Sunday 10 May 2015

Raheem Sterling - On Reflection...

On Wednesday 1st April 2015 Natalie Pirks conducted an fabulous interview for BBC Television; even she could not believe the footage she and her colleagues were capturing in the can with her brilliantly executed probing questions with Raheem Sterling. As many of you regular followers of my blog will know, I am not a Liverpool fan but I was more than a little concerned by footage I observed that evening. So much was said at the time, I decided to keep my counsel before uttering my own views on what has proved to be a most fascinating insight into the world of Raheem Stirling.

I am going to be frank and honest, a little more than normal because I personally identified with Raheem in this interview. This was a huge interview because very few of us have heard this young man speak before, Had this conversation taken place on-stage as part of a question and answer session at one of the many football dinners I have attended, much of the detail might have been lost in translation. But this interchange happened on the BBC and that changes everything. All Professional footballers, especially Premiership ones, like elite performers are nowadays briefed at some point in their development on how to deal with their media, warned about the pitfalls of their conduct, their associations, pastimes etc. Simply because their every move and utterance is consumed by an obsessive global audience that is served by equally ravenous media outlets that employs pundits by the truck-load to pour over and endlessly debate trivia beyond objective comprehension. Until I subscribed to Sky Sports in the 1990s, the only match that required a measured one hour build up dissecting the personalities of the field of play and their tactics coupled with their rituals was the F.A. Cup Final! Extended debate is now a rite of passage, just check the thousands of forums that are exhausting keep up with and that's before you get to The Maestro Talks Football. My point is that Mr Sterling in taking on this interview should have been better prepared. Having said all of that, we have for once a real gem courtesy of the brilliant and beautiful (in that order chaps!) journalist Natalie Pirks.

Liverpool Football Club is a run superbly by Ian Ayre and backed stupendously by the no nonsense John W Henry. He is the perfect owner; he says nothing but when something needs to be said, his voice sounds...loud and clear (take note Mike Ashley!) No club statements are required, he opens his savvy mouth and tells it as it damn well is! When he said Suarez was not going to be sold back in the summer of 2013, no-one disbelieved him; the story was dead in the water. He will also have noted that Sterling stated that he would have happily signed last season for significantly less money at the end of last season when the team were flying...with Suarez and Sturridge conquering all before them, How very interesting that with £100,000-a-week on offer, he suddenly 'wants to concentrate on winning things for Liverpool.' instead of taking the deal and focussing on that unique footballing education that Anfield provides. Somewhere along the way, he or his advisors have convinced him that like a poker player, his status has assumed greater significance in the absence of Suarez, an injured Sturridge and a departing Steven Gerrard and his stock is worth the waiting game. Is he right? The simple answer is No!

Potential is a loaded word, and history will tell us that a great many players with a trolley load of it failed miserably. Ex-Cobbler Sean Dyche, who sadly failed to keep Burnley in the Premier League this season, had expressed shock earlier in the season at the wages being demanded by unproven teenagers and their parents in Youth Football. Raheem Sterling was a lone success story for England at last year's World Cup but the brutal truth is unlike Pele, Maradona and Cruyff his ability did not single-handedly drag England through to the knock-out stages, nor did Liverpool actually win the Premier League. Football at the high table is defined by small margins. Gareth Bale scored the winning goal in the Champions League Final last May when the deadlock needed to be broken in extra time; but note how he was savaged for his abject display last week against Juventus. He may yet rescue the tie for his club this week and retain the trophy in early June - something no team has achieved in the Champions League; then history will confirm his status forever more! Steven Gerrard is being discussed as the greatest Liverpool player ever because he dragged an average Liverpool team back from 3-0 down to lift the trophy in 2005. Raheem Sterling is not the finished article, nor has he convinced anyone that he might be, otherwise he would have made it 2-1 against Ludogorets Razgrad back in November before being substituted and Liverpool would have stayed in the Champions League or with a burst of brilliance might have created an assist or a goal that would have Liverpool challenging for the Europa Cup later this month or simply smashed Aston Villa at Wembley in that semi-final to set up a fixture with Arsenal for Mr Gerrard's birthday departure; but he hasn't achieved anything.

Liverpool Football Club are a loyal, nurturing football club. Listening to Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports and reading his columns, his insights on Liverpool life are invaluable. Sometime ago, he pointed out in one of his newspaper pieces that improving Liverpool players have their contracts reviewed regularly and improved quietly behind closed doors without outward utterances or fanfare. One simple fact that I discovered within seconds of being engaged for my debut on the Professional stage is that P.R. is a huge but invisible business. Watching a documentary about the political preparations (or lack of) by  'pub landlord' Al Murray to contest the Thanet seat opposite Nigel Farage revealed the exhausting complexities of nurturing and winning public votes. The image that football people want to promote to us humble but significant supporters is a big deal. I personally blame Liverpool Football Club for allowing the story about Raheem's contract to gain any publicity; a Ferguson-led Manchester United always kept such details in-house; Liverpool should have snuffed the story. Whilst it was refreshing to hear the young man naively conduct this rare interview, he should never have felt vulnerable, in the first place, to feel the need to speak out. I also blame his agent Aidy Ward. Ward is also the agent of talented Baggies striker Saido Berahino, another player who has angered his bosses by giving unsolicited interviews to media outlets about 'contracts and future ambitions'; Sterling needs this like a hole in the head! As I said before, if he merited a rise, the Liverpool way would have been to get it done; and keep quiet.

So, does this all matter? The simple answer is yes because since the interview and all that has followed, on the football pitch where it really matters, Sterling has been woeful. He has missed easy chances, his potency has dropped, Liverpool are, as I said earlier, not contesting the Final of the F.A. Cup, and most significantly will not qualify for the Champions League next year. That quite simply is what he will be judged on come the end of the season; by everyone - results. The side-show has ultimately been destructive to himself and his employers - quite simply that is very bad for business.

Brendan Rodgers is a well-respected manager and should be allowed to continue in his role at Liverpool just as David Moyes should still be the manager of Manchester United - but that's another blog! Life though can sometimes become complicated unnecessarily, I sincerely hope that the organisation at Anfield, stand firm back their manager, despite his lack of trophy success and cut Raheem Sterling, and his colleagues, some slack. The environmental stability to reflect, recharge and return next season with an intensity to succeed is a necessary dynamic because the true reality is that Liverpool are not that far from where they need to be. Romantic nostalgic notions, reputations and pedigree have very little currency in the modern world game; you either succeed or you fail. The Premier League is now bursting with well-run clubs, with great potential match-winners amongst their playing staff. By exposing himself to the media glare, he has to hit the turf in August at high tempo, be productive next season and lift silverware or he will be sold to another football club - the sand of allowances, at least publicly, in his egg-timer have ruthlessly run dry. The world's vultures wait for no-one any more, as Nigel Farage, Ed Milliband and Nick Clegg have discovered this week - nearly is now viewed as a costly mistake.

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