When all the dust settles from the UEFA nonsense, things are put into clear perspective with the news that really matters. One of our old players has had a heart attack and is ill. And not just any old ex-player but one synonomous with Liverpool, with a real understanding of the club and a bedrock in the days when being a rock meant being harder than most rocks.

I’m talking about Tommy Smith and being a writer more interested in emotion than in stats (I do support that most emotional of clubs, Liverpool after all), let me give a brief flavour of the man from my perspective.

As a young lad, watching still in black and white on my pal’s telly, one of the pivotal moments in my upbringing in the LFC dept was Smith’s header in the 3-1 European Cup victory over Borussia Muchengladbach The only team to have 2 lines on the panini stickers cos their name was that long…

I can clearly recall the commentary, there was a corner to us on the left hand side…”Heighway steps up, in it comes oooooooooooooooooohhhh my goodness Tommy Smith has scored….”

Smith’s header was remarkable because he should’ve hardly been playing in that game never mind been up in the other side’s penalty box. It was about his only goal ever frankly, certainly that I can remember and the only time his head had mentioned on the football field. Normally it was his legs of iron, his bone crunching tackles, his manner in which dribblers had to really know their skill, becuase it was like running into a wall made of steel with iron covering, cased in other metals.

Smith wouldn’t get 2 mins in the modern game as he’d be sent off before the kick off, probably for decking the linesman.

Not the assistant referee, not the game where fancy dan’s are allowed to dive and feint death. You know when you’ve been tango-ed… Well you knew when you’ve been Smith’d. Be it Chopper Harris of Chelsea when they were nearly tough, Norman bite-yer-legs Hunter of the original dirty Leeds, or Tommy Smith, these were men in a man’s game.

Hair gel ? they’d have killed for less.

Graeme Souness is known for being a hard man in a Liverpool side. But he was like Tinkerbell at a fairy’s party next to the real iron man of Liverpool, Tommy.

To hear of the mighty laid low, brings forth one’s own mortality. But I pray to the great Red God in the sky that Tommy’s time is a long way off. Get well soon Tommy mate, you, on the pitch, were a fucking star.

We are in the words of the same man, the best of fans - the worst of fans.

William, it was really a lie..

UEFA (Unbeliveably Embarrassing Football Arse-ups) have leaked a press release saying that there has been more trouble with Liverpool fans than any other over the last four years. This includes the 2005 final when the total sum of Liverpool fans arrested after the Istanbul final was….. 0. Yep, none. This was after UEFA Spokesman William Gaillard confirmed we were great fans, no trouble, the best of the lot.

Yesterday a UEFA spokesman confirmed that undercover cops had found that Liverpool fans were the most badly behaved over the last 4 years in Europe.

The spokesman’s name ? Oh, William Gaillard.

Blame the English, it’s free and easy…

This from an organisation that routinely ignores and trivialises the racist chanting, the nazi salutes, the stabbings, the shootings, the murders even from other supporters… This from an organisation that ignores the togetherness of gestures like Liverpool fans placing a memorial banner at the shrine to the Olympiakos fans crushed, at Athens last week.

Make no mistake, no real Liverpool fan will condone the stealing of tickets, the rushing of barriers and loutish behaviour. Nor would any Manchester United fan at Lille, or any real PSV fan at those of their ilk chanting racist slogans, or the ultras who kill or stab. Any football team will have fans who are bad for the game. But to suggest that Liverpool are the worst ? Or that UEFA have no blame for planning a match at a stadium where fans can get in with boarding passes ? Or pepsi cups ?

A great new advert the soft drink’s company “Drink Pepsi, see football for free”….

Then again this is an organisation that saw fit to host a final at Heysel, against all advice from security, police and footballing organisations.

And this is an organisation headed by a man who saw fit to celebrate the winning of the European Cup at that tragic place by running round the arena, carrying a cup and gloating whilst the stench of the dead lay heavy over the pitch.

Hypocrisy, insensitivity and underhanded high mindedness. Once again shame is heaped on football but this time the stink comes from on high.

Hi Rick,

Firstly can we apologise for waking you. Thought it best to let you know that since the final in Athens the press has been slinging mud in the direction of fans, ably abetted by UEFA’s Official Gobshite William Gaillard.

Now no doubt you may think it’s enough to tell the Liverpool Echo that the club will “defend ourselves fiercely” in a comment a few days back, but even though Liverpool Football Club may still be run like a cottage shop, the world outside has changed.

We now live in a media-driven world of on-demand sports and news coverage; instant reporting and comment bounces it’s way five times around the world before Ian Cotton has changed the ribbon on his typewriter. Satellite broadcasting and the internet allows trenchant opinions to be instantly formed based on evasions, cover-ups and lies. It’s a painful lesson we learnt all too well following Hillsborough - and since those dark days the process has been sped up exponentially.

Lies don’t take holidays or weekends off, pop off home to see the missus or retire for some beauty sleep. They fester 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. And currently UEFA is being given a free reign to say what they want, when they want.

William Gaillard is a bullshitter of epic proportions - before the final he was praising Liverpool fans when questioned over the Athens security arrangements, stating there had been no specific problems in Istanbul. He even went on to say “The two groups of supporters have a tradition of good behaviour”. Weasel words from William, yet again. Post-final and we’re apparently the biggest rabble since Genghis Khan and his hoards invaded Europe for the medieval predecessor of the European Cup, and according to Gaillard the problems in Athens mirrored Istanbul.

Isn’t it time that Liverpool Football Club came out and defended the fans? They could start by pro-actively collating accounts of what went on from the fans as Manchester United did post-Lille and Roma. As it is the vacuum left by the club has had to be filled by the Football Supporters Federation:

http://www.fsf.org.uk/news/news0040-eventsinathens.html

We don’t want another measly statement to the local press, or a cosy chat with your favourite interviewer Garry Richardson on Five Live. We want you to take head on Platini’s corrupt organisation and counter everything they say, when they say it, where they say it. Point out the absolute shambles that most of the organisation of European away games and Finals stlll is: the crumbling stadiums where the steps are falling away from the ground underneath; the lack of basic toilet facilities; the lack of ticket checks; the bloody airports and their refugee camps;the overly aggressive stewarding and policing; the complete disregard for UEFA’s own stadium and safety regulations.

Then there’s the officially sanctioned black market that sees so many of the tickets awarded to UEFA’s “football family” and sponsors sold far above face value. And the UEFA employees themselves, who were dumping spare tickets in Athens into the hands of cocktail waitresses and hotel porters who performed above and beyond the call of duty.

It’s not your reputation being ruined Rick, it’s ours. And the UEFA shysters are being given a free reign at present.