and were never, repeat never wrong about anything!
He was the orginal presenter of the Old Grey Whitsle Test in 1971 before he was sacked in favour of Whispering Bob Harris. That’s worth noting.
Geroge Galloway works for Talksport. Says it all…
Very good, Andy, very good. Simple. To the point. There isn’t much more to be said. The double standards and hypocrisy spouted by some claiming to just be ‘against racism’ has been astounding through this whole episode. Ollie “Is ‘black c*nt’ racist” Holt and now Daniel “KKK references are just a good laugh” Taylor are unbelievable in the way they condemn for no reason, and then so easily swat aside REAL racial abuses. The fact people read it and aren’t offended is what shocks me. It’s a sad reflection on the media in the UK, and to be honest, a vast majority of the people who blindly read it and agree.
why, as the home team, weren’t man u walking the line to shake hands? why the change from what is the norm? what would have happened had Evra had to offer his hand to Luis?
Just asking like
brilliant article!
Repetition is always used to report half-baked, twisted and partial truths as absolute truth which are framed by with media agenda.
I can’t stand this witch hunt. everyone needs a good look at the loopholes of the report and not just swallow the bile sprouted by the media wholesale.
No wonder we’re not english – we’re Scouse!
and as for the handshake… ferguson conveniently forgot about his refusal to shake Mourinho’s hands during the whole post-match porto fiasco. stinks of hypocrisy through and through
Hilarious, absolutely hilarious. So you blame the media, who have doted on LFCs every word for decades, and who have always had a massive percentage of former reds towing the club line.
You blame Ferguson who only spoke out, after several cringeworthy incidents had occurred, when Sewerez blatantly chose to continue this fiasco.
You blame evra for not jumping on the man, who was found guilty of racially abusing him, after he changed his story several times, and enjoying shaking his hand with glee?
The press had no choice but to turn on you, and from the reaction I’ve PERSONALLY witnessed from PLENTY of your clubs ‘fans’ the incidents of racial abuse have significantly increased. Ni**er this Ni**er that, I exaggerate not, there is a sickening amount of your followers who think it’s OK to say these things now. The blame for this can only fall at the door of KD and LS.
When challenged about this despicable, contradictory behavior, what response do we get? ‘Everton did it first, you threw bananas at JB’ (Mr disgraceful payroll puppet, by the way).
The 80s showed the worst of ALL teams fans, but who threw bananas at Mr Barnes first? LFC, at Highbury, on his debut….for LFC!! Nice work guys keep digging, squirming, and blaming every man and his dog x
Claire 13 February 2012 at 1:07 pm – Very misinformed and inflammatory to suggest Evra has lied when the case was clearly proven.
Claire, if you read the report and you have suggested in your patter did you not see Evra & Fergie’s stance when they entered Andre Mariners dressing room. They accused Suarez of calling Evra a Ni@@ger X amount of times.
Call it a lie call it what you will. One thing is for sure, that is not what was said so at what point did Evra decide it wasn’t one word and was another that doesnt even relate.
There’s a big different in the N word claimed, the N word admitted and a massive difference to the apparent racial hatred from another high profile incident in recent times, that doesnt get a fraction of the coverage the Evra Suarez incidents have. Hmmmm
The most hypocritical thing now when I think about it is that Sepp Blatter mentioned a handshake and was ridiculed by the FA who then went to town on Luis Suarez, who is now the focus of intense scrutiny for…
not going through with a handshake..
you could not make it up
Hilarious again, ignoring my last post, Mr Heaton?
I suggest you get your tin hat ready because until your cult accept that ‘the king’ is not the intellectual, law deciding, prophesy that you all shout from the roof tops, then the rest of the country, and several parts of the world, are going to continue to despise you and yours.
Although the opinions you hold (or at least disclose publicly) are far, far from the worst bile I’ve seen, your still not on the same planet (I’m beginning to believe this is intentional)
You probably won’t even read thus as you have a solid agenda already, but this is the common sense opinion you should be putting out to your mouth-breathing sheep.
In reply to a blog instigating an uprising;
“What a typically biased load of crap. If you want to make a name for yourself as the friendliest most knowledgeable fans in the game then continuing to go on about Ferguson’s actions like a two year old is not the way to do it.
How about you say, “we don’t care, let’s move on?” Be the bigger man and stop acting like it’s always someone else’s fault.
I don’t think Suarez is a racist, but you can’t say “Por que Negro?” or “Why, black?” to a black man in England. In Spanish or not. That’s why he was banned. He needed to be educated. Clearly he was not.
Yes the press labelled him a racist, but that was mostly because Liverpool released outlandish statements when they could’ve said something along the lines of,
“We acknowledge Luis said something wrong, but we don’t think he is a racist and we found the FA report to be particularly hard on him. Regardless, we would like to put this whole incident behind us, and if Evra was offended then we are sorry. Liverpool is a club dedicated to creating equality in society and stamping out racism and we will work with out players to continue to do that.”
That would have ended this whole scenario. But then they chose to be particularly aggressive and deny all allegations and came out with T-shirts and Dalglish claiming “He should’ve never been gone.”
Evra and Feguson were just as bad, but who the hell cares what they do? Let their own club worry about them. Screaming and shouting, “conspiracy!” only damages Liverpool’s reputation and gives the media something to latch onto.
Suarez is a terrific footballer, but we don’t need the antics and if he can’t behave like professional than we don’t need him. We could get £30 million plus for him in the Summer and buy two players.
And Dalglish has been just as bad these past few months. I noticed on Twitter that you said if the owners tried to sack him LFC fans wouldn’t allow it. You’re having a laught mate. Their the best owners we’ve had in years and you’d rather keep a man who has us in 7th place after spending £100 million plus in 2011 and acts repulsively. Club legend or not, there are just as many level headed fans around the world who wouldn’t allow you to get away with an uprising like that.
”
Good luck in life Mr Heaton, it seems you all need it.
Fair play to some cracking manc contributors to these comments.
No matter what their viewpoint, as a scouser Crip et al have restored my belief that it is possible to have sensible, intelligent dialogue with our mancunian rivals.
Having now read ceeb’s contribution, I’m back to square one.
Ah, so you do post other views put forward, perhaps I was a bit hasty in my comments.
I just want to point out that the “mouth-breathing sheep” I referred to was intended to reference certain rascist, pond-life fans I mentioned in my original deleted post, and not a complete generalization.
Patrice Evra & Luis Suarez timeline of events. The truth versus Liverpool fans reactions.
October – Accusation is made.
Liverpool fans: Evra has totally made it all up. He’s made four false accusations of racism before. He should be charged and banned for reporting this.
Weeks after initial accusation – It soon transpires he hasn’t just made it up as Suarez cryptically admits to calling him ‘something his teammates call him’. Also is proven that Evra has never made a false accusation of racism before. Liverpool fans continue to spread lies about him and call him a liar. Press incorrectly suggest he was called ‘Negrito’.
Liverpool fans: We Liverpool fans are experts in Latin American colloquialisms and all the possible connotations of the word negrito. Negrito is a harmless word, nothing like that racist word negro. It’s the name of a chocolate bar in South America. Javier Hernandez called his teammate Negrito, he should be investigated as well. This is a witchhunt against innocent Suarez.
New Years – The report is finally published and it turns out the negrito stuff was bollocks and Suarez actually used the much more pejorative word negro in an argumentative context. The report shows that he and other LFC staff changed their story several times, displaying guilt at every turn, and Suarez is subsequently found guilty.
Liverpool fans: Actually, forget what we said earlier about the word negro being a bad word and negrito being ok, because negro is actually an ok word too. Skin colour references in an argument with a black opponent are ok. This is a conspiracy against Suarez. The FA are racist for not considering his culture. Evra is a liar and a disgrace for reporting this as racial abuse. Suarez is completely innocent. The panel were bent, I don’t care that our club approved of their selection beforehand
January – The club slowly but surely destroy their reputation, led by the embittered and out of touch Dalglish, who fans the flames of LFC supporters’ resentment and paranoia. White t-shirts are made in support of Suarez. LFC fans racially abuse Collymore and others on twitter, and things come to a head when Tom Adeyemi is racially abused at Anfield.
Liverpool fans: Adeyemi wasn’t called a black cart, he was called a manc cart, because he plays for Oldham. My mate was on the Kop, he says so.
Late January – Evra, whose only crime was to report being racially abused is taunted and booed at Anfield. A fan in the crowd makes monkey gestures towards him.
Liverpool fans: This is just harmless banter. Evra deserves it. How dare he report being called a friendly term like negro.
February – The saga reaches a new low when Suarez refuses to shake the hand of the man he racially abused despite telling his manager he would do so in the week leading up to the match.
Liverpool fans: This is a disgrace. Come and look at these carefully selected and not at all deceptive freeze-frames which show that it was quite clearly Evra who shunned Suarez, rather than vice versa. I don’t care if you’ve got a multi-angle set of videos claiming otherwise, these grainy freeze-frames prove we’re right and actually, Evra is the cart, and Suarez is innocent.
Last 2 days – The club are roundly condemned in the press, with the story being picked up by US media, forcing their owners to whip the club into shape. Suarez, Ian Ayre and Dalglish are forced into grovelling apologies, confirming beyond doubt that Suarez did in fact snub Evra and no amount of deceptive freeze-frames will prove otherwise now. Suarez is exposed as a liar, who is happy to deceive his own manager, casting further doubt on the stories he told at the tribunal.
Liverpool fans: The club are a disgrace, they have sold Suarez down the river. Evra lured him into not shaking his hand. It doesn’t matter that Suarez lied to Kenny, he is an honest and upstanding person. Evra is the liar. Suarez is innocent. We’re the victims. Its the American’s fault, they’re the new Hicks and Gillett.
…intelligent dialogue you say?
The only conclusion that has come out of this for me is that there are and have been systemic failures within the club (some we have known about for years) that need some serious addressing.
There seems to be (from an outsiders perspective) no heirarchial structure in place, no process or protocol on how to handle legal matters of the most serious nature which then leads to no definitive plans implemented to ensure that the issue is contained and dealt with in the manner in which the issue or allegation merits.
Irrespective of what Evra claims and then the ensuing melodrama which unfolded, the club should have immediately taken this allegation (it is at the time until proven) as serious as any other, refused to make any further comment, direct any further queries to the legal department who would work in close conjunction with a Public Relations Dept to ensure that the reputation of the club, players, managers and supporters was protected.
A statement should have been made about the severity of the allegations and the stance that the football club takes on any allegations made, proven or not in regards to the issue.
And in my honest opinion this should have come from the top down and then that message should have continually come through the actions of the club from that point forward.
A great read and I am not sure if any of you are aware of it but I will send it to you if you are interested, is a John F Kennedy School of Government paper called “Crisis – A Leadership Opportunity”. It is written by Lt Colonels, Colonels and Captains of the United States Air Force, Navy and Army which addresses the significant challenges faced by leaders before, during and after a crisis.
The paper’s authors collectively recognised that crisis is more prevalent and dramatic than ever before and they recognised the great value in understanding crisis theory and the leadership strategies to employ during these situations.
I used it as a basic premise to assist financial advisers in how to best deal with their clients during the Global Financial Crisis but I can not help but be drawn back to it and apply it as a benchmark for Liverpool Football Club.
Anyway to get to the crux, I found this statement enlightening:
“For years crisis management has been synonymous with reactive leadership. This stems from a belief that crisis is both unpredictable and unexpected; but this is simply not true. Crisis develops as an organisations values, beliefs, culture or behaviour becomes incongruent with its operating environment. Until they are realigned, crisis will continue indefinitely. A leader who is “tuned-in” to the signals of impending crisis and understands how to harness the urgency brought on by the situation, can minimise the potential dangers and maximise the resulting opportunities.”
They basically found that there are seven essential strategies that are crucial for success. They are:
1) To lead from the front
2) Focus on the Core Purpose
3) Build the Team
4) Conduct continuous planning
5) Mitigate the threat
6) Tell the story
7) Profit from the crisis
This forms the basis of what they called “The Crisis Lifecycle Model” as a generic representation of crisis. It illustrates that crisis can be broken down into three unique phases.
In the first or preparation phase, the organisation is typically mired in the comfort zone. Here leaders struggle when introducing any change or learning, as the organisation prefers to avoid conflict and sustain equilibrium.
However, as crisis hits, the organisation is jolted into the emergency phase, often threatening its very existence.
Once the immediate threat is eliminated, the organisation enters the adaptive phase. In this phase, the leader has the attention and urgency to solve the underlying issue that caused the crisis in the first place.
Unfortunately many leaders don’t take advantage of this opportunity and push the organisation back toward the original status-quo, ensuring that the crisis will return.”
The part which sticks out for me is “Lead from the front” – be highly visible which if we looked at John W Henry and Tom Werner, I am not sure that this was achieved.
Taking a holiday in Florida (and I guess it is his right to take holidays at a time of his choosing) may not be the best spot for him to have been last weekend. Being highly visible at Old Trafford and ensuring that everyone knew exactly what was expected of them as a representative of Liverpool Football Club from this point forward would have been far more comforting for me to see as a supporter of a club who has had a less than harmonious 5 years. Just the presence of the owners alone would have told its own story. It would have shown the unity of the club and it would have shown some corners not to fuck with us.
And this is not a witch hunt on FSG, John W Henry or Tom Werner, this is a concerned supporter of a club I love watching this club being continually torn apart, fractured and derided by all and sundry asking what structure/framework/process, whatever you want to call it, do we have in place? This structure/framework/process then either wasn’t followed or we don’t have one. Either way it is an unpalatable thought.
Where to from here is anyones guess. The apologies have come, some may not agree with them, the manner in which they were delivered, the time it took to offer them but we need to learn from this experience quickly to ensure that we don’t make the same mistake again.
There is a famous saying “It takes a lifetime to build a reputation and an instant to destroy it.”
We need to be honest about the way in which this has panned out. We need to appreciate that this has highlighted a few areas of concern and we need to be seen that we have made a commitment to remedy them as quickly as possible.
We have started to go down this path and I hope that from this point forward we start to see Liverpool Football Club being spoken about for all the right reasons and all that is unequivocably great about this incredible football club.
Intelligent dialogue enough for you??!
Kev
For every action there is there is an equal opposite re-action.What was Suarez thinking would happen by not shaking hands with Evra after promising KD he would do so??
I believe he didn’t think at all,which indicates to me that he is impulsive
and doesn’t consider the consequences of any of his actions.
This has now caused problems for him and KD who i think has completely
misjudged his character.And this while already being aware of his long ban
for biting an opponent.