*Sigh*
It’s 8.30pm on Saturday the 11th of February and hey – guess what?! It’s Groundhog Day, that’s what.
Why even bother going over the finer points of it? I have the privilege of an account on this increasingly esteemed site, and I have a lot of things to get off my chest, so if it’s OK with you, I’m just going to blurt it all out. If you’ve already read some of it elsewhere, then I apologise for boring you, but it’s my genuine feeling on the whole situation we find ourselves in right now, for better or worse.
We have two football clubs. In fact, we have hundreds and thousands of football clubs. Those football clubs are, for the most part, supported or hated or met with bemused indifference by the billions of people who inhabit the planet. If you drew an enormous venn diagram of it all, you’d probably quickly establish that liking, nay, loving one club means hating another. Why that is, well, there are a million reasons, but if you had to sum it up in a paragraph, it’d go something like this.
“We’re pretty simple, us humans. We’re capable of selflessness, compassion, bravery, joy, altruism, devotion and love – love for things apart from ourselves, based on community, and on shared goals, and on our higher beliefs. But group us together under any arbitrary banner, and there’s just as much chance we’ll be even simpler than we are as individuals. And uglier. And less inclined to think independently for ourselves. And not only that; even if we’re capable of the most precise abstract thought and given the full evidence to weigh, we’re less inclined to know right from wrong, and the grey areas between. If we’re aligned with a group, we’re more than happy to set that to one side if it means it fits in with our group’s agenda.”
A wordy bollocks of a paragraph. So let’s sum it up in a sentence.
“We’re all scared of being alone, and we need to belong.”
Violence. Religion. Justice. Death. Paninaro-o-o-o.
–
So we find ourselves in a situation where a simple handshake, or the lack of one, is capable of detonating a nationwide – no, scratch that – worldwide shitstorm that’s so entangled with so many different agendas – a superstructure of complementary agendas, if you like, that it feels like the whole fucking universe is going to implode. As the result of one single swerved handshake.
For what it’s worth, Suarez should have shaken the fella’s hand, even if he had to go looking for it. Make him suffer on the pitch. But equally, it’s a damn shame that the presence or absence of a handshake is such an issue, particularly given recent events. Some handshakes are more significant than others I guess.
The game kicked off and Evra nearly put Ferdinand out of the game within seconds… but after that, it was reasonably cagey til half time, with the worry for both sides the free runners the midfield players didn’t track, and the way the player wide right got space as a result of the disruption it caused. Johnson on the Liverpool right; Valencia on the Man United right. Two very effective players facing two left backs who were looking a little exposed.
But in football terms, Liverpool were pretty comfortable up to half time I felt. There was scope to build on it if they kept their heads.
But of course, as is never a surprise with a Ferguson team (I’ve seen it happen for over 30 years now after all), a ruck developed in the tunnel, and while the visiting side looked by no means blameless, a little pattern the older heads should have become accustomed to ran its course. The visiting side rattled, Keown elbowing Van Nistelrooy on the back of the head, Willie Miller taking someone by the throat, whatever.
Five minutes into the second half the game was over – two gift wrapped goals with a pretty bow on top to a finisher who needs no second invitation. It was as if we’d been in a rage-based stupour after the half time break, and our focus had gone to pot. It was followed by nigh on 30 minutes of aimless football that only improved and regained some tempo and urgency when Bellamy and Adam were added to the fold. Some may have felt it should have happened earlier; but hey ho. Liverpool almost drew it in the end.
But then of course the nonsense really started. And despite the noises from the ground, and the confiscated fanzines and t-shirts (very creative, admittedly), we were treated to a little blood sharpening stuff from certain players before they left the park, followed by – quite frankly – a few jokes passing themselves off as post-match interviews, overheard dressing room songs, and so forth.
And now of course the second wave of player tweets, media indignation, calls for heads, and blah blah blah. All in the name of fighting the anti-racism cause, of course.
But of course, while that’s the case, nobody can remember the facts of the original case, the grey areas floating around, the fact that people were at pains *not* to accuse anyone of racism. The oily machinery of our establishment once more cranks into gear, leaving the inevitable smears in its wake. But the smears are the smears of righteous justice. Their blinding light burns the eyes of the sinners among us. They can’t handle the truth. “Stop embarrassing yourselves.”, they chastise the non-believers.
Christ, on the morning the Mirror ran a picture of Suarez facing Evra with the words “RACE FOR THE TITLE” superimposed between them, we even had Oliver Holt planting his flag on the top of the moral midden suggesting his paper was purer than pure for not running with the story about Pearce, Ince and Taylor. Brave Knight, custodian of Truth and Justice. Oliver Holt.
Not much later of course, Suarez, who is not much heavier than wood, is taken as a proven witch, and Oliver Holt, the Terry Jones in our modern day Holy Grail, is only too happy to start the blaze. Burn him!
But of course, equally, those starting on Evra beyond the scope of the established facts are just as ridiculous. Very few people have come out of this with anything they can really look back and be proud of. And some have even found themselves in handcuffs as a result; but most are a hop and a skip short of a libel suit.
And here’s the thing – it’s all we should really reasonably expect. This whole ‘perfect storm of smear’ is the direct result of human nature, combined with established groups with established agendas doing simply what comes naturally to them. It’s just a shame it’s happened with an issue like racial equality.
Leave that to be dealt with by football people, and in a footballing context, those with competitive and tribal agendas in mind, and we were always going to end up where we are now. And of course, that begs the question – where have the ‘leaders’ been? The FA. The campaigns promoting racial equality in our game, so prominent at the moment. Where were they? Were they working with the players concerned? Were they engaging with fans? Were they mediating? Building bridges? Establishing any kind of constructive dialogue?
Well, they were probably at some kind of champagne reception and throwing in the odd self-righteous put down, or worse.
It’s horribly reminiscent of the whole issue of sectarianism North of the border. I remember getting into an argument with Laurence Donegan of the Guardian (and formerly of Lloyd Cole and The Commotions) last year on that very subject, when he suggested sectarianism was all of Scotland’s problem. I objected to that, having never had a sectarian thought I was conscious of in my life. But I’m beginning to see what he means.
This racial equality issue – it’s not ‘my problem’ – at least not in any way I’m personally conscious of. It’s a problem that lies between the ears and in the souls of what I hope is a fucked up and randomly scattered minority. It’s a problem that’s both misunderstood and mixed up in people’s minds. All you can do is refer people to truly balanced content on the subject – like Gabriele Marcotti’s wonderful article in Issue 4 of the equally wonderful Blizzard. And in the process, maybe people would get an insight into the motives of some who cover sporting events on our behalf.
“Kick Tabloid Journalism Out Of Football” read a reworked banner by Kit Nelson this afternoon. If you read Marcotti’s piece, you’ll see his point. It opens with a game at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and Lazio, and tells the gruesome tale of a reporter who misrepresented the Lazio fans as racially abusing William Gallas, when in fact they were booing Chelsea for not giving the ball back after an injury stoppage – something that, at the time, was de rigeur in Italy, but not yet in England.
Marcotti painted an unsettling scene.
—
“All this, of course, was lost on my colleague… At half-time he picked up the phone again to call his boss. He was positively glowing with glee as he told tales of “vile racist chants.” …And I’m not surprised that this guy seemed to have been despatched to Stamford Bridge with the sole purpose of finding “a racist fan angle”. Nor is it much of a shock he was so happy when he found it.”
—
We can’t expect the media to pursue the betterment of our society in these circumstances. The media – the papers in particular – are on the ropes in terms of the revenue they generate. They tend to be ambitious young ‘uns out to make a name for themselves, or jaded, agenda-laden hacks from whome we should all know exactly what to expect. We should never be surprised, against that backdrop, that they’ll do whatever it takes to make a buzz – to increase the click-throughs – to boost the ad revenue. It’s all they have any incentive to do. That some of them don’t is to each individual’s eternal credit – and there are a good few – if they’re honest, they know which camp they fall into. But they’re not often honest.
As Gareth McKenna put it earlier – “The Mirror of John Pilger and the Killing Fields is now the tabloid of Ollie Holt and Dave Maddock.”
So don’t expect it from them. If they sicken you, go elsewhere. There are plenty of other sources of content.
Likewise, don’t expect much more than snidey, ill-advised, imbalanced comment from the heads of equality groups and figures at the head of the game’s joke governance – comment that only polarises things more. That increases the likelihood of more, and worse, instances of racial abuse and tribalism across the piece. All at a time when they could be truly asserting their agenda and establishing a genuinely inspiring vision for the game.
And the same goes for us as fans of whatever clubs we support collectively, and for each and every one of us. Me very much included.
The songs we sing, the way we act, both in our footballing lives and our everyday lives. We should know where the line is between something that’s funny or edgy and something that’s downright unacceptable. We should know, honestly, when we’re being disingenuous. We need to be honest now. People seem to be stating a lot in all this that they’re “standing up against racism”. But I’d suggest they need to have a good hard think about what that involves.
We all do.
And that includes, most pointedly, everyone – and I mean *everyone* at Liverpool Football Club. Looking at it from a brutal ‘business-only’ perspective, the club has a massive and imminent PR and ‘brand’ problem right now. So what does it do? Does it cow to the pressure and meekly offer up its player and/or manager to Brave Sir Holt’s witch burning pyre?
Or does it take a longer view. Does it look inward to its own integrity and knowledge that, contrary to smear and such, it has no place for racism; indeed, it’s the club that’s taken a genuine lead in engaging the views of minority groups in the way it’s run. As long as I can remember, people have slung mud at Scousers and at the football club. It’s nothing new. The older fans among us have seen far worse, and they’ve seen the club come out the other side intact.
The club, while taking solace from its own tradition, must learn the lessons it needs to from this whole sorry episode and move on. Slowly and calculatedly. It should be under no illusions as to the risks it faces when exposed in legal and PR terms. It should be making sure that these things never happen again. And it should be taking its first steps in building its own long-term image according to its own terms – not reacting to some half-baked media agenda masquerading as a fight for what’s right and proper.
A long, consistent, congruent message that says to the world what the club’s all about.
To do that, we don’t need big money, and we don’t need big words from our owner and chairman. We just need some quiet resolve and commitment and a sprinkling of those New England smarts. Let’s see how crafty you can be fellas.
Spot on.
Suarez should have shook his hand and drew the line under the incident. The game suffered because of it and set an ugly tone from then on. The media were praying that something would happen and when it did the game became an after thought to them. The interview by Ferguson afterwards was a disgrace,how can he say that Suarez should never play for Liverpool again. Obviously old age is affecting him because he forgot about Cantonas Kung fu kicking a fan in the crowd which I thought was worse than not shaking a hand. Get your own house in order before commenting on others… Oh and just heard Rooney has thrown his hat in the ring for the England captaincy…the mind boggles
Brilliant article. Love the Python reference!
Absolutely superb article.
excellent stuff this and straight to the point most Liverpool will disagree with some of the content on here, for all those that do you need a reality check it’s the club credibility that is at stake here far more big than one quality player
Mark,how could Suarez shake Evra’s hand when Evra purposely withdrew it to make a fuss and act holier than thou. Evra is doing things like this and the crowd baiting at the end because he knows the FA will never punish him for fear of him playing the race card.
As for Ferguson,he will never get under Kenny’s skin and it would be better if we just worried about ourselves as a club than bitter and agenda driven outsiders.
The fact that this person is getting at Suarez shows how much Suarez is feared by the opposition and we should realise that ourselves.
People in Glasshouses,etc,etc.
Evra’s doing it John because he can, and because he knows it will get inside Luis’ head. And that’s part of where Luis needs to mature as a professional athlete.
Excellent article. I have been saying for weeks that the media would never let this go and that Suarez was probably also unlikely to let it go… The disappointment and surprise to me, though, has been how horrific the witch hunt has been and how little coverage and angst there has been towards John Terry. THAT is the the real shame to me. It makes all of us at LFC feel paranoid, persecuted, and (if we are honest) really sad that we are unliked.
Great, cogent writing. Insightful and bdlsnced stuff. Well in fella.
I’m glad you’ve got an account because that was a bloody good read.
Good article. I agree that LFC need a better PR set up however it’s easy to see why Kenny reacts the way he does. I find myself tirelessly defending the club and Suarez lately as people have made their minds up from what the media have told them to think.
The media have fuelled a fire that did not need to be stoked and will continue to do so. Football fans fail to see that they’re the ones causing a racism problem making a mockery of genuine instances. All the while the FA have sat back and let it happen.
I have a little legal background and I cringe at some of the things I’m hearing and reading. I really think that something needs to be done before this escalates any further.
I fell off my high horse at least three times writing a response, and scrapped three winded missives along the way. Then I realized something as I began this reply, I am a Liverpool fan, I am a black man, and I like to think that the thousands of dollars I owe to Sallie Mae means I am also educated enough to compose rational thoughts. I don’t have to care. But I do. I care because I am a Liverpool fan, and the image of the football club I support matters to me. Because I am a black man, I care about the issue of racism and the fight against it is of paramount importance to me and my family. And because I’ve had to borrow my way to a university degree I feel entitled, nay, I feel compelled to say to the people denigrating my club by making a mockery of an issue that is personal to me to go fuck themselves.
A very thought provoking piece of prose. Perhaps LFC & Luis Suarez could have handled this sorry situation better? I still think that the FA’s sanction of Suarez was a piece of political expediency designed to show it’s detractors that they are serious about tackling rascism. Thereby enabling them to clear out their cupboard of it’s own skeletons. I firmly believe that Evra’ lowering of his hand on Suarez’s approach had malice in it & was part of an agenda but perhaps Luis should have ‘taken one for the team’ & reached for ‘The unwilling Hand’? The Club must put this to bed or Fergie’s ‘plan’ may become a difficult to cure cancer. YNWA
The atmosphere of imagined injustice created by Dalglish and sites such as the anfield wrap and people such as Paul Tomkins make Luis Suarez far less likely to apologise and or draw a line under the issue with a handshake.
Had Dalglish made clear, like Ferguson did, that the issue is now over and it would be best for the team if they shook hands then Suarez probably would have done so. Instead Dalglish continued to embarrass himself over this issue.
Also, if fans had a greater sense of reality rather than this ridiculous tribalism and conspiratorial nonsense then that would also create a less hysterical atmosphere within which all players would be more likely to behave better.
Indeed I remember my utter joy that ferguson took such a fine, principled and upright stance on the Ian Wright case.
Tripe…
What’s tripe…?
It’s nice to know there are fans out there who aren’t blinkered by the unfathomable bias spewed out by sites like the AR and TT that are frequently taken for the truth. It seems like the whole Liverpool fanbase has been brainwashed into thinking everyone’s out to get them and it’s quickly making us the most hated club in England. What happened to logic and balance and respect? People often talk about the boofheads who play Rugby but the players and fans of that ‘meathead’ sport behave with much more dignity than footballers. How many times have you seen Rugby players crowd around a referee when a decision doesn’t go there way? That aggressive attitude flows right through the club and in to the minds of young kids who will grow up and pass on the bad habits to their own offspring. Footballers have a responsibility to set the tone and they’re doing a shit job of it.
Good piece Roy,although I fear the consistent message about the values of the club in today’s 24hr media and social networking sites can be easily derailed by a single out of tune voice.
Suarez should have shook his hand ,now the issue will be dragged into next season.
Fuck the Govan tramp, when he starts whining from the rooftops it’s usually to deflect attention away from his own sides wrongdoings[possible FA charge for fighting in the tunnel] and to smear Suarez more making him appear damaged goods.
How delighted he would be to see the clubs owners fretting over a toxic Suarez damaging the “brand” just as the club needs to raise finance and sponsorship for a new stadium.
Chin up it’s a shitstorm but we have walked through worse.
I do not see how it has become “common sense” that Suarez ought to have shaken Evra’s hand. Assume, for the sake of argument, that Suarez purposefully and invidiously avoided/shunned Evra’s offer of a handshake (which has not been proven, by the way). Now what? Why is this difficult to understand or explain? Suarez firmly believes, knows in his heart, and has steadfastly maintained that he never used racially abusive language towards Evra. Evra falsely accused him of doing so. Whilst Evra did not single-handedly cause Suarez to be banned for eight games, fined 40 thousand pounds, and branded ‘racist’ or adjudged to have used abusive racist language on 7 occasions during a match, he was an indispensable first cause. Thus, Suarez is perfectly within his rights to be neither eager to nor particularly inclined towards shaking the hand of his false accuser and co-participant in the sullying of his character.
I understand but the case is a battle being fought on ground someone else controls where seemingly they can change the rules on a whim.
At the moment other people are writing our history,we need control.
Well said mate. Its about time people were reminded that Suarez could well be the victim in all this.
Because he has a responsibility as a professional athlete watched by millions to behave in a reasonable manner, not carry on like a child. As do Evra, Ferguson and Dalglish.
“Suarez should have shook his hand…” What’s wrong with you Steve? You should have used the past participle ‘shaken’.
Excellent well thought out piece. Put into words that which I cannot. On the non handshake its exactly what the media wanted to happen to carry on their psudeo moral crusade, for that reason alone he should have shook his hand. Cant help but think its time to do away with the fake pleasantries before the game and leave it up to the players to show their sportsmanship after the final whistle blows.
Got bored halfway through. Evra was found to be racially abused, offered his hand to draw a line under this whole sorry affair, and Suarez fucked it all up again. We, as Liverpool fans who have backed Luis from day one, have found ourselves pushed further and further into awkwardness. We decided to go out on a limb for him – but we didn’t realise how long that limb was. Faith is not unconditional – not when the club is bigger than he is.
Pushed is the keyword, because Dalglish has brainwashed his followers into acting the way they are. People who disagree are not given the time of day.
I really wish this had all been ‘put to bed’ today. Neither club – Liverpool or United – took the lead role in what could have effectively been the end of things and a chance to move on.
If Suarez – as the media suggests – had agreed to shake hands and decided not to, then he’s a fool for acting like a spoilt child. And more fool Evra for not taking the higher moral ground when he could have shrugged off Suarez’ refusal of a handshake. Both players continued to drag it through the next 90 minutes when this could have all been sorted in Ferguson’s office before the kick-off.
The managers failed in dealing with the situation with neither party willing to accept guilt on their charge’s behalf, and it will just lead to constant speculation and accusation in the tabloid press – both written and visual.
The FA could have also avoided this whole fracas by calling the handshake off just as they did with Chelsea and QPR but opted to not do it. And as for Gordon Taylor, condemning one of his members while sanctifying the other without having any form of investigation, well it’s beyond belief.
In the real world – where racism isn’t allowed in the workplace and where there are independent enquiries and arbitration panels, this wouldn’t have happened. Instead the FA as judge jury and executioner have meted out their own brand of justice to suit their needs and not that of the game.
This whole situation is driving me to despair – the blame games and tribalism on Twitter have become ridiculous, and for somebody who has had an (un)healthy passion about LFC since the mid 70’s, it’s left me with a bitter taste in my mouth regarding my club and the game. Of course it won’t be put be put to rest as the sensationalism of Sky Sports will bring it up at next year’s fixture and every year for a long while. Cantona was right you know – the seagulls are following the LFC trawler, watching Suarez and Kenny throw buckets of sardines over the side. Do the talking on the pitch and put this to bed once and for all.
Sorry, meant to say, another great piece Roy.
Honestly, football is out of control. The way ‘journalists’ and fans have blown this out of proportion is absolutely absurd. I am bordering on the edge of no longer watching/following the sport because of how stupid everyone who watches and has anything to do with it seems to be/become.
WHO THE FUCK CARES, THE WORLD ISN’T GOING TO END BECAUSE HE DIDN’T SHAKE HIS HAND. GET THE FUCK OVER IT.
The world is FUCKED, if this is how we respond to a stupid little nonsensical affair, and mirrored against our responses (with respect to media coverage) to dictators and massacres? Then WHAT THE FUCK. I hate all of you in this world of football, you’re all fucking mad.
Most people don’t think dealing with racism is stupid or little or nonsensical.
Who’s Claire, Glen?
Glen, Claire – who’s R. Anderson?
I think it shows what a great manager Kenny is for us. He will full on stand infront of the firing squad to protect our players, he doesn’t care what happens to him in the media. I don’t think people should lose sight of what he is doing, you can see he is dying to explode, spilling everything about the case, Utd and everything else but he knows that it’ll make it worse but you have to love the man even more. I don’t mind taking the PR hit if it means that United don’t win in their fight to derail Suarez.
If this had happened against a Steve Bruce team, you know that Fergie wouldn’t have allowed any allegations to get out of the dressing room.
The blood boils
Couldn’t disagree more. These conspiracy theories are giving us a bad name. Dalglish as the head of his club has a responsibility to act in a decent way. As does Ferguson. Neither did their club any favours.
Roy Henderson makes some excellent points about the business issue behind all this. This is a well argued piece. We have to now hope that all the poison has been drawn from this wretched affair and we can move on.
Very good, interesting piece. Genuine enquiry as I don’t read the tabloids- can someone explain the Mirror/Ollie Holt references?
Louis should get in the car now and go round to Evra’s house and have a man to man, apologise and ask him to drop it too. Ask him to shake hands for the paper and make a nice story about professional footballers against racism. Suarez is no racist and maybe LFC could start shining the light on racism in the game and see how every one else likes it, because it won’t be pretty. Can you imagine how much of c*** John Terry really is, and Fergie wouldn’t have a clue, put him on the spot and ask him about the plight of equality and he’d think it was a chocolate in a tin.
I’m sorry to say this, but this whole episode is getting on my tits now.
The worst of it all is the hypocrisy of the press and those at Man U.
Ferguson calls Suarez ‘a disgrace’ who should never play for Liverpool again, but forgets his players drop kicking fans, missing drugs tests and playing around. Had the press accused those players of being the reason for the decline in family life, violence and the social and economic problems caused by drug abuse it would rightly be laughable.
Taylor, who has done nothing to help, just bangs on about the problem. He is a highly paid individual, fucking do something! Working in the corporate world I am paid to solve problems, not to bang on about issues and problems. The odious man also tries to link Suarez’s refusal to shake Evras had as the reason behind racism in society and its occasional manifestation at a football match by a small minority of dickhead fans. This is also the same man who comes out and defends players involved in violent incidents off the pitch and says they need support and understanding.
The press, who bribe, cheat and break the law to get their stories taking the morale high ground is at best obscene. Yes, we have been giving them a story, but at least report your stories in a balanced way. Where is the reference to Suarez not reacting to Evra, where is the condemnation on Evra going looking for Suarez at half time, where is the mention of the sick chants we have put up with at the last two games with Man U. Obviously reporting the facts, except for the few excellent reporters out there, would undermine the headline/story.
One thing is certain, Suarez has been consistent from day 1. He admitted using a term which however intended was taken as abusive and he paid the price. The club, while being naive in our handling have been consistent as have the players in their support of Suarez. I’m not sure the same can be said of the other parties, the football authorities included.
At the end of the day, would you want to shake the hand of someone you don’t like and have no respect for? I guess the answer is no, and I wonder if Keane ever shook the hand of the player he deliberately went out to hurt, after all he admitted it in his book!!
Well said Michael. But wasn’t the media reaction so entirely predictable? And as such, completely avoidable? I wouldn’t want to shake the hand of someone who I didn’t like or respect, but if doing so was for the sake of something bigger (LFC) then perhaps I’d bite my tongue and just do it.
Perhaps Luis, as it appears, initially intended to shake his hand, but then reacted (understandably) to Evra’s little show of whatever it was he was doing. But I think the club and Kenny should’ve asked Luis, for the sake of preventing the inevitable hysteria, to just shake his hand no matter what. He should’ve looked for his hand so that Evra would’ve had to avoid his, the way Ferdinand so obviously did.
Instead, we have the likes of Taylor and Ferguson once again turning it into a race issue.
Then again, as someone said above, we’ve come through worse than this. It’ll pass. I just hate having to constantly justify my support for Suarez by arguing to people (i.e. everyone apart from LFC fans) that our stance on this is more a reaction to the FA process than anything to do with race.
YNWA
Did Luis refuse to shake Evra’s hand or did Evra try to swerve Luis? Either way I don’t blame Luis one bit. If I was asked to shake the hand of someone whose lies have demonised me, caused me to miss the job I love for 8 weeks, even put my career in jepardy, I’d blank him. I have absolutely no worries about how our club have handled matters, apart from a reluctance to go the whole way and test Evra’s case in a court of law. Luis was denied natural justice and deserved to protect his reputation in a proper leagl setting, not the FA’s kangeroo version.
Also, why is nobody praising Luis’ demeanour and integrity in the face of Evra’s disgusting taunting of him as they lest the pitch? The media and fools like Taylor have an agenda against Luis and by extension our club. We must reamain firm, support Luis, support Kenny and if necessary walk alone knowing that justice, honesty and fairness cannot be compromised to assuage the anti-Liverpool mentality that currently pervades the media and football authorities.
I assume Gordon Taylor represents Luis Suarez and takes his subs off him.Why does he never back him
Interesting read.
But I think people need to be clear here and start thinking rationally. Luis Suarez will be leaving in the summer – of that there can be no doubt. Modern PL football is only partially about the town where the club is. More important for the owners are brand, reputation, reach and exposure. The truth is that despite what many UK based pool fans think, even if Suarez is 100% innocent of all accusations (which is unlikely) for a global brand club like Liverpool here is now more or less worthless if not actually a liability. If the club can get a decent fee (most likely to a spanish club) this will be good business because right now forever onward his card will be marked not just be opposing fans, the UK media, referees – these are the least of Pool’s problems but by global media and a TV audience of consumers in their hundreds of millions. A top striker’s shirt, merchandise and associated rights at a top club would likely bring in millions more than their wages which is why transfers (and wages) are so high.
The whole exercise has been a self destructive exercise in brand damage which can be conservatively calculated in millions of pounds. Talk of “looking inward” will carry little weight in the US.
I think you have to be standing in that foreign country to see if there is real damage at the moment we only see the story through our own media.
boss piece roy. you have yet again crystallised a righteous view and shown a way forward. the next week will be fascinating from a pr point of view as no matter how you slice it we have bridges to build to the media. why isn’t john barnes brought back to the club to be our media face? given the current issues that are constantly stirred up and fed back to us by the partizan media its about time we stole a march on their relentless slurs.
Agree I would love JB back at the club although it could’nt be just now as we would probably be accused of tokenism.
I would also like a wise head on the board who understands the political shenanigans of the english game[Brian Barwick?] as at the moment everytime there’s any kind of dispute we are getting canned.
We hold our values but we must learn to fight smarter,the fans racing to the barricades cannot be the answer to all situations.
i see luis has just issued an apology. smart move and i sympathise with him. it would have been the smart thing to do shaking his hand yesterday but i’m not sure i would have managed it myself. still this takes the sting out of things and makes us less of a target on monday. or at least it should.
short, sweet and very little to come back on.
in short an effective press statement from lfc.
blimey.
Ta for the comments folks. Totally agree re Barnes.
Love the word “boofhead”. It doesn’t mean anything racist does it? ;-)
The charge was proven clearly in the report. To continually suggest Evra lied is what is making it impossible to move on.
Fuck right off. There was no proof. The report is riddled with contradictions. You’re just stirring the pot. I bet you’re not even a woman. You are Daniel Taylor and I claim my £5…
The inconsistencies are nearly all on Suarez’s side. But what was said wasn’t anywhere near as offensive as Evra initially took it to be.
But the report is a bad read for Liverpool and leaves them nowhere to go.
The inconsistencies were nearly all on the part of Suarez? Twoddle. Which word did he use Patrice? N***er, negro or black? You understood what Suarez said well enough to shout on the pitch” He called me f***ing black.” Apparently you knew full well what ‘negro’ meant but you went to the referee claiming that he called you n***er’. How many times did he say it ,Patrice? 5 times or10 times?
5 times to the referee or 10 times to French TV? Hang on, the panel said it was 7 times. You really could not make it up. Eenie, meenie , mynie, mo. And a man who was consistent in the word he used, I.e., negro was banned for 8 matches and another man who could not be siure what word was used and how many times it was used walked away smelling of roses. Add to this the facts that the ‘victim’ used foul and abusive language, and also threatened to ‘kick, and ‘punch’ the so called perpetrator then you begin to realise why some LFC FANS feel so much anger towards the FA and Patrice Evra.
OK – Clare, regardless of your views on who’s been inconsistent or not, the point of the piece here is to allow everyone to take stock, think about what’s right, and move on. I suggest you do the same please.
When you say “move on”, do you mean “not comment”?
You have not felt a need to say that to anyone else commenting, many of which are doing so in a for more divisive and inflammatory way than me.
I was simply correcting misinformation. And I did so without swearing or being abusive unlike others you chose not to address directly.
You are the expert on misinformation, dearie. Oops, am I being sexist.
No. Moving on simply involves a decision to move on.