After watching the petulant events of another tedious high profile incident this weekend, is it just me that’s left questioning where the common sense escaped to in modern day football?
Long gone are the days where players participated in rivalry on the pitch and respect of it, instead replaced with an era where the stereotypical prima donna of a footballer is very much vindicated.
It is therefore, a crying shame that I’m mentioning the antics of Luis Suarez over any proper footballing topics, such as the actual game itself, which was once the main talking point of most derbies. Again, that’s a trend which has long since faded into the past.
Frankly, Luis Suarez is an embarrassment to Liverpool and the Premier League itself.
Firstly, just to commit such a hideous crime of racism is diabolical but then to hold a grudge against Evra for being his victim is inhumane and literally incomprehensible. Of course, Suarez would have been crucified by the United fans on Saturday regardless of the handshake malarkey, and can you blame the United faithful? So for him to go and blatantly refuse Evra’s handshake is not only disrespectful, but mind-boggling.
Secondly, this was his chance to draw a line under the whole incident, to display a maturity which has been questioned by many and to allow his football to do the talking. To reject this opportunity and let the dark cloud hang over himself and Liverpool FC has proved his doubters correct.
I could understand if Evra rejected Suarez’s handshake, in the role of the victim he had a right to, just like Wayne Bridge did in the John Terry saga. Yet the other way around? It’s crazy, and Dalglish is equally as ethically wrong in his response to events.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a manager’s job to defend their players, to a certain extent that is. Yet for Dalglish to defend Suarez to the extent where he portrays him as a victim really does make me question how much common sense is left in the world.
To accuse Kenny of being racist may be a little controversial (even if Glen Johnson is the only black Liverpool player left) but to brand him an idiot on the basis of his handling of the whole situation clearly isn’t.
The subsequent apologies that came from Liverpool, Dalglish and Suarez on Sunday were vital in the clearing of this situation. Although I’m still sceptical of whether they’re genuine of whether they’re Suarez and Dalglish are just the puppets with higher profiles pulling their strings to clear Liverpool’s name.
Either way, I can’t wait to see the back of Suarez. He is nothing but terrible news for the English game, and this was evident before he even joined Liverpool. As an Ajax player, he bit an opponent ‘s shoulder during a game against PSV and then displayed his great unsportsmanlike behaviour by handballing a shot on the line in Uruguay’s quarter final match against Ghana. Asamoah Gyan missed the resulting penalty and Ghana ended up losing on penalties.
Dalglish needs to have a serious word with Suarez, but is that enough? I can’t imagine that Sir Alex Ferguson, one of the greatest ever man managers, would let a player play for his club again after such a degrading sequence of incidents.
Now onto some more interesting news: football itself.
The real derby of the weekend was of course at the Reebok, where as far as I know, all 22 players successfully shook hands prior to the game, nobody was the subject of racist abuse and nobody handballed any shots on the line. Who said that us Wiganers aren’t civilized?
The game itself provided a vital three points for Martinez’s struggling Latics as Wigan secured their third away win of the season, triple their home tally. Worrying? I think so.
But hey, we don’t deal in negativity on this site (much) and this win will surely be the start of an unbeaten run which will end in a place in Europe for next season.
Equally, some of us do deal in realism, but it’s nice to get carried away once in a while, isn’t it?
The biggest miracle of the day wasn’t even the Latics win, but Gary Caldwell actually doing something productive. I know you may not believe it’s true but it happened. On 43 minutes, our eccentric captain successfully headed the ball. Unbelievable I know, but that wasn’t all, he did so without getting sent off or presenting an opponent with a clear goalscoring opportunity and it even ended up going into the Bolton net, and I’m not taking the mick here.
That alone was enough of an excuse to have an extra pint on Saturday night but James McArthur’s winner on 76 minutes was enough to have an extra ten if you’re that way inclined.
Following the victory, Emmerson Boyce has been quoted saying he’s confident Latics will avoid a repeat of last season. Initially, I thought he was being very negative but also quite realistic as many supporters had also decided on this conclusion after the very first defeat this season.
It turns out I’ve missed the point he was making spectacularly (was I the only one?) and he was suggesting Wigan will be safe before the final day of the season. Jesus Boycey, who are you kidding? If someone offered me the chance to be in with a chance of survival on May 13th I’d not only snap their hand off, but the rest of their limbs too.
I’m not sure if there’s anyone out there who holds such supremacy to offer such a guarantee, or why they’d offer it to me ahead of anyone else associated with Wigan Athletic, but that’s the beauty of hypothetical speech I suppose.
Other News:
In response to Wolves’ 5-1 defeat to West Brom, Mick McCarthy has been sacked. Good decision? Well it seems opinions are divided on this one, McCarthy is the strong minded character you need in such a scenario with the experience of two survival campaigns plus the fact Wolves have just as good an opportunity as anyone else in the bottom six of staying up, it could be argued this decision is a harsh and possibly a naive one. Yet the other side of the coin is the Roberto Di Matteo argument, West Brom sacked him just as they entered the slippery slope last season in February and Roy Hodgson managed to steer them off it and to safety. I’m sure Wolves will be hoping for the same result for themselves, but whether they’ll be able to attract a manager of Hodgson’s ability is doubtful. But what about Steve Bruce? I hear you ask…
Also at the bottom, QPR visited Blackburn in pursuit of another three points. Yet three first half goals from Yakubu, Steven Nzonzi and a deflected David Hoillet put Blackburn in the driving seat, two goals from substitute Jamie Mackie weren’t enough to deny Rovers as Kean’s boys held on to keep themselves out of the drop zone.
Incidentally, Fabio Capello also left his job as England manager this week. I’m not sure if you’ve heard but a certain Mr Redknapp seems favourite to be his successor. I know most football fans like a good conspiracy theory so…
Weekend Awards:
Goal of the Week: Jamie Mackie’s second goal for QPR at Blackburn was nothing short of stunning.
Jason Roberts of the Week: Adebayor bagged four assists and a goal for Spurs in a 5-0 rout against Newcastle to earn my fantasy football team a priceless 18 points, therefore he’s a no brainer for this award.
Jason Koumas of the Week: Have a guess. That little guy from Uruguay, plays up front, seems to be causing some unrest among football supporters at the minute.
Boselli Watch: After Capello’s resignation, Boselli’s management team have quickly ruled the misfiring striker out of the running for the job.
