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Picture from Yolkie

However, if their fans do racially abuse Evra, the club have no one to blame but themselves, having whipped their fans in to a frenzy in order to keep Luis Suarez, their prize asset, protected.

Whilst Andre Villas-Boas made the dreadful mistake of claiming he would still give John Terry his full support even if he was found guilty of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, Chelsea, for the most part, have kept quiet. In contrast, Liverpool have stirred the situation, before and after their player was found guilty of racially abusing Evra. The siege mentality they have developed over this case is an embarrassment, with them genuinely believing that they are the victims in this situation, for a change.

Who on earth came up with the idea of wearing t-shirts in support of a player accused of racial abuse? Who on earth wrote those press releases for Liverpool claiming that if Evra couldn’t prove he was racially abused he should be punished? Why on earth did Dalglish tell the press it was some FA conspiracy?

For them to believe that Suarez, after kicking him and smacking him round the head, was calling Evra “negro” in a friendly way was quite frankly unbelievable. “His wife calls him that,” Dalglish claimed, as if during a Liverpool vs United clash any player from either side would talk to each other with the same sentiment they would talk to their wives. Ludicrous. Suarez was trying to make a friend of Evra, was he? If you’ll believe that, you’ll believe anything. Sadly, it seems that Liverpool fans, whose behaviour is akin to those in a cult, will believe anything.

However, for all their fuss, they didn’t appeal the decision, which speaks volumes. If they were so certain that Suarez was innocent, why accept the decision to find him guilty? They accepted it but claimed not to agree with it. Suarez didn’t even have the decency to apologise for Evra. Even if, as he claimed, he didn’t mean to cause offence, the fact that he had done warranted some gesture. But as was typical with their whole dealing of the situation, he lacked any sort of class or remorse. Even on the pitch, with Evra visibly upset about what Suarez had called him, there was no apology. If Suarez was meaning “negro” in the friendly way he claims, why would he not say sorry when he could see that Evra hadn’t taken it that way? The obvious answer is because Suarez wasn’t addressing Evra as a companion, but an enemy, as that is what he is.

Then we have Kenny Dalglish and Steven Gerrard talking about the responsibility of both clubs to behave properly today, which is incredible given how little responsibility their club has shown up until now. Liverpool FC and Dalglish are responsible for the vile treatment Evra will get today because they have painted him as the bad guy in order to make Suarez the victim. If that vile treatment turns to racism, the club has no one to point the finger at but themselves.

It is ridiculous to think that today Evra is going to be on the receiving end of awful abuse, whether they manage to keep racial overtones out of it or not, but our player can take it. He’s hardly Mr Popular at Stamford Bridge or the Emirates either. The point is Evra is a pantomime villain to those fans, disliked for petty reasons, but still things you can relate to all the same. If United had just been battered in big game against our rivals, we wouldn’t take kindly to one of their players say it was “men against babies”. The difference in this situation though is that Evra hasn’t done anything to warrant the abuse. He went to Anfield to play a football match and was racially abused by an opponent.

How will Liverpool fans make themselves look today in abusing Evra, whose only crime was being racially abused by one of their own players? Dreadful.

A banner in the United end reads: “MUFC – Defending Champions LFC – Defending Racists”. Can’t say fairer than that.

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The Liverpool Myth
The Suarez report broken down
Transcript of Dalglish’s defence of Suarez at a press conference

Liverpool players then warmed up in t-shirts in support of Suarez and once Suarez was found guilty, showed no remorse. Instead, Suarez refused to apologise to Evra whilst Dalglish claimed the decision was some kind of FA conspiracy. Liverpool FC refused to accept that Suarez was guilty and released an official statement offering him their full support, despite the guilty verdict.

As a result, Liverpool fans believe their player has done no wrong and that Evra is the guilty party. Three weeks after Suarez was found guilty, their fans were racially abusing an Oldham player during a game.

Liverpool are now worried that during this high profile FA Cup clash on Saturday that their fans will be guilty of more of the same, with captain Steven Gerrard voicing his concern.

“We all have a responsibility,” said Gerrard. “We all have a responsibility to ensure that this game is remembered for the football. Liverpool and Man United is a massive rivalry and, of course, there is going to be stuff in the papers and banter between fans. But it would be fantastic if, after the weekend, it is remembered for being a top game and obviously, from our point of view, a Liverpool win. We don’t want any front-page stories from this game or any stories besides a football match between two top sides.”

Such an atmosphere is unlikely at Anfield, regardless of the FA Cup’stendency to prompt a mini-revival of hooligans’ heady days. There’ll be no tear gas to greet United as they disembark and head to their dressing rooms, and the Anfield stewards will be under scrutiny to ensure that cups of excrement and urine aren’t tossed on to the visiting supporters in the Anfield Road’s first tier.But like the ardent 2006 atmosphere, it has the potential to be poisonous again.

Chants about Munich, Hillsborough, Heysel and Harold Shipman will possibly be exchanged as both supporters stress that irrespective of the on-pitch gulf, Liverpool-United is still English football’s number one rivalry. City can be as raucous as they like, but the East Lancs animosity is rooted as far back as the 19^th century. That number again; 19…

It is also eerily similar to six years ago whereby a United player is at the centre of attention. Whereas Gary Neville celebrated a last-minute winner by clutching his badge in front of Liverpool supporters, Patrice Evra was racially abused by Luis Suárez. He will undoubtedly be booed, jeered and heckled by Scousers, ostensibly because he spoke about the Uruguayan’s sister’s genitals.

Evra’s display against Arsenal on Sunday was a throwback to his swashbuckling bravado between 2006 and 2010 for United. Although Wayne Rooney was banging in the goals and taking the plaudits two seasons ago, less impressionable observers identified Evra as United’s best and most consistent performer.

Cantona-lite is an endearing quality in M16 and Evra is many supporters’ favourite player, augmented by him commendingthem for protesting against the loathsome Glazer family. Quotable and eccentric, Potty Paddy’s forlorn form the past 18 months has arguably been distorted by followers’ fondness for him.

No one should doubt whether he has the mettle to withstand the Anfield crowd either. Football grounds can still be nefarious places, but many hardcore supporters have been priced out and/or become disenchanted with the game’s soul-selling exploits. Instead they are populated by so many tourists and bandwagon-jumping Johnny-come-latelys that nowadays, said nefarious environment is as rare as Kenny Dalglish blaming himself.

On his debut at Eastlands six years ago, Evra was substituted at half-time after a torrid 45 minutes, with City 2-0 ahead. That summer, after an inauspicious start, United We Stand’s website responded to rumours that Valencia – nicknamed ‘The Bats’ – would offer a bid for him with the headline ‘Are the Bats blind?’ His resilience, in spite of some ludicrous knee-jerking, was still admirable.

Comments about Arsenal being babies or his brush with a Chelsea groundsman haven’t been forgotten in either north or west London, yet he hasn’t gotten flustered on either patch. Not once has he been sent off since he arrived at Old Trafford, while at Anfield in October, he didn’t react despite proven provocation from Suárez. Instead he kissed the badge in front of the Kop.

Perhaps it is that spiky streak that has affected his performance level. It appears to be no coincidence that since he purportedly engineered the French mutiny at the 2010 World Cup that he suddenly switched from reliable to unreliable. If anything Evra relishes conflict too much, hence his recent regression.

The man of the match showing at the Emirates was a timely fillip in a week when speculation will continue to mount over whether he starts at L4 or not. Of course, he should. Ferguson didn’t withhold Paul Ince from the baying hordes at Upton Park, Cantona at Leeds or – until recently – Rooney at Goodison Park.

Gerard Houllier never started Nick Barmby at Goodison after his transfer across Stanley Park to the red side, and any similar strategy from Ferguson highlights a chink in the armour. Not only in his man-management, but the Reds’ occasionally porous defence which is, ultimately, vastly superior with Evra at left-back rather than Fabio da Silva. Welcome to Hell? It could feasibly be more like Hull.

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Follow Samuel Luckhurst on Twitter and read the Football Fix blog.

Nemanja Vidic is our captain but has spent most of the season injured, meaning Evra has filled in. Ferguson gave Evra the responsibility because of his fitness and his personality.

“Someone playing all the time should be in the forefront to be captain and that was the case with Patrice,” said Ferguson. “He’s a very popular player with a good personality, which is important if you’re captain of a club like ours. He’s very friendly and has a good sense of humour, but he’s also quite a determined lad. Rio Ferdinand would have been captain if he hadn’t had all those problems with injuries at the time. Patrice is not as voluble as Rio, but certainly influences a lot of things, and his own performances have been very good.”

Evra will wear the captain’s armband on Saturday against Liverpool in the FA Cup. The last time he was at Anfield, Evra was racially abused by Liverpool striker Luis Suarez. Liverpool responded to this by wearing t-shirts in support of their player and the manager, Kenny Dalglish, continued to insist his player was innocent, despite being found guilty by an independent commission. Given the club are in complete denial over what their player did, Evra is likely to be on the receiving end of some more abuse for Anfield crowd at the weekend.

“Everyone’s coming back and in great form,” Evra told MUTV. “We still have some injuries but I think when everyone is back fit, it will give us the strength to win the title. We have to keep talking about Manchester United. The most important thing was winning today. After that, it doesn’t matter if they [City] win, lose or draw. We just need to have a rest and focus on the next game. I think people talk a lot about City, but we just need to be focused on what we do and how we play, and I think we’re going to win the league. Today was a good afternoon for us. It was an important game, after the win against City, to show we are really confident and we are back. It was really important to win today.”

Following back to back defeats in the league before an important win over Manchester City in the FA Cup, Evra has claimed that because of the history of this club, we never give up.

“Manchester United never die,” said Evra. “A lot of people forget that, they don’t want to respect the story (of the club). But when you have the story behind this club, you know that when there’s a difficult moment you’ll answer back, because everyone in this team has a big character, a big personality. If we hadn’t shown that we would have lost the game. But we know we’re strong. The manager told us it was a big game and that we had to go out and show what Manchester United is all about – and that’s what we showed. He told us that we’re not going to win every game just because we’re Manchester United. We had to walk out and play with the Manchester United spirit, and that’s what we did in the first half. Even though we lost two games in a row, I didn’t think everything was over.”

Despite refusing to apologise to Evra, reports in the press claimed that Liverpool wanted to engage in “peace talks” with United. It was a strange claim, given that just a few days ago their official statement on the matter essentially accused our club of fabricating the whole case to get Suarez banned.

“This case has provided a template in which a club’s rival can bring about a significant ban for a top player without anything beyond an accusation.”

Unsurprisingly, Sir Alex Ferguson was dismissive of this today.

“It is nice of them to do it through the press,” said Ferguson. “You would have thought they would come to Manchester United first. I do not see why there is any need for it. But I have nothing to say about it.”

What a shame Liverpool chose to couch their decision not to appeal in ­inflammatory language that continued to insist Suarez had done nothing wrong. Suarez has admitted calling Patrice Evra “negro”. To persist with the argument, as he and the club are doing, that this was a term of endearment is not just “incredible”, as the tribunal found; it is also laughable.

The fight against racism, or racist language, in sport is bound to be uncomfortable when it affects a club someone supports or ­represents. Liverpool and Suarez had the ­opportunity to apologise on Tuesday, move towards restoring a damaged reputation and emerge with some dignity from this horrible affair. They chose not to take it.

Martin Samuel, The Daily Mail. Read the article in full or these snippets:

So Liverpool deigned to do the world a favour and will not appeal Luis Suarez’s eight-match ban. How decent of them. Maybe they’ll make a T-shirt telling us all about it; or a hat. Not a white, pointy one, obviously…

…Letting the football men run the football club is an admirable stance, but there comes a time when an issue lies beyond the manager’s call. Whoever was left to mastermind Liverpool’s stance over Suarez has been proven horribly inept in this arena…

…Suarez put out a statement on Tuesday night, which included the remarkable assertion: ‘I will carry out the suspension with the resignation of someone who hasn’t done anything wrong.’ So if he was found innocent, he would have been innocent; but if guilty, he is innocent, still. At the outset Suarez said the verdict would decide which of the parties had to apologise. Apparently, like much of the evidence, that stance has since changed…

Stuart James, The Guardian. Read the article in full or these snippets:

At last Liverpool have seen sense. At least that was the initial reaction when news broke that the club would not be appealing against the eight-match ban and £40,000 fine imposed on Luis Suárez for racially abusing Patrice Evra. What we soon learned, however, was that Liverpool had no intention of showing any contrition, Suárez would not be apologising and, in the eyes of the club, the Football Association is to blame for damaging the reputation of a man that was found to have used the word “negro” seven times…

…Liverpool should have spent less time worrying about discrediting Evra and more time getting their testimonies right. Suárez, after being asked the same question six times in the hearing, was forced to admit it was not true that he had pinched Evra to defuse the row, as he had claimed in his witness statement…

…Damien Comolli, the club’s director of football, and Dirk Kuyt, the Liverpool midfielder, changed their statements after realising that Suárez had given a different account to them. It is cringeworthy reading Kuyt’s attempt to deal with this discrepancy in his witness statement. “I am aware that LS will state in evidence that what he actually said in response to the remark from PE was (translated into English) “Why, black?” or “Why, negro?” and I am perfectly happy to accept that this is what he said…

…According to Liverpool’s statement before the Manchester City game, the mistakes have been made by the commission rather than the Anfield club or Suárez. If Liverpool truly believed that was the case they would have appealed. Instead they took the sensible decision before pressing the self-destruct button. Again.

Darren Lewis, The Mirror. Read the article in full or these snippets:

It is fascinating that, in a week when we have reached the conclusion of a high-profile court case following a man’s death because of the colour of his skin, football fans – and one of the country’s highest profile clubs – are still defending a man found guilty of using a racially offensive term. As a black man I can tell you this: There is no context in which any term referring to the colour of my skin during an argument can be termed as anything other than racist…

…Liverpool are a great club with good people, good administrators and many, many good fans. But they have got it wrong on this occasion from start to finish. They demanded the written reasons after the guilty verdict was announced last month but have gone on to dismiss those, maintaining they are right and the rest of world was wrong. Even then, in their incendiary latest statement they claim to be a “leader on taking a progressive stance on race issues”. But privately the anti-racism groups in this country that I have spoken to are horrified at the Reds’ intransigence on Suarez…

Phillip Cornwall, F365. Read the article in full or these snippets:

Any attempt at an explanation based on cultural misunderstanding had to come after the word “sorry”. And not as in, “I’m sorry but you’re completely wrong.”

The failure to offer any form of apology, even as a precursor to a rejection of the charges of repeated use of the word, was a mistake – even if Suarez’s version is, in fact, accurate. Kenny Dalglish breaking the requested silence regularly while the investigation went on, talking as if Evra should be in the dock if his player were acquitted, was a mistake – even if Suarez’s version is, in fact, accurate. Treating the Uruguayan as some kind of political victim needing help from the sale of benefit T-shirts was a mistake – even if Suarez’s version is, in fact, accurate.