I'm gonna be hated for going against the tide of vitriol in here but it has to be said.
Look, the man was foolish for making that reckless challenge, but we didn't lose the game because of him alone. We lost half the game for that inept 1st half performance when as rightly pointed out, hardly anyone was putting a tackle in. We made the scums believe their own hype that they were world-class. They were pants to be honest. LVG was right when he said he used our own game to counter us. They pressed and pressed us for the first 45 mins. Why didn't we press them ? Why did we allow them to press us so easily ? Where were the crunching tackles ? Why did we give them so much space to pass around us ? I bet LVG must be laughing his arse off seeing his own shit team attempting to play tiki-taka.
I dunno if Stevie was really frustrated but the man has apologized despite knowing he will have to bear the brunt of both sides of the Mersey for the following few weeks. It's an apology from a truly broken and disappointed man who has played his heart out for this club since he was like what ? 9 years of age ? He isn't getting the fairytale farewell that he probably dreamed of since he was bloody 9 !! Of course he was frustrated...i know I would if i was in his position. One thing you can never accuse someone like that is their lack of love for the club and fans.
I don't think he made that apology to deflect the blame and flak he knows will come his way for a good long time. If Stevie was that sort of coward, he would have left the club a long time ago (cough Suarez Torres cough). Like a naive passionate fan, he actually took the lyrics of YNWA literally and have braved all sorts of storm during his faithful service to the club. Many gave up, he didn't because I'd like to think he actually thought he would never walk alone. Where is the 12th man support that we are so renowned for ? We blame today's modern game for its loss of passion and over-commercialism but how is this treatment of arguably one of the best players of our club of all time, if not the best, set the right example for the next generation of supporters aye ?
The man said his sorry. What more do you all want ? If Matt Le Tessier cocked his last few games up, would the fans turn on him ? John Terry - there's your last remaining one-man-club guy for you. Ever heard him apologize publicly when he made mistakes ? Or the time he shagged his mate's wife ?
In the heat of the moment, anyone could have made the same mistake as Stevie. He is gonna have to live regretting he did that and knowing he's probably cost us twice in a row now. I dunno about you all, but for a man so hard on himself like Stevie, that is a punishment severe enough. But come on - don't crucify him for it. Zidane cost his team when he succumbed to the taunts of Materazzi but he's gonna have to live with that for the rest of his life. Is he still a legend of the game ? Yes.
We laugh at Chelsea's fans for being nasty pieces of work. But we diss our own captain, our own captain marvel, our own legend. Even when he has apologized, we call him arrogant. Hey, before we all stone him, let us take a good look at ourselves and put ourselves in his shoes okay.
We're so quick and eager to criticise but so reluctant to support and forgive. Great supporters we really are.