Man City review and Suarez ban

I think quite honestly the least said about last night's match, the better; a classic case of an opponent happy to give us the ball, then to show us how easy scoring goals really is when you do have it. And just for good measure, Pepe suffers a bout of concentration loss (how else can you describe it?) and gifts the opposition the crucial lead goal.

Anyway, enough of that depressing subject and on to another one.

I felt quite buoyed by the Club's two statements yesterday afternoon; pretty much what myself and many others hoped they would do. If nothing else, it showed that the actual matches missed were secondary to defending our player. Of course when I read the statements, I really did feel that both Club and player were regaining some of the high ground. Basically it seemed like the last official word on the matter.

Of course we knew that the journalists would be out in force condemning LFC this morning with their unofficial rants, but you know what, I can take that. Every one of them is falling in line for fear of losing favour with thousands of readers who haven't read the FA statement but built up an opinion from mere headlines and lead paragraphs written by the very same people.

But fuck 'em! Ferguson has spent the last twenty years going around threatening the same writers and indeed banning their newspapers from his press conferences. Indeed he's refused to talk to the media on many an occasion. Why can we not do the same? When only a very small handful of trusted journalists are able to get first hand quotes, let's see how the rest react then. Oh, to be a steward on the main entrance when Winter and Lawton and Holt and Samuel look to get in for the match only to be told: "Sorry, you're not on the press box list -oh, and by the way the match is sold out!"

The club's statement has indicated that as far as they are concerned they have decided to move on. Why do I just get the feeling though, that we have not heard the last of all this? I've read that John Henry is an absolute stickler in the US when it comes to legal dealings involving the Red Sox. Wouldn't it be lovely if he was able to pull a real legal rabbit out of the hat? As for the Mirror, I really do hope he goes for the jugular. We'll see.

Sadly while my heart and soul are eager for revenge on a tyrannical overlord, sadly I'm not holding my breath. For lots of reasons, I'm of a mind that the FA has blocked up a load of appeal avenues in its constitution and that involves going the Sport of Arbitration or the Civil Courts of Law. But what do I know? This time, I don't think that the owners will be found wanting with their legal advisers as they were before and nor will they permit an early, somewhat blasé and casual approach (in the dressing rooms) hinder later formal deliberations. If there is a loophole to be found, I'm utterly confident it will be dug out.

Postscript:

It's now Thursday morning and my information is that Liverpool themselves are pretty much reconciled to letting the matter lie, albeit with the definite aim of discussing the whole flawed procedure in a civilised manner with the FA Chairman Bernstein. They are now basically regretful of the almost amateurish way they dealt with things at the outset, realising that while they (and their player) were ultimately stitched up big time, a deal of that was entirely of their own making, a point raised expertly today by the Telegraph and reiterated in the Echo.

The upshot of the whole sorry saga simply highlights the desperate need for the most experienced figurehead (whatever title he be given) who has the guile and clout, along with a vast experience, to deal with moments like this one. Can you just imagine what a completely different scenario would have unfolded if, after the Manchester match, there had been a Peter Robinson on hand to simply say: "No comment. Please put your complaints in writing!" and thereupon shut the door. Kenny is essentially a football manager and most certainly should not have been isolated and left fielding questions on such a serious issue, even last night.

As I said in an earlier blog, all of us in our lives fall foul of situations and learn a salutary lesson. Except that here we are talking about a brand of world wide renown and sadly many thousands, if not millions, who have read nothing more than headlines, will have a question mark in their minds about the Club's attitude on matters of race.

And a final thought: What exactly is the role of Ian Ayre?

Mike Hopper