Races and Faces – Part 2

After a two week hiatus, this weekend sees the return of the Premier League, and what a season the 2011-12 Premier League campaign has been so far. With just over a third of the season to go, the focus switches from how many games played to reviewing the final run-in.

On offer is the usual scrap to avoid the relegation trapdoor. A tussle which in my mind is between the four teams of Wigan, Blackburn, Wolverhampton, and Bolton. We also have had some sublime eye-catching football, which is helping the newly promoting clubs of Norwich and Swansea hold their own and occupy mid-table places. Least we not forget the fresh approaches of Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspurs respectively, who currently are challenging the Manchester United-Chelsea seven year monopoly of occupying top-spot in the Premier League. With high resulted scores in many of the fixtures between the current top seven teams, this season should go down as one to remember for many years.

However, the 2011-12 Premier League campaign will be tarnished with the alleged reports of racial abuse from fellow players, and also isolated incidents of unsavoury racial chants from the stands. A season stained with negative connotations that could be pinpointed to lunchtime encounter between Liverpool and Manchester United on the 15^th of October. During the match Liverpool’s Luis Suarez was alleged to have racially abused Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra.

Since then and in chronological order for those who may have forgotten (I like a linear approach), there has been a separate alleged claim that Chelsea’s John Terry also racially abused Anton Ferdinand during QPR’s Premier League meeting with their near neighbours. Then followed an investigation complete with arguments and counter arguments of what Luis Suarez was alleged to have said to Patrice Evra, and queries being made to the actual context. An investigation which ultimately saw the Uruguayan being found guilty of indeed abusing Evra, and being handed an eight match suspension and a £40,000 fine.

As we heralded a new year, we soon discovered that John Terry will be taken to court in July for his alleged abuse. With a court case hanging over the Chelsea defender, and the seriousness of what he is being accused of, the FA deemed it the right course of action to strip Terry of the England captaincy. Not to mention the unwanted attention the looming court case would bring to England’s preparations towards Euro 2012, and the desired focus during the championships.

A decision which directly saw Fabio Capello, tender his resignation as the coach of England. Capello did not agree to the action the FA had taken against Terry, who as it stands has not been found guilty of any charge. Therefore did not see why any action had been taken against what currently stands as an innocent man. In addition, Capello felt the FA’s decision not to discuss the matter with him beforehand undermined his position as head coach. On the same day as Capello’s resignation, his likely successor in the eyes of the media and fans, Harry Redknapp, was cleared of all charges of tax evasion and avoided a possible jail term if he found guilty.

One may have thought that would have been that when it came to how far the issue of race, and the implications it has had on English football this season. However, the events that transpired at Old Trafford in the last round of Premier League fixtures has brought the season’s major points to have come full circle. We find all these incidents have been book-ended by the first meeting of Evra and Suarez since their October conflict, with Suarez appearing not willing to shake Evra’s hand during the standard pre-match pleasantries. 

Phew!!! I think I have just about covered the series of events. With all the media scrutiny appearing to have died down which often is filled with knee-jerk reactions, I thought I would share my opinion on all the mentioned issues that have gone on in the next few Frankly Speaking articles.

The Evra-Suarez state of affairs is not a new topic that I have not discussed before. In part one of this titled article, I looked at the intensive investigation the FA conducted, and the guilty charge they gave Suarez. A charge and punishment that I felt fitted the crime so to speak. What I also mentioned was that the enquiry was to find if racial abuse had occurred, and the points of concern were not of an Alex Ferguson influence, or simply a provincial football uneasiness which some were turning the situation into.

Liverpool’s handling of the matter towards the back-end of the investigation, and when the guilty charge was given, has been well to put it mildly highly questionable and disappointing. The infamous t-shirts and unwavering hero-worshipping of Suarez that soon followed rather placed Liverpool in a dubious spotlight. My concern at the time particularly as a Liverpool fan was how unaware the club’s ill-moved actions were, and seemed more on placing the investigation and its findings as a tribal football issue. A feature that in some part was led by Kenny Dalglish, in building up this siege mentality of it is everyone against Liverpool and Luis Suarez, and it is everyone who is wrong regarding the racial issue that had been placed on the Anfield door.

Reports of chants or abusive actions have since followed Liverpool in their first two outings in the FA Cup, with so-called fans chiefly bringing shame to themselves as individuals with targeted abuse 

given to Oldham’s Tom Adeyemi, and Patrice Evra respectively. Now in no way do these so-called fans represent Liverpool as a club, and Dalglish himself condemning these ‘supporters’ and stated that as a club Liverpool do not condone racism and never will. But his comments and selective actions that the club had taken regarding the Evra-Suarez affair, have slightly created the situation that has embroiled the Merseyside club.

To me, Liverpool is an institution both in and out of football. Kenny Dalglish is a key historical figure within the club, whose mere breath commands so much respect to not only the Liverpool fans, but a greater football public who hang on his every word. Holding such a status, at times Dalglish’s remarks sent an unwanted tone to those who revere him, and somewhat made light of how severe the situation was and is. Naturally, most managers and clubs would look to publicly support any key member of staff within the club. But were the t-shirts of Suarez the players wore before the Wigan game in December, so soon after the charge had been handed out surely prompted an incorrect message to the wider football family and society as a whole?

The media were mischievous in their mission of constantly asking Dalglish questions about Suarez, and the ban that he was actively serving. A crafty undertaking the media were conducting knowing full well that it was a sore point to the Dalglish psyche. But did Dalglish have to rise to the bait of the written and spoken press who only had to mention the keywords of racial abuse, suspension, and Suerez to see a normally composed manager lose his cool?

All of which in my mind encouraged Suarez to continually lead Liverpool a merry dance of which they would unreservedly back him whatever the incident which may involve him. I think we saw that coming to roost when he reportedly claimed that he would shake Evra’s hand, and then at the last minute retracted his proposed action.

Lets be honest, Evra’s extension of his right-hand was hardly whole-hearted towards Suarez, which can be justified considering what was supposed to have been said to the Manchester United left-back way back in October. There remains an unconvinced group who are unsure of who rebuffed who. But it was overtly clear that on Suarez's part, he was not prepared to divulge in the pre-match particulars of shaking hands with Evra. Perhaps Suarez harboured some ill-feeling towards Evra, and the version of events Evra gave as part of the investigation into their first meeting of the season.

As it happened I thought what they hell is Suarez playing at? Why is he allowing this situation to continue to drag on? A punishment has been given and served, and we as fans just want to focus on the game of football. But on further reflection, clearly the two do not like each other. How many of us would want to shake the hands of someone we do not get on with?

Like anyone, I have had a few run-ins with people who I did not get on with or did not get on with me, and the last thing both parties would want is to have any association with each other if it can be helped. If Suarez did not want to shake hands and alerted his club beforehand of his feelings then that is a fair enough point. I think Liverpool and Manchester united would have found a resolution where the two do not have to shake hands.

But when Suarez said he would be prepared to shake Evra’s hand to his manager and does not, then a highly-charged problem gets even more intense. Though I must say I do not think it is Evra’s decision to physically force somebody to shake his hand, when it is evident that they do not want to. Evra is hardly a squeaky-clean individual himself, and cannot really go preaching a moral high ground as his history has shown us otherwise.

To be honest the whole handshake debacle is pretty pathetic, as these are grown men we are talking about after all. A watching audience fixed on who shakes whose hand, and analysing it repeatedly is somewhat cringe-worthy. It is a shame when there would have been some who tuned in just to see what happens before the match, and probably switched off afterwards. Personally I wanted to see my team get a crucial win in their latest match, against opponents who on that particular day just happened to be the club’s fiercest rivals.

I suppose my real gripe boils down to two things really. Why couldn’t the two clubs follow QPR and Chelsea’s recent fourth round FA Cup clash where hand shakes were not partaken? The pre-match actions between Manchester United and Liverpool were always going to cause unwanted attention, and before the whole handshake fracas took place, I thought the shaking of hands should be dispensed of on this occasion.

From both parties the issue is still very much raw, heightened with the Old Trafford clash being Suarez’s second game back from his suspension. With the issue of racism in football dominating the events of recent weeks, surely it would have been better to avoid the formal pre-match activities. When the two teams next meet which would have been next season, the issue would have somewhat been dampened.

The second point is how evident that there is a lack of structure on the PR and communications front from Liverpool. Not to excuse Dalglish fully, but he is an individual who is ‘old skool’ where football is truly about football. His sporadic spells in football management over the last twenty years, may have not been geared up and sharpened for the constant media and PR scrutiny that the sport currently has today.

Why was Dalglish being left to handle the whole situation by himself? I ask what is the PR and communications team doing at Anfield? During the investigation I kept saying to my friends, why is there no club statements being issued on the Evra-Suarez enquiry while it was being looked into by the FA? Why was there no stance being declared by the club during weekly press conferences, whilst the investigation was still pending the subject was strictly off limits? Dalglish should not have to deal with such matters entirely on his own.

What we had was a calamity of errors and point scoring off the field from the Anfield club. But as fans and on the day it mattered, what we got was a tepid performance from the Liverpool team against Manchester United. When the Merseyside club managed to scrape a goal back against United to make it 2-1 with over ten minutes to play, they played with no urgency or fight. I like my team to score points on the field, not off it thank you very much.

Purely from a football standpoint I find Gary Neville echoing my personal sentiments, which that in itself is a strange occurrence. He like me does not mind a bit of needle in games and in football. Clearly racism is not wanted in the sport, but a bit of animosity between two teams is fair game in my estimation within limits. Especially from a Liverpool perspective, as for far too long Liverpool have rolled over and had their bellies tickled during the Premier League years where Manchester United are concerned. But it is only effective when it positively influences a performance, or helps gain the set result. Liverpool woefully failed on that aspect.

Nevertheless it is good to see that Liverpool and Suarez himself have issued public apologies, that hopefully have somewhat quieten down the growing ill-feeling. But for the baiting Evra gave Suarez after the game of which I cannot understand why Rafael da Silva felt the need to join in the ‘celebrations’, Ferguson aside not a peep has been heard from the corridors of power at Old Trafford. What about Ferguson’s public tirade of Suarez and what he felt Liverpool should do with him. Although refreshing to hear a manager speaking their full thoughts, no apology has been forthcoming on that note, not even as a gesture to mend bridges between the two clubs. Strange is it not?

Races and Faces - Part 1

Wow!! That was my reaction when I heard the eight game ban and £40,000 fine Liverpool’s Luis Suarez received by the FA of being found guilty for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra. A few people have asked me why I have not given my opinion on the whole episode which dates back to mid-October when the initial incident occurred. Well in such a delicate matter and not knowing the full facts, such a situation really needs a full investigation before passing a viewpoint. Plus what further muddied the waters were the counter arguments both players gave of their version of events.

From a personal point of view and before the FA found Suarez guilty of racist comments, I found myself asking this question in pondering what to accept as true. Do I believe Luis Suarez is capable of doing what he had been alleged to have done? Possibly yes. Why some may ask? Well because the talented Uruguayan is what could be construed as a spiky character, who is no stranger to controversy and could mentally at least in my mind envisage him doing what he stood to be accused of. However, could I see Patrice Evra using the serious and highly sensitive issue of racial mistreatment to prove a point, and get one over on an opponent who has riled him up or got the better of him? Then the answer would be yes also. I could see this course occurring for the similar reasons for what I gave regarding Luis Suarez, and that being Evra has got that prickly nature in his locker.

Even though Evra was proven to be correct and Suarez had a case to answer after the FA's investigation, it saddens me that coming from a similar ethnic origin as Patrice Evra, I really was not sure if what he was saying had occurred and if this was a case of him just being vengeful. I am in no way saying that claims of discrimination should be down to one's personal character, but it is a real shame that today’s footballer in most cases seem to lack a moral code or hold faint fibres of decency or respect. So when situations like this occur, for me at least it is very hard to eliminate the personal conduct of those who we cheer for on the field, and have to bring in the case of the boy who cried wolf when assessing such a serious matter. 

This whole incident is clearly bigger than sport and goes beyond the parameters of football. Since the punishment was announced, those who since turned this situation into a Liverpool-Manchester United thing, or a Alex Ferguson influence, comments are said in the heat of a game but not genuinely meant, or how will Liverpool as a team cope with the possible loss of their newly installed talisman, or Luis Suarez is simply not a racist person are missing the point entirely. Putting my Liverpool football bias on the back-burner and describing myself primarily as someone who absolutely despises inequity of any kind. This includes discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, colour, creed, cultural background or any situation where one is intolerant of another human being, if the English football authorities have found Luis Suarez guilty of abuse based on race than the punishment fits the crime.

From what is being said, Suarez’s case of defence is founded on him using a term/s that is acceptable in his native homeland and pleading a case of ignorance. In this framework I do not believe ignorance is any sort of plausible excuse to shield Luis Suarez from this punishment. He has played in Europe for quite some considerable amount of time, and more importantly claiming lack of knowledge for the want of a better term should not be used as justification where racism is involved. I am pleased that time was taken to check the facts, and a recognised football authority took such a hard stance on review in dealing against racism in football, and racism as a whole.

For far too long the sport’s respective governing bodies and authorities, have turned a blind eye from being proactive in tackling prejudice in the beautiful game, and merely look to sweep the whole issue under the carpet. You only have to look at past incidents when former Spanish coach Luis Aragones was fined a laughable £2,060 by the Spanish Football Federation for racist remarks Aragones made about Thierry Henry in 2004. Countless times reports are given of certain black players in the England squad being subjected to chants when playing international games in certain parts of Europe, yet authorities doing very little in terms of punishment or trying to eradicate the problem. It really is of no surprise that such timid actions are taken when the leader of the sport’s governing body, FIFA President Sepp Blatter, comes out with outrageous comments that there is no racism on the field of play, and that racist abuse between players on the pitch should be settled by a handshake. 

The only positive thing about this particular incident which strangely occurred during the month of October in which Britain celebrates Black History Month, and the Kick It Out campaign and message of Let's Kick Racism Out of Football is very visable, shows as a society and as football admirers both in and out of the game there is still work to be done. In no way do I feel racism is rife in English football particularly when compared to the dark days of the 70’s and 80’s, when I can remember images of my footballing hero John Barnes backhealing a banana being thrown at him by the crowd. But in no way should racism or discrimination for that matter be seen as an existence confined to yesteryear. As a nation I do feel England is showing to be a prominent force in dealing with this negative matter and hope other football organisations look at this example being set and try to follow suit. Such a stance taken by the impending punishment of Luis Suarez should act as a firm deterrent to others who may contemplate acting out prejudice within the game.

Look out for part two in the coming days but to end on a more lighter note, I do wish everyone a happy holidays!