The Warm-Up: Let's all just take a minute and listen to John Barnes
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Updated 11/12/2018 at 09:04 GMT
Plus, it's the Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaampioooooooooons...
John Barnes, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and Raheem Sterling have all been subject to racism
Image credit: Eurosport
TUESDAY’S BIG STORIES
Let’s listen to John Barnes
You hope that, if anything good is going to come from the last few days, the racial abuse that Raheem Sterling suffered and pointed out was in large part facilitated and encouraged by sections of the media, that we might see some form of change. In football, in the media, in society.
Still, it is depressing that we are still having essentially the same conversation today as we were 30 years ago, when John Barnes suffered what he had to suffer.
But nobody knows more about this than Barnes, so let’s listen to what he had to say, when he spoke to BBC Sport:
On the banana skin thrown at Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang:
It didn’t surprise me because black people go through invisible banana skins being thrown at them and unspoken racial abuse every day of their lives. The very fact that now a real banana skin came on and there was real abuse doesn’t surprise me at all. I just thought it was to be expected.
On the ‘return’ of overt racism at football in the UK:
Those days haven’t gone. They have gone in terms of the overt racism. In many respects, I much prefer the overt racism now to the racism we went through in the last 10 years whereby we are being told that it doesn’t exist so, therefore, let’s get on with it. I knew that not to be true. In many respects, I’m glad it happened because it will bring home to people that we have still got a long way to go and it is still alive and kicking.
On what next:
Forget about football, we have to stop compartmentalising it and thinking it is a problem in football and the rest of society is fine. We have to look at it holistically and as a whole and say let us tackle racism or discrimination in life. Then you can look to get rid of it in football. The only way you can do that is first to deconstruct the idea of where racism came from. Racism comes from the fact that for the last X amount of years, the history that we have learnt – what we have been told about different groups of people – have put a certain group of people above the other, which is a lie.
A big night ahead for Tottenham and Liverpool
Hoooooooo boy. What a sizzling evening of Gazprom lies ahead. Two English teams have a chance to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Champions League, but both have a task on their hands. A big ol’ task.
Tottenham are in Barcelona, and the short version is they have to at least match Inter’s result against PSV Eindhoven if they’re to make it through. As PSV have only managed one point from their five games so far, that’s something of a tall order. The good news is that if they do match it, Spurs are ahead on head-to-head record so will go through. The bad news is they’re playing Barcelona, albeit a Barcelona without Luis Suarez and, possibly, Leo Messi.
“We are going to be ready to compete in our best condition, I’m so optimistic,” said Mauricio Pochettino yesterday. “It’s so important we think about the job we want to do, not what Barcelona want to do.”
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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is preparing to face Napoli
Image credit: PA Sport
Liverpool’s task is also relatively straightforward, but only a bit less difficult: they have to beat Napoli by two goals in order to progress, which would leave them level on points with them but would better the 1-0 result in Italy from earlier in the group stage. They could get away with a single goal victory, but that would rely on PSG losing to Red Star Belgrade: not out of the question, as they’re playing in Serbia, but tricky.
“I know it will be difficult,” Jurgen Klopp said, “but I can not help think about it without a smile on my face.”
Tough not to warm to, isn’t he?
Digne seals the Marco Silva derby
In some ways it would have been more apt to settle Watford’s trip to Everton with a wrestling match over Marco Silva. The man hated in Hertfordshire and making a nice start to life on Merseyside is certainly polarising, but he had the last laugh (sort of) on Monday night.
It was the sixth minute of injury time before Lucas Digne curled in a free-kick, levelling things up after a Seamus Coleman own-goal and one from Abdoulaye Doucoure had given Watford a 2-1 lead, following Richarlison’s opener.
It was all good fun though: Silva got his point and a late goal, Watford fans got to wave inflatable snakes at their former manager. Everyone’s happy. Sort of.
IN OTHER NEWS
We are a few days late with this, but…sweet mercy.
HEROES AND ZEROS
Heroes: Sunderland
There’s a documentary coming out about Sunderland. Sunderland last season. It was intended to be the story of a club rising from the Championship, back to where they belonged in the top flight, but Sunderland’s general incompetence knocked that into touch. With that in mind, fair play to Sunderland for even allowing it to go out…
Zero: Dave Kitson
Really, it’s a good job Dave Kitson isn’t on social media and hasn’t published a number of books, isn’t it. What’s that…?
HAT TIP
At least the Daily Mail – one of the newspapers that is held up, more than any other, as a serial offender – was honest enough to acknowledge that part of Sterling’s statement, whereas the Sun’s online team, true to form, airbrushed out all the relevant parts. Which is not just sneaky and pathetic but reinforces what Sterling says: that some elements of the media have created a caricature of him, that they don’t want him to have his own voice and that they are the ones with the problem, not him.
In the Guardian, Daniel Taylor tackles the question raised by Raheem Sterling that the media is at best complicit in the spread of racism in football, and indeed society.
RETRO CORNER
Before this season, Tottenham had only played Barcelona once in a competitive game – in the 1982 Cup Winners’ Cup. Would recommend Ray Clemence looking away now…
COMING UP
Oh yes. The Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaampiooooooooooooooooooons. It’s the final round of the group stage, and plenty is up fo’ grabs. Can Tottenham beat Barcelona? Can Liverpool sneak past Napoli? Tune in, and return here tomorrow so we can all talk about it.
Tomorrow’s Warm-Up will be brought to you by Alex Chick, who already has the Gazprom on ice.
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