Glen Johnson exclusive: Evra made it clear he didn't REALLY want to shake Suarez's hand
By IAN LADYMAN
Last updated at 10:45 PM on 7th March 2012
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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 didnât see it.
The Liverpool defender has watched it plenty of times on television since, though, and he is convinced of what happened.
âEvra was clever at Old Trafford,â said Johnson, extending his hand directly towards me. âBecause - Iâm 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 itâs because I really donât want to shake your hand.
On the ball: Glen Johnson is convinced Luis Suarez would never use racist words and backs him over the Patrice Evra handshake affair
âLuis didnât shake his hand because Evraâs hand was down there. What else is Luis supposed to do? Would you go to shake someoneâs hand if their hand is way down there by their side? Course not. But then, because Luis didnât do it, Evra has pulled him back by his arm as he walked on, as if to say to everybody: âLook, I wanted to shake his hand and he didnâtâŚâ
âHeâs following Luis with his eyes as if to say: âRight heâs gone, heâs gone (past me) so Iâll pull him back nowâŚâ Evra probably stayed up all night thinking about how to do that. The whole thing was ridiculous.â
This week Johnson became the first member of Kenny Dalglishâs squad to talk in detail about the Suarez-Evra episode, a saga that shook football and - in many peopleâs eyes - left a dent in Liverpoolâs reputation.
It would appear that those who think the resentment surrounding this awful dispute has vanished are quite wrong.
Controversy: Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra caused a storm with their non-handshake
Glen Johnson is the guy who got dragged into a race storm that had nothing to do with him.
Liverpoolâs 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 Unitedâs 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.
âIf I was in Glen Johnsonâs position, I would have thrown the shirt to the floor,â said McGrath.
Weeks later, Worcester and England sevens rugby player Marcel Garvey used the same social network to call Johnson an âUncle Tomâ. 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.
âItâs only an issue because I am the only black lad in the club,â he shrugged. âIf itâs 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.
âThe McGrath thing ⌠thatâs 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. Heâs targeting me because of my colour.
âListen, Iâm 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.
âI am still on Twitter but I donât 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 havenât spoken to Paul McGrath about it. I donât care what he thinks, really. I donât know anything about him. But for someone to say that, it sums them up. Itâs their problem.
Getting shirty: Johnson showed his support for Suarez, like the rest of his team, by wearing controversial t-shirts before a Premier League game at Wigan
âAs for the rugby guy⌠well, that was really intelligent wasnât it? I donât know who this geezer is either. He should stick to playing rugby.
âIf I was to react to everyoneâs 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.â
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 27âyear-old nevertheless spoke openly, intelligently and at length about the Suarez issue. It is clear he has no doubt about his team-mateâs innocence.
Along with many others, I have been fiercely critical of Liverpoolâs handling of the affair. Nevertheless, Johnsonâs 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.
âThe evidence was Luisâs word against Evraâs,â argued Johnson. âIâm not saying Evra is lying but itâs his word against Luisâs, isnât it? So how did it all turn out to be so strong in Evraâs favour? I work with the lad every day. There is no way he said that.
âWith the media these days and the way it was going to be blown up, maybe the T-shirts thing wasnât the right thing to do. How should I say this? We wore them to show our support for Luis. It wasnât 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
âIt seemed to come across that we were making a point. We werenât. It was the clubâs idea. But obviously we all agreed. We didnât really think about how people would react.â
The core argument of Suarezâs defence was that the word ânegritoâ â which he was found to use to Evra at Anfield last October â 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 Suarezâs 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.
âI wrote what I thought on Twitter,â Johnson recalled. âThen when I saw him the next day he came over and said thanks and that it meant a lot to him. I didnât 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 donât care.
âIt was nice for him to see his team-mates supporting him, I guess. But what people donât appreciate is that these things stick with people and it can ruin careers. He could get almost forced out of Liverpool. Heâs a good lad and a fantastic player and all he wants to do is get on and play football.
âI canât understand how people donât get that in his culture the word ânegroâ or ânegritoâ is genuinely normal. Just because heâs 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, wouldnât we? I canât see why somebody can get in trouble for using his culture in another country.
âI work with him every day. I know what he is like. Other people donât. I will not change my view.â
Brought up in Greenwich, south London, Glen Johnson used to fight with those who called him names associated with his colour. Happily for him, he has not had to put his fists up during his years in the professional game with West Ham, Chelsea, Portsmouth and now Liverpool.
âObviously, racism was there,â he reflected. âLike any kid I had my fights growing up after somebody called me something stupid and I reacted the wrong way.
âBut I think the game is OK. We have had the two big issues this season, with two high-profile players who you wouldnât expect it from. But I have never had it in a game from another player. Never.
âWhen something like this happens then it seems to put it in peopleâs minds again and then it happens more for a period until people forget about it again.
âItâs very frustrating for all the people who work in the anti-racism campaigns. They must think their work is being undone. But I donât feel like that at all.â
Johnson can empathise with Suarez a little. He, too, has had image problems. During his time at Chelsea and Portsmouth, his commitment to the game was questioned.
Settled: Johnson is enjoying life on Merseyside, and is in a rich vein of form
Two stories stuck with him, one suggesting he forgot his passport on a Chelsea trip â it was actually a club officialâs fault â and another that he had tried to steal a toilet seat, of all things, from a hardware store.
âThere were a lot of things said and written that werenât great,â he said. âIt has died down a bit and it is all about football now, which is what I want to be known for. But it took a while and thatâs why I feel for Luis. Mud sticks. The B&Q one was ridiculous. There was nothing else to do but laugh.
âI mean, come on, did anyone really believe I would do that? What thief walks through the till trying to pay with their credit card in their hand? They are normally running out of the door, arenât they?
âThe thing is that things like that affect everybody. My mum is hearing things she doesnât need to be hearing. My brother is hearing things he is having rows about.
âBut itâs gone now. Now itâs just about the football. Thatâs how I want it.â
Settled: Johnson was an ÂŁ18million signing from Portsmouth by Rafa Benitez
Brought to Liverpool by Rafael Benitez, Johnson suffered a little under Dalglishâs predecessor Roy Hodgson last season. The current West Bromwich manager didnât always seem to trust his defensive work. It is something Johnson has heard before.
âItâs just a talking point, isnât it?â he said. âThey just say it about everyone. As you get older you improve all areas and hopefully I have.â
Johnson is settled at Anfield. Whatâs more, he may yet be about to find the England team is managed by Harry Redknapp, the man who first gave him first-team football at West Ham and subsequently took him to Portsmouth. Johnson â who once described Redknapp as his âmentorâ â said: âOnly Harry can decide if he wants it.
âAll I can say is that heâs a fantastic man, a great manager. He has helped me a lot. At the age of 15 he believed in me and gave me the chance to train and play with the first team. He helped my family out a lot when I was growing up. All that side of it.
âThen he signed me again at Pompey and that was when I played for him properly. He has always had faith in me and thatâs welcoming. Not everyone has.â
Say what you like about the modern Liverpool, but it would be wrong to question the clubâs unity or sense of purpose. The Premier League season may not yet yield the top-four finish many would consider a pre-requisite, but Liverpool do have the Carling Cup on the shelf.
Liverpool also have Kenny Dalglish, their iconic manager, who is clearly as revered inside the home dressing room as he is on the Kop. Happily for Johnson and his team-mates, though, the Scot has abandoned his early attempts to join in during training.
âWhen he first started he trained with us for a couple of sessions but he needed a few daysâ rest afterwards and knocked it on the head,â smiled Johnson. âAt the end â after the hard work â we have little games and he would join in but everybody was too scared to go near him. It was like, âYou canât tackle Kenny Dalglish!â
âIt was good to see, though. He was a legend as a player and is a legend around the club. He came in and steadied the ship and brought a fantastic coach in Steve Clarke.
âTraining is sharper and he just put a smile on everybodyâs face.
âWe are a tight unit. We defend together and do everything together. We are close on and off the pitch. Kenny Dalglish is good at that.
âHe places an emphasis on it and makes sure he involves everybody. We look forward to going into training and you can see that on peopleâs faces.â
Johnson accepts a campaign that ends without a place in next seasonâs Champions League cannot be considered an unqualified success.
âNo, I wouldnât say that it would be a success,â he said. âWe need to be in the top four. Thatâs what we would take above all others.â
Race for fourth: Liverpool are the outsiders to secure a Champions League place
He is clearly a player, though, who is intelligent enough to understand what the club has been through this season. There is a sense that the next one cannot start soon enough. Time to wipe the slate clean.
Johnson has only been at Anfield for two-and-a-half years but has a clear understanding of the importance of the clubâs reputation. It is obvious that he takes no pleasure from discussing the Suarez case.
There is no attempt to antagonise Manchester United or indeed Evra. It ought to be stated here that â in this interview â he was merely asked some questions and he answered them candidly.
Like everybody else, he wants to get back to the football.
âPeople are now singing, week in week out, that Liverpool are a racist club,â he sighed. âWell, no. We are not. We have had one incident concerning racism that we believe isnât true. So how can people think like that? People wanted something to happen that day. I donât know why they didnât just scrap the handshakes like they did before the Chelsea-QPR game.
âItâs sad because those Liverpool and United games are known for big rivalries, big tackles, great football, love of the game.That day everything was not about the football and that was very sad. It was about everything else.
âIt was good that both clubs came out afterwards and said, âWe are over it, itâs in the past. Letâs move onâ. Thatâs how it should be.
âEverybody should now start loving hating each other again. For football reasons.â
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2111767/Glen-Johnson-Patrice-Evra-clear-didnt-want-shake-Luis-Suarezs-hand.html#ixzz1oTtJLuMOF***ing brilliant that. Loved it. Well in Johno!