OUR days ago, Starsport carried a heading titled “Make Way for the Reds (They wish)” in its back page.
And guess what? We received phone calls and emails from irate Kop fans condemning us for “belittling” Liverpool’s achievements and “insulting” an institution revered throughout the world because of those two words in parentheses.
Now hang on a second, all you Kop.
I am a staunch and devout Liverpool fan myself – have been since 1972 and always will be. That’s why I am Red2TheCore.
So, believe me when I say that those two words were never meant to insult or belittle Liverpool in any way.
It was put there to temper my fellow Reds’ expectations after our League Cup win over Cardiff City. A tongue-in-cheek reality check.
If only we were so passionate about the injustices in society and life. This is sports. It is meant to be fun. It is meant to encourage friendly rivalry, banter and opposing views. Not shut off dissent or open debate. That’s not sports. That’s intolerance so unbecoming of true Kop fans.
Such emotional and irrational reaction is sad indeed. Thankfully, it was only a small faction of the glorious legion of Liverpool fans.
Yes, we won the League Cup for a record eighth time on Sunday. It was our first trophy in six years. That’s a long time for any Liverpool fan used to the glory days of the 70s and 80s.
So cheers to that and enjoy the moment.
But let’s face some home truths as I reel out the facts the Rafa Benitez way.
Fact No. 1: It’s just the League Cup – not the EPL or Champions League crown. Heck, it’s not even the FA Cup.
Fact No. 2: We very nearly lost to a Championship (Second Division) side, for heaven’s sake!
Full credit to Cardiff City, who played well, showed plenty of heart and gave it a real go.
They held Liverpool, of Premier League pedigree, to a 2-2 draw after extra-time, forcing the match to be decided on penalties (which we thankfully won 3-2).
Fact No. 3: We played poorly. For a club with Premier League and Champions League ambitions, we were pathetic (except for the early stages of the first half). And we had five players worth a total of more than £100mil on show – Andy Carroll (a club record £35mil), Stuart Downing (£20mil), Jordan Henderson (£20mil), Charlie Adam (£8mil) and Luis Suarez (£25mil).
And what did we get from them?
Carroll battled hard and … that’s about it. Henderson was a sheer waste of money. Adam was a mere passenger. Suarez was mediocre on the night. Only Downing came anywhere close to justifying his big-money transfer.
Fact No. 4: We are definitely not ready to fight for a top four finish – let alone the Premier League title. Not based on the performance against Cardiff.
Fact No. 5: We are still a long way from being the finished product. We still need to purge some deadwood from the team and bring in some real quality signings.
Fact No. 6: We need to beat the lower rung teams with the kind of efficiency and ruthlessness that the Liverpool of old did back in the good old days.
It’s one thing beating the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur but what is the point if we then go out and lose to (no disrespect guys) Norwich, Stoke, Bolton and the like.
Can Liverpool fans look me in the eye and say that the team are on the verge of greatness? We are, at best, a team in transition.
There is no need to lose our perspective, composure, dignity or sense of humour.
R. Manogaran hopes the Reds will not be suffering from any League Cup hangover when they welcome Arsenal to Anfield today.
Related posts:
- Battling for pride of North London
- No pride, no drama and no passion in ‘biggest game of season’
- Chelsea’s the real Pride of London
- Europe’s top clubs report rising losses in 2010
- Pride and passion
Please post your ‘make-fun’ or biased comment on your relevant personal column. A victory is a victory. As a news reporter in Malaysia national paper, putting that kind of ‘punt’ or ‘joke’ has never been TheStar’s style as far as I’m concern.
I didn’t see soccernet put these kind of ‘THEY WISH’ in their match report. But they keep relevant opinion in their own personal writers column.
We are not being irrational, we only request for a little bit of professionalism in your ‘reporting’ and differentiate opinion from a news report.
Yet again you failed to understand the situation. When somebody says
“Yeah right”, it doesn’t mean they agree but they (strongly) disagree.
When you wrote “They wish.” It has the same effect – disagreement. The
meaning of what you wrote was – “Make Way for the Reds. Yeah right, as if
that’s going to happen”. What you did was to belittle the Cup win and
insult LFC and it’s fans. This is not a matter of opinion but the
meaning of the words you used. Don’t believe me? Ask your English editor.
If you are a true LFC fan you should apologise to the club and it’s fans.
As to the “Kick out Suarez” article. When Suarez failed to shakehands
with Evra, the club’s response was to insists Suarez apologise and
condemned his actions publically. I fully understand your embarassment
and resultant anger. Seeing yourself as a fair person and wanting to
appear as such, you felt it necessary to voice your feelings, to somehow
soothe your anger and placate your ego. But you went too far and further
humiliated the club and it’s fans and made a difficult situation
potentially untenable. Again IMO you failed to understand the feelings
within the club and it’s fans on the racism issue.
By his own admission, Evra started the incident and hurled abuse and
insults at Suarez. But how did the instigator, aggressor and abuser end
up being the “victim”? By claiming Suarez (subsequently) used the racist
term ‘nigger’. Yet how is the word ‘nigger’ more offensive than all the
foul and abusive language Evra used earlier? That’s the trick Evra used
to get at Suarez – racism is deemed a crime in the UK. So that’s how the
Instigator, Aggressor and Abuser became the ‘victim’. Are you getting a
sense of injustice yet?
But wait, Evra subsequently changes his testimony and admitted that
Suarez didn’t use the term ‘nigger’ (which is racist in English) but
‘negro’ (which is not racist in Spanish). They spoke in Spanish so the
meaning in Spanish should be taken not the English meaning. Evra’s
Spanish is also not very good and could easily have misunderstood.
Freddie Kanouté (black player now playing in Spain and hearing ‘negro’
used casually) says a cultural misunderstanding is entirely possible.
Javier Hernández (Mexican ManU player) said words to that effect, so did
the linguistic experts engaged by the FA. But the panel decided that in
the context it was deemed the intent was racist. Yet if you watch the
video in the original exchange Suarez was not angry but calm and in fact
looked a bit mystified. Could anyone say with any certainty what was his
intent? Intent is very difficult to determine. Yet the panel claims to
have the power to read Suarez’s mind and rule there was no cultural
misunderstanding. Is your sense of injustice increasing?
In the 115 page report, it is clear that there is no evidence but one
man’s word against another. The panel chose to believe Evra and not
Suarez. Despite no evidence, Suarez is branded a racist because Evra said
so!! Is that fair? Yet he is partially black himself, how is that
possible? And you, Manogaran choose to believe Evra and that Suarez
should be punished with an 8 match ban!? Really? Why? There was a dispute
between 2 players onfield and it should have remained so. Fabregas said
re his own racism case “To cry racism is cowardly and an easy option to
excuse your own poor behaviour”.
Within the club and it’s fanbase is a feeling of injustice and that Evra, in
using a technicality, has humiliated the Club and Suarez. Sadly you have
given that travesty credibility!!! Eventho many of us believe he was
wrong not to shakehands, we can understand it was difficult to shake the
hand of a man who has caused him so much humiliation and pain.
I can’t find your original article but I believe you also criticised KK’s
and players’ support for Suarez (t-shirt etc). Even fans and coaches of
his previous clubs have since come out with placards and statements in
support. Yet you, Manogaran, believe his current club and team mates
should not have shown him support. Really? So according to you all these
people from previous clubs, who have nothing to gain, are wrong. You may
have supported LFC for 40 years but it seems you have failed to
understand the ‘ethos’ of the club.
If you had a son who is accused of murder would you disown him or support
him? What if you believe he is not guilty? What if you know he is guilty?
IMO until LFC sells him, he is our player and deserves our full support,
guilty or otherwise. What you have done IMO goes against the ‘ethos’ of
the club and has done tremendous damage to the club’s image and
reputation.
It’s your right to choose how you support the club but may I urge you to
be very careful what you write. The statements you made recently have
done tremendous damage and do not reflect LFC’s position and ethos and
has created a conflicting imagery – that of a club that is immoral and
defends a ‘criminal’.
In case you still don’t get it, LFC’s position is: We stand by our
players whether they are guilty or otherwise. If fould guilty we will
accept the punishment and deal with our player in-house. However while we
accept the punishment, as we should abide by the decision of the ruling
body, it does not mean we have to agree with the verdict which in this
case we find unjust and the punishment excessive.
As to the handshake incident: LFC is extremely disappointed with Suarez
and has insisted that he apologise and the club also apologises for his
actions.
News media is a very powerful instrument. Be very careful how you use it.
Before you write what you think, may I suggest you seek other opinions in
order to obtain a well-informed view. Whatever you do, please do not
further damage the image and reputation of the club which you claim to
support.
All the best.