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Posts Tagged ‘reputation’

Great expectations, big-money buys and a thorny issue – 12 eventful months for Kenny Dalglish on his return to Anfield

8 Jan 11

Roy Hodgson leaves Liverpool, three days after a 3-1 defeat at Blackburn. To the delight of fans, Kenny Dalglish is appointed manager for the rest of the season. “Kenny was a legendary player and the third of our three most successful managers,” says John W Henry, the club’s owner

11 Jan 11

Dalglish says he would be “delighted” if the manager’s job were offered to him on a permanent basis. This comes a few days after he has lost his first game in charge since his return, an FA

• 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

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Alan Pardew speaks: In his pre-match interview, Newcastle’s manager says “there are certain balls you can’t defend against Andy Carroll, because if the delivery is right and he gets at them in a certain angle there’s nothing you can do.” He goes on to say that “stopping crosses” will be a key feature of Newcastle’s game-plan tonight.

Team news we’ve yanked from the wires: Strikers Andy Carroll and Craig Bellamy both start for Liverpool against their former club.
Club-record signing Carroll keeps his place from Boxing Day’s draw with Blackburn while Bellamy replaces Luis Suarez. Jay Spearing comes in for Maxi Rodriguez, the goalscorer against Rovers, while Steven Gerrard starts on the bench. Newcastle make one change from the side which beat Bolton on Monday with 19-year-old midfielder Haris Vuckic making only his second Premier League start – his first having come nine days ago in defeat to West Brom.

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Jose Enrique,
Henderson, Spearing, Adam, Downing, Carroll, Bellamy.
Subs: Doni, Gerrard, Maxi, Kuyt, Carragher, Shelvey, Kelly.

Newcastle: Krul, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Ryan Taylor, Obertan, Tiote, Cabaye, Gutierrez, Vuckic, Ba.
Subs: Elliot, Santon, Ben Arfa, Perch, Best, Shola Ameobi, Sammy Ameobi.

Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire)

Season’s greetings everybody. With assorted holidays conspiring to make it difficult enough to know what day of the week it is around this time of year, the good folk at Premier League Towers have helped add to the general sense of discombobulation by scheduling football on a Friday night this week. Premier League football on a Friday? It just seems weird.

Just a single point separates Liverpool and Newcastle United, with the Merseyside club in sixth place in the Premier League table, a solitary place above their Tyneside rivals, who haven’t won in the league at Anfield for 16 years.

The hosts go into tonight’s match with Luis Suarez, who must serve a one-match ban for hoisting his middle digit in the general direction of Fulham fans some weeks ago, which means Andy Carroll is almost certain to start against the club where he made his reputation as a free-scoring battering ram … before quickly losing it in the wake of his highly publicised move to Liverpool last Christmas in a record-breaking £35m deal for a British player.

While Carroll didn’t set the large fee and much of the ridicule to have been levelled at him seems a bit unfair, he has been the subject of much criticism since moving to Anfield, for scoring just two goals in 16 appearances and occasionally looking ponderous and on a completely different wavelength to more canny and intelligent team-mates.

Having made his first appearance since October coming off the bench against Blackburn Rovers, Steven Gerrard looks a likely starter for Liverpool tonight, while Newcastle may play midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa, who lined up against Bolton in their last outing, from the get-go. For Newcastle, Sylvain Marveaux, Peter Lovenkrands and Steven Taylor are all sidelined through injury. But with Liverpool having drawn against both Manchester clubs, Swansea, Norwich Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland at home this season, the Magpies are likely to be fairly confident of taking a point from tonight’s game.

Kick-off is at 7.45pm and I’ll be back with all the team news and pre-match build-up shortly after 7pm.

Premier League 2011-12Premier LeagueLiverpoolNewcastle UnitedBarry Glendenningguardian.co.uk