But Gerrard has quickly distanced himself from
Lawrenson’s foot-in-mouth comments, insisting no such conversation
took place. Lawro dropped his clanger on Today FM presenter Matt
Cooper’s Monday evening show.
He said: “I was having a drink with Steven Gerrard at a
function on Saturday and we talked about Robbie Keane. “He said
they shared the same agent and, quite honestly, he thinks
something’s going to happen with Keane in January. It sounds like
he could be moved on.”
Liverpool reacted swiftly and angrily and insisted
those were Lawro’s views and not the club’s. A Reds spokesman said:
“Mark’s remarks are his interpretation of a private chat. "They do
no accurately reflect Steven’s opinion of Robbie and they certainly
do not tally with Steven’s recollection of the conversation
itself.”
Lawro, who made 332 appearances for the Kop side, also
put the boot in on boss Rafa Benitez’s judgment over forking out
£20million for Keane. He added: “He got it wrong. If Liverpool
played in a Champions League final, an FA Cup final or a massive
game they had to win, you know Keane would not start, he’d not get
in the team.”
Lawro tried to dig himself out of a hole by insisting:
“I’m sorry if I caused any aggravation but it wasn’t meant to.
Gerrard’s name should never have come up. “It wasn’t Steven saying
that, it was me saying it.”
