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Torres gone. Scum gone to more scum

Why this Liverpudlian's got more respect for Gary Neville than for Torres
By Brian Reade

.
I should have despised Gary Neville with all my partisan heart.

When he admitted to hating everything about Liverpool I should have felt the urge to burn effigies of Dot Cotton on Sir Matt Busby Way. Instead I admired his honesty.

Loathing is what most red Mancs feel towards Liverpool and what most red Scousers feel towards them. It's been like that since the late '60s and it will never change. So why not admit it?


Read more: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/columnists/mark-lawrenson/Mark-Lawrenson-on-why-Gary-Neville-will-be-an-unbiased-pundit-after-Manchester-United-retirement-and-Arsenal-s-Arsene-wenger-must-clamp-down-on-Cesc-Fabregas-article690583.html#ixzz1D4vchpj1
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I should have empathised with the Kopites who reported him to the police for running the length of Old Trafford to celebrate a late winner but I didn't. I just thought if John Aldridge and Phil Thompson had taken the kind of stick he'd taken, they'd have done the same.

Because, like Neville, they used to stand on the terraces, get what their club is about, and would play for nothing other than the honour of putting on the shirt. They're called real heroes.

Instead, for the past 15 years Liverpool have possessed too many badge-kissers whose first response on hearing Anfield had been burned down would no doubt be "my wages weren't in the office were they?" They're called plastic idols.

They feign a deep love for their club but are always found out because it's the one subject fans have total authority on. Fernando Torres has just discovered this.

He may have tried a PR-driven, damage-limitation exercise yesterday, but two of his quotes after joining Chelsea were so classless and insulting they instantly destroyed the huge respect most Liverpudlians had for him and rendered his time at Anfield virtually meaningless.

"The target for every player is to play for one of the top clubs in the world and I can do it now, so I'm very happy," he said. Yet when he signed for Liverpool they'd just been in a second Champions League final in three years. They reached another semi-final in Torres' first season which put them top of UEFA's European rankings. Which is effectively top of the world.

So how could he say that, after leaving fans who adored him, indulged him and who were reeling from the shock of his transfer request thrown in half-way through his contract, with three days of the window left? How could he say it after claiming he identified so intensely with Liverpool FC, the city and its culture that he would never sign for another English club?

He could say it because the words came, not from his heart, but a rehearsed script whose aim was to keep his latest paymaster happy.

Torres also told Chelsea TV that their fans "always showed respect to me when I came to Stamford Bridge." A quick Google of those fans snarling at him and giving him the hand sign showed how shamelessly insincere his words were.

Liverpool didn't miss their plastic idol on Wednesday and they won't miss him in the future. Others will come along to join the real heroes like Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Dirk Kuyt. Men who are often damned with faint praise by being patronised as a "great servant."

Well give me a player who sees himself as a servant ahead of one who sees himself as a master. A master of the only thing that matters to them. Their destiny.

Give me someone like Gary Neville, who says what he thinks without fear. Things like: "United and Liverpool are the ones with the real tradition, history and power. Others can try, but nobody breaks into that bracket. And they never will."

Enjoy those plastic flags Fernando.

**

At least we got to the bottom of one mystery this week. The rumours were correct.

It clearly was Pepe Reina who put that Liverpool scarf around Fernando Torres' neck as he held the World Cup for the cameras after last year's final.



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Yep - I think the term "plastic hero" is especially fitting. Any man who loves his club and shows that with respect and loyalty does deserve more respect than players who only ever think about themselves and their own career.

I highly doubt a lot of players really give a shit about the club the play for. They get the same buzz of scoring a goal whatever the colour of their jersey, the same wages, the same disconnected life-style.

Clubs are meaning less and less to everyone but the fans - which is why everything which makes Anfield and Liverpool FC so special and unique has to be preserved.
 
[quote author=Avvy link=topic=43861.msg1278623#msg1278623 date=1296901363]

Why this Liverpudlian's got more respect for Gary Neville than for Torres
By Brian Reade

.
I should have despised Gary Neville with all my partisan heart.

When he admitted to hating everything about Liverpool I should have felt the urge to burn effigies of Dot Cotton on Sir Matt Busby Way. Instead I admired his honesty.

Loathing is what most red Mancs feel towards Liverpool and what most red Scousers feel towards them. It's been like that since the late '60s and it will never change. So why not admit it?


Read more: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/columnists/mark-lawrenson/Mark-Lawrenson-on-why-Gary-Neville-will-be-an-unbiased-pundit-after-Manchester-United-retirement-and-Arsenal-s-Arsene-wenger-must-clamp-down-on-Cesc-Fabregas-article690583.html#ixzz1D4vchpj1
Sign up for MirrorFootball's Morning Spy newsletter Register here

I should have empathised with the Kopites who reported him to the police for running the length of Old Trafford to celebrate a late winner but I didn't. I just thought if John Aldridge and Phil Thompson had taken the kind of stick he'd taken, they'd have done the same.

Because, like Neville, they used to stand on the terraces, get what their club is about, and would play for nothing other than the honour of putting on the shirt. They're called real heroes.

Instead, for the past 15 years Liverpool have possessed too many badge-kissers whose first response on hearing Anfield had been burned down would no doubt be "my wages weren't in the office were they?" They're called plastic idols.

They feign a deep love for their club but are always found out because it's the one subject fans have total authority on. Fernando Torres has just discovered this.

He may have tried a PR-driven, damage-limitation exercise yesterday, but two of his quotes after joining Chelsea were so classless and insulting they instantly destroyed the huge respect most Liverpudlians had for him and rendered his time at Anfield virtually meaningless.

"The target for every player is to play for one of the top clubs in the world and I can do it now, so I'm very happy," he said. Yet when he signed for Liverpool they'd just been in a second Champions League final in three years. They reached another semi-final in Torres' first season which put them top of UEFA's European rankings. Which is effectively top of the world.

So how could he say that, after leaving fans who adored him, indulged him and who were reeling from the shock of his transfer request thrown in half-way through his contract, with three days of the window left? How could he say it after claiming he identified so intensely with Liverpool FC, the city and its culture that he would never sign for another English club?

He could say it because the words came, not from his heart, but a rehearsed script whose aim was to keep his latest paymaster happy.

Torres also told Chelsea TV that their fans "always showed respect to me when I came to Stamford Bridge." A quick Google of those fans snarling at him and giving him the hand sign showed how shamelessly insincere his words were.

Liverpool didn't miss their plastic idol on Wednesday and they won't miss him in the future. Others will come along to join the real heroes like Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Dirk Kuyt. Men who are often damned with faint praise by being patronised as a "great servant."

Well give me a player who sees himself as a servant ahead of one who sees himself as a master. A master of the only thing that matters to them. Their destiny.

Give me someone like Gary Neville, who says what he thinks without fear. Things like: "United and Liverpool are the ones with the real tradition, history and power. Others can try, but nobody breaks into that bracket. And they never will."

Enjoy those plastic flags Fernando.

**

At least we got to the bottom of one mystery this week. The rumours were correct.

It clearly was Pepe Reina who put that Liverpool scarf around Fernando Torres' neck as he held the World Cup for the cameras after last year's final.



Sign up for MirrorFootball's Morning Spy newsletter Register here
[/quote]

Good article.
 
I am alarmed by the rumours that Gary Neville is going to feature in Sky Sports' reorganisation following the departure of Keyes and Gray. Neville's recent announcement of his retirement from football would seem to fit in with this rumour quite well.

Not only does Gary openly hate Scousers, but in any case he is a dreary man with minimal personality.
 
[quote author=Portly link=topic=43861.msg1278641#msg1278641 date=1296903392]
I am alarmed by the rumours that Gary Neville is going to feature in Sky Sports' reorganisation following the departure of Keyes and Gray. Neville's recent announcement of his retirement from football would seem to fit in with this rumour quite well.

Not only does Gary openly hate Scousers, but in any case he is a dreary man with minimal personality.
[/quote]

The article by Lawro seems to favour that as well, which isall we need to know it's a shit deal for us.
 
Quite. The best bet in football is to see what Lawrenson says, and do or support the exact opposite. It isn't infallible, but you'd definitely come out ahead in the end.
 
I never kissed the Liverpool badge. I see some players do that one week after they join a club but the romance in football has gone. It’s different now. People come and leave. When you join a club you want to do the best for yourself and for that club. That’s all. Some people like to kiss the badge. I only want to score goals, do my job and achieve all the targets the team has. We share the same targets… I really wanted to leave Liverpool, so I told them straight. Everything was clear. It’s about being fair and honest with everyone… I’m sure players like Jamie Carragher understand my decision. When I was at Liverpool, it was a big disappointment for me when [Xabi] Alonso and [Javier] Mascherano left… To call me a ‘traitor’ makes no sense. I played three very good seasons there, and left them with massive money, scored lots of goals and put in good performances. I helped the sale process as well. But I have to think about my career, and this is a step forward.â€

a) Can anyone remember if he DID kiss the badge ever?
b) I guess all the talk about the connection to our club and its history was just ... uuuh ... business?
 
236094698_original_crop_340x234.jpg


Was in another thread.
 
[quote author=keniget link=topic=43861.msg1278650#msg1278650 date=1296904199]
That's probably the best article I've read on the matter so far.
[/quote]

It is. He apparently has a book coming out in April about the club which could be raising eyebrows. Don't know what the content of it is though
 
Fernando Torres was last night warned: You’ll live to regret walking out on Liverpool.

The message to Chelsea’s record ­£50million buy, expected to make his debut against Kenny Dalglish’s outfit today, comes from former Reds defender John Scales.

Like Torres, Scales also quit Liverpool when, in 1996, he opted for a big-money move to Tottenham.

But that £3.5m switch turned sour and left the then England international realising he had made a massive mistake.

And Scales, 44, is convinced Torres will one day feel exactly the same about his controversial decision to suddenly swap Merseyside for SW6.

He said: “When I left Liverpool, it was my head saying I needed to move and get back to London.

“My heart was saying to stay. I let my head rule the heart and ended up regretting it.

“And I’m sure the same will happen to Torres.
â€
 
Yet when he signed for Liverpool they'd just been in a second Champions League final in three years. They reached another semi-final in Torres' first season which put them top of UEFA's European rankings. Which is effectively top of the world.

It's easy to buy the baloney about us not matching his ambitions, but we must remember that we did. We hit a tough time, and he's on his bike... says more about his mentality than our position. You find out who your real friends/fans are when the tough times arrive.
 
From The Telegraph

"The Spain striker joined Chelsea for £50 million on transfer deadline day and is hoping to start against his former club at Stamford Bridge this afternoon. That was a scenario that he had dismissed out of hand while he was a Liverpool player.

He had claimed he would not play for another club in England but changed his mind when Liverpool not only failed to recruit the players that would have allowed them to compete for trophies but sold the influential Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid and Javier Mascherano to Barcelona.

“I said that at that moment, I didn’t think I would play for another club — because at that moment Liverpool were giving me what they promised ... but not now,†he said.

“I think one of the important points is in my first two seasons at the club, they played in the semi-finals of Champions League and finished second in the Premier League, very close to Manchester United.

“Then we were very, very close to being one of the top teams for a long time because everyone was together and everyone was moving in the right direction. But when you let Alonso and Mascherano leave, that is a clear message. It was important, not so much for me, but for the club.

I think the old owners were trying to sell the club for too long and during that time the team was being weakened because we were not focusing on the team.â€

While the Fenway Sports Group promised to restore Liverpool’s ability to compete with the best after their takeover, Torres argued that this process would take too long.

“I understand this period of transition is going to be slow,†he said. “I am sure Dalglish and the club are going to do a very good job but I still keep thinking that they need more time.â€

Torres hopes that he can recover his best form for his new club, admitting that he had been underperforming for some time at Anfield.

“I didn’t have a pre-season — and [that affects you] not just physically but mentally. There were too many things to think about, too many promises, too many false hopes — but I am responsible for my form. The only thing I have to do is play football and I accept that my performances were not the best, I realise that.

“It’s always difficult to change the manager. [Rafael] Benitez was five years at Liverpool. [Roy] Hodgson came with his ideas about football, his tactics and methods. I think, maybe we never understood what Hodgson wanted or Hodgson never understood us.

That is not his fault, he’s a great man and great manager. After Kenny Dalglish came there was definitely some new hope for the fans because he knew the club, because he did great things as a player and a manager for the club, everyone was excited about that.

"I don’t know, had he been manager in the summer, if things would have been different — maybe or maybe not.â€


I think inside, he's hurting. First he lashed out. Now he's analysing and justifying. I'm sure he will move on mentally pretty quickly, but maybe when/if that Sweet Carroll 9 song is in full swing he's going to be looking at his 'ex-girlfriend' again with some regret.
 
[quote author=Tal link=topic=43861.msg1279265#msg1279265 date=1296981546]
From The Telegraph

"The Spain striker joined Chelsea for £50 million on transfer deadline day and is hoping to start against his former club at Stamford Bridge this afternoon. That was a scenario that he had dismissed out of hand while he was a Liverpool player.

He had claimed he would not play for another club in England but changed his mind when Liverpool not only failed to recruit the players that would have allowed them to compete for trophies but sold the influential Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid and Javier Mascherano to Barcelona.

“I said that at that moment, I didn’t think I would play for another club — because at that moment Liverpool were giving me what they promised ... but not now,†he said.

“I think one of the important points is in my first two seasons at the club, they played in the semi-finals of Champions League and finished second in the Premier League, very close to Manchester United.

“Then we were very, very close to being one of the top teams for a long time because everyone was together and everyone was moving in the right direction. But when you let Alonso and Mascherano leave, that is a clear message. It was important, not so much for me, but for the club.

I think the old owners were trying to sell the club for too long and during that time the team was being weakened because we were not focusing on the team.â€

While the Fenway Sports Group promised to restore Liverpool’s ability to compete with the best after their takeover, Torres argued that this process would take too long.

“I understand this period of transition is going to be slow,†he said. “I am sure Dalglish and the club are going to do a very good job but I still keep thinking that they need more time.â€

Torres hopes that he can recover his best form for his new club, admitting that he had been underperforming for some time at Anfield.

“I didn’t have a pre-season — and [that affects you] not just physically but mentally. There were too many things to think about, too many promises, too many false hopes — but I am responsible for my form. The only thing I have to do is play football and I accept that my performances were not the best, I realise that.

“It’s always difficult to change the manager. [Rafael] Benitez was five years at Liverpool. [Roy] Hodgson came with his ideas about football, his tactics and methods. I think, maybe we never understood what Hodgson wanted or Hodgson never understood us.

That is not his fault, he’s a great man and great manager. After Kenny Dalglish came there was definitely some new hope for the fans because he knew the club, because he did great things as a player and a manager for the club, everyone was excited about that.

"I don’t know, had he been manager in the summer, if things would have been different — maybe or maybe not.â€


I think inside, he's hurting. First he lashed out. Now he's analysing and justifying. I'm sure he will move on mentally pretty quickly, but maybe when/if that Sweet Carroll 9 song is in full swing he's going to be looking at his 'ex-girlfriend' again with some regret.

[/quote]

Agree 100%. I've thought this since the story broke.
 
[quote author=LeTallecWiz link=topic=43861.msg1279272#msg1279272 date=1296982818]
I think, maybe we never understood what Hodgson wanted or Hodgson never understood us.

Poor Roy ... I think it's a mixture of both ....
[/quote]

Agree with the second bit. Roy knew he'd taken on a big job but he never realised how big, or how far beyond him it was.

As for the first bit, I think the players did understand what he wanted and weren't at all impressed by it. Torres is just trying to be kind.
 
[quote author=LeTallecWiz link=topic=43861.msg1279272#msg1279272 date=1296982818]
I think, maybe we never understood what Hodgson wanted or Hodgson never understood us.

Poor Roy ... I think it's a mixture of both ....
[/quote]

Poor Roy my arse. He can fuck off.

Six months of dragging our club further into the depths of the league, becoming the only Liverpool manager in half a century not to win something in his tenure, & inflicting some of our worse defeats ever in the process, including only our second ever penalty shootout defeat. To the mighty Northampton.

His reward? Approx' 6 million pounds.

Poor Roy? Fuck that.
 
[quote author=LeTallecWiz link=topic=43861.msg1279272#msg1279272 date=1296982818]
I think, maybe we never understood what Hodgson wanted or Hodgson never understood us.

Poor Roy ... I think it's a mixture of both ....
[/quote]

I don't understand how Torres says that and in the next breadth claims he was a "great man and great manager". Well, if you had no idea what each other wanted then how could he have been, ? Fuckwit.
 
[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=43861.msg1279305#msg1279305 date=1296987592]
Media - 'Roy needs time, it's the players'
[/quote]

Then afterwards: "Hey, Sir Alex, we said what you wanted, aren't we good boys and girls?"
 
I took my Nandough autobiography and canvas print to the charity shop yesterday.
Was going to enjoy demolishing them but i'm sure someone will use em.
 
[quote author=LeTallecWiz link=topic=43861.msg1279272#msg1279272 date=1296982818]
I think, maybe we never understood what Hodgson wanted or Hodgson never understood us.

Poor Roy ... I think it's a mixture of both ....
[/quote]

I think it's so that Hodgson never understoon anything.
 
[quote author=Sunny link=topic=43861.msg1279298#msg1279298 date=1296986881]
He can still fuck off.
[/quote]Innit.
Wheres all this introspection and faux emotion coming from? We were champions league runners up when he signed and when he played well we challenged for titles and glory. Then he spent two years injured or playeing like a disinterested cunt and our club went to shit.......AND HE THINKS WE LET HIM DOWN. Fuck Fernando Torres and his fake grief. Youre not welcome here anymore sunshine.
Maybe things could have been different? Maybe? Maybe we should have sold you 2 years ago for 70m. Maybe you can go and fuck yourself.
Romans fucking new toy.
 
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