Hold your hands up: The has been a furious reaction
to Luis Suarez's goal for Liverpool against Mansfield
Watched the Mansfield's keeper's reaction. Poor
feller, played so hard and got done by this kind of thing. For a
non league side who may never play at the highest level, this must
haunt them for the rest of their careers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9BBs8o6Ma-0
Mansfield chairman John Radford has ensured the
row over the controversial Luis Suarez goal rumbles on by making
the extraordinary claim that Liverpool’s own directors are
embarrassed by the actions of the club’s Uruguay
striker.
The Blue Square Bet Premier club are counting the cost of
Sunday’s 2-1 FA Cup third-round defeat by Liverpool at Field Mill,
with initial estimates suggesting a replay at Anfield would have
brought them more than £600,000.
Comments from Mansfield’s owner and chairman - made after
the full implications of the goal sunk in - will perhaps inflame a
situation already so sensitive that ESPN felt moved to apologise
publicly for on-air suggestions from commentator Jon Champion that
Suarez had cheated.
‘To be honest the Liverpool directors felt
embarrassed,’ said Radford. ‘That’s it. I would have been
absolutely embarrassed had it been one of our
players.
‘I’d have been embarrassed and the man should be
embarrassed. Referees have a hard time but to do it deliberately then
celebrate is the hardest thing.
‘To cheat, maybe that’s OK in sport. But to cheat and
then celebrate cheating, that is the worst thing you can do.
It’s always disappointing when things happen.
‘I’m going to be biased every time because I’m watching a
Premier League referee in charge of a game between a non-League
side and a Premier side and some of the decisions were
hurtful.
‘When you get a professional player like Suarez and when
they kiss the hand after a deliberate foul then of course it
hurts.’
Asked if Suarez was gloating, he added: ‘Well, obviously
he was. It was like, "Hang on, I can get away with this". If one of
my players had done that I’d be embarrassed.
'I was looking for a fair and true competition and that
was one incident in the game that made me feel
like...well...'
No fuss: Suarez angered fans further when he celebrated
the goal in trademark fashion
Regular watchers of Barclays Premier League
football will know Suarez always celebrates a goal by kissing a
tattoo of his daughter’s name on his wrist. Nevertheless,
Mansfield’s ire will not subside.
As Liverpool look ahead to a Premier League game at
Manchester United on Sunday — expected attendance 76,500 — and
Mansfield prepare to host Kidderminster — anticipated
attendance 2,500 — in the Blue Square Bet Premier, it is perhaps
understandable Radford has been left rueing a 2-1
defeat.
With Suarez’s handball prior to Liverpool’s second goal
proving decisive, Mansfield are reflecting on missing out on 45 per
cent of replay gate receipts plus more TV money had the second game been shown live
next week.
Radford, who bankrolls Mansfield with his own money, did
not try to hide his frustration and disappointment as he widened
his attack on Sunday’s opponents.
He said: ‘They have denied us a replay but it doesn’t
matter. I know I’m big enough and daft enough to be able to stand
up for the club and take us forward. It’s hurtful for the league we
are in because we are playing at the likes of Luton and Grimsby.
The profile would have been good.
Not happy: Mansfied's owner John Radford has hit out at
the player, claiming he shamed Liverpool
‘Did you not hear our fans? Did you not hear how
loud they were? Compared to Liverpool fans they are true fans. It’s
not like Liverpool fans are not true fans, but it was proper fans
that were there for us.
‘They paid their £20 for a ticket and they had queued up
overnight to get them. Liverpool fans were probably all
corporate because we outsung them at the game.
‘As Mansfield chairman, local club, local boy, born and
bred, supporting the team, it’s not business. This is the team I
love.
‘I’m here for the passion, as against Liverpool,
where it’s all about business.What happened was a killer. It was a
killer and a shame that a professional would do that sort of thing
to a non-League team.’
Radford’s wife, Carolyn, the club’s chief executive, added
in an exclusive column on Sportsmail Online: ‘We all have that
"what if" feeling. With Liverpool playing Oldham in the next round,
we could even have had a chance of getting through that
one.
‘The goal was really frustrating for us. He got such an
advantage and then kissed his hand. I think the reaction from
Liverpool showed that even they thought it shouldn’t have been
allowed.
‘It’s difficult to know if he is a cheat. If it was
deliberate he should have owned up.’
Her husband’s view was more categorical. ‘One day,
cheats will never prosper,’ he said.