Watch Liverpool

Posts Tagged ‘manager’

Liverpool may be regretting their stance on the Luis Suárez racial abuse controversy after Friday’s incident involving Oldham’s Tom Adeyemi

The Luis Suárez T-shirts Liverpool wore at Wigan were always a bad idea, quite the worst attitude struck in a solidarity campaign that brought the club’s decision-making into question if not disrepute, and the sight of supporters wearing them at the next home game at Anfield came with a queasy sense of foreboding. As several black sportsmen pointed out in the aftermath of the Wigan game, unqualified support for a player who had admitted bringing the colour of an opponent’s skin into an argument on the pitch was at best a confused message and at worst a dangerous one.

It cannot be said with certainty that the fan responsible for the alleged racial abuse of Oldham’s Tom Adeyemi on Friday night at Anfield was wearing one of the Suárez gesture garments, though police conducting an investigation have witness statements that raise the possibility. But it now seems clear that Liverpool’s handling of the whole issue will come back to haunt them for the rest of the season. A backlash against Suárez is fully expected when the player returns from his eight-match ban, particularly if he plays against Manchester United, and Liverpool will have been bracing themselves for all manner of terrace taunts and insults in their away games in the meantime. What no one could have anticipated was the race issue erupting at Anfield so quickly after the events of the last month, almost literally blowing up in the club’s face through the actions of Liverpool supporters.

This is hugely embarrassing for a club that quite rightly prides itself on zero tolerance of racism, and issues a booming reminder of that stance over the public address system before every Anfield kick-off. Most Premier League clubs do something similar in making supporters aware that racist behaviour is now an arrestable as well as an ejectionable offence, though you rarely hear the ground rules enunciated so loudly and so clearly as you do at Liverpool. This is not because the club have had problems with bigotry in the past, but because the club understood the anti-racism message from the word go and chose to stand squarely behind it.

That is why the defence of Suárez has proved so divisive. Liverpool never apologised, when a conciliatory statement on day one might have taken much of the heat out of the situation, and never appeared to consider the possibility that their player might have been even slightly at fault. Even now Kenny Dalglish’s stance is that the club has been harshly treated for reasons that it is not possible to make public, while the player himself has offered a qualified apology that pointedly fails to include Patrice Evra and insists on his own innocence, despite an admission that he used the word “negro”. There is no need here to reopen the debate about the nuances of what that might mean when uttered in Spanish, the FA have formed their conclusions and acted accordingly, and Liverpool have grudgingly accepted the outcome. Suárez is serving his suspension, yet possibly due to the ungracious way in which Liverpool have reacted to a sentence that most people beyond Merseyside feel is severe but justified, a lingering sense of resentment appears to have filled the void.

How else to explain why the Kop, with an enviable reputation for being both one-eyed yet fair-minded, should come to be sullied by apparently needless accusations of taunting a lower-league player because of the colour of his skin. The Kop is bigger than that, or should be. Liverpool are bigger than that, and used to be. It would be easy to blame Dalglish for all this, because his surly suspicion of outsiders and prickly reaction to any form of criticism has been on prominent display in the months following Evra’s initial complaint in mid-October, though no one could possibly accuse the Liverpool manager of promoting racist behaviour or being anything but horrified at the damage a tiny minority of fans at the Oldham game have done to the image of his club.

All the same, actions have consequences, and though the T-shirts at Wigan were generously viewed in some quarters as Liverpool circling the wagons and going on the defensive, the dangers of going it alone and disagreeing so markedly with the rest of football opinion can now be seen a little more clearly. It has already been noted that Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United seemed to act with greater knowledge and professionalism. As soon as Evra made his manager aware of his grievance, Ferguson took him to the referees’ room and made sure he obtained written statements. That done, Ferguson was content to let the FA deal with the case and abide by their instruction not to discuss the matter in public while deliberations were being made. Liverpool and Dalglish took a different course, and perhaps now wish they had not. If there is a lesson for football to learn from the past few weeks it is that the issue of race cannot be dismissed lightly. Any complaint should be taken seriously, investigated thoroughly and played by the book, not interpreted as an attack on the club or the integrity of its player.

That may seem obvious, but tribalism in football supporters is alarmingly easy to ignite. At Wigan a couple of weeks ago (why is it always Wigan?), a small minority of Chelsea supporters could be heard singing the Anton Ferdinand song (”You know what you are”). Ferdinand was nowhere in sight, of course, as Chelsea were not playing QPR; it was just the fans’ way of expressing their support for John Terry. Warped logic, if you like, but once accusations start to fly and reputations are defended, these particular disputes take on a life of their own.

One hesitates even so to link the unpleasantness at Anfield directly to the Suárez case, to guess at the motivation of Adeyemi’s alleged abuser(s) or to blame anyone within the club for the irresponsible actions of a spectator or two, though it seems fair to suggest that without the Suárez business it would probably never have happened. Maybe not all T-shirt wearers are really Liverpool supporters. Maybe the Kop was infiltrated by malign troublemakers from the other end of the East Lancs Road. But this time it simply cannot be Patrice Evra’s fault.

LiverpoolLuis SuárezRace issuesPaul Wilsonguardian.co.uk

There was little sympathy for the Liverpool striker after his eight-match ban, with the club and manager facing criticism too

The media’s reaction to Luis Suárez’s eight-match ban and £40,000 fine for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra has been frenetic and largely unsympathetic towards the Liverpool striker. “Guilty” screams the Daily Mail’s back page. “Racist” is the choice of headline in the Daily Mirror, while the Daily Express simply chooses the word “Banned”.

Columnists, now free from having to write around a complex and drawn-out case that has rumbled on since Patrice Evra brought Suárez’s comments to the world’s attention after Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield on 15 October, have largely backed the FA’s hardline stance and pointed the finger of blame at Suárez and Liverpool.

The Daily Mirror’s Merseyside correspondent, David Maddock, believes the implications for Liverpool, who issued a robust statement in defence of their Uruguayan striker after the FA delivered its verdict, could not only damage the team, but also the reputation of the manager, Kenny Dalglish, whose picture appears online with the headline “Betrayed” written above it.

“For a club of such standing, of such dignified history, to have their star player condemned for such a serious offence by the FA after they had defended him so vehemently strikes at the heart of their very credibility,” Maddock writes. “Questions must also be asked as to why the club was so swift to accept their player’s explanation of events on that fateful October afternoon when Evra first made his allegations. There was no internal enquiry into the incident, and Dalglish will feel betrayed, as his own reputation is hauled over the coals, along with that of his club, because he had every right to expect the player to give him the full facts. He also had every right to expect more of Suárez.”

Paul Joyce in the Daily Express believes the guilty verdict will stick with Suárez throughout the rest of his career. “The stain on his character is one he will struggle to shift. It is that stigma which will be more hurtful than the unprecedented eight-match ban he received.” Liverpool’s unflinching support of their striker is also questioned. “Liverpool must now tread carefully. The continuing unequivocal support for Suárez comes without any apparent acceptance that he did not need to become involved with Evra. That he could simply have turned the other cheek.”

Joyce’s colleague John Dillon is much more scathing in his criticism of Suárez and paints a picture of the FA as courageous. “After all the good work aimed at eradicating racism from English football, they had no other choice. They didn’t bottle it,” he writes before dismissing the argument that cultural differences should have been taken into account when determining Suárez’s guilt. “Another of the blurred edges here has been the attempt to portray what Suárez did as little more than a cultural aberration … it doesn’t wash. Suárez is living in our culture now. There are hundreds of English footballers who would not perceive the cultural nuances of Suárez’s words and should in no way be expected to understand them.”

“Negro or negrito, it doesn’t really matter now. Sometimes it’s not what you say so much as how you say it, and how many times you do so,” writes James Lawton in the Independent. “The gut instinct here is that a difficult but vital stand has been made. And, you may ask, against what precisely? Hopefully, it is the idea that racism, however it manifests itself, is in English football not consigned to the past.”

Henry Winter in the Daily Telegraph shows Suárez little sympathy, despite accepting the FA’s difficulty in arriving at a judgment due to the “complexities of the case”. “Suárez claimed that what he said to Evra was not racist, merely a descriptive epithet, but for somebody who has lived in northern Europe for four years, including three years in Holland with Ajax, the Liverpool striker should have understood the sensitivity towards the word ‘negro’.”

Ian Ladyman in the Daily Mail believes Dalglish has made himself vulnerable by being overtly supportive of his striker and believes he would be best advised to take a disciplined stance with Suárez. “Liverpool’s manager ought to be taking stock of exactly what it [the ban and fine] means … He [Dalglish] now has a responsibility to Liverpool and indeed to football to ensure that Suárez understands the grave nature of the offence. As Liverpool manager he is right to stand by his player. He knows Suárez better than most. But Dalglish must also do what he can to ensure this never happens again.”

One of the few sympathetic voices in the immediate aftermath of the guilty verdict came from the Liverpool Echo’s James Pearce. “Not one of Evra’s team-mates came forward to back up his serious allegations, including goalkeeper David De Gea, who speaks Spanish. Suárez, for his part, admitted to saying: ‘Why, negro?’ to Evra on one occasion after Evra said: ‘Don’t touch me, you South American.’ The word ‘negro’ is Spanish for black and in his native South America it is not deemed to be offensive. Someone with black hair is often called that without any malice intended … strangely, those linguistic and cultural differences appear to have carried little weight with the commission.”

Luis SuárezLiverpoolGregg Roughleyguardian.co.uk

Part one of the Observer fans’ network’s review of the 2011-12 season so far

ARSENAL: 6/10

Bernard Azulay, GoonersDiary.blogspot.com It feels as if the mettle we’ve displayed in our recent run of form was forged in the debacle of the opening weeks of our campaign, when we struggled to cope with the departures of Fábregas and Nasri, together with the absence of Vermaelen and Wilshere. We may remain only one hamstring away from disaster in respect of Van Persie but, no matter where we end up, most Gooners see plenty of reason for optimism in the burgeoning spirit within this squad – something that had been missing for far too long.

Star man Obviously Van Persie, but with plenty of kudos to the unstinting commitment of others such as Koscielny.

The flops Chamakh, a mysteriously pale shadow of the striker who first arrived at the club, and Arshavin, who appears as if he can’t wait to escape.

The gaffer: Arsène Wenger, 7/10 While Wenger’s desire to cling on to our star players was perfectly understandable, the fact that he was forced into the equivalent of Supermarket Sweep in the final few hours of the transfer window felt like a failure on his part. Nevertheless, all credit must go to Le Gaffer for silencing the critics who were far too quick to sound our death knell.

Who should he sign? Although our recent injury crisis at full-back has exposed a disconcerting lack of depth in the squad, we are desperate for some replacement firepower up front. Albeit somewhat erratic, Podolski is not cup-tied in Europe and may be best suited to adapt to the Premier League.

ASTON VILLA: 4/10

Jonathan Pritchard, Observer reader It has all been so grimly predictable: beating the rubbish, losing to the quality, the massive anti-McLeish tidal wave when we play badly … You could read our season like a book. And not a very good book. We are all craving something sublime or ridiculous to lift the general malaise: football surely isn’t supposed to be this humdrum? It feels like death by a thousand Blackburns right now.

Star man Gabby Agbonlahor has been easily our best player: we’ve scored 18, he’s scored five and assisted eight, and the buzz around the ground when he gets the ball has returned.

The flops Controversially, I’d aim the most criticism at Bent and his inability to do anything but goal-hang. Five tap-ins and absolutely nothing else is what he’s contributed in 14 games. I’d sell him.

The gaffer: Alex McLeish, 4//10 I don’t blame him as much as most. He’d been stripped of his two most creative players before he arrived and the gamble on N’Zogbia has failed. We play dour football, but doesn’t everyone apart from the billionaires? I’m not sure anyone could make a silk purse out of this sow’s ear of a squad. Villa fans need to stop being so parochial with the “Bluenose” stuff: he’s our manager, so we may as well get behind him.

Who should he sign? Bobby Zamora.

BLACKBURN: 0/10

Marcus Tattersall, Blogs.soccernet.com/blackburnrovers A farcical, tragi-comedy that should have the theme tune of The Benny Hill Show playing in the background. Nothing surprises any more about a club that have undergone a character assassination, from being a model of calm respectability under the guidance of John Williams to a dysfunctional shambles that epitomises Venky’s. Contrary to popular belief, the supporters have been magnificent but the daily rumour mill has taken its toll and the majority have never felt as disillusioned and distanced from the club. The authorities have driven a divide between supporters through mixed messages and spin, and the club are in danger of imploding and losing a generation of fans.

Star man Samba is still dancing and the Yak has had a good appetite.

The flops Radosav Petrovic resembles a deer in headlights every time he plays.

The gaffer: Steve Kean 1/10 The greatest spin doctor since Alastair Campbell. If Kean were captain of the Titanic he would tell the passengers it had hit ice to help keep the drinks chilled. The only positive is we score more goals but if we can’t keep the ball it counts for nothing.

Who should he sign? An experienced chairman or chief executive who could command the respect and trust of the fans is priority.

BOLTON: 3/10

Shaun O’Gara, Supporters’ Club The season started well with a 4-0 win at QPR but it has been downhill ever since in a disastrous run. Rock bottom of the league, nine points from 15 games – in fact since our semi-final defeat to Stoke last April we have played 21 Premier League games with only four wins and 17 defeats. A dramatic improvement is needed or we’ll be relegated by New Year.

Star man There’s been so many inconsistent performances and so many players who are not performing, but Klasnic’s seven goals are one plus.

The flops Reo Coker and Pratley in midfield have both disappointed. Eagles has been inconsistent. Ngog is still finding his feet, only one goal so far, and Boyata in defence looks like he’d rather be somewhere else – probably back at City.

The gaffer: Owen Coyle 4/10 This time last season he’d just won the manager of the month award and we were playing free-flowing, attractive football. Now we’re unable to string two passes together, have forgotten how to defend and confidence is at an all-time low. Owen’s managerial reputation has taken a battering. The slump in form since the FA Cup defeat to Stoke is alarming – it’s as if the players’ belief in the manager and what he is trying to do evaporated in that moment as up to then things were on an upward spiral we were in the top 10 most of last season and in the FA Cup semi final for only the second time in 50 years. Owen Coyle is certainly enduring his most difficult time in management – he’s had terrible bad luck in that injuries have robbed him of key players – Stuart Holden, last season’s player of the year and the heartbeat of the side being the biggest blow. All our problems seemed to start with his injury last March, both him and Chung Yong Lee, the previous year’s winner, are both out for most of the season. In fact, 11 players are currently on the injured list, four with broken legs! We lost 20 goals in Elmander and Sturridge which we haven’t replaced. He’s been hampered by a lack of money to spend. The replacements look short on quality at Premier League level..

Who should he sign? We desperately need some steel and creativity in midfield. Presuming Gary Cahill is sold then a centre-half, as well as two full‑backs and a striker. In fact, we need to strengthen everywhere.

CHELSEA: 7/10

Trizia Fiorellino, ChelseaSupportersGroup.net We started well, flopped badly and have picked up dramatically. Given we have some new players and a new manager trying to impose a new style on the old guard, I am more than happy with our current lofty position. Annoyed to have lost to some average sides but there will always be those that capitalise when another team are undergoing a significant change – they were lucky to play us at a vulnerable time.

Star man Romeu has been a revelation and has made us a more difficult team to break down, but Mata has shone. He instantly makes us look more inventive. Leaving confused opposition players in his wake, he provides excellent service to our strikers. Whisper this – he may be better than Zola.

The flops Malouda – we all know what he’s capable of, but all we invariably get now is him losing the ball, bottling tackles and putting in poor crosses.

The gaffer: André Villas-Boas 7/10 I like the way he conducts himself, especially the digs at Gary Neville and the media – we need a manager who sticks up for us. We are finally beginning to see the emergence of his first team and it doesn’t look bad at all. He is not afraid to make controversial decisions and give him a couple more of his own signings and I think we could be on to something.

Who should he sign? With the exits of Anelka and Alex, and the Africa Cup of Nations to consider, we really could do with a striker and a central defender – but January is not the best time to do it, especially as our contract negotiations seem to go on for ever.

EVERTON: 6/10

Steve Jones, BlueKipper.com The season has been very frustrating for Evertonians so far. With Beckford and Yakubu leaving for financial reasons, and Arteta to play in the Champions league, it left us with very few attacking options. We’ve suffered because they haven’t been replaced. David Moyes has had to use young players like Rodwell, Vellios, Barkley and McAleny, who have all had some great moments but have also shown us that they need to learn a bit more before they can be given a run in the team.

Star man Leighton Baines. He has shown yet again why he is the best attacking full‑back in the Premier League.

The flops A lot was expected from Louis Saha, but two goals so far is a poor return.

The gaffer: David Moyes 6/10 I think Moyesy is great for Everton, but he has slipped below his high standards this season so far.

Who should he sign? We desperately need an experienced striker for a couple of million. Unfortunately, I don’t know one.

FULHAM: 6/10

David Lloyd, TOOFIF.co.uk Largely frustrating so far. We’ve got a better squad than last year, have greater strength in depth and yet have struggled to find any consistency as lineups and tactics have been chopped and changed. Backstage bickering hasn’t helped the cause, neither has an over-cautious, at times negative approach. In among it all there’s a good team trying to get out, but the key question is can Martin Jol settle on his best lineup and tactics?

Star man Ruiz and Dembélé are getting better by the week, while Murphy remains hugely effective, but it’s hard to look beyond Hangeland.

The flops Zamora has blown hot and cold while John Arne Riise has improved recently after a run of stodgy