KOP CLOSES RANKS AFTER ALGAVE SHAME
David Maddock 19/02/2007
WHILE boss Rafa Benitez was keen to play down the controversy that has rocked his club this weekend, he knows that the aggro on the Algarve could be the death knell for Liverpool's season.
The Merseyside club realise their entire campaign will be rendered worthless if they fall to heavy defeat at the hands of Barcelona on Wednesday in a crucial Champions League clash at the Nou Camp.
Yet the Spanish coach in the build-up to Wednesday's epic contest has had to deal with a shameful series of drunken brawls and fighting between his own players that has sullied the reputation of this great football club.
A calm Benitez has assured Liverpool supporters that the trip to a Portugal training camp was a success, and that team spirit is unaffected by the bust-up between Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise.
But privately the Spaniard is said to be furious, with those close to the club revealing that Benitez refuses to countenance any hint of unprofessional behaviour.
For Bellamy in particular that means a troubled last third of the season as he attempts to win back the trust of a manager who showed during his time with Valencia a readiness to move players on at the first whiff of trouble.
Benitez is a pragmatist and that is why he has merely fined the striker - along with Riise and Jerzy Dudek - arguing that he needs all three for the trip to the Nou Camp. But come the summer, when he will be armed with the financial muscle to bring in top strikers from across Europe, it could be a very different story, especially if the new family-orientated American owners of the club exert pressure.
George Gillett and Tom Hicks have both promoted pure wholesome values at their sports teams in the States, and the last thing they want on completion of their £450million Liverpool takeover is a PR disaster.
Bellamy hardly fits the image of a clean-cut sportsman and he could be sacrificed as the two Americans try to make their mark on the club. One insider close to Benitez said yesterday:
"He may seem calm but he is very, very angry about this. He has read the riot act to the players and told them that there are no more chances.
"It's the last thing he wants so close to such a massive game for him and for the club.
"He doesn't want to go back to Spain having to answer questions about discipline, and Bellamy in particular will be a marked man."
In defence of the Welshman, his antics - while unprofessional - were not quite as bad as were first reported.
And the rest of the Liverpool squad - with the exception of Dudek - were well behaved on their karaoke night in Monty's Restaurant and Bar at the upmarket Vale do Lobo resort.
Police were called when Dudek became involved in an argument with an off-duty officer in the bar, but no arrests were made. The keeper was briefly handcuffed and later released with a warning. He also faces a club fine.
Earlier in the evening, Riise and Bellamy had something of a stand-off when the Norwegian rounded on his Welsh colleague and told him to back off after jibes about the karaoke.
Bellamy had barracked Riise for not singing and in the end was told to back down and keep his mouth shut.
That seemed to be the end of the incident but trouble flared an hour later back at the hotel when, armed with a golf club, Bellamy went in search of revenge for what he saw as a public humiliation by his colleague.
The two players were involved in a drunken bust-up in Riise's room after Bellamy had hammered at his door. But, contrary to earlier reports, Bellamy did not viciously beat his team-mate, instead merely prodding him with the golf club and threatening him with abusive language.
Benitez was called to the scene, gave both men a dressing-down, and warned them that they would face club discipline on their return to England. Now Bellamy, Riise and Dudek will be hit by penalties of two weeks' wages.
Contrary to reports, no other players were involved and several who were named in newspapers over the weekend, including Jermaine Pennant, are now considering legal action.
For Benitez the biggest worry will be the impact on team morale. Fighting between two first-team players is hardly conducive to the development of team spirit, but he will bank on Barcelona being in equal disarray following their own internal strife.
Last night Benitez insisted: "The spirit among the lads is very good and we are all looking forward to the game against Barcelona on Wednesday."
Should his side crash to a heavy defeat, though, then his mood will not be so generous, and Bellamy in particular will pay the price for failure.
BELLAMY: THE BANS, BUST-UPS & BRAWLS
2000: First Wales player to be sent off in five years when dismissed against Belarus.
2001: Angers former club Coventry after branding them "rubbish" and claiming he took a backward step by moving there from Norwich.
Feb 2002: Cautioned for common assault after hitting Charlotte Smith, 20, in a nightclub.
Sept 2002: Handed three-game European ban for head-butting Kiev defender Tiberiu Ghioane.
Nov 2002: Another three-game ban for hitting an Inter Milan defender.
Jan 2003: Infuriates Wolves fans by gesturing at his Premiership badge after Newcastle's 3-2 FA Cup defeat at Molineux.
July 2003: Charged with three racially aggravated offences after an incident outside a Cardiff nightclub. Later acquitted.
March 2004: Allegedly threw a chair at Newcastle coach John Carver at the city airport.
Jan 2005: Left out of Newcastle squad af ter complaining about playing in midfield. Fined £80,000 by Toon for labelling boss Graeme Souness "a liar".
Feb 2005: Alan Shearer allegedly threatens to "knock his block of f" after the Welshman sends him abusive texts (inset).
CLICKY - The Mirror
David Maddock 19/02/2007
WHILE boss Rafa Benitez was keen to play down the controversy that has rocked his club this weekend, he knows that the aggro on the Algarve could be the death knell for Liverpool's season.
The Merseyside club realise their entire campaign will be rendered worthless if they fall to heavy defeat at the hands of Barcelona on Wednesday in a crucial Champions League clash at the Nou Camp.
Yet the Spanish coach in the build-up to Wednesday's epic contest has had to deal with a shameful series of drunken brawls and fighting between his own players that has sullied the reputation of this great football club.
A calm Benitez has assured Liverpool supporters that the trip to a Portugal training camp was a success, and that team spirit is unaffected by the bust-up between Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise.
But privately the Spaniard is said to be furious, with those close to the club revealing that Benitez refuses to countenance any hint of unprofessional behaviour.
For Bellamy in particular that means a troubled last third of the season as he attempts to win back the trust of a manager who showed during his time with Valencia a readiness to move players on at the first whiff of trouble.
Benitez is a pragmatist and that is why he has merely fined the striker - along with Riise and Jerzy Dudek - arguing that he needs all three for the trip to the Nou Camp. But come the summer, when he will be armed with the financial muscle to bring in top strikers from across Europe, it could be a very different story, especially if the new family-orientated American owners of the club exert pressure.
George Gillett and Tom Hicks have both promoted pure wholesome values at their sports teams in the States, and the last thing they want on completion of their £450million Liverpool takeover is a PR disaster.
Bellamy hardly fits the image of a clean-cut sportsman and he could be sacrificed as the two Americans try to make their mark on the club. One insider close to Benitez said yesterday:
"He may seem calm but he is very, very angry about this. He has read the riot act to the players and told them that there are no more chances.
"It's the last thing he wants so close to such a massive game for him and for the club.
"He doesn't want to go back to Spain having to answer questions about discipline, and Bellamy in particular will be a marked man."
In defence of the Welshman, his antics - while unprofessional - were not quite as bad as were first reported.
And the rest of the Liverpool squad - with the exception of Dudek - were well behaved on their karaoke night in Monty's Restaurant and Bar at the upmarket Vale do Lobo resort.
Police were called when Dudek became involved in an argument with an off-duty officer in the bar, but no arrests were made. The keeper was briefly handcuffed and later released with a warning. He also faces a club fine.
Earlier in the evening, Riise and Bellamy had something of a stand-off when the Norwegian rounded on his Welsh colleague and told him to back off after jibes about the karaoke.
Bellamy had barracked Riise for not singing and in the end was told to back down and keep his mouth shut.
That seemed to be the end of the incident but trouble flared an hour later back at the hotel when, armed with a golf club, Bellamy went in search of revenge for what he saw as a public humiliation by his colleague.
The two players were involved in a drunken bust-up in Riise's room after Bellamy had hammered at his door. But, contrary to earlier reports, Bellamy did not viciously beat his team-mate, instead merely prodding him with the golf club and threatening him with abusive language.
Benitez was called to the scene, gave both men a dressing-down, and warned them that they would face club discipline on their return to England. Now Bellamy, Riise and Dudek will be hit by penalties of two weeks' wages.
Contrary to reports, no other players were involved and several who were named in newspapers over the weekend, including Jermaine Pennant, are now considering legal action.
For Benitez the biggest worry will be the impact on team morale. Fighting between two first-team players is hardly conducive to the development of team spirit, but he will bank on Barcelona being in equal disarray following their own internal strife.
Last night Benitez insisted: "The spirit among the lads is very good and we are all looking forward to the game against Barcelona on Wednesday."
Should his side crash to a heavy defeat, though, then his mood will not be so generous, and Bellamy in particular will pay the price for failure.
BELLAMY: THE BANS, BUST-UPS & BRAWLS
2000: First Wales player to be sent off in five years when dismissed against Belarus.
2001: Angers former club Coventry after branding them "rubbish" and claiming he took a backward step by moving there from Norwich.
Feb 2002: Cautioned for common assault after hitting Charlotte Smith, 20, in a nightclub.
Sept 2002: Handed three-game European ban for head-butting Kiev defender Tiberiu Ghioane.
Nov 2002: Another three-game ban for hitting an Inter Milan defender.
Jan 2003: Infuriates Wolves fans by gesturing at his Premiership badge after Newcastle's 3-2 FA Cup defeat at Molineux.
July 2003: Charged with three racially aggravated offences after an incident outside a Cardiff nightclub. Later acquitted.
March 2004: Allegedly threw a chair at Newcastle coach John Carver at the city airport.
Jan 2005: Left out of Newcastle squad af ter complaining about playing in midfield. Fined £80,000 by Toon for labelling boss Graeme Souness "a liar".
Feb 2005: Alan Shearer allegedly threatens to "knock his block of f" after the Welshman sends him abusive texts (inset).
CLICKY - The Mirror
Now, it's Monday, is marky in school? I want definitive proof that he's the really atrocious 'singer'/'mimer'. I also need some chat up lines
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