From Luis Suarez to Kenny Dalglish to managing director Ian Ayre, Sunday was the day that Anfield at last demonstrated the contrition a nation has waited the bitterest of winters to see.
But let’s be clear about what Liverpool are prepared to apologise for.
They are sorry Suarez did not shake the outstretched hand of Patrice Evra.
Suarez is sorry he let down his manager and club.
And Dalglish was even sorry for the way he spoke to Sky Sports reporter Geoff Shreeves – now was that so difficult?
It took time, but at last Liverpool have shown some leadership from top to bottom that isn’t dramatically out of kilter with the court of popular opinion.
Dalglish should be grateful his employers are based in Boston, rather than Wembley.
Were the FA calling the shots at Anfield then the Liverpool manager might have cleared his desk long before the latest sad episode in a catalogue of errors he’s overseen at his beloved club.
Suarez’s belated apology after the shameful scenes at Old Trafford was the first sign of the Uruguayan taking responsibility for his actions.
Like dominos came Ayre’s statement – criticising the striker – and then Dalglish’s act of contrition.
There was no other move to make after Suarez’ disgraceful actions saw Liverpool sink further in the estimations of right-thinking minds around the world.
The club had to act before the reputation of the Kop was damaged beyond repair.
Dalglish has been out of touch ever since Suarez was accused of racially abusing Evra at Anfield on October 15 last year. From one ill-advised stance to the next, the reputation of a proud club – the English game as a whole – was sullied as a result.
He has not been alone as Liverpool have lurched from one PR disaster to another. But as a figurehead – a Messiah – to Kopites he is the chief opinion former.
His refusal to accept Suarez’s eight-match ban with grace has only fuelled the sense of injustice among supporters and subsequent anger towards the victim in this whole sorry affair – Evra.
That’s what seems to have been lost in translation along the East Lancs Road.
Evra was the one who was wronged. The one who was victimised. And the one whose ordeal has only been exacerbated by Liverpool’s clumsy attempts to paint their man as a martyr.
We’re in danger of losing count of the amount of mistakes Suarez, Dalglish the club or its supporters have made in the story Liverpool refused to let die.
Suarez was WRONG to make racially charged comments towards Evra and WRONG not to apologise immediately.
Liverpool were WRONG to come out in support of the Uruguayan – WRONG to don those ridiculous T-shirts over such a sensitive issue.
They were WRONG to condemn the findings of an independent QC-led commission that found Suarez guilty, even after he admitted to using the term ‘negro’. And WRONG to implicate Evra by questioning his credibility.
Dalglish was WRONG to allude to external factors in the case when the club chose not to appeal.
The fans were WRONG to victimise Evra further by booing him throughout last month’s FA Cup clash at Anfield – and Dalglish was WRONG to once again claim Suarez should not have been suspended in the build-up to Saturday’s game.
Finally Suarez was WRONG to snub Evra’s offer of a handshake and Dalglish WRONG not to condemn him in the immediate aftermath.
Sunday’s apologies notwithstanding, even Max Clifford and Alastair Campbell combined would struggle to put a positive spin on this one.
Handshake-gate might have been put to bed, but Dalglish has been out of kilter with the mood of a nation throughout the race row.
He is a football man and the entire issue has been too big for him.
Sunday was the first sign of his club grabbing the reins in the manner of FA over John Terry.
Liverpool owner John W Henry’s take on the tumult since October has not been clear, but at long last came authority from above.
FA chairman David Bernstein appreciated the gravity of the racial abuse charges being faced by Terry – which the Chelsea captain denies – and acted decisively.
The FA took a hardline stance in an ethical minefield that ultimately cost England its captain and manager.
Innocent until proven guilty, yes, but Bernstein believed Terry’s charges were so serious that he could not skipper his country at this summer’s European Championships. Many agreed with his stance, but Fabio Capello did not.
So the next to go was the Italian – and whether or not you agree with the FA’s course of action over recent weeks, the strength of English football’s governing body cannot be denied.
It is the type of leadership that has been sadly lacking at Liverpool as the club’s public esteem looked in danger of sinking without trace.
In the end it was a handshake – or lack thereof – rather than issues of race that proved the tipping point.
Instead of T-shirts came a PR offensive that Anfield will hope will put this latest furore to bed before it takes on a life of its own.
If only they’d been so decisive four months ago.
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All this has shown is the terrible leadership strategy by Liverpool from top to bottom. It had to take the actual owners based across the pond to intervene and diffuse the situation. Left to the idiots in charge at Liverpool it was disaster from start to finish and shows the stupidity and the incompetence of Dalglish and all his pathetic cronies.
This could have all been avoided if the owners had taken the decisions out of Dalglish’s hands and banned Suarez straight away instead of allowing Dalglish to back his players racist taunts and drag an already badly scarred club further through the mud.
Good article, although Evra's immature behaviour at the final whistle should also be considered and critsized, as it was also foolish IMO.
proud to be a rag, united til i die
This apology means nothing and is not worth a light. It was forced on club and player by pressure from club owners and sponsors. It was carefully constructed and directed at the events of Saturday at Old trafford and has no remote conection with the verbal racist abuse from Suarez to Evra. Man Utd and Evra should not accept this apology for any more than it is. Until Suarez and LFC actually apologise publicly for the abuse to Evra this saga will never go away.
Until this happens, LFC will 4ever walk alone.
Don't even know why Evra grabbed him. He should of waited for Saurez to shake his hand first. He was the one that was racially abused!
The article is spot on! Dalglish was at fault from beginning and he could have avoided all these nonsense if he could have only think using his head! Liverpool football club send the wrong message since this racism issue reported. There is no place for racism in anywhere in the world today - zero tolerance on racism!
I hope there will now be no more references by the media to "King Kenny" - "Clown Kenny" seems more appropriate !
Very good article.I was beginning to think that newspapers were going to swallow the hollow apologies that the Liverpool staff gave to themselves. They haven't apologised for what they did wrong. They still don't recognise that they did any wrong. They have only apologised for bringing disgrace on the club's owners and then only after they were told to apologise by the owners.
This doesn't draw a line under the issue. A line can't be drawn until racist behaviour, and the institutional support of racist behaviour by the club, is eradicated completely. That probably means both Dalglish and Suarez will need to be dumped in the summer. Knowing Liverpool, they'll probably just sell Glen Johnson.
One thing that hasn't been getting enough coverage is how well the referee did. Suarez's actions must have been the nightmare scenario for him. Even without the Suarez baggage a United-Liverpool game is a potential flashpoint. Dowd showed fantastic restraint in not flashing cards when to do so may have been easier. He communicated with the players very well and, unusually, what he said seemed to calm them not enrage them. Particularly good was his handling of Evra. He indicated that he had seen Suarez's attempt to boot the ball at Evra and that seemed to satisfy Evra and both at the start and particularly at the end he seemed to be sensitive to Evra's emotions whilst largely maintaining order. Finally, his match report sensibly said that there was no need to take further action on the half-time scrum, the booting of the ball at the dugout by Suarez or Evra's over-celebration at the end and the Liverpool reaction to it.
All-in-all an excellent day's work by Dowd.
dagleish and the buck toothed clown have been forced by their bosses to offer a grovelling apology NOT BEFORE TIME
I can understand a manager wanting to protect and support one of his players as far as possible but Dalglish really lost the plot somewhere along the way in this case and in many ways it has been his apparent support for Suarez's actions that has been the most contraversial issue over much of the past few weeks. In truth, Dalglish has had more to say on the matter than anybody and much of the fact that it dragged on at all beyond the time that Suarez's ban was first imposed has been down to him and his increasingly idiotoc assertions. Even now he is not upset by what Suarez said in the original incident but rather by the fact that Suarez didn't shake Evra's hand after he had told him that he would. . . Deluded and still unrepentant the lot of them.
The babies have been put to bed - let it rest. Nothing good can can from regurtitating this nonsense.
I got to say it's mind boggling in 2012 that we still have such behaviour from a club like Liverpool with a history only second to one. You would think Suarez was the victim the way they were treating him like a hero, and encouraging his antics. The apology is so delayed especially Daglish and Suarez, i think the club forced them to apologise. On the positive side, I applaud the English football public for immediately condemning the Liverpool actions on Saturday. Patrice should also have known better about the celebration, but if you went through his ordeal, you might see where that came from. Lets get back to working on number 20.
After his condemnation of Balotelli#s over exuberance after the final whistle at Wembley I await Rio Ferdinand’s comments on the ugly scenes surrounding Patrice Evra’s appalling taunting of Luis Suarez last Saturday.
What an excellent article by James Robson, and also, what an excellent response from our posters, who have all shown a collective unity in the stance against racism.
The whole episode, which was instigated by the shameless Suarez, has been a very sad indictment indeed for the whole world of football. However some good may come out of it...
It has raised the evil of racism to a higher level of public awareness. This can only strengthen attitudes and increase determination in the fight to stamp it out completely. Also, whilst this topic is foremost in the public’s eye, it is equally necessary to strengthen the fight against homophobia, ageism, religiosity or indeed any form of bigotry!
The over zealous celebration at the end of the game by Patrice Evra was very understandable, and should not be held against him in any way (hells bells, I was literally doing cart-wheels from Row KK to the pitch side at that time). Apart from that wee episode, he has conducted himself in an exemplary manner, and I am very, very proud of him!
United ‘til I die!
All involved at Liverpool are still in denial over this issue just read the blogs. It is incredible the lengths they will go to rationalize the behavior of their player. If it were not such a serious issue it would be laughable but as always we move on.
Forced into a grovelling apology, by the top brass at Klanfield. Fooling nobody but themselves. Always the victim its never there fault !!!!!