You'll Never Walk Alone

Is that true? There is nothing wrong with changing your agreements. People do it all the time, and that does not mean they broke their promise when they do. If something is not working for you, you have to change it! Kenny Daglish and Liverpool Football Club (LFC) promised to stand by Luis Suarez at the beginning of his racism row with Patrice Evra. This act to me was honourable as I am a strong believer in innocent until proven guilty. The FA found Luis Suarez guilty, on the "balance of probability" - a lower standard than the criminal standard of "beyond all reasonable doubt". Suarez was not proved to be racist, but the findings were more about the fact that Suarez’s indiscretions "damaged the image of English football around the world".

As an LFC fan, I felt that the sentence punished the club more than the player, but for me it was an opportunity to move forward as the reputational damage was immense and had to be addressed. LFC, missed the chance to echo the sentiments of the FA and there was continued support for Suarez, with Kenny Daglish defiant in approach if not in denial (I really don’t know which it is as I held his leadership abilities in high esteem before this incident). The club’s anthem is after all, “You’ll Never Walk Alone”! What message has Luis Suarez sent by refusing to shake Patrice Evra’s hand in yesterday’s game? What message, as a leader, is Kenny Daglish sending in blaming Sky TV for making a mountain out of a molehill, hyping up an incident he claims he hardly even noticed?

It is clear there is a clash of values here, including mine as a fan with the club! While some may mock the FIFA Fair Play pre-match handshake as meaningless, I think it is good for disrupting an angry mind. If you are to be constructive with anyone in terms of creating value, you can’t only look at yourself, you need to acknowledge the other person. Looking a person in the eye, shaking their hand and acknowledging, who they are, raises your consciousness of seeing a person rather than a problem. “I’m right and you’re wrong” has never created sustainable solutions to any problem.

 I love winning and I love supporting winners. I do not believe in a win at all costs approach though. It means more to me to uphold my values, one of them being integrity, than winning trophies. LFC should sit Luis Suarez out of the squad for the rest of the season, and look to sell him in the transfer season or help resurrect his career, if he feels he is committed to conducting himself in alignment to the values of the club and within the spirit of the game. It really could cost LFC the chance of winning a trophy, to do that, but it could cost them a lot more to do nothing about his conduct. Suarez needs a Life Coach right now as I don’t think this is where he wants to be!

We make agreements in good spirit, with a good heart and that is what we base Integrity on. When that agreement starts to destroy value rather than preserve or create it, you need to change that agreement. Integrity to me, is consistency between what you think, what you say and what you do! LFC made an agreement to support Suarez at the beginning of this race row as that was then the right thing to do, based on the information they had. You’ll Never Walk Alone is an anthem I dream of hearing at Anfield. If LFC keeps honouring that agreement with Luis Suarez, what values will the people that walk with them hold near and dear to their hearts? Those are certainly not values that are aligned to mine.

So is it true, You’ll Never Walk Alone? 

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