The controversial nature of the recent Patrice Evra handshake fiasco means that anyone with an interest in football is going to have an opinion about the situation. Former Wimbledon star Robbie Earle is no exception, and the ESPN pundit has slammed Kenny Dalglish for his ill-advised post-match comments.
Speaking on ESPN, Earle admitted that it was hard to understand how Dalglish did *not* know that Suarez had refused to shake Evra's hand. He said:
"Dalglish was completely wrong [to back Suarez], and if he didn't know anything then yet again it's a mistake by Liverpool FC.
"Liverpool have got Press Officers and plenty of other staff around, and if they didn't know that Suarez hadn't shaken Evra's hand, then somebody needs to be losing their job".
I agree with Earle here. I find it very hard to believe that Dalglish did not know what had gone on with the handshake. Given it was the focal point of the day, someone must have told him what had happened, and if no one told him, then as Earle suggests, that is arguably a dereliction of duty.
Liverpool came out with a flurry of apologies the day after the Old Trafford incident, but Earle believes that Dalglish and Suarez were forced to apologise by the club's American Owners:
"This smacks to me of the owners getting involved and telling Liverpool to deal with the problem, and that's probably why Kenny and the club came out and apologised.
"There was a little bit of damage limitation because it was a really poor day for Liverpool".
This issue was largely self-inflicted by Liverpool, and although fans just want the issue to disappear, they'll have to accept that pundits and ex-players will continue to have opinions about the issue for days and weeks to come.
Jaimie Kanwar
Speaking on ESPN, Earle admitted that it was hard to understand how Dalglish did *not* know that Suarez had refused to shake Evra's hand. He said:
"Dalglish was completely wrong [to back Suarez], and if he didn't know anything then yet again it's a mistake by Liverpool FC.
"Liverpool have got Press Officers and plenty of other staff around, and if they didn't know that Suarez hadn't shaken Evra's hand, then somebody needs to be losing their job".
I agree with Earle here. I find it very hard to believe that Dalglish did not know what had gone on with the handshake. Given it was the focal point of the day, someone must have told him what had happened, and if no one told him, then as Earle suggests, that is arguably a dereliction of duty.
Liverpool came out with a flurry of apologies the day after the Old Trafford incident, but Earle believes that Dalglish and Suarez were forced to apologise by the club's American Owners:
"This smacks to me of the owners getting involved and telling Liverpool to deal with the problem, and that's probably why Kenny and the club came out and apologised.
"There was a little bit of damage limitation because it was a really poor day for Liverpool".
This issue was largely self-inflicted by Liverpool, and although fans just want the issue to disappear, they'll have to accept that pundits and ex-players will continue to have opinions about the issue for days and weeks to come.
Jaimie Kanwar
A quick death would be preferable tbf
ReplyDeleteGet your facts right...Earle was not a Wimbledon player when they reached they won the Fa cup in 1988.
ReplyDeleteWTF are you on about? There's no mention of 1988!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Earle, by the way. The Press Officer should have been fired after that first ridiculous statement after the accusation, though.
As Kenny said in his apology, not behaviour appropriate to being Liverpool manager/employee.
I thought LFC fans wanted Rafa out due to the fact Rafas man-management skills were useless and he alienates players,this is the reason most LFC fans wanted KK in to have a better relationship with players even if it means no success again under KK.I can safely say rafa would have handled this situation a lot better,Rafa after Masch got sent off at OT for asking the ref a question made sure it never happenend again.KK says were in a great position and hes happy with the players,he compares Hodgson for this which is ridiculous seen as Hodgson made a complete mess of everything in the few months he had.The money KK has spent and we are doing worse than Rafas last season when H and G had well and truely given up on LFC for the last 2 seasons as far as finance was concerned.The league cup,KK has taken seriously when Championship teams only put their 2nd team out its a soft cup,the FA cup is a title with meaning yet 4th place i thought was the minimum requirement from JH,even in Rafas last year he got us into the semis of a european cup which some people conveniently forget.
ReplyDeleteI wouldnt shake somebodys hand if i didnt like them no matter what colour there skin is the player the manager and the club have apologised so lets draw a line under it now because its getting borring.
ReplyDeleteEarle should just get over it. Liverpool is a football club, not a church or an etiquette school. This is bigger in England than anywhere else in the world. The club has shown exemplary behaviour in limiting fan calls to boos during United's visit to Anfield. If it had been any club in Spain, Italy or Portugal, you'd think the stadium was a monkey enclosure.
ReplyDelete@Martin. You obviously haven't got a clue about the nature of events as they have unfolded during the Suarez affair, how damaging it has all been to Liverpool's worldwide reputation, or how significant the handshake was supposed to be as a means of showing some character and symbolically burying the hatchet. Everyone was hanging on the moment thinking that if anyone might decline the handshake it might be Evra, given the libelous allegations by Liverpool and the fact that Suarez has never really offered him a direct apology. That Suarez should be the one to insult Evra again by snubbing the proffered hand outraged everyone outside of Liverpool, and the significance you seem to have missed is that he had promised the club and his own manager that he would go through with it. Going back on that promise deeply insulted the club and particularly the manager who has stood by him so staunchly and so blindly, and did further damage to the club's reputation. What a lot of Liverpool supporters seem to be getting confused about is the difference between chanting 'you'll never walk alone' in standing up for Suarez and realizing that the guy has always walked alone, thumbing his nose at everyone and not giving a damn how much his actions and words drag the club, his manager and his fellow players through the mud. The handshake incident highlighted exactly how far that character flaw runs, and its about time that Liverpool supporters realized what a blight the guy is on the team and how valueless his on-field contributions are if he singlehandedly ruins the formidable reputation the club built up during the 70's and 80's.
ReplyDeleteSo what? Wenger always says he didn't see whatever happened to his players when it is something not so nice. How did Kenny deal with the player behind closed doors is what is important to thew team.
ReplyDeleteWho gives a F*#k what Robbie Earle thinks??
ReplyDeleteWasnt he the man who sold off 50 tickets in the 2010 World cup for an ambush advertising campaign and then got sacked from ITV. Yes he certainly was becasue I was at that game. Whatta Twat!!
Back in your hole Earle!!
YNWA
I guess you should therefore be applauded for booing a victim of racial abuse. Is that really a point to be proud of. muppet in name muppet by nature.
ReplyDeleteAn Idiot to Robbie Earle and Jk can you convey my idiotic comment to him.Tell him we Liverpool are not submissive to anyone.SUarez refusing Evra a ManU player hand salute is a terrific and best gesture to us and a villain gesture to some especially non-Liverppol fan.We dont go that low to any ManU affiliated person.Likewise we will support King Kenny in anything he does to sustain Liverpool prestige and value as he did to SUarez.
ReplyDeleteThe way the media perception and PR has been handled by those at the club has been a utter shambles from start to finish, in relation to Suarez debacle. From the immature and aggressive club statements, t-shirts, Dalglish continuous agitated comments, etc.
ReplyDeleteLiverpool is a world famous club, a institution and a representative of English football and the Premier League, therefore it has responsibilities to act professional. Even if the club didn't feel duty bound to act professional, it was silly, childish and classless to act unprofessional, as the club did with the club statement, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe club isn't a church, etc, but its a damn fine historic institution. To suggest anything else, is just making excuses for the club to act childishly and to justify some of the unprofessional behaviour during the Suarez saga by the club.
Suarez did taunt Evra in a childish manner and perhaps he did mention Evra's colour, but that is definitely not racial abuse. Those of us who have been racially abused know what it's really like and how it's said. Even if the FA believed Evra's version, it isn't even close to genuine racial abuse. It's a farce. Evra got wound up by a poor choice of word and he knew it. He made a meal of it and deserved to get booed.
ReplyDeleteI think your victim based argument is almost plausible. Your claim of those of us that have been racially abused is a bad joke. Kick racism out of football and society. I don't need a new definition of racial abuse to satisfy your footballing tribal alliangences, most of England doesn't want it and that's why Liverpool have come out so badly from this. Some early leadership from dalglish would have been good but he has dragged a proud club in to the mire with his early blinkered stance.
ReplyDeleteThe press officer?? How on earth would you propose they stop Dalglish from spouting his nonsense at every opportunity?!
ReplyDeleteDalglish is responsible, even moreso than Suarez, for the mess that the club has endured imo
I wanted Benitez out because it had become clear that he was never going to win us the Premiership and because the club was becoming a joke under his leadership.
ReplyDeleteDalglish has swiftly gone even further though, to take the club from joke status to despised by all outsiders. When you can make Ferguson and Man U look like the good guys, something has gone severely wrong.
This doesn't prove that Benitez was/is the right man for the job. It just proves that the owners were right not to want Dalglish in the first place, and should've just trusted their own judgment when replacing Hodgson