Racism Overload In Football!!

 News has emerged today that the FA have charged Rio Ferdinand with improper conduct and comments relating to race/ethnic origin, making him the 3rd high profile player to be hit with a similar charge in recent times. Luis Suarez was fined and banned for comments he allegedly made to Patrice Evra, Suarez' defence was that he meant the word he used in a friendly way to defuse a potential flashpoint. John Terry was charged for allegedly calling Anton Ferdinand a 'f**king black c*nt', with Terry claiming in his defence that he was merely repeating what he thought he had been accused of saying , a defence that was in my view not totally convincing but was never the less strong enough to put enough doubt over his guilt to correctly result in a 'not guilty' ruling in a criminal court.

 Rio Ferdinand has responded to somebody on Twitter who called Ashley Cola a 'choc-ice', meaning a person who is black on the outside and white on the inside. Ferdinand responded to the tweet with 'hahahaha, choc ice, that's classic'. And Rio has in his defence claimed that it's not a racial term, it's purely a term for somebody who is being fake. Personally I find 'choc ice' offensive on two levels. Firstly I think black people could be offended at the suggestion that they have betrayed their heritage, and secondly white people may be offended that somebody is being told they have the personality traits of a white person as if this is a bad thing. I'm sorry Rio, I have plenty of respect for the way you kept silent during the John Terry / Anton Ferdinand saga, but on this occasion you have claimed a word is classic and funny when it isn't, it's offensive and it has a huge racial meaning.

 I think if Ferdinand is punished by the FA it shouldn't be on the same level as Suarez or Terry as the offence didn't happen on a football pitch during a game, but he is still a high profile role model and should be reminded of his responsibilities. Liverpool got a large amount of negative press for not acknowledging quickly enough the serious nature of what Suarez allegedly said, and Fedinand, in refusing to admit there was anything wrong with what he said, seems to me to be headed down the same path...........

John Terry Verdict

 The verdict has come through in the John Terry trial and from what I’ve read on the BBC website the only logical outcome was the ‘not guilty’ verdict that has been delivered. It’s difficult not to draw comparisons with the charge and subsequent ban levelled at Luis Suarez earlier in the year.

 The first question that comes to mind is how can a court find somebody not guilty despite having video evidence of Terry calling Anton Ferdinand a ‘f***ing black c*nt’ whereas the FA can find Luis Suarez guilty despite having no video evidence, no audio evidence and no witnesses to the exchange between him and Patrice Evra?

 It’s simple really, what John Terry said is without doubt as it was caught on camera, but Ferdinand’s part in the exchange was not captured, so despite Ferdinand’s own testimony it is not possible to put Terry’s remark into the context of a conversation and be 100% sure you have it correct. Therefore it doesn’t mean that John Terry’s defence team’s version of events is definitely the truth, but it means it is a possibility that this version of events actually happened, so there is genuine doubt over whether Terry is guilty, meaning he has to be found not guilty. This is how our justice system works and in my opinion it is exactly how it should work, innocent until PROVEN guilty.

 When the FA conducted it’s investigation into Luis Suarez they used a different system of reaching a verdict. There were two versions of events, that told by Patrice Evra and that told by Luis Suarez, and the FA basically decided which one they felt was most likely, and Suarez was not found guilty beyond all reasonable doubt, he was found guilty on the basis of the FA deciding what Evra said was more plausible than what the Uruguayan claimed was said.

 I would suggest with a great deal of confidence that had Luis Suarez been tried in a court of law the way Terry has been the judge would have said pretty early on that the levels of proof were so low that the case would have been thrown out before a verdict was reached. I’m not going to speculate on how the FA would find John Terry if they investigated him under the same conditions they investigated the Liverpool player but it will be interesting to see if we are given the opportunity to find out.

More Double Standard Observations....

 A few things have struck me in the sports reporting world over the last few days, not all Liverpool related but it's all connected to football so I figured you might be interested in my observations...

 Firstly there is a story that has emerged about the possibility of Andy Carroll going out on loan, which in my opinion isn't a bad idea. He has done little enough so if he were to play elsewhere we probably wouldn't miss him greatly, and he also has long enough left on his contract that if he has a good season with someone else we can either choose to keep him or sell him for a decent price, and if he does poorly at least we've not carried an out of form player for another season. What has stuck me about the reporting is how many fans and journalists seem to think Carroll doesn't deserve to be sent out on loan, presumably these can't be the same fans and journalists who have spent the last year saying he hasn't delivered and mentioning his £35 million price tag at every opportunity.......

 The next thing concerns the John Terry trial currently ongoing. I don't want to pre-judge anything as the verdict is still a few days away but I'm getting more and more dismayed at the coverage of it all every minute. Terry has today had character witnesses in court, from Ashley Cole to a letter from Jose Mourinho and almost everybody Chelsea related in between. None of these people heard the full exchange between Terry and Anton Ferdinand so can't possibly be in a position to say whether Terry is innocent or guilty, but they've been showing their support for a person they know well who they firmly believe isn't a racist. Fair play to them for that and I don't really see anything wrong with it. But when the Liverpool players and management did the same thing by wearing T shirts in support of Luis Suarez, saying 'we know who this man is, we know his character and we believe him when he says he is innocent' they were roundly condemned for it. I just hope that if a guilty verdict comes back the media are equally as happy to turn on the Chelsea lot.

 And while I'm on the subject of John Terry I'll make my final observation for the day. Terry initially lost the England captaincy under Fabio Capello for an alleged affair with the girlfriend of a team mate, Wayne Bridge. The captain has been announced for the Team GB Olympic football team and is........... Ryan Giggs, the man who had an eight year affair with the wife of his own brother. Good to see what the FA deem to be morally wrong and what is acceptable.................

Signing Hints.....

 Brendan Rodgers has dropped a pretty clear hint of a big Liverpool signing this week during his press conference today, saying that hopefully the deal will be done soon and it is a signing that will excite the fans. Sometimes I worry that when a manager says a player will 'excite the fans' what he actually means is 'a player who loves to go forward but won't track back' but I think Rodgers has been impressive so far in knowing what he wants and what kind of mentality he wants at the club so in this case I'm genuinely curious to see who he is talking about. For what it's worth I don't expect it to be a huge name in world football but I feel it could be a decent player with premier league experience, quite possibly Clint Dempsey, Demba Ba or Daniel Sturridge. Other possibilities are players Man City are trying to move on such as Adam Johnson or Emanuel Adebayor.

 I've also been impressed with Rodgers' comments on Alberto Aquilani, saying the midfielder has the technical and tactical ability we are looking for at Liverpool but it's also about the mental steel required to succeed at the club. This is a good assessment of the Italian and a good indicator of the kind of player our new boss wants to build a squad of, basically build on the principles of ability tied to hard work that have helped the club reach the standing it has in world football.

 I'm looking forward to the unveiling of our new signings this summer and I'm beginning to feel extremely positive about the new era we're entering into and I have to remind myself just how far forward we have to move in order to be realistic challengers at the right end of the table. Not quite positive enough to go out and buy our new purple third kit but after the last few seasons any optimism is very welcome.

The FA Must Be Consistent

 Today is day one of John Terry’s trial for allegedly racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, something I don’t really want to get into on here but already I have read something that I feel compelled to make mention of so here goes….

 Terry has, according to the BBC News website, admitted using a racial slur against Ferdinand. However, Terry says he meant it sarcastically, as in ‘I’d never use a term like that’. Players who were nearby at the time will not be called as witnesses as they didn’t hear anything.

 In my opinion if the TV cameras catch Terry saying something but only capture him for a short period of time, meaning the remark cannot be put into context, it will be hard to find him guilty beyond all reasonable doubt and a criminal conviction would be harsh without any further evidence.

 However, this is only the police charge levelled against Terry. The FA has the power to charge the former England skipper under its own jurisdiction and to hand out a sporting punishment.

 In summary John Terry has admitted using language that isn’t acceptable but says it wasn’t used as a racial slur, and there appear to be no witnesses who can fully put the remark into context. The Football Association has already set a precedent for this and if John Terry doesn’t receive an 8 match ban there will be allegations of hypocrisy coming their way from all angles.

Loan Stars

 There has been some discussion over the last few days about Joe Cole and Alberto Aquilani so I thought I'd have a quick look at two of our players who spent last season away from Anfield.

 From Brendan Rodgers interviews since he took over it looks like Cole will be given a chance to show what he can do at Liverpool. Anybody who saw him play in his single season with us will know he certainly wasn't anything special, in fact he struggled to reach the level of 'average' most of the time. Cole is a player who has proven himself more than capable of holding his own in the Premier League at West Ham and Chelsea and I think we really have nothing to lose by giving him next season to try to settle in and make a positive impact for Liverpool. His attitude is good and last season at Lille he did well so hopefully his ability allied to his application will provide us with a good attacking option for the 2012/13 season.

 Aquilani is a different case entirely. He was signed for big money whilst injured and had the unenviable task of trying to replace Xabi Alonso who had just had by far his best season for us. In my opinion he was beginning to show positive signs towards the end of his sole season in the red shirt. I recall him playing well behind Dirk Kuyt in a 2-0 victory against Spurs and also he was impressive in the UEFA Cup semi final against Atletico Madrid. And then we changed manager. And the new manager was Roy Hodgson. And Aquilani was an attack minded player. And he was sent out on loan to Juventus for the purpose, according to the new boss himself, of keeping his value high. The following season saw us kick off with yet another manager and Aquilani was again sent out on loan, this time to AC Milan. I quite like Aquilani and I think he has the potential to be a good player for us, he has good vision and a decent long range shot on him, and we've struggled to find someone who can provide real creativity in the final third to help ease the pressure on Steven Gerrard. The problem with Aquilani now is that he has too short a time left on his contract. To offer a new deal to a player who hasn't proved himself with us would be foolish so that's not really an option. And if we use him in the first team next season and he plays well it's difficult to see him remaining with us rather than going back to Italy on a free transfer. As much as I'd like to see him become a success for us I think the most realistic way forward for the club and the player is for us to attempt to sell him this summer and recoup as much money as we possibly can for him.

It's All EurOver Now / Rafa's Transfers

 Euro 2012 has reached it's conclusion with Spain the worthy winners. After spending so long under the stewardship of Rafa and supporting a team made up of Spaniards it's difficult not to have a soft spot for them and I'm very pleased they won. People began to say the Spanish side was boring but if keeping the ball for 75% of most matches, only conceding one goal in six games and battering a well organised Italian side 4-0 is boring then I hope watching Liverpool next season is a total snoozefest.

 I was impressed with all of the Spanish players but I kept a close eye on Alvaro Arbeloa, primarily because he was in my fantasy football team (cheers for the five clean sheets fella!) but also because I thought he was very underrated at Liverpool and I hoped his ability would be recognised over the course of the tournament. In the end it turned out he was the only regular starter in the Spanish squad who didn't make UEFA's squad of 23 players of the championships but nevermind eh, I'm sure that winners medal will more than make up for the snub.

 Arbeloa's performances got me thinking about how Benitez did in the transfer market for us and I feel on balance he was much more successful than he was given credit for. Starting at the back and working through to the front he signed Pepe Reina, not somebody who we were overly familiar with but who turned out to be one of the best 'keepers in the world, he's still at Anfield and if we were to sell him we would probably quadruple what we paid. Arbeloa came in fairly cheaply and left for Real Madrid after a successful couple of seasons in our team. I'm still surprised now by how little money we got for him when he left. Rafa also brought in Agger and Skrtel who have proven themselves over the last few seasons to be top class defenders. Again they are both still at Anfield and again if they were to leave we would receive substantially more than we paid for them. Alonso, Mascherano and to a lesser extent Momo Sissoko and Luis Garcia were all successful signings, leaving us for Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and Atletico Madrid, and all leaving Liverpool with a tidy profit on their departure. Up front Rafa has brought in Kuyt, Crouch and Torres. Kuyt has worked tirelessly for our cause for seasons now and will be missed after his transfer to Turkey. We didn't get alot for him but his age and time remaining on his contract account for the relatively small transfer fee. He has provided us with some great memories and never let us down, he will be fondly remembered by loyal Kopites. Crouch was signed for £7 million which was questioned at the time and it took him a while to score his first goal but he proved to be an effective weapon for club and country. He has moved three times since he joined Liverpool, to Pompey, Spurs and Stoke and each time the fee paid has been a few million more than we forked out to Southampton. And as for Torres, the Premier League has never seen such an exciting striker as our old number nine on top form! He's struggled a little at Chelsea with being in and out of the team but has just finished with the golden boot at Euro 2012 and is another player we made a profit on, this time a profit of over £25 million! Can't argue with that.

 To balance this out there were the likes of Josemi, Kromkamp, Dossena, Keane, Morientes and Babel who never really made a lasting impression. But there were also players like Kyriakos, Zenden, Fowler and Aurelio who were never massive hits but certainly didn't let anybody down and played their part in some big victories and could never be called flops.

 It just goes to show that we still have a long way to go, the list of players who have left seems far more impressive than the current squad but we also have to remember Liverpool is in a transitional period, fairly new owners, a new young manager and probably the youngest squad we've seen at the club for a long time, all bode well for the future. As long as expectations are realistic and support remains strong I'm feeling very optimistic about the next phase in the life of Liverpool Football Club, let's hope the new manager can bring in as many players who give us fantastic memories as Rafael Benitez did. And let's hope we're as boring as Spain for a long time to come.