Two weeks ago was perhaps the most enjoyable afternoon I’ve ever had at Anfield. This was perhaps the least enjoyable. And not because of the result or the performance, which ended up being completely secondary to the real story of the day.
There’s so many layers to all of this and it’s a delicate subject in many ways. You can’t tell people how to feel and I’ve said that repeatedly throughout the Trent saga. Some will hate him and never forgive him, and that’s perfectly fine. Some won’t be arsed and will wish him well. Again, absolutely fine. Most will be somewhere in the middle.
I’m also wary of telling people how to react, so the booing is a bit of a thorny issue. I heard boos when his name was read out prior to kick off and I shrugged. I wasn’t angry that people booed his name when it was read out, although I was a little surprised at the volume of it. Still, the game hadn’t even started. Fans are letting their feelings be known and he brought this on himself.
When he was booed onto the pitch I felt a bit uneasy about that and probably winced, but again, I wasn’t angry about it and I can see that it was an understandable reaction.
The point when it crossed the line for me was when it continued into the game and any time he touched the ball there were loud boos. Nah, fuck that. It shouldn’t happen. Whatever he has or hasn’t done, he’s out there trying to help us win a high profile game against the team directly below us in the league (miles below us, but still). Park your grievances until the game is done.
To me that’s the big thing here but it’s largely being overlooked in the “Liverpool fans boo Trent” media frenzy. The point that largely seems to be getting missed here is that the issue is not whether Trent deserved to get booed or not (he probably did, all things considered), it’s that booing a Liverpool player while we are trying to win a game is counter-productive and not to mention unedifying. I don’t ever remember this happening before. Not that we’re perfect, but a player wearing the Red shirt being booed every time he touched the ball is definitely a new low.
I vaguely remember McManaman getting some grief after he announced he was leaving. Nothing like this though. We’ve had ex players (including McManaman) booed on their return, which isn’t something I particularly like either but they are representing the opposition so it’s a whole different kettle of fish to this. If Trent comes back with Madrid next season, boo the fucking shit out of him if you like. But not when he’s out there playing for us.
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