Glen Johnson was five players down the line when Luis Suarez seemingly refused to shake hands with Patrice Evra at Old Trafford last month. He didn’t see it.
The Liverpool defender has watched it plenty of times on television since, though, and he is convinced of what happened.
‘Evra was clever at Old Trafford,’ said Johnson, extending his hand directly towards me. ‘Because - I’m not being funny - but if I wanted to shake your hand I would stick it right out in front of me like that. But if my hand is down here, almost by my side, then it’s because I really don’t want to shake your hand.
‘Luis didn’t shake his hand because Evra’s hand was down there. What else is Luis supposed to do? Would you go to shake someone’s hand if their hand is way down there by their side? Course not. But then, because Luis didn’t do it, Evra has pulled him back by his arm as he walked on, as if to say to everybody: “Look, I wanted to shake his hand and he didn’t…”
‘He’s following Luis with his eyes as if to say: “Right he’s gone, he’s gone (past me) so I’ll pull him back now…” Evra probably stayed up all night thinking about how to do that. The whole thing was ridiculous.’
This week Johnson became the first member of Kenny Dalglish’s squad to talk in detail about the Suarez-Evra episode, a saga that shook football and - in many people’s eyes - left a dent in Liverpool’s reputation.
It would appear that those who think the resentment surrounding this awful dispute has vanished are quite wrong.
Glen Johnson is the guy who got dragged into a race storm that had nothing to do with him.
Liverpool’s only black first-team player, the England defender has been criticised by other black sportsmen for standing by Luis Suarez after the Uruguay forward was found by the FA to have made racist comments to Manchester United’s Patrice Evra during a game last October.
Former United defender Paul McGrath took to Twitter on seeing Johnson join his team-mates in wearing T-shirts in support of Suarez as they warmed up before a game at Wigan.
‘If I was in Glen Johnson’s position, I would have thrown the shirt to the floor,’ said McGrath.
Weeks later, Worcester and England sevens rugby player Marcel Garvey used the same social network to call Johnson an ‘Uncle Tom’. The term is used to describe blacks who are willingly subservient to whites. When we met this week, Johnson remained baffled. Admirably phlegmatic, but baffled all the same.
‘It’s only an issue because I am the only black lad in the club,’ he shrugged. ‘If it’s bad that the other lads supported Luis then that should be seen as just as bad as me supporting him. But people are on to me because I am black.
‘The McGrath thing … that’s actually racist. Saying what he said is racist. He is only saying that to me because I was the only black lad wearing the T-shirt. He’s targeting me because of my colour.
‘Listen, I’m my own man. If I have something I want to say or do then I will do it. The reason I wore the T-shirt is because I know 100 per cent Luis Suarez is not racist. He is one of the lads in the team that I get on with best of all at the club.
‘I am still on Twitter but I don’t use it much now. I was getting pathetic stuff on there. But that is what people go on it for, to give people stick. I haven’t spoken to Paul McGrath about it. I don’t care what he thinks, really. I don’t know anything about him. But for someone to say that, it sums them up. It’s their problem.
‘As for the rugby guy… well, that was really intelligent wasn’t it? I don’t know who this geezer is either. He should stick to playing rugby.
‘If I was to react to everyone’s comments I would be arguing every single day, you know? Like I say, for someone like that to write such a stupid message … well, make your own judgment.’
Johnson sat down with me this week in Warrington as part of an obligation to promote a new England sticker collection for children. Scheduled to do a host of media engagements, he was willing and courteous as he talked and signed card after card that would subsequently be distributed to youngsters.
Traditionally not an easy interviewee, the 27–year-old nevertheless spoke openly, intelligently and at length about the Suarez issue. It is clear he has no doubt about his team-mate’s innocence.
Along with many others, I have been fiercely critical of Liverpool’s handling of the affair. Nevertheless, Johnson’s reasoning was compelling to listen to, even if it was not enough to persuade me Dalglish and his club dealt with the issue as well as they should have done.
‘The evidence was Luis’s word against Evra’s,’ argued Johnson. ‘I’m not saying Evra is lying but it’s his word against Luis’s, isn’t it? So how did it all turn out to be so strong in Evra’s favour? I work with the lad every day. There is no way he said that.
‘With the media these days and the way it was going to be blown up, maybe the T-shirts thing wasn’t the right thing to do. How should I say this? We wore them to show our support for Luis. It wasn’t to send a message to everyone else. It was just for him.
Critical: Paul McGrath had his say on the matter after the Wigan match
‘It seemed to come across that we were making a point. We weren’t. It was the club’s idea. But obviously we all agreed. We didn’t really think about how people would react.’
The core argument of Suarez’s defence was that the word ‘negrito’ — which he was found to use to Evra at Anfield last October — is not an abusive term in South America. Suarez has played in Europe since 2007. Many impartial judges believe he should have known better.
Johnson, though, accepts Suarez’s defence. He tweeted his support of his friend the day after the T-shirts came out at Wigan. His loyalty to Suarez is admirable. It is clearly genuine, as is his fear that Suarez may turn his back on the Barclays Premier League.
‘I wrote what I thought on Twitter,’ Johnson recalled. ‘Then when I saw him the next day he came over and said thanks and that it meant a lot to him. I didn’t write that for him to come and say thank you. I just wanted to let people know my point of view. Like it or hate it, I don’t care.
‘It was nice for him to see his team-mates supporting him, I guess. But what people don’t appreciate is that these things stick with people and it can ruin careers. He could get almost forced out of Liverpool. He’s a good lad and a fantastic player and all he wants to do is get on and play football.
‘I can’t understand how people don’t get that in his culture the word “negro” or “negrito” is genuinely normal. Just because he’s out of his country he is not going to stop using his mother tongue. If we went to another country, we would use our slang, wouldn’t we? I can’t see why somebody can get in trouble for using his culture in another country.
‘I work with him every day. I know what he is like. Other people don’t. I will not change my view.’
Read More: Mail Online
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