“I was very surprised by Tevez’s attitude against Sir Alex Ferguson,” said Evra. “I’m not sure how the manager feels about it but I’m sure he won’t be impressed. It’s disrespectful. Tevez spent two years at this club and was treated extremely well by the manager so I don’t really understand his reaction or the truth about the situation. The poster was in very bad taste, no one from Manchester United appreciated it. Tevez is an adult, he plays for another club and is responsible for his own actions. It’s a shame because he was always respected at Manchester United and remained in contact with some of the players. But I have no idea what will happen now.”

“What’s happened to me this year, personal things, have been really tough,” said Evra. “I know people will think I’m only saying this because we’ve lost the title but this is the most difficult season I’ve ever had for Manchester United. Before the game against Manchester City in October my dad called to tell me I’d just lost my brother. Nothing can be more difficult than that to find out before a big game. When you add the Suarez case as well, I am very proud of myself. I’ve been stronger mentally than ever before. To keep going and to play every game is just amazing. I know that’s not the way a Manchester United player should talk when you don’t win the league. It sounds like I’m finding an excuse. But it’s the truth. I don’t want to lie to people. This year has been so difficult.”

“The whole thing was so difficult,” Evra told the official site. “People thought my celebration at the end of the Liverpool game was because Suarez had abused me, but it was more than that. I wanted say thanks to my team-mates. I know everybody was playing to win for Manchester United, but it was also a little bit for me. That game was the most pressure I’ve ever felt in my life – and all to do with shaking his hand. It was very difficult to decide what to do before the game. Many people would never try to shake his hand. But I tried and he refused. For me, it was like, “What’s going on?” You see the first tackle, a tackle on Rio Ferdinand? If it was Suarez then I could have had a red card straight away and I’d have been off the pitch.”

“I know that if we don’t win the league then a lot of people will say this is the end of the empire and ask how we will survive,” said Evra. “But there is a lot of talent at this club. We’ve had to deal with a lot through injuries and losing experienced players last summer and it’s never easy to find a solution immediately.”

Continuing with Liverpool’s more typical approach, which has lead to the chant of “always the victim, it’s never your fault” being sung at Old Trafford, Johnson has claimed that it was in fact Evra who refused to shake hands. This is obviously a bizarre claim given that Suarez and the club released an official statement apologising whole-heartedly for the player not shaking Evra’s hand.

Then again, Suarez did reveal that Johnson allows the Uruguayan to call him “negro”, so we shouldn’t be too alarmed that the England right-back has such a relaxed view on racism.

“Evra was clever at Old Trafford,” said Johnson. “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. 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.”

As if his bizarre paranoia wasn’t enough, Johnson went on to argue that when Suarez called Evra a “negro” last year, he didn’t mean it in offensive way. Despite it being a game between the two biggest rivals in the country, in which Suarez had already kicked Evra and hit him around the head, Johnson genuinely believes that Suarez repeatedly used the word “negro” as a “term of endearment”.

“What people don’t appreciate is that these things stick with people and it can ruin careers,” he continued. “He could get almost forced out of Liverpool. 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.”

“The intention was always to give Patrice a clean break away from it all after the Suarez thing,” Fergie said. “He needed that rest factor because don’t forget he’s been playing non-stop for four years. But he’s nice and fresh now and he’s had his break. It was a difficult time mentally for him, with everything that’s been going on. After the Liverpool game was over, that was the right time mentally to give him the break. We also needed to give him a break physically, so he’s nice and fresh for the run-in.”

The banners say: “Ferguson, wash your mouth out before you talk about Sir Suarez”, “Suarez, Uruguay is with you” and “Suarez is Nacional, Evra must be Penarol”. Penarol are Nacional’s rivals.

The FA have to accept their share of blame in this situation after allowing Liverpool FC to continue to spread the message that Suarez has done no wrong. Kenny Dalglish and Suarez have repeatedly claimed that he is innocent despite not even appealing the decision. The FA have let this to go on without punishment, allowing there to be some doubt over the fact he’s guilty, which means Nacional and Liverpool fans vilify Patrice Evra.

Sort it out.

“I believe that in life it is always necessary to forgive,” he told Globoesporte. “Patrice wanted to forgive Suarez. In Anfield he was attacked, but at Old Trafford he offered the hand. The action of Suarez was not justified. For me, to reject the hand of someone is very serious. The action of the Uruguayan before the beginning of the match increased our force to defeat Liverpool. In the ground, there was calm and the rivalry. But after the action of Suarez, the tension exploded.”

After the final whistle on Saturday, Fabio’s twin brother, Rafael, joined Evra in celebrating in front of the Stretford End.

Last weekend we had more fuss, with speculation then suggesting that Rio Ferdinand wouldn’t shake Terry’s hand in support of his brother.

Whilst people did get carried away with all of this handshake business, the most interesting of the lot was probably between Patrice Evra and Luis Suarez, given that these weren’t just rumours or allegations. Evra had heard exactly what Suarez had said to him and reported it immediately. The Liverpool striker had been found guilty of racially abusing our player and served an eight game ban as punishment. This wasn’t just a question of whether Evra would shake his hand as much as should he be expected to.

Before the game, PFA chief executive, Gordon Taylor, had said he hoped that there would be a handshake, so we could start to put all this behind us.

“I would hope that would take place, that would be a sign that having gone through the situation that those two players would shake hands and we can move on,” he said. “If you keep things festering it will only exacerbate how the problem was initially, and in that way we will be losing the battle.”

At this point, it was presumed if anyone refused the handshake, it would be Evra. He was the wronged party here and despite serving his ban, Suarez had never apologised for what he said.

“People are already speculating on the pre-match ceremony,” said Dalglish this week. “But from Luis’ point of view we have spoken to him and I know he will shake the hand of Patrice Evra and the other Manchester United players before the game.”

Dalglish got it wrong though. As we’ve all seen, Suarez opted to snub Evra’s offer to shake his hand and start to put all of this behind them. Why?

Speaking to a radio station in Uruguay earlier in the week, Suarez said: “I knew what I did and there is a kind of football law that says, ‘What happens on the pitch, stays on the pitch and that’s the end of the story.’”

Despite agreeing with the club that he would shake his hand, did Suarez refuse because he was angry with Evra for not keeping what was said to him a secret? It is absurd and you can only imagine what was going through his head when he decided to walk past our captain because common sense or rational thinking doesn’t provide any explanation.

“It’s never your fault, it’s never your fault, always the victim, it’s never your fault,” our fans sung on repeat during the game. Throughout this whole situation, Liverpool would have you believe it’s always been down to someone else. Despite not appealing the decision, the club claimed Suarez was innocent, their fans booed Evra and chanted that he was a “lying bastard”, no apology was forthcoming and even in the week leading up to the game, Dalglish claimed Suarez should never have been banned.

Following the final whistle, it is no surprise they continued to try to play the victims, despite being the ones in the wrong at every stage of this situation. Dalglish was interviewed and bizarrely claimed not to have known about the non-handshake and again tried to absolve Suarez of any blame for setting the tone for the game.

“I think you are very severe and are bang out of order to blame Luis Suarez for anything that happened here today,” he said.

Then Dalglish went on to blame the media, saying: “You know something else, when we had the FA Cup tie, because there wasn’t a 24-hour news channel in the build-up to the game, nothing like this happened.”

After the game, despite us all seeing footage of Suarez refusing to shake Evra’s hand, Liverpool fans started posting pictures of freeze frames which made it look as though Evra had been at fault. There is honestly no limit to how far they will go to paint themselves as though they’ve been hard done by.

One LFC blog, This Is Anfield, claimed to have “proof” that Evra had refused the handshake. “Patrice Evra successfully portrayed himself as the victim today but this video below clearly shows it was he who first refused Luis Suarez‘s handshake. The Man United captain moves his hand away as Suarez approaches during the pre-match handshakes. Suarez therefore avoids Evra, while Evra then reaches out – while looking directly into the Sky camera with a look of shock that an esteemed actor would have been proud of – thus making Suarez look like he refused the handshake.”

You couldn’t make this up. They are a parody of themselves sometimes. It was so obvious what had happened, whether you watched the footage in real time or slow motion, but they are painfully desperate to rid themselves of any blame.

Thankfully, at long last, sections of the media finally criticised Liverpool for their reaction and BBC’s Match of the Day ensured any possible doubt over who refused to shake whose hand was cleared up.

“Outraged by everything and ashamed of nothing, Kenny Dalglish’s response over Luis Suárez sums up the paranoia enveloping Liverpool” wrote Daniel Taylor in The Guardian. “Liverpool – clumsy, arrogant Liverpool – failed by the curled lip of their striker and by a floundering manager buried deep in denial, shoved a great spectacle into the shadows. In its place they revealed their darker side and how ugly it looked. Self-serving, out of touch, paranoid, delusional. Take your pick” wrote Ian Ladyman in The Daily Mail.

After burying their head in the sand for months, releasing ridiculous club statements and giving pathetic press conferences, someone finally stepped in at Liverpool and put a stop to the insanity. There have been suggestions that the club’s American owners reached their limit on how low they would allow their purchase to sink and insisted that apologies were made. Suarez, Dalglish and managing director Ian Ayre all released statements expressing their regret over what happened on Saturday.

“I have spoken with the manager since the game at Old Trafford and I realise I got things wrong,” said Suarez. “I’ve not only let him down, but also the club and what it stands for and I’m sorry. I made a mistake and I regret what happened. I should have shaken Patrice Evra’s hand before the game and I want to apologise for my actions.”

I have written to the editors at This Is Anfield to ask for their response to Suarez’s confession, confirming what had been obvious to everyone outside of Merseyside at the time, that Suarez had ignored Evra’s offer for a handshake. They have yet to reply but I will be sure to include their feelings on Suarez’s apology after they claimed to have “proof” that Evra was the one in the wrong if they do reply.

“We are extremely disappointed Luis Suarez did not shake hands with Patrice Evra before yesterday’s game,” said Ayre. “The player had told us beforehand that he would, but then chose not to do so. He was wrong to mislead us and wrong not to offer his hand to Patrice Evra. He has not only let himself down, but also Kenny Dalglish, his team-mates and the club. It has been made absolutely clear to Luis Suarez that his behaviour was not acceptable. Luis Suarez has now apologised for his actions which was the right thing to do.”

Dalglish also joined in with the apologies, standing by his earlier claim that he had no idea that Suarez hadn’t shaken hands with Evra, something even some Liverpool fans couldn’t believe.

“To be honest, I was shocked to hear that the player had not shaken hands having been told earlier in the week that he would do,” he said. “But as Ian said earlier, all of us have a responsibility to represent this club in a fit and proper manner and that applies equally to me as Liverpool manager. When I went on TV after yesterday’s game I hadn’t seen what had happened, but I did not conduct myself in a way befitting of a Liverpool manager during that interview and I’d like to apologise for that.”

So, what now? Water under the bridge? Draw a line under it? Forgive and forget? Whilst I have no intention of spending any more time talking about the handshake that never was after today, I don’t particularly enjoy reading any of these clichés about how the matter is now resolved. No apology has been made to Evra for the racial abuse, no apology has been made for implying the FA stitched Liverpool up, no apology has been made for claiming Suarez should never have been banned, no apology has been made for their fans booing Evra’s every touch and chanting at him that he’s a “lying bastard”. Suarez had no right to ignore Evra’s hand and he apologised for doing it. Does he deserve a pat on the back or praise? Well done Suarez, you refused to shake the hand of the man you racially abused and then you were told to apologise, so you did, congratulations!

The way Suarez, Dalglish and Liverpool Football Club have behaved over the past few months is absolutely disgraceful and so I don’t see why the condemnation should wane just because for the first time throughout this saga they haven’t done the wrong thing. They’ve dug the hole so deep that yesterday’s apologies just mean they’re no longer at the water table, but they’re still deep down there in the dirt, having blown the club’s reputation and integrity in defence of a man who has been there a year and who they owe nothing to. Whilst still wrong, staunchly defending club ambassador Steven Gerrard would at least make sense, but why have they allowed themselves to come across so badly for the sake of a player who may very well hand in a transfer request and get himself out of the club as soon as he can? They look as thick as they do morally wrong in all of this.

In contrast, I would like to express my pride in how our club and players have behaved throughout this. The FA asked both clubs to remain silent on the issue before the decision had been made, something which United adhered to and something which Liverpool ignored, with Dalglish repeatedly claiming in the press that if Suarez wasn’t found guilty, Evra should be punished.

Sir Alex Ferguson voiced his outrage at Suarez’s despicable behaviour in a way you couldn’t help but admire. He was furious that Suarez would show such a lack of respect and that was great to see. He isn’t paying lip service to wanting to kick racism out of the game, as Liverpool FC have been doing over the past few months, he was genuinely disgusted with Suarez.

But more than anyone, I am immensely proud of Patrice Evra, who has behaved with such dignity throughout all of this. Not everyone would be man enough to offer Suarez his hand ahead of kick-off on Saturday like Evra did and I admire him for showing that strength. He hasn’t been whinging to the press or playing the victim. He has just gone about his job and kept quiet. At the final whistle, you could see how much it meant to him, that he had repeatedly been disrespected by this man, yet here we were, the winners. It was such a release to him which was visible to all watching. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him celebrate with our fans, who had been cheering his every touch to drown out the boos from the away end. People like Jamie Redknapp, who could barely contain his frustration on Saturday from his pundit’s seat, whilst Gary Neville and Darren Fletcher chuckled, said Evra was out of order for his reaction. I don’t buy that at all. Had he been all over Suarez, like Martin Keown, Ashley Cole, Thierry Henry and Kolo Toure had been to Ruud van Nistelrooy following that penalty miss, that would be one thing, but what did he actually do? Jump up in down in front of the Stretford End whilst Luis Suarez and the other Liverpool players walked towards the tunnel? Big deal. Some people have insisted Evra wasn’t aware of Suarez’s presence and the video footage shows at no point does Evra clock him, but even if he did know exactly where Suarez was, who cares? Why shouldn’t he be allowed to celebrate in front of the Stretford End? Suarez clearly wasn’t bothered by it, so why are Redknapp and co.?

“Manchester United thanks Liverpool for the apologies issued following Saturday’s game,” read our club statement. “Everyone at Old Trafford wants to move on from this. The history of our two great clubs is one of success and rivalry, unparalleled in British football. That should be the focus in the future of all those who love the club.”

Dignified and respectful to the end. Liverpool FC could learn a thing or two from us.

[edit] This Is Anfield has written an article of their own in response to the apology from Suarez and the condemnation from Ayre and Dalglish: Our final word on the Suarez saga.

Some key quotes: Although Luis Suarez must accept some blame in the saga, he should not be the only one being vilified or questioned.”

“Evra does not offer his hand in the same manner as he does to other Liverpool FC players. That Suarez didn’t offer his hand either is not the point. Evra did not offer his hand either. Evra needs to share his proportion of the blame rather than lapping up the victim card with acting befitting of an Oscar winner.” [/edit]

———
The Daily Mail: Dalglish is reduced to a scowling, sneering bar-room bully
The Guardian: Liverpool’s Kenny Dalglish plays dumb to leave his dignity in tatters
The Telegraph: You have to hand it to Luis Suarez, he has a unique ability to unite the world in loathing
The Daily Mail: It’s just too late Kenny, you’ve left a stain on your club

However, this could have been predicted when you consider Suarez revealed this week that Evra was wrong to report the racial abuse he received.

“I was not depressed at all during suspension,” he said. “I knew what I did and there is a kind of football law that says, ‘What happens on the pitch, stays on the pitch and that’s the end of the story’.”

Gary Neville has claimed that Suarez has put his football club in an even worse position now, with further criticism being levelled at him for snubbing the handshake.

“Obviously it’s quite clear that Luis Suarez has completely blanked Patrice Evra,” said Neville. “I’m not sure it’s the wisest thing for him to do. I’m not sure that he has helped his football club. I think that Kenny Dalglish is now put in a position after the game where he has to defend him again.”