"Broadcast was in the public interest," declares SKY
Monday, November 29, 2010 at 12:49PM Football pundits and journalists were up in arms this morning after SKY Sports 'carelessly and irresponsibly jeopardised the World Cup bid' by broadcasting Liverpool losing 2-1 to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
The 18 time league winners and holders of 5 European cups have recently fallen from grace, having their Champions League place usurped by a resurgent Spurs and suffering a poor run of form that sees them struggling to maintain a place in the top 10 of the Premier League and playing Paul Konchesky at left back.
However, many feel that their dreadful form should have been hidden from the prying eyes of FIFA and certainly not broadcast live only days before the World Cup vote.
Ian Ridley of the Mail on Sunday said, "Liverpool Football Club are a national treasure and their image as one of the best teams in the world ever is vital to England winning the rights to host the World Cup in 2018. FIFA don't care about small clubs like Spurs, Everton and Aston Villa. They want to see the usual top 4 winning all the time just like they do in other European countries. SKY have shown a blatant disregard for football fans all over the country by airing this defeat."
Phil Thompson, a SKY pundit who happens to also support Liverpool, added, "I have handed in my resignation to SKY. The World Cup is far more important that their petty agenda to increase viewing figures. By all means show the game, but at least edit out the last 5 minutes and any footage of Paul Konchesky. Or just arrange the fixture for after the vote. Any FIFA executives that saw that on Sunday will be outraged."
SKY's actions have even prompted Prime Minister David Cameron to issue an apology to FIFA via the Downing Street Twitter feed. The PM wrote:
@FIFA_Committee Because we support free media we could not prevent this broadcast. However if you re-watch the game you will see that Spurs got lucky lmao. Everyone in England is working hard to make sure Liverpool are back in the top 4 by 2018 #youllneverwalkalone
In order to limit the damage caused by the broadcast the FA have dispatched an envoy to FIFA HQ led by Prince William and Gerry and the Pacemakers who will be handing out signed Liverpool shirts DVDs of 'that' European Cup Final in 2005.
by guest-blogger, Fox Mulder
-
For the Spurs v Liverpool match report 'So how do you beat Spurs exactly?', please click here.
Reader Comments (120)
You know you have upset them when they start banging on about how much they won in the 'past'. And telling everyone they are 'massive'.
Spurs are making fun of a (contain laughter) top 4 club. And we only went and beat them. What disrespect! Seriously did he tell us to show some respect because they are a big club?
Ah diddums.
steve : calm down. calm down. taches, afros. dont steal my hubcaps. no job. roast rat for dinner again. silly accent. sign on. no job.the babies not yours . etc etc....
It's just a bit of fun, honestly forget about it. Considering some of the jokes/facebook pages/comedy stints aimed at us over the past few season it's really no big deal. You lot are the bitter ones for not laughing along.
Liverpool fans in 'refuse to laugh at themselves' shocker.
Good stuff!
Fox Mulder, you're a funny guy.
Spooky, Shirly there's room for a few more guest posts from time to time? Prehaps a collaboration or two?
Zahid has to be the blogger himself continuing the satire. If not sign him up, he is 'boss'.
I think 'Arry was worried he might be featured in the Panorama documentary; all he knew was that it uncovers bungs in footy. No-one told him it was just FIFA focused and nothing to do with the Premiership. Phew!
@ Ouji - and not a mention about a council estate. What kind of anti-liverpool wall poster are you?! Rubbish
Very funny blog. Though I think some fans on both sides have taken it a bit too seriously.
Good game last night, though Liverpool should have left with more pointa. Spurs though, are shaping up to be a very nice team indeed.
Y.N.W.A
So Fox are you the real spooky?
I'm a Liverpool fan. I found it funny. But then again I live in London.
Scouser Tommy - your comments are ridiculous. Spurs sold 2 players to Utd - Carrick and Berbatov - hardly a mass exodus, and in both cases recieved hugely inflated transfers fees. We also sold Keane to Liverpool for a fee that should lead to us being investigated for grand larceny. L'pool recently sold Alonso, Mascherano and were happy to sell Gerrard to Chelsea. But remind me, which one is the selling club?
What makes your comments even dafter is that all of the other Liverpool fans accuse Spurs of buying success. So which is it, do we buy success, or are we a selling club? It cannot be both. Of course there is a 3rd option: we are a club that sells overrated players for stupid fes, and reinvests the proceeds in younger, better players. Like Poulson and Konchesky ;-)
Lastly, I dont think there is lack of respect for what Liverpool were. You used to be good and you still have a big, if - for obvious demographic reasons - declining fan base. No arguments there. But you have also been reduced to being traded between foreign owners like a tatty second hand car, while the courts listen to all the taudry arguments of your owners. Dont underestimate the long term damage of those things - your club has become a laughing stock. Brings me no pleasure to say that, but it is true. I seriously doubt that Liverpool will come close to a PL title agains in the next decade - probably more
For the record I'm a massive fan of the boot room and old skool Liverpool. Anything post-Dalglish quitting...thanks but no thanks.
Liverpool have transitioned into a midtable side. Amazing how quickly it can happen. A reminder to ourselves.
Associating Liverpudlians with council estates would have been crass and pandering to the most obvious of stereotyping.
Bu the way, to those L'pool fans who think this is all some kind of temporary lapse and you'll be back at the top in a couple of years, just keep in mind that Preston fans thought that in 1910, Huddersfield fans in 1950, dare I say even Everton fans in the 1990s. You know, every club has its time. Just as Prestons was the 1880 and 90s, Liverpool's was the 1970s and 80s. Maybe Tottenhams is yet to come
Fantastic article. Almost as great the FA Cup draw.
omg......cannot believe the over reaction from some of the scousers about what is an amusing article. You will note the main targets of this light hearted japery were FIFA and Sky, there was a wee pop at Phil, i'm a biased twat with a hyowg conk, yes conk, not cock, that's clearly tiny Thompson but otherwise nothing, nada, fuck all to complain about you miserable, embarrassing bastards. Not one hint of arrogance to be had by us, just a giddy joy in the upturn of our fortunes. I am sick to death of fans who believe that their clubs have a divine right to win things, you shame yourselves by trawling the web and bleating shite......in fact just piss off.
@ devon yid - "Cannot believe the over reaction from some of the scousers"
Kinda shitting with your clothes on with that aggressive post there mate!
Spurs are not a big club they are a massive club with world support. Have won the 4th most trophies in English history and have a very strong balance sheet unlike many many other clubs. Dont forget there are over 20 000 supporters on the season ticket list. We will have a 56 000 seater stadium in the near future which will be full for almost every game.
The thing is Mark Liverpool and United fans think it's just them and nobody else.
Can someone please think of the children?
I am usually graceful in defeat, but you Spurs fans seem to go abit far in your gloating. Just don't be surprised to have history thrown in your face. I don't have a problem with Spurs, but I reckon Fifa and Uefa probably will when they study your wage bill and realize that you don't comply with the new rules in 2012. What with Bale enevitably wanting a huge pay rise, along with wages for your other 30 odd squad players. Have a good week :-]
Hahahahaha.......Spurs fans really tickle me up. Thinking they are far and away above and better than Liverpoll because of what?.....they finished 4th!.......4th! You don;t win any trophies for that you know!
But then Spurs fans will know all about that.......when was the last time you won a trophy??
Have you EVER won the league?.......if you EVER did it was a looooooooong loooooooong time ago!
It's about time you started to do better anyway after all that money you spend.
Serial under-achievers get to 4th place!........you've made it to the promised land!!
Well done!
@steve, mate, have you read spooky's previous post? You should, that is the kind of down to earth, irreverant amusing stuff that we (if i may be so bold) do on here. I mean it, take the time to read it, it is so illustrative of how we feel its unfrackin canny. We know our history better than most. So when some of your brethren pop along and share their wit and wisdom and start calling us arrogant, shit, buying success etc its gonna get on my tits, especially having put up with a weeks worth of bitter pikeys who also do not know how to lose. Telling them (you will note the emphasis on them, not sure whether you are going to transition yet ;) )to piss off is hardly aggressive now is it? As for the Thommo line......surely even you lot can see how biased he is?? Its sky not LFCTV......
@steve.....i give you cooper and true red.......! Can you see what i mean, there was no gloat in the article and yet we get that shit?
@ True red.......your mum owes my dog some fuck money.
@ steve, how's that for agressive ;)
thanks for that last post Devon , i needed a chuckle at work.
Nobody is saying we are bigger/greater than Liverpool. Stop making shit up.
or even aggressive
Foxy Mulder i have heard of you the sly one. What our fans need to do is ignore the snide comments and big Club jives and enjoy the Glory nights, and then just like i did in 1962 aged ten When fell in love with a great team and great fans we will gain more admires than enemies.. I live in Widnes with Utd Liverpool Everton City all not far away yet Spurs was the only one for me and aged 58 they are even more special and we have our special attacking style back Two of the most exciting wingers in the World a wizard a pass master an Octopus and a Giraffe and lastly a Generous defence .So be proud to be a Spurs fan but most of all be humble and respectful to Liverpoll whose fans always respected good football but with the dreadfull way they have bean treated have become bitter and sad . Spurs have taken there place because we did what Liverpool used to do nurture young Talent and create great teams there is a lesson to be learnt Hurry in haste repent in leisure we need to bring our next generation through in the summer Caulker Walker Townsend Rose Parret Obika Bostock Kane Mpoku Oneyegnu some of these could save us millions and stop us from emulating the fallen Giants Liverpool Man Utd and Leeds method of overspending.
Cooper has got us there. Bale will want a wage rise and that will come back to bite us in 2012.
The future is a now big black cloud hanging over me.
That will be news to Levy too Im sure. You would have thought he would have implemented a manageable wage structure? Whats he thinking? Levy out.
God knows what that will mean to Villa and Liverpool who have higher wage bills and no champions league football to cover it.
davspurs, with all due respect, that was the most coherent and sensible thing you've ever said. You are 100% right on everything there. Including the comparison to liverpool of old
when did Liverpool last win the league anyway? Does 20 years count as a looooooooonggg loooooooong time ago?
Davspurs: The new Tolkien?
That was beautiful.
@ Now now spurs fans don't get carried away! Only takes a big club with some money to come along, take a couple of your better players for you o be back where yu belong...mid table. enjoy this brief hiatus.
Nov 29, 2010 at 1:14 PM | RedMist!!!
Fucking typical. Buy your success. GO AND FIND YOUR OWN PLAYERS.
davspurs...........what fox said x 10
As I've stated I think its ridiculous how much both sets of fans (especially Liverpool fans the last few posts) have bitten to the article and some comments. I think its a very funny article indeed, as have most of the comments. Just a shame the others can't be taken a bit light heartedly too.
Phil Thompson biased?! Never! Impartial to everything Liverpool related. Great he is.
Liverpool played well yesterday but Spurs made it count after JC went off injured. The game really could have gone either way, so, so open.
I'm shocked that Spurs risked VDV who was only 50/50. If he is out for a month that is going to look like a poor decision. He should have been rested by Spurs.
Spurs are giving me blood pressure problems...Redknapp is legend. His interview after the game cracked me up. He said something along the lines of 'some teams I've managed, you go 1-0 down and you may as well pack up and go home'. Gallas was brilliant again. You could see him in the huddle giving the captains speech. Nice.
@ Mulder
Great bit of wit there. Cheers
@steve..... all rational football fans welcome mate.
I've heard on good authority that we will be making a double bid for Torres and Gerrard in January.
@ouji..... quality mate, it the nail on the head!
Also, have to say I was a little bit surprised when I heard them say "don't worry, Livepool will be back where they belong soon enough" on the coverage last night. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but surely if you belong somewhere then you deserve to be there? And if you deserve to be there then you will be there? So now Spurs playing well and challenging for 4th again after securing it last year doesn't count as deserving it, yet Liverpool have a second consecutive poor season (so far, still a way to go yet...) and still deserve 4th place? Not very impartial is it!
It was a cracking match, both teams played great attacking football, in the end we won it because we wanted it more, otherwise Maxi and Torres would have put away at least 2 each earlier on! Instead we kept attacking and Lennon did the business. As he has done before to get us late wins. As our team has done so much this season - come back from a losing position to win. That made it 16 points won from a losing position, and if we had just rolled over in those games like the Spurs of yesteryear then we would have been dead bottom.
You don't deserve to be somewhere just because the past dictates it, you deserve it because the present does.
T'weren't me commenting above but I too find this amusing. Laughing at the state of my formerly proud team is just about all I've got left at present. I'm happy to play some world cup games in my garden, if FIFA are interested in bunging me a load of cash.
Davspurs, agree with Fox and others about your comment , you sir , were spot on.
Liverpool will never be jealous of a small club like Spurs. F*ck me, whens the last time you lot won the title??? lol Never mind the European Cup....Joke club with a few johnny come lately supporters.
So the fact that we beat you , are ahead of you guys and play CL does not make you jealous then ? Or Sad ? Or frustrated or ... ?
No , because you cherisch the past and go to sleep at night laughing at out tiny club and it's ridiculous ambitions, how dare we , such a small club , be ambitious and try to take away your glory. We should be ashamed ...
Calling Spurs a small club is a bit silly considering the traditions and history and fanbase and the fact that we've been top tier for decades, much like Utd, Liverpool, Villa, Arsenal and Everton. Okay so we haven't won as much silverware but come on, let's not go all playground with the arguments here.
Why do most of us laugh at Liverpool?
Because for the 20 years since you last won the title we have had to listen to idiotic nobrainers telling us that this is the year you'll win it again.
It has always made me laugh the way people poke fun at United for having Glory Hunting fans, when most of the thick, clueless sheeplike "fans" I meet support Liverpool and know nothing about football.
Having said that I unfortunately have the displeasure of having to live within 50 miles of the Bindipping clowns.
COYS we have got a shot at the title in the next couple of years, but if it can't be us this year(it can't) I hope it's United to wipe the smug look off the scousers faces again.
"but I reckon Fifa and Uefa probably will when they study your wage bill and realize that you don't comply with the new rules in 2012. What with Bale enevitably wanting a huge pay rise, along with wages for your other 30 odd squad players. Have a good week :-]"
Cooper you absoloute tool, Spurs have a strict wage structure and don't pay high wages. Why do you think Joe Cole moved to Liverpool? Cos you clowns agreed to pay the muppet £100 grand a week and we wouldn't cos we have a strict wage structure... get it and that's why your club is in dire financial straits and ours isn't, so grow a brain and do keep up.
P.S Gerrard get s paid more in one week than Van Der Vaart and Bale..... how stupid does that make you look....
P.S that should read Van Der Vaart and Bale combined...
We all laugh at each other, don't we? I don't rankle at Spurs being called a small club. As a small club, we're not doing badly. We're in the Champions League knock-out stages. We attracted van der Vaart - a genuinely world-class player. We're still within touching distance of the top of the Premier League table, despite half our squad being injured. Within the foreseeable future, we should be playing in a new 60,000-seater stadium, for which the season-ticket waiting-list should ensure it be filled.
All of this really isn't that bad for a small club.
I'm reminded of Churchill's words to the Canadian Parliament:
"When I warned [the French] that Britain would fight on alone, whatever they did, their Generals told their Prime Minister and his divided cabinet: 'In three weeks, England will have her neck wrung like a chicken.
"Some chicken....Some neck!"
As fans, we all call each other names and put each other down. I guess it's part of maintaining our identity and differentiating ourselves from the identity, culture and history of other fans. We're justifiably proud of our own traditions; and those traditions are justifiably often the target of ridicule for other fans.
To be fair, the name 'Liverpool' currently reverberates around the football world more than ours (for good and bad reasons). And it's not pleasant to see any club being tormented by neglect, particularly one that formerly achieved greatness. Even so, fixture-lists for the first knock-out stage of the Champions League will include the name 'Tottenham Hotspur'. Quite a few millions of eyes around the world will read it. Perhaps some will wonder.... "Hmmmm.... What is this club, 'Tottenham Hotspur'"? and reverberations may grow. Of course, we may not progress beyond that stage; or maybe, maybe we will. As a long-suffering Spurs fan I'm realistic. But it's my club and, rise or fall, I'm proud of it. It's where I come from.
I certainly won't shrink from feeling optimistic and cheerful at the prospect of my beloved club becoming, little by little, an international force and name with ambitions of achieving greatness of its own.
But I'm content to do that as a Champions-League-competing, Inter-Milan-slaying, World-Class-player-attracting, 60,000-seater-stadium 'small club'. Because small - whichever way I look at it - is beautiful.