Critical: Paul McGrath had his say on the matter after the Wigan match
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT: This video is property of Liverpool FC, LFCTV, Sky Sports, ESPN, Setana Sports, FIFA and UEF...ing idiots ;)
Glen Johnson exclusive: Evra made it clear he didn't REALLY want to shake Suarez's hand
By
Ian Ladyman
7 March 2012
Glen Johnson was five players down the
line when Luis Suarez seemingly refused to shake hands with Patrice
Evra at Old Trafford last month. He didn’t see it.
The Liverpool defender has watched it plenty of times on television since, though, and he is convinced of what happened.
‘Evra
was clever at Old Trafford,’ said Johnson, extending his hand directly
towards me. ‘Because - I’m not being funny - but if I wanted to shake
your hand I would stick it right out in front of me like that. But if my
hand is down here, almost by my side, then it’s because I really don’t
want to shake your hand.
On the ball: Glen Johnson is convinced Luis
Suarez would never use racist words and backs him over the Patrice Evra
handshake affair
‘Luis didn’t shake his hand
because Evra’s hand was down there. What else is Luis supposed to do?
Would you go to shake someone’s hand if their hand is way down there by
their side? Course not. But then, because Luis didn’t do it, Evra has
pulled him back by his arm as he walked on, as if to say to everybody:
“Look, I wanted to shake his hand and he didn’t…”
‘He’s
following Luis with his eyes as if to say: “Right he’s gone, he’s gone
(past me) so I’ll pull him back now…” Evra probably stayed up all night
thinking about how to do that. The whole thing was ridiculous.’
This
week Johnson became the first member of Kenny Dalglish’s squad to talk
in detail about the Suarez-Evra episode, a saga that shook football and -
in many people’s eyes - left a dent in Liverpool’s reputation.
It would appear that those who think the resentment surrounding this awful dispute has vanished are quite wrong.
Controversy: Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra caused a storm with their non-handshake
Glen Johnson is the guy who got dragged into a race storm that had nothing to do with him.
Liverpool’s
only black first-team player, the England defender has been criticised
by other black sportsmen for standing by Luis Suarez after the Uruguay
forward was found by the FA to have made racist comments to Manchester
United’s Patrice Evra during a game last October.
Former
United defender Paul McGrath took to Twitter on seeing Johnson join his
team-mates in wearing T-shirts in support of Suarez as they warmed up
before a game at Wigan.
‘If I was in Glen Johnson’s position, I would have thrown the shirt to the floor,’ said McGrath.
Weeks
later, Worcester and England sevens rugby player Marcel Garvey used the
same social network to call Johnson an ‘Uncle Tom’. The term is used to
describe blacks who are willingly subservient to whites. When we met
this week, Johnson remained baffled. Admirably phlegmatic, but baffled
all the same.
‘It’s only
an issue because I am the only black lad in the club,’ he shrugged. ‘If
it’s bad that the other lads supported Luis then that should be seen as
just as bad as me supporting him. But people are on to me because I am
black.
‘The McGrath
thing … that’s actually racist. Saying what he said is racist. He is
only saying that to me because I was the only black lad wearing the
T-shirt. He’s targeting me because of my colour.
‘Listen,
I’m my own man. If I have something I want to say or do then I will do
it. The reason I wore the T-shirt is because I know 100 per cent Luis
Suarez is not racist. He is one of the lads in the team that I get on
with best of all at the club.
‘I
am still on Twitter but I don’t use it much now. I was getting pathetic
stuff on there. But that is what people go on it for, to give people
stick. I haven’t spoken to Paul McGrath about it. I don’t care what he
thinks, really. I don’t know anything about him. But for someone to say
that, it sums them up. It’s their problem.
Getting shirty: Johnson showed his support for
Suarez, like the rest of his team, by wearing controversial t-shirts
before a Premier League game at Wigan
‘As for the rugby guy… well,
that was really intelligent wasn’t it? I don’t know who this geezer is
either. He should stick to playing rugby.
‘If
I was to react to everyone’s comments I would be arguing every single
day, you know? Like I say, for someone like that to write such a stupid
message … well, make your own judgment.’
Johnson
sat down with me this week in Warrington as part of an obligation to
promote a new England sticker collection for children. Scheduled to do a
host of media engagements, he was willing and courteous as he talked
and signed card after card that would subsequently be distributed to
youngsters.
Traditionally
not an easy interviewee, the 27–year-old nevertheless spoke openly,
intelligently and at length about the Suarez issue. It is clear he has
no doubt about his team-mate’s innocence.
Along
with many others, I have been fiercely critical of Liverpool’s handling
of the affair. Nevertheless, Johnson’s reasoning was compelling to
listen to, even if it was not enough to persuade me Dalglish and his
club dealt with the issue as well as they should have done.
‘The
evidence was Luis’s word against Evra’s,’ argued Johnson. ‘I’m not
saying Evra is lying but it’s his word against Luis’s, isn’t it? So how
did it all turn out to be so strong in Evra’s favour? I work with the
lad every day. There is no way he said that.
‘With
the media these days and the way it was going to be blown up, maybe the
T-shirts thing wasn’t the right thing to do. How should I say this? We
wore them to show our support for Luis. It wasn’t to send a message to
everyone else. It was just for him.
‘It seemed to come across that we were
making a point. We weren’t. It was the club’s idea. But obviously we
all agreed. We didn’t really think about how people would react.’
The
core argument of Suarez’s defence was that the word ‘negrito’ — which
he was found to use to Evra at Anfield last October — is not an
abusive term in South America. Suarez has played in Europe since 2007.
Many impartial judges believe he should have known better.
Johnson,
though, accepts Suarez’s defence. He tweeted his support of his friend
the day after the T-shirts came out at Wigan. His loyalty to Suarez is
admirable. It is clearly genuine, as is his fear that Suarez may turn
his back on the Barclays Premier League.
‘I
wrote what I thought on Twitter,’ Johnson recalled. ‘Then when I saw
him the next day he came over and said thanks and that it meant a lot to
him. I didn’t write that for him to come and say thank you. I just
wanted to let people know my point of view. Like it or hate it, I don’t
care.
‘It was nice for
him to see his team-mates supporting him, I guess. But what people don’t
appreciate is that these things stick with people and it can ruin
careers. He could get almost forced out of Liverpool.
ChriS>and isnt that their intention???
GJ> He’s a good lad
and a fantastic player and all he wants to do is get on and play
football.
‘I can’t
understand how people don’t get that in his culture the word “negro” or
“negrito” is genuinely normal. Just because he’s out of his country he
is not going to stop using his mother tongue. If we went to another
country, we would use our slang, wouldn’t we? I can’t see why somebody
can get in trouble for using his culture in another country.
‘I work with him every day. I know what he is like. Other people don’t. I will not change my view.’
Brought up in Greenwich, south
London, Glen Johnson used to fight with those who called him names
associated with his colour. Happily for him, he has not had to put his
fists up during his years in the professional game with West Ham,
Chelsea, Portsmouth and now Liverpool.
‘Obviously,
racism was there,’ he reflected. ‘Like any kid I had my fights growing
up after somebody called me something stupid and I reacted the wrong
way. ‘But I think the
game is OK. We have had the two big issues this season, with two
high-profile players who you wouldn’t expect it from. But I have never
had it in a game from another player. Never.
‘When
something like this happens then it seems to put it in people’s minds
again and then it happens more for a period until people forget about
it again.
‘It’s very
frustrating for all the people who work in the anti-racism campaigns.
They must think their work is being undone. But I don’t feel like that
at all.’
Johnson can
empathise with Suarez a little. He, too, has had image problems. During
his time at Chelsea and Portsmouth, his commitment to the game was
questioned.
Settled: Johnson is enjoying life on Merseyside, and is in a rich vein of form
Two stories stuck with him, one
suggesting he forgot his passport on a Chelsea trip — it was actually a
club official’s fault — and another that he had tried to steal a toilet
seat, of all things, from a hardware store.
‘There
were a lot of things said and written that weren’t great,’ he said. ‘It
has died down a bit and it is all about football now, which is what I
want to be known for. But it took a while and that’s why I feel for
Luis. Mud sticks. The B&Q one was ridiculous. There was nothing else
to do but laugh.
‘I
mean, come on, did anyone really believe I would do that? What thief
walks through the till trying to pay with their credit card in their
hand? They are normally running out of the door, aren’t they?
‘The
thing is that things like that affect everybody. My mum is hearing
things she doesn’t need to be hearing. My brother is hearing things he
is having rows about.
‘But it’s gone now. Now it’s just about the football. That’s how I want it.’
Settled: Johnson was an £18million signing from Portsmouth to Liverpool by Rafael
Benitez, Johnson suffered a little under Dalglish’s predecessor Roy
Hodgson last season. The current West Bromwich manager didn’t always
seem to trust his defensive work. It is something Johnson has heard
before.
Say what you like about the
modern Liverpool, but it would be wrong to question the club’s unity or
sense of purpose. The Premier League season may not yet yield the
top-four finish many would consider a pre-requisite, but Liverpool do
have the Carling Cup on the shelf.
Liverpool
also have Kenny Dalglish, their iconic manager, who is clearly as
revered inside the home dressing room as he is on the Kop. Happily for
Johnson and his team-mates, though, the Scot has abandoned his early
attempts to join in during training.
‘When
he first started he trained with us for a couple of sessions but he
needed a few days’ rest afterwards and knocked it on the head,’ smiled
Johnson. ‘At the end — after the hard work — we have little games and he
would join in but everybody was too scared to go near him. It was like,
“You can’t tackle Kenny Dalglish!”
‘It
was good to see, though. He was a legend as a player and is a legend
around the club. He came in and steadied the ship and brought a
fantastic coach in Steve Clarke.
‘Training is sharper and he just put a smile on everybody’s face.
‘We
are a tight unit. We defend together and do everything together. We are
close on and off the pitch. Kenny Dalglish is good at that.
‘He
places an emphasis on it and makes sure he involves everybody. We look
forward to going into training and you can see that on people’s faces.’
Johnson
accepts a campaign that ends without a place in next season’s
Champions League cannot be considered an unqualified success. ‘No,
I wouldn’t say that it would be a success,’ he said. ‘We need to be in
the top four. That’s what we would take above all others.’
Race for fourth: Liverpool are the outsiders to secure a Champions League placeHe is clearly a player, though,
who is intelligent enough to understand what the club has been through
this season. There is a sense that the next one cannot start soon
enough. Time to wipe the slate clean.
Johnson
has only been at Anfield for two-and-a-half years but has a clear
understanding of the importance of the club’s reputation. It is obvious
that he takes no pleasure from discussing the Suarez case. There
is no attempt to antagonise Manchester United or indeed Evra. It ought
to be stated here that — in this interview — he was merely asked some
questions and he answered them candidly.
Like everybody else, he wants to get back to the football.
‘People
are now singing, week in week out, that Liverpool are a racist club,’
he sighed. ‘Well, no. We are not. We have had one incident concerning
racism that we believe isn’t true. So how can people think like that?
People wanted something to happen that day. I don’t know why they didn’t
just scrap the handshakes like they did before the Chelsea-QPR game.
‘It’s
sad because those Liverpool and United games are known for big
rivalries, big tackles, great football, love of the game.That day
everything was not about the football and that was very sad. It was
about everything else.
‘It
was good that both clubs came out afterwards and said, “We are over it,
it’s in the past. Let’s move on”. That’s how it should be.‘Everybody should now start loving hating each other again. For football reasons.’
B REdS @ LIVERPOOL
- robbed twice but still HAPPY
On the opening day of this season the sides drew 1-1 at
Anfield. After missing a penalty on seven minutes Luis Suarez opened the
scoring five minutes later. However, Sebastian Larsson equalised for
the visitors 12 minutes into the second half. That header from Suarez was the first goal of the 2011-12 Premier League season and was the 250th scored by the Reds in league football against Sunderland. The last clash at the Stadium of Light saw Liverpool win 2-0
in March. Dirk Kuyt scored a first half penalty with Suarez clinching
the points with his first goal away from Anfield.
Liverpool have conceded only seven goals in their last 19 league visits to Sunderland, keeping 14 clean sheets in the process.
On the opening day of the season Henderson, Downing, Charlie
Adam and Jose Enrique made their Liverpool debuts while Wes Brown,
Larsson, David Vaughan and Ji Dong-Won played for Black Cats for the
first time. 
‘Luis didn’t shake his hand
because Evra’s hand was down there. What else is Luis supposed to do?
Would you go to shake someone’s hand if their hand is way down there by
their side? Course not. But then, because Luis didn’t do it, Evra has
pulled him back by his arm as he walked on, as if to say to everybody:
“Look, I wanted to shake his hand and he didn’t…”
i am just taking it easy, " a bit tired" today..all the best to you!!