[quote author=i_rushie link=topic=48661.msg1482429#msg1482429 date=1329187082]
[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=48661.msg1482388#msg1482388 date=1329147628]
You and anyone else who takes the same view are playing into the hands of people who want this club to fall further behind.
[/quote]
I couldn't be more critical of comments like this. It an irrational attempt to justify our ill-advised responses as perfectly legitimate responses to an undefined conspiracy and absolve the club of its incompetence throughout this sorry saga.
Let's get a few things clear. I believed Suarez was probably telling the truth in the original incident with Evra. But I believed that the club's statement in the wake of the decision was horrendously timed. Why? Because as it turned out, the written judgment was legally sound as an inevitable result of Suarez's lawyers (including the club lawyer) botching his defence. Suarez's decision NOT to appeal only reinforced the absurdity of such strongly worded criticism without the benefit of reading the written judgment. If Suarez (and the club) felt that he had been denied justice, well, the proper course was to take it to the courts. You harp on about refusing to submit on principle, but evidently Suarez wasn't principled enough to see through an appeal to the very highest courts in the land. He hasn't even been principled enough to initiate defamatory suits against the UK media. If we were simply acting on principle, then I expect much more than unsubstantiated snippets through the club to the media.
And then the handshake. A classic example of making a mountain out of a molehill by the press. I had no problem with Suarez not shaking hands with Evra, I wouldn't have done so myself. But again, I thought Kenny should have avoided making comment until he saw the footage of the incident - like it or not it was always going to be a talking point. Better yet, avoid making comment altogether - and eliminate the story. Why proffer a single tidbit to the very same people culpable for the demonisation of your player?
So what was the rationale behind our continued defence of Suarez to the media? Winning it in the forum of public opinion? We never ever stood a chance, that much was clear from the beginning. From condescending old farts like Gordon Taylor (I actually consider his repeated comments a throwback to imperialist sentiment) to dimwits like Oliver Holt, all roundly condemned Suarez and it would have taken a a miracle for them to back down on their collective stance.
So not only have we lost the disciplinary inquiry, we lost the capacity to assert our innocence via an appeal, we lost our best player for eight games by not appealing, we lost the media game, we lost our focus, we lost a game against our most hated rivals, we lost several opportunities to consolidate our claim for fourth, but we've also lost so much dignity as a club because we had to publicly acknowledge that our star player lied to his manager. If it is indeed true that people want our club to fall further behind, well, it seems our club is doing its best to make those wishes come true. There's been no discernible strategy, no clear statement of principle, is it any surprise that the hyenas have descended into such a huge fucking mess?
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I was going to comment about (and disagree with) your first sentence but I actually agree with you. We've made a fine example of how to bend over and take it where The Lying Rag don't shine. I actually believe Luis is innocent in all this and we've played it badly with every step afterwards. Fergie is known to take every advantage possible and we've let him in this situation from hysterically agreeing that Luis is a disgrace for not shaking Evras hand (for f*cks sakes, really???) and agreeing that the whiskey nosed c*nt is right. Sorry but we should have kept quiet, said Luis is not a racist, kept to our story and left it at that.
Concentrate on the 2 cups, getting as high up the league as possible should be the only thing coming from our press statements.
