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Good evening all. Scott will here soon enough to type you through Liverpool’s trip to Bolton. If you get here before him, here’s Kenny Dalglish on Stewart Downing to keep you warm. Enjoy.

Kenny Dalglish has defended Stewart Downing, describing him as a better player than he envisaged when paying £20m to sign the England international from Aston Villa, despite the winger’s subdued start to his Liverpool career.

Downing has yet to score or create one league goal for Liverpool since his big money move from the Midlands, although he did register his first goal for the club in the FA Cup third-round win over Oldham Athletic, and growing criticism of the 27-year-old’s performances has prompted Dalglish to defend his summer signing. The Liverpool manager, who has been offered the Serbian striker Milos Krasic by Juventus, believes Downing is still adjusting to life at a higher-profile club and that it has been unfair to play the former Middlesbrough winger in several positions during his debut season at Anfield.

“Stewart is a better player than I thought he was going to be,” the Liverpool manager claimed. “I don’t think it has been too comfortable for him either because we have played him in three or four positions, so maybe we need to look at ourselves and say we have to be fair to him as well. He is better than what I thought he was. He is quicker than what I thought he was and he is quicker than Carra [Jamie Carragher] thought he was as well.”

Continued here

Premier League 2011-12Bolton WanderersLiverpoolPremier LeagueScott Murray
guardian.co.uk

• European anti-racism head says club has shown no respect
• Powar criticises Kenny Dalglish’s comments as ‘undignified’

The head of European football’s anti-racism group has urged the Football Association to charge Liverpool with bringing the game into disrepute for their response to Luis Suárez’s eight-match ban for racially abusing the Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.

Piara Powar, the executive director of European football’s anti-discrimination body – Football Against Racism in Europe (Fare) – said the Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish’s comments had been “undignified” and that their reaction had damaged the club’s brand across the world.

“This is a lack of respect for the governing body by Liverpool and the FA should charge Liverpool FC and Kenny Dalglish,” Powar said.

“I think the FA should come back now and be very clear that Liverpool could be construed to have brought the game into disrepute by the way in which they have consistently undermined the judgment, and by Kenny Dalglish’s comments.

“Liverpool have been too keen to support their man and in doing so have whipped up a sense of paranoia among their fans … This is not the Liverpool FC that we have applauded in the past for their support for a whole range of issues.

“The responses from Kenny Dalglish have been undignified; the way in which they have dealt with the whole matter has been unprofessional.

“For the club to so aggressively militate against what looks to most people a considered judgment from the FA leads to a potential for anarchy.”

Powar said reaction from his colleagues in other parts of the world made him believe the affair was damaging Liverpool. “They have damaged their brand. There is no question that Liverpool do have a global appeal, but I have emails from colleagues in Africa asking me what the hell is going on.

“I think people will be watching this and I believe there is no question that their plans for global expansion will have been damaged by this.

“That’s not to say they cannot come back from this but it has done them a lot of damage and they have not conducted themselves in a very palatable way.”

Powar’s call comes after Lord Ouseley, the chairman of British football’s anti-racism group Kick It Out, called Liverpool “hypocritical” and Suárez’s apology “lamentable”.

Ouseley also described Liverpool players wearing T-shirts in support of Suárez as “dreadful”.

LiverpoolKenny DalglishLuis Suárezguardian.co.uk

• Head of Fare warns against damage to club’s reputation
• Liverpool have until 13 January to respond to FA’s decision

Liverpool have been urged to abandon any thoughts of appealing against the eight-match ban and £40,000 fine that Luis Suárez received for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra, with a leading anti-racism campaigner warning the club that their vehement support of the Uruguayan is damaging their reputation.

Piara Powar, the executive director of Football Against Racism in Europe, believes the club should respect the verdict that was reached by a Football Association independent commission last month and has since been outlined in a 115-page report. The commission’s findings have since been made public in a document that was published on Saturday night, providing a detailed and thorough account of the process from start to finish, including all the evidence that was presented to the three-man panel chaired by Paul Goulding QC.

Suárez was found to have called Evra “negro” seven times during the game at Anfield on 15 October and the evidence that the Liverpool player gave in relation to the confrontation with the Frenchman, which occurred during the second half of the 1-1 draw, was described as “inconsistent” and “unreliable”. The commission also revealed that, when weighing up the punishment, it considered giving Suárez a longer suspension before deciding that eight-matches was appropriate.

Liverpool received the commission’s report on Friday night, when they played Newcastle at home, and have said that they will “take the necessary amount of time to read, digest and properly consider the contents” before making further comment and deciding whether to appeal. They have until 13 January to decide, although Powar believes the time has come for Liverpool and Suárez to change their stance and accept the commission’s decision.

“The Football Association’s published judgment from the Suárez-Evra incident is welcome,” said Powar, a former director of the anti-racism organisation Kick It Out. “It appears the FA have taken their time to initiate a process that was both fair in its implementation of football rules and in accordance with the principles of British justice. As an international non-governmental organisation we [Fare] think the investigation and judgment sets the bar for governing bodies globally.

“Racial abuse between players on the field of play has been an unspoken taboo for too long, an area that has been unsatisfactorily dealt with by English football despite many cases over the past 10 years. Luis Suárez and Liverpool FC have the right to appeal, however we would call on the club to think again about their public campaign to dispute the charges and contest the principles involved in the case. As a club with a good international standing the vehemence of their campaign is unquestionably causing them reputational harm.”

Luis SuárezLiverpoolStuart Jamesguardian.co.uk