RESPECT – Life is a Beach for Liverpool Lout

Liverpool’s players and management had every right to complain about Sunderland’s bizarre winner on Saturday.  A drop ball would probably have been the right way to go about things, and Sunderland would probably have accepted it.  What wasn’t probable was the graciousness with which Rafa Benitez shrugged off the incident after his side, without star players Gerrard and Torres, were found wanting on Wearside.  Perhaps his recent warning from the FA about his conduct towards match officials was still on his mind.  If it was then this is good news.  Take note, Mr Ferguson.

The people who cannot complain on this occasion are the Liverpool supporters.  One of their own brought about their downfall.  As the so far nameless individual threw the beach ball onto the pitch he obviously thought he was a bit of a cheeky chappy, a character, a joker who would be the toast of all his mates.  Right now he is probably the most hated man in Liverpool – apart from Gary Neville.

In fact what he did wasn’t funny; it was disrespectful, to the game, the players, officials and every other supporter in the stadium.  I am not entirely sure what possesses the idiots who like to throw things onto the pitch at football games.  In this case, yes, it was only a beach ball and not likely to cause any serious harm.  But such actions need to be stopped – and it is the supporters themselves that have the most power to help.

All it takes is for a supporter in close proximity to the offender to quietly point them out to the police and they can be ejected from the ground.  This is of course easier said than done with so much tribalism involved in following a team – but until this starts to happen, the crime will continue.

While a beach ball might not be the most dangerous of objects to throw, we have seen plenty of incidents of players and officials being hit by coins and bottles. This is dangerous and out of order. Some may argue that the likes of Jamie Carragher and Didier Drogba should have counted to 10 before throwing objects back into the crowd. But if I had things thrown at me when I was at work, I’d be pretty annoyed too.  For their reactions – understandable in the circumstances – they were both given red cards.  Meanwhile the yobs who threw the coins initially can bleat on about the responsibilities of modern footballers.

I obviously sympathise with any innocent onlookers who may have been caught up in the Carragher and Drogba incidents.  But there will have been several who, although not the main offender, are almost as guilty for witnessing the crime and failing to identify the culprit to a steward.  They stood by and remained silent, increasing the likelihood of it happening again.

However, one good thing that might come out of the incident is that the supporter who threw the beach ball will hopefully have the sense not to repeat his actions any time soon.  Or I’m sure Pepe Reina will have something to say.