Thanks be to Gerrard for refusing the Roman coin

[ianrush]

Thanks be to Gerrard for refusing the Roman coin

Richard Williams

Wednesday June 30, 2004

The Guardian

Did I read the other day that Spitting Image is coming back? Not a moment too soon, in my view. And not just for the fun to be had with the current nightmarish bunch of politicians. No, the greatest gift to the puppeteer satirists is the court of the Emperor Roman, which is currently on a kind of working holiday in Portugal.

Seen from the heights of Alfama, an old quarter of Lisbon overlooking the port, Roman Abramovich's gigantic yacht, festooned with radar domes and helicopter pads, has the impact of a Greek trireme or a US Navy aircraft carrier. Its looming presence is intended to remind the poor colonials of their subservience.

The paparazzi's lenses have been pointed at its gangplank for weeks, capturing the comings and goings of agents and players. Television pictures of Abramovich and his flunkeys attending various Euro 2004 matches cast a shadow over the simple enjoyment of anyone who happens to run or support a club that hopes to hang on to its bright young players.

For the makers of Spitting Image, however, the comic possibilities are self-evident. They can cast Abramovich as a slightly dazed young man in a baseball cap, lighting his cigars with share certificates that once belonged to Siberian peasants. Peter Kenyon, Chelsea's chief executive, will be the David Steel figure, popping out of the Russian's wallet to perch on his employer's shoulder. Pini Zahavi, the so-called "superagent", might be represented by a cash machine that refuses to dispense money but will only accept it. Jose Mourinho, cold of eye and slick of suit, will hand out business cards printed with his personal mantra: "Please do not call me arrogant but I am a Special One."

The Stamford Bridge dramatis personae would be fleshed out by a magnificent cast of supporting players, including the Argentinian duo of Hernan Crespo and Juan Sebastian Veron, cramming the last wads of notes into their kitbags while saying fond farewells to the club's physiotherapists, the Chelsea colleagues with whom they became most familiar. Joe Cole, Glen Johnson and Scott Parker would be wandering around asking what had happened to their careers. Borrowing from the Muppets, another puppet series with a strong sense of human absurdity, Ken Bates and Claudio Ranieri lean out of the window of Bates' Chelsea Village penthouse, commenting on the action in the manner of Statler and Waldorf.

When he thought up those two characters, the late Jim Henson was adapting a dramatic device from Greek tragedy. And it is hard to avoid the suspicion that this must surely be where the Chelsea story is heading, into the realms of hubris and nemesis.

Thank goodness, then, for the announcement that Steven Gerrard has decided not to move from Anfield to Stamford Bridge, a rumour which gathered substance with the inevitably of an approaching cold front while the England squad were in Portugal.

Gerrard's reasons for staying put may turn out to be based on something less straightforward than an enduring affection for the club he first joined at the age of eight. If true, stories that his family received threats from Liverpool fans represent the extent to which the exaggeration of the emotion engendered by football has become a seriously worrying feature of life in England.

No one should have to base a decision like Gerrard's on fear. But perhaps the rest of us can be permitted a moment of quiet pleasure in the news that, for once, a contract is being honoured and the lure of money has not proved irresistible.

There is also the matter of Liverpool's footballing integrity. No club has an inalienable right to success but a strong Liverpool is good for English football and a strong Liverpool is best achieved by a team with, as Gérard Houllier once put it, "a good Liverpool heart". The continued presence of Houllier's last captain would seem an essential element.

Before we get too pious, it is worth remembering that Liverpool themselves built the foundations of their success not just on local talent but on other clubs' best players, from Motherwell's Ian St John and Preston's Peter Thompson to Celtic's Kenny Dalglish and Watford's John Barnes. The sheer scale of Abramovich's operation, however, is what makes some of us recoil, along with reservations concerning the source of his wealth.

Maybe Mourinho and Kenyon really are as clever as they believe themselves to be. Perhaps Chelsea will flatten all opposition next season, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the club's last league championship in the most appropriate manner and cutting a swath through Europe. But they should not complain if every little stumble draws a giggle from the cheap seats.

· You've read the piece, now have your say. Email your comments to [email protected].

Schön wenn endlich einmal ein Spieler den zwielichtigen Abramovich Petrodollars widersteht !

Vielleicht merken sie dann einmal, dass man nicht alles auf der Welt kaufen kann, soll ja beim russichen Oligarchen auf wenig Verständnis stossen.

bearbeitet 30. Juni 2004 von ianrush

[hapra]

Finds auch echt leiwand vom Gerrard, dass er dort bleibt wo es im taugt und nicht wo er mehr Geld kriegt.

[Marcelinho]

:eek: Bin zwar kein Gerrard- oder Liverpoolfan, aber so eine Nachricht freut mich tierisch!!

[ans]

Mich freut vor allem, dass er nicht zu Chelsea geht!

[Middlesbrough]

Ja Gerrard hat eben Charakter !!! Richtig untypisch für einen Scouser *smile*

cheers

[ianrush]

Mich freut vor allem, dass er nicht zu Chelsea geht!

Wenn er nicht zu Chelsea geht, geht er auch sicher nicht zu den Mancs ! Die zahlen auch nicht mehr als wir und ich WEISS, dass wir in nächster Zeit auch mehr Erfolg haben werden.

[Starostyak]

Du weißt, dass ihr bald mehr Erfolg haben werdet als ManU?

Man wird sehen...vielleicht in den nächsten 15 Jahren wieder mal ein Titel

[ianrush]

Du weißt, dass ihr bald mehr Erfolg haben werdet als ManU?   

Man wird sehen...vielleicht in den nächsten 15 Jahren wieder mal ein Titel 

Man WIRD sehen, denn wir haben wenigstens keine alten Tattergreis auf der Bank sitzen, der es regelmässig schafft selbst Unruhe in die Mannschaft zu bringen und Spieler vergrault . Die Zeit der Mancs ist hoffentlich bald vorbei . Und wenn nicht wir Meister werden, dann wenigstens nicht ihr oder die Toffees.

bearbeitet 1. Juli 2004 von ianrush

[Gampern]

Du weißt, dass ihr bald mehr Erfolg haben werdet als ManU?

Man wird sehen...vielleicht in den nächsten 15 Jahren wieder mal ein Titel

Bekommt man eigentlich einen kleinen Pokal wenn man den UI-Cup gewinnt? Wohl nicht, oder?

Rein objektiv gesehen, ist's natürlich toll dass er nicht dem Geruch des Geldes gefolgt ist, und sich für "seinen" Verein entschieden hat! Brav!

Meine subjektive Meinung dürfte, insbesondere Herrn ianrausch, bekannt sein!

[Patzi]

was der immer läuft und wichtig ist für das mittelfeld...

und was fast noch wichtiger ist: es gibt sie also doch noch, die leute die noch nach symphatie entscheiden.

charakter