Our Players In Trouble On The Algarve?

[1892-LFCWasBorn]

 

Player told police he 'loved them'

 

Our Correspondent on eyewitness accounts of the Liverpool fracas in Portugal

 

James Ducker

 

Craig Bellamy was not the only member of the Liverpool squad to disgrace himself in Portugal but it might have always been asking too much to hope that, if controversy ever flared at the club, he would have nothing to do with it.

 

How BenÍtez must be regretting allowing his players to go out last Thursday night. The manager had been persuaded by some of the squad to allow them to enjoy a meal and some drinks out before they flew back home from their five-day training camp in the sun-baked Algarve resort of Vale do Lobo the next day. It was a reasonable request that drew an equally fair response – yes, but remember who you are, where you are and that you have your biggest match of the season so far against Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday.

 

What ensued was an insult to BenÍtez, who had treated his players with the respect they expect only to have it thrown back in his face by one or two miscreants. No wonder the manager will think twice the next time his players ask to go out when overseas.

 

The evening had started well enough and in good humour at Monty’s Restaurant and Bar, but alcohol changed all that. Bellamy is alleged to have got involved in a drunken row with John Arne Riise when the Norwegian – who was not said to be drinking – declined the opportunity to take part in karaoke.

 

Others, including Jerzy Dudek, Jermaine Pennant and Robbie Fowler, are also alleged to have got involved in a row of their own and, despite the best efforts of Steven Gerrard, the captain, and Peter Crouch, the forward, to keep the peace, the police were called. Enough to persuade the troublemakers to calm down? Apparently not.

 

Trouble flared again when the party were escorted back to the Barringtons Club and Barringtons-Centro Desportivo hotel, and even though no one was charged or arrested, the noise was such that June and Peter Lover, a retired couple from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, were woken up at about 1.30am and watched in despair from their apartment as armed police, some from Portugal’s riot squad, attempted to restore order.

 

“There must have been at least five police vehicles and a dozen police under our window,” Mrs Lover said. “The noise was terrible and we simply couldn’t sleep through it. At first it sounded like late-night revelry and we knew the Liverpool squad were downstairs. But then things seemed to get out of hand and the police arrived.” Mr Lover said one player with an Eastern European accent, thought to be Dudek, the Poland goalkeeper, was handcuffed by police before eventually being released. And only when a member of Liverpool’s management team arrived did things calm down.

 

“He kept telling the police how much he loved them, as if he was pleading to be allowed to go free,” Mr Lover said. “At one point, the police seemed to be slapping him around the face, trying to bring him round and sober him up because he was so drunk. He kept apologising over and over again but the police didn’t want to know. It was only after a while that the police found someone from the Liverpool management, who managed to calm things down and talk quietly. Eventually, the police let the player go after some negotiations and he seemed very relieved indeed and kept thanking them.

 

“We have many teams around the complex and there is usually no trouble at all, but this was not a very pleasant experience. It was thoroughly shameful and brings a terrible name to a club like Liverpool. These players get paid so much and are often so young, but for something like this to happen is awful.” Where Bellamy was at this point is unclear, but the forward, still angry with Riise, had allegedly made a beeline for his teammate back at the hotel and hit him around the legs with a golf club. Age Hareide, the Norway manager, seemed to confirm the alleged incident yesterday when he said that Riise was “fine” and “escaped without injuries”.

 

All of which provides an unnecessary and unseemly pretext to Liverpool’s first knockout round, first leg clash with Barcelona at the Nou Camp and has left a bad taste in the mouths of the club’s new American owners, George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks.

 

BenÍtez had been encouraged to hear of dissent in the Spanish team’s camp last week, but, depressingly, the situation has been turned on its head. Only time will tell whether it adversely affects Liverpool’s hopes of progressing in the competition.

 

Bellamy will still be around, then, but it is unlikely to be for much longer after that.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premiership/liverpool/article1403624.ece

 

Sounds like it's all been blown way out of proportion as initially thought. :whistle:

[bossy]

A Sunday Paper gave away Culture Club's greatest hits and holidays for £9.50to increase its circulation. They will do fucking anything to spread their 'news, and as long as they can point to something in the story that has a basis in fact they can justify it. You know, Bellmay is holding a golf club and shouts at Riise. Pissed probably, murder attempt probably not. 2 weeks fine par for the course.

 

 

 

And here's Tom with the weather....

[Guest FarmersBoy]

Interesting that many on here are still refusing to believe that it's true. just because it's in the papers, and one bullshit paper in particular, doesn't always mean it's not true, you know.

 

This morning's broadsheets are full of reports of Bellamy's 'alleged' attack on Riise.

 

Quite why, if he's only been threatened, Riise's agent would go to the trouble of saying that "the main thing" is that Riise is "not injured" if he hadn't been hit beats me.

[chrisbonnie]

that article from the times HAS to be rubbish, whats the odds on a Mr and Mrs LOVER,, over hearing Dudek tell the Portugese riot police that "he LOVES them"

 

im sorry, but thats just too much, next it`ll be Mr and Mrs Vodka and Red Bull seeing the lads drinking copious amounts on the named mixer :lol:

[wiiksie]

Interesting that many on here are still refusing to believe that it's true. just because it's in the papers, and one bullshit paper in particular, doesn't always mean it's not true, you know.

 

This morning's broadsheets are full of reports of Bellamy's 'alleged' attack on Riise.

 

Quite why, if he's only been threatened, Riise's agent would go to the trouble of saying that "the main thing" is that Riise is "not injured" if he hadn't been hit beats me.

What it does mean if its in the redtops is that its inaccurate, sensationalist and geared to get Joe Fucking Public to go 'oooh, they should be locked up' when he reads the article.

 

My account would read: Couple of the lads had a drink and got a bit punchy.

 

The redtop account was: "REDS IN HORROR BRAWL"

 

Fuck the redtops and the lies they propagate.

[Jorgen_b]

Does anyone actully know if there was a fine, and how big it was? :|

[RedinSweden]

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2016248,00.html

 

The Guardian seems to have found the middle ground. They were "lively". If He had really attacked Riise with a golf club to his legs, he wouldn't have escaped injury would he? Sounds like the normal thing of an incident being blown up. Why didn't Riise want to sing anyway, Karaoke rules.

[05 Milan]

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2016248,00.html

 

The Guardian seems to have found the middle ground. They were "lively". If He had really attacked Riise with a golf club to his legs, he wouldn't have escaped injury would he? Sounds like the normal thing of an incident being blown up. Why didn't Riise want to sing anyway, Karaoke rules.

 

If this is true, I'd be really interested to know how TV2 got hold of the "end your career and kill you"-story. As I said yesterday, they would never have claimed this if they didn't have it from Riise himself, or someone very close to him.

[A-G]

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2016248,00.html

 

The Guardian seems to have found the middle ground. They were "lively". If He had really attacked Riise with a golf club to his legs, he wouldn't have escaped injury would he? Sounds like the normal thing of an incident being blown up. Why didn't Riise want to sing anyway, Karaoke rules.

 

i suspect he is one of those guys who thinks he is to cool and doesn't want to look silly

[05 Milan]

If Riise is completely innocent, it wouldn't be surprising if he was strategically leaking bits and pieces to win over public opinion, so he can escape a fine. Am I being too harsh here?

[El Rojo]

Interesting that many on here are still refusing to believe that it's true. just because it's in the papers, and one bullshit paper in particular, doesn't always mean it's not true, you know.

 

This morning's broadsheets are full of reports of Bellamy's 'alleged' attack on Riise.

 

Quite why, if he's only been threatened, Riise's agent would go to the trouble of saying that "the main thing" is that Riise is "not injured" if he hadn't been hit beats me.

 

Well experience has taught us to take tabloid stories with a large serving of scepticism. And I don't think anybody's denying something happened - it's the magnitude of the incident people are disputing.

[Captain]

Does anyone actully know if there was a fine, and how big it was? :|

 

Two weeks wages, it seems. Which is supposed to be the maximum amount.

[El Rojo]

If Riise is completely innocent, it wouldn't be surprising if he was strategically leaking bits and pieces to win over public opinion, so he can escape a fine. Am I being too harsh here?

 

It would make sense alright. His agent maybe?

[Captain]

Just read the account in the Times. Not good.

[Lapskaus]

If this is true, I'd be really interested to know how TV2 got hold of the "end your career and kill you"-story. As I said yesterday, they would never have claimed this if they didn't have it from Riise himself, or someone very close to him.

 

If Bellamy did try to kill him, he would be out on his ear Saturday morning. TV2 just translated the S*n or some other dirty rag. Did anyone see what NRK reported?

 

PS: That Beckham-loving-sorry-excuse-for-a-reporter outside anfield interviewing a blueShite about the incident, that is inexcusable!

[05 Milan]

If Bellamy did try to kill him, he would be out on his ear Saturday morning. TV2 just translated the S*n or some other dirty rag. Did anyone see what NRK reported?

 

PS: That Beckham-loving-sorry-excuse-for-a-reporter outside anfield interviewing a blueShite about the incident, that is inexcusable!

 

Things is though mate, TV2 were the only ones reporting this AFAIK. I'd imagine they have better sources in the "Riise-camp" than british tabloids. In fact, it seems like all the info here has been coming from Riises agent (although he of course has no comment on the record) or close family (who also have declined to comment on the record).

[RedinSweden]

Things is though mate, TV2 were the only ones reporting this AFAIK. I'd imagine they have better sources in the "Riise-camp" than british tabloids. In fact, it seems like all the info here has been coming from Riises agent (although he of course has no comment on the record) or close family (who also have declined to comment on the record).

 

Isn't his Mum his agent?

 

Maybe Rafa hired Bellamy to do a job on Riise.

[Lapskaus]

Things is though mate, TV2 were the only ones reporting this AFAIK. I'd imagine they have better sources in the "Riise-camp" than british tabloids. In fact, it seems like all the info here has been coming from Riises agent (although he of course has no comment on the record) or close family (who also have declined to comment on the record).

 

I believe they have a lot of sources in the Riise-camp, but this story just cant be true. Riise wouldnt be smiling and joking around with Bellamy in training if he tried to murder him. This isnt just two guys messing around drunk, what was reported was a maniac kicking the door in(is that even possible except in movies) and then going for his head with a golf club and screaming Im going to kill you? It's just not credible at all. Benitez would have no other choice but to send him away if that story was true

[05 Milan]

I believe they have a lot of sources in the Riise-camp, but this story just cant be true. Riise wouldnt be smiling and joking around with Bellamy in training if he tried to murder him. This isnt just two guys messing around drunk, what was reported was a maniac kicking the door in(is that even possible except in movies) and then going for his head with a golf club and screaming Im going to kill you? It's just not credible at all. Benitez would have no other choice but to send him away if that story was true

 

Which begs the question: who's lying? I doubt TV2 would risk a lawsuit by airing claims from someone who wasn't close to Riise.

 

Then again, you can't really say everything is fine by looking at pictures from todays training can you? They've probably been ordered to smile and joke with eachother.

[RedinSweden]

Which begs the question: who's lying? I doubt TV2 would risk a lawsuit by airing claims from someone who wasn't close to Riise.

 

Then again, you can't really say everything is fine by looking at pictures from todays training can you? They've probably been ordered to smile and joke with eachother.

 

IF TV2 are anything like Aftonbladet, they are very careful with regards sources in Sweden, but happily regurgitate shite that the S*n spews out.

[Paco]

If Bellamy did try to kill him, he would be out on his ear Saturday morning. TV2 just translated the S*n or some other dirty rag. Did anyone see what NRK reported?

 

PS: That Beckham-loving-sorry-excuse-for-a-reporter outside anfield interviewing a blueShite about the incident, that is inexcusable!

 

now he tried to kill him?

[05 Milan]

IF TV2 are anything like Aftonbladet, they are very careful with regards sources in Sweden, but happily regurgitate shite that the S*n spews out.

 

But when they said the stuff about careers and killing, it was "TV2 knows". This is what they say when they have 100 percent confirmation on something. If it was from the s*n, they would have quoted it.

[ali]

KOP CLOSES RANKS AFTER ALGARVE SHAME

David Maddock 19/02/2007 - Mirror

 

WHILE boss Rafa Benitez was keen to play down the controversy that has rocked his club this weekend, he knows that the aggro on the Algarve could be the death knell for Liverpool's season.

 

The Merseyside club realise their entire campaign will be rendered worthless if they fall to heavy defeat at the hands of Barcelona on Wednesday in a crucial Champions League clash at the Nou Camp.

 

Yet the Spanish coach in the build-up to Wednesday's epic contest has had to deal with a shameful series of drunken brawls and fighting between his own players that has sullied the reputation of this great football club.

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A calm Benitez has assured Liverpool supporters that the trip to a Portugal training camp was a success, and that team spirit is unaffected by the bust-up between Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise.

 

But privately the Spaniard is said to be furious, with those close to the club revealing that Benitez refuses to countenance any hint of unprofessional behaviour.

 

For Bellamy in particular that means a troubled last third of the season as he attempts to win back the trust of a manager who showed during his time with Valencia a readiness to move players on at the first whiff of trouble.

 

Benitez is a pragmatist and that is why he has merely fined the striker - along with Riise and Jerzy Dudek - arguing that he needs all three for the trip to the Nou Camp. But come the summer, when he will be armed with the financial muscle to bring in top strikers from across Europe, it could be a very different story, especially if the new family-orientated American owners of the club exert pressure.

 

George Gillett and Tom Hicks have both promoted pure wholesome values at their sports teams in the States, and the last thing they want on completion of their £450million Liverpool takeover is a PR disaster.

 

Bellamy hardly fits the image of a clean-cut sportsman and he could be sacrificed as the two Americans try to make their mark on the club. One insider close to Benitez said yesterday:

 

"He may seem calm but he is very, very angry about this. He has read the riot act to the players and told them that there are no more chances.

 

"It's the last thing he wants so close to such a massive game for him and for the club.

 

"He doesn't want to go back to Spain having to answer questions about discipline, and Bellamy in particular will be a marked man."

 

In defence of the Welshman, his antics - while unprofessional - were not quite as bad as were first reported.

 

And the rest of the Liverpool squad - with the exception of Dudek - were well behaved on their karaoke night in Monty's Restaurant and Bar at the upmarket Vale do Lobo resort.

 

Police were called when Dudek became involved in an argument with an off-duty officer in the bar, but no arrests were made. The keeper was briefly handcuffed and later released with a warning. He also faces a club fine.

 

Earlier in the evening, Riise and Bellamy had something of a stand-off when the Norwegian rounded on his Welsh colleague and told him to back off after jibes about the karaoke.

 

Bellamy had barracked Riise for not singing and in the end was told to back down and keep his mouth shut.

 

That seemed to be the end of the incident but trouble flared an hour later back at the hotel when, armed with a golf club, Bellamy went in search of revenge for what he saw as a public humiliation by his colleague.

 

The two players were involved in a drunken bust-up in Riise's room after Bellamy had hammered at his door. But, contrary to earlier reports, Bellamy did not viciously beat his team-mate, instead merely prodding him with the golf club and threatening him with abusive language.

 

Benitez was called to the scene, gave both men a dressing-down, and warned them that they would face club discipline on their return to England. Now Bellamy, Riise and Dudek will be hit by penalties of two weeks' wages.

 

Contrary to reports, no other players were involved and several who were named in newspapers over the weekend, including Jermaine Pennant, are now considering legal action.

 

For Benitez the biggest worry will be the impact on team morale. Fighting between two first-team players is hardly conducive to the development of team spirit, but he will bank on Barcelona being in equal disarray following their own internal strife.

 

Last night Benitez insisted: "The spirit among the lads is very good and we are all looking forward to the game against Barcelona on Wednesday."

 

Should his side crash to a heavy defeat, though, then his mood will not be so generous, and Bellamy in particular will pay the price for failure.

 

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/tm_headline=kop-closes-ranks-after-algarve-shame%26method=full%26objectid=18642288%26siteid=89520-name_page.html

 

hope they sue the pants off em

[Newport]

 

PS: That Beckham-loving-sorry-excuse-for-a-reporter outside anfield interviewing a blueShite about the incident, that is inexcusable!

 

It's not her. It's the other hot reporter. :whistle:

[kop]

If Riise is completely innocent, it wouldn't be surprising if he was strategically leaking bits and pieces to win over public opinion, so he can escape a fine. Am I being too harsh here?

 

I think you are. A fine wouldn't be based on what's in the news anyway. Rafa & co must know a hell of a lot more about this than TV2 or any other media anyway so what Riise leakes to the media has nothing to do with the reaction from the club. Public opinion maybe, but not the fine.