Enfield Exile wrote:
It's not a case of Liverpool vs United. I don’t like Evra and I don’t like United. However, to suggest Evra should not be listened to because he has made one previous complaint that could not be substantiated, is astounding.
Reasons to wonder about the validity of Evra's claim.
1. He said that Suarez called him a racist term ten times, and that the abuse would be clear to the cameras. As far as I know no footage of the abuse has been announced.
2. He is acknowledged to have responded to Suarez's gesture towards him with a "Don't touch me, you South American." Seeing as he was supposedly peed off because Suarez fouled him, I doubt he was being complimentary when he called him a South American.
3. When he was being booked he accused the referee of only booking him because he was black. So is that to be accepted as a valid claim of racism by the ref, or is it that he's got a massive chip on his shoulder and sees racism everywhere.
The FA has found Suarez guilty. They would not have taken the decision lightly as it is, potentially, a powder keg situation. They would have thought through the decision thoroughly.
Given all the publicity surrounding the case, given all the anti-racism campaigns, a not-guilty verdict due to lack of evidence against Suarez would have led to calls of being soft on racism and only paying lip service to it. For that reason, Suarez could be sacrificed simply to show prove that they are tough on racism.
IMO it will come down to their statement with their reasoning. If they are finding him guilty based on what has been reported then I think Suarez is being treated massively unfair. If they come out and say that there is footage of Suarez abusing him numerous times, if there's additional witnesses, then it's a fair cop.
The behaviour of many Liverpool fans on phone-ins and on the internet has been, quite frankly, pathetic. The amount of racist comments aimed at Evra on Twitter and the various edits on his Wiki page have been distasteful. Not to mention the excuses Liverpool fans have posted on RAWK.
That's Liverpool fans for you. But just because they are vile creatures with a persecution complex, it doesn't mean that Suarez hasn't been harshly treated.
I work opposite a PR specialist and we had a laugh discussing the Liverpool FC statement published on the club website. It’s a PR disaster. Whoever agreed for that statement to go ‘live’ should be disciplined on the grounds of capability.
Oppo's will laugh at it and say it proves what scousers are like. But the scousers will love that they are fighting for their player.
Should we actually be surprised by the reaction of the club and the fans? Again they have turned a situation, where they did not get there way, into a “we are the victims”, “woe are we”. I think they secretly enjoy it. After all it gives them the opportunity to immerse the city in self-pity.
Most clubs think they are treated unfairly. The Man United fans are just as pathetic over Rooney getting the ban for swearing into the camera. LFC are just a lot more practiced and have historial reasons for thinking the world is against them. And a lot of the world is against them, because they are so vile.