You Might Be an Idiot

boa noite sou de niterói eu não gostei do uruguaio luiz suarez fazer ciosas ridículas comj jogadores dos diabos vermelhos sendo acusado de racismo e levando desafdoro pra casa após a derrota de 2 a 1 para o manchester united no old trafford em manchester ele merece ser suspenso por 8 jogos de castigo
pessima noite pra luiz suarez pessima sorte beba com moderação castigo merecido puniçao severa

excellent writing

I agree with many of your comments but what is the point discussing anything done by a Man Utd player or their manager? We, as a club, can only control, and are responsible for our own actions.

The Evra/Suarez affair, irrespective of blame, has cost us dearly. 

It’s also eye-opening how football clubs continue to operate so poorly as businesses. In what other large business would you let the PR campaign by directed by an employee (Kenny Dalglish) who is so emotionally involved in the outcome of controversial events?NESV and John Henry must be ruing their decision to let this happen. I can only imagine how much the value of naming-rights for a new stadium have diminished since October. We need to collectively move on. Overwhelming negativity and bitterness is the alternative. Thankfully a crucial FA Cup tie, the League Cup Final and a home-game against Arsenal as successive games are a perfect thing to focus on.

The Liverpool FC PR department are the greatest idiots, really. Idiots!

Tomkins' article is spot on.   If I didn't hate English hypocrisy before, I certainly do now, though I always knew the institutions were so up their own asses it's not true.

One of the things not mentioned was that Utd should have paraded past the Liverpool players as is the norm with the home team.  

The parade was reversed so Liverpool had to go past the utd players, so setting up Suarez for a fall, and fall he did.

The media has made sure it is only on one side of the argument.  Noone has wanted to question anything, it's far too toxic to touch, just go with the flow, sensationalise where you can justify it to keep the money rolling in.

The Sheeple haven't disappointed either.  Fergie has comprehensively won this battle despite his very dubious record.  

He's also going to do pretty well out of Redknapp leaving Spurs aswell, if it happens (despite the horrendous costs involved for a man not terribly experienced in tournament football).  Spurs could take 2nd place from Utd this term.

Liverpool as a club has been weakened whether they dispose of Suarez or not.

The one fact that allows us to keep a check on reality, rather than the disgusting hypocritical English media frenzy and self righteous idiots,  is that outside the UK this is all a bit of a soap opera.  

I would be interested in hearing how it comes across in mainstream North America, where it probably isn't big news, but generally the UK is thought of as kind of quirky and odd in many places, and this soap opera is probably causing mild amusement in most places, with FIFA and Sepp Blatter rolling around on the floor txting lmaofotf to each other.

The ISSUE aside, football.  Things will be different in the changing room now.  The players are going to have to respond.  They will need to find steel in their performances, real metal.

Perhaps this will be a turning point for this squad.  Perhaps they all grew a little and found a little meanness within themselves that they can put on the pitch.

I'm not sure if the football staff have thought about how to turn this to their advantage, probably being rocked by events, so we just have to hope the players realise it for themselves and step up to the plate.

Trophies are good, 4th place would be heaven sent.

non-handshakes have been going on for a long time it seems.

but somehow the FA with aid from the media have managed to make it look like this is the first time in the history of english football that a player have refused to shake another player's hand. its not like the last incident happened decades ago.

kangaroo courts, circus, what else is coming to town...

p.s: it takes a non-idiot to write up something like that. insightful post.

Rooney and Scholes refused to shake Viera's hand a few years back when they were having their tet-a-tete's.

In other news, rafa to replace McCarthy??

Rafa would demand far too much money for a mid-table club like Wolves.

15th, 17th, and 18th is hardly mid-table.

This is masterful.

You're right that it won't go away: the f'ing shirt sponsor is making statements (b/c I give a fuck what Standard Fucking Chartered - who are in the business of f'ing people out of money and hiring people like me to fight tooth and nail against honoring corporate contracts if it's cheaper to breach (EFFICIENCY! YAY!) - have to say) and now we get awesome, unsourced, purely speculative articles on how the club are gonna sell Luis in the summer. Honestly think that watching fox news right now could decrease my blood pressure, provided Hannity or O'Reilly aren't talking, that is. 

Though I'm wondering if I've awaken in some alternate reality where the FA managed to exercise some restraint and aren't handing out more sanctions / bans - at least that's what the news is telling me.

At least we have another six days until the next game...hardly enough time for more ALL CAPS NONSENSE to be spewed all over the place. 

What percentage of the illiterate morons ranting on the front pages actually have read some kind of well-thought, deconstruction of race / inherited cultural bias, etc.? The grand irony to a bunch of white, middle class conservatives wringing their hands about all of this is enough to make me sick were I not already too cynical to care.

Play on Luis, but for the love of god, jump through the f'ing hoops from now on. And please don't lose this: "I go to the field with the illusion of a child who loves what he does" about yourself - b/c that statement pretty much explains why I wake up early to watch you play. 

Sigh. 

YNWA.

Can we get on with football now? Three critical matches on the plate 3 weeks in a row, one to hang in for a Cup Double, then next a Wembley formality for half the Cup Double, then a date with Arsenal on March 3. We need Spurs to beat Arsenal first. It will be very tough even we are at home to the gunners since we will be riding jolly high with the Carling Cup and can get careless.

Yes, we have won the Cup already but that date with the gooners is already freaking me out. COME YOU REDS!!!!

"You all talk as if something awful's happened to him. 'Everything that he's been through??' What's he been through, his hand wasn't shaken!" 

Barnsey, I fell for you all over again.

and then I watched the utube link which was so awesome.  He would fit into any world side today.

I am just waiting for the next football scandal to arise. So this whole
media circus involving our great club comes to an end. Come on John Terry
cheat on your wife again. Rooney, Giggs are you listening? Somebody.... In the meantime I am off to the Winchester, to have a pint and wait for all of this to blow over. Cheers!

Man Utd are good for hypocrisy once a season at least.  

If it's not a rooney red card, giggs and his sister in law going at it, missed drugs test, diving ala Nani and Ronaldo, Rooney and Scholes not shaking Viera's hand.

Of course Fergie will say Rooney's being persecuted and the press will be measured and forget it quickly.  

Note that normally the home team parades past the away team on the handshake normally.  This time it was very specifically reversed.  Why?  Who?  Setup Luis for a fall certainly.

The real hypocrisy is that Sepp Blatter is condemned for suggesting that things can be settled with a handshake.  And now, Luis had to shake hands for redemption, never mind the 8 match ban.  

Classic English hypocrisy.  Straight from the colonial days.

I think the reason the handshake sequence was initially changed is due to the fact the referee Phil Dowd wanted to keep Suarez in motion. A stationary Luis Suarez would have have seen to be a sitting duck or a potential 'target' for the opposition ie words and gestures may have been made towards him. The roles were also reversed when the Bridge/Terry handshake debacle also occurred.

You have to love a bit of English Hypocrisy sprinkled in with a good old fashioned Xenophobia! Stay classy!

idiot is a racial epithet in my country.
you'll be hearing from my (imaginary) lawyers.

seriously though, you've put it all into perspective...

If anyone needs a recap of everything that has gone down I would recommend watching "Burn After Reading." It pretty much tells the same story.

I appreciate the enthusiasm shown by even-handed fans like Elizabeth for John Barnes to be appointed to a PR role and listening to the beautiful calm and sense in his contributions to the debate, one can see how many million times better he would be than Ian Ayre, Ian Cotton et al.

However, Digger is already President of the Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association and carries out numerous ambassadorial roles. I would fear that any clunky appointment at this stage might be a PR gaffe and be perceived as tokenism....and reading this back I see how paranoid this whole clusterfuck has left me. Jesus wept...*sigh* 

Not my place to make moderator recommendations Ed/Noel, so if I'm out of order just ignore me but there's maybe a call for the old delete button here today. Hard to stomach the poisonous bile from that clown

Honestly, I think Ian Ayre is doing a very good job. Just my personal opinion. But I agree with you about John Barnes weighing his comments and judgements best among all the LFC related people after the last game. 

Wow, a "very good job"? Are you crazy? 

The club is in trouble with its main sponsor, has a passive/nonexistent PR policy, the manager can't get on the same page as the star player to the point they both got thrown under the bus in public...

Ayre seems to still be doing his old job of Commercial Director just fine, but as a Managing Director of the club he has been awful so far. This club has suffered from a serious lack of leadership and bad decision making, which is probably his fault -- either he has done a bad job or not done his job.

Yeah, thanks, sadly morons have a way of being awake while I'm asleep.

Dude, like I said, not my place and I've got MASSIVE admiration for the tight ship you run around here, ALL the time. Gonna edit my comment now to remove the bellend's name.

No problem at all, actually very appreciative of it. We can't get moderator privileges for Noel, and poring over increasingly bulky comments sections in search of something offensive can be tough, not to mention depressing.

Should we make the offensive stuff more obvious to make your job easier?

YOU SPUNK BUCKET

Paul Tomkins: Probably not an idiot.

http://tomkinstimes.com/2012/0... 

And I am an idiot for beleiving the camera angle and some of the hype that Evra dropped his hand. And tehn going on Facebook to challenge the Man U supporters amongst my friends to answer that! Only for a few hours later to hear the answer via Luis and LFC. If it was an issue I am sure they would have raised it. Egg on face all round.

note the hand shake parade was reversed.  Normally the home side walks past the away side.

Suarez is not a idiot he doesn't need to make u or ur club happy... he doesn't need to shake the hand of someone that took him for the thing he loves most.

if  you don't like his attitude dont cry when he leaves....

im a liverpool fan and i loved that i saw a man stick up for himself....

Although I agree with you in theory - he gets his wages from the club - which is supported by the fans. I think there needs to be a balance. 

All I see is the club leaving him high to dry, twice! Where's the balance in that. A decision should have been made either to back him to the hilt from the beginning or reprimand him from the beginning.

Ok so I'm an idiot - I'd be easy to convince that Evra rehearsed his part in AF's scripting of the non-handshake. What's that phrase again - "balance of probabilities"?
I've just listened to a BBC radio prick assert that Evra's dropping his hand as Suarez approached is not for consideration. He's not saying it didn't happen - just that it's not for discussion.  Let's not be confused by the facts.

We've had the kangaroo court now it's trial-by-media.

Finally someone who pur words tö ny thoughts!

sho nuff.

HAND SHAKE ??? FOR WHAT ??? SUAREZ did the right thing for not shaking that "idiot's hand. As mentioned before, this French national is a trouble maker. YNWA. LFC fan. We  sick and tired about this trival matter. Let's get on with playing football. SUAREZ scored and that is the main highlight !

What does a handshake symbolize? Two people willingly offer their hands in a gesture of friendship, comradeship usually accompanied with a smile. Now if 1 party does not acknowledge this, why fake it? It is downright hypocritical. No One should be forced to do what they believe in is not right. That goes to the FA and the media circus. A handshake without the true essence of it is meaningless. So get on with it people for god sakes. 

100% agree and couldn't hv said it any better....

Who started this no-handshake business?  Back in the day, you could murder someone's family and still shake hands afterwards.  Did Keane and Håland not shake hands?

So who started it?  Did Nasri and Gallas non-handedly start the demise of the premier league over a seat on a bus?

And am I the only one who thinks that Suarez should've been subbed in?  Not for politics, but he's been out of it for a while, Carroll was doing well and it works better when you start with power and height and when both teams are tired, you switch for pace and flair.

The handshake handbags would've been avoided and Liverpool might have won the game instead.  Also, they should've sent Bellers to give the entire United team that handshake he gave JT.  haha, you know which one.

FA is the most idiotic of the whole lot. Why go through the hand shakes where they knew that the issue cannot be solve just by hand shakes alone. Why the game between QPR and Chelsea has do without the hand shakes few weeks ago?

What is this 'Liverpool FC PR Department' of which you speak...

Very good article which doesn't sides anyone but I'm glad the 2005 handshake snub is highlighted only because I want the media to shud up and stop talking abt the handshake snub of Suarez-Evra. If they want to continue barking at it for the sake of paper sales - then might as well highlight the 2005 handshake snub of Rooney n Scholes with Viera, paper sales will be even better. 

A) This about sums it up. B) I want Barnes to be the new face of PR at LFC, or at the very least run anti-racism workshops for their staff so that they know how to prevent and/or deal with issues like this in the future. He may literally be the only public figure involved in this who has made any sense whatsoever.

 John Barnes... What an amazing player. What an amazing man. Having played through all of the racism and still having such a balanced and cool perspective on it. Any chance Evra and the likes could sign up for classes in removing that chip from the shoulder from Barnes?

indeed.  im sure the club's got a bunch of community outreach stuff, but itd be nice to see something come of this that specifically targets anti-racism with suarez as the initial face...

John Barnes is probably the only one who's managed to come out of the entire hoo-haa with any form of credit. I don't think he is the most qualified to speak about race, not that there is actually anyone out there who is actually qualified at all to speak about it at all. What I appreciate most about what he said was the kind of balance he offered to either side of the party. 

He also displayed an understanding of the role the media has played in the whole circus and wasn't afraid to voice that out. 

All in all, racism being such a sensitive issue should've always been dealt with internally and with confidentiality to protect all parties involve and prevent the kind of media circus that had erupted. The gravity of the situation calls for similar cases to be dealt with by official courts only. 

My only regret is that this could have all been a massive misunderstanding/miscommunication/words lost in translation that got completely blown out of proportion simply because one individual chose to blurt it out to the media in an exaggerated manner instead of seeking his perceived justice/redress in a more sensitive manner that would've been fair to both parties.

Hmm.  Not sure who at LFC would need to attend an anti-racism workshop.  No one's actually racist.  

But the PR team could do with a 101 course on "How To Handle Witchhunts".  If there's a way to escape a witchhunt, they need to know how.  If there isn't, well, sad.  

EVERYONE'S RACIST

Seriously, it's reality. We could all benefit from education around racism.

 You do not have to be racist to benefit from taking an anti-racism workshop. The way the club dealt with this indicates that they have a severe lack of understanding of institutional racism ("he has black relatives!"); getting clued in could only help, not hinder, the club.

I understand that the way the club (or club's PR team) handled itself wasn't good.  Though I believe it's not specifically racism that should be the focus.  They need to learn how to handle any accusations of anything.  

This time it happened to be racism, but it could well have been Gerrard accused of assault, Kuyt accused of lying, Reina of accepting bribes, etc.  In general, when there's an accusation - regardless true or false - and the media proceeds to start a witchhunt in order to force a juicy story, our PR team needs to know how to deal with it.

Maybe some of them do need to learn specifically about racism.  But more than that, it's an increase in ability that they need - ability to do their job of preserving Liverpool's reputation, given that we're a big club and will always be attractive media fodder for one reason or another. 

You have to wonder if Fergie's had some training in psychology and mass media/communication. 

He always knows how to press the buttons and does it every year.  

I don't believe that's accidental.  His competitive drive is so strong you'd expect him to mess up big time occasionally - we all would, but it doesn't happen.  

There's something behind that.

He's certainly a good manipulator.  I mean, Utd are a decent team on the field, but off it they really excel.  Not that it's something to be proud of, but I'm guessing it doesn't rattle their conscience one bit if it means the titles continue to roll in.  Gotta hand it to them.

But, there are others that can stand up to Fergie and he knows who they are.  On the Liverpool side, Rafa was certainly a threat, and Dalglish would probably fall into that category too.

Though in terms of wrapping the media and the FA round his little pinky, ol blue nose is unrivalled.  

100% agree