So this is what happened
https://x.com/Nick___Collins/status/1956511183722160581
Iāll go into the details on tonight as I have hundreds of replies to my earlier post and thereās no point replying to them all.
So this fella has had his season ticket for many years at Anfield. Heās passionate but often takes things way too far but it is what it is. He has crossed the line before by throwing stuff at officials (usually chewing gum) and stewards looked embarrassed rather than do anything.
So I guess thatās allowed his behaviour to escalate maybe in his brain.
About 28 mins into the game, Semenyo goes to take a throw in. Heās not a player that goads the fans and seems like a decent lad. The sort of player that people want playing for their club.
For reasons Iāll never know, the fella near me in bay 7 (Iām bay 9) decides to go over to him in his wheelchair and shouts something at Semenyo. Semenyo then asks him to repeat it and he repeated it and threw his chewing gum at him.
Then 2 mins later the play is stopped. The fella next to me says he hopes Mark hasnāt said anything racist to Semenyo but then Iām getting texts from people saying itās about the fan in the wheelchair allegedly abusing Semenyo.
We missed the first goal because all of us were uncomfortable being around this guy, whoās now sat in silence, probably realising what heās done and heās soon to be in the shit.
We didnāt want him near us and people (including myself) were calling him a racist prick. It was just uncomfortable to be around and we wanted him gone. The stewards didnāt have a clue what was going on either.
He was eventually removed from the ground at 21:01 by police. Firstly saying heād refuse to move and wouldnāt leave but then agreeing to leave, then kicking off. Iād gone to the toilet by this point but saw him kicking off near the exit.
I believe there is some kind of protocol where the police have to remove them and not stewards and they have to get a sort of investigation going first. Thatās why it took them 30 mins to get him out of the ground.
So the club now have to help the police with an investigation and rightly so. If heās found to have racially abused Semenyo, he needs to be banned for life. No excuses.
Another fan chimed in saying āSemenyo didnāt look upsetā so sorta sticking up for the abuser or playing devils advocate. But he just looked shocked to me, which is probably why he asked him to repeat himself.
So props to Semenyo for having the brilliant game he had. All 3 goalscorers were black, which was quite fitting really. The irony is, the fella had a āno room for racismā badge on his shirt.
I think at the time, it was annoying that we had to be around the prick but I think the club acted as fast as they could. I believe stewards can eject fans if they personally hear abuse but otherwise a report needs to be made for it to happen.
On the flip side of this, look at the amount of disability abuse there is in response to this. Discrimination is discrimination, so if youāre making your āedgy jokesā about disability on the back of it, youāre just as bad.
Iāve cropped his face out for obvious reasons but itās incredibly ironic to have that badge on you and then do something like that. Thereās obviously going to be a legal process ongoing now. The head steward asked us all a few questions and everyone was helpful.
Proud of the way the club acted in response to one prick. Anfield is a very welcoming place to people from all walks of life. Letās keep it that way.
I am glad I am not the only saying this, it is the defensive shape/cover that is an issue, we have to sometimes expect to lose the ball or misplace passes
Oh so thatās what happened, I was on the opposite end of the ground and was confused as to why play had suddenly stopped.
Cody has ridiculously slick feet and is deceptively strong. He can draw in two players and somehow nutmeg his way out of there. He should have had at least 3-4 more free kicks that he didnāt get.
The ref heard āyou fat bastardā shouted at him a lot.
My ears are blocked due to sinus infection so only later did I learn everyone was saying āyou manic bastardā
The sad thing about the Semenyo incident was about 5-10 mins earlier he was taking one in the other side and the camera zoomed in and caught him bantering with a couple of fans behind him. That was around the time the discussion of signing him came up in the match thread and was where I got the comment from that he plays with a smile.
He went from enjoying the experience of engaging with the fans to experiencing that.
Reading some replies it seems like many are disappointed with some of the play. Especially Wirtz.
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I hope we donāt judge our new players on value rather than talent. Wirtz may be a massive out lay but imagine what a 22 year old Stevie G would be worth now.
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Kerkez is an upgrade to the now Robbo but not different to the 8 million Robbo back then, just way more expensive.
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I hope we let this team gel before we come down hard on players. The price they canāt control, the game they can.
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4-2 is a comfortable win and Bournemouth are no pushover.
I didnāt see the match due to going to bed late and not wanting to get up stupidly early on a Saturday.
Two comments to make. First, I already thought that Kerkez would be a card magnet and if heās getting subbed off in his first proper game for us because Slot was worried about him getting a second yellow or worse, then heās got a steep learning curve ahead of him.
Second, Gravenberch will be back next week so somebody who started today will have to start on the bench. I very much doubt if itāll be Flo or Mo, so Dom and Cody will have try to outdo each other in training.
Itās Gravenberch not being there that is causing all the lack of control at the midfield.
The thing about Gravenberch is that the whole team knows that this man is press resistant and a good beater of the oppositionās press. He strides forward and then passes the ball on.
Szoboszlai on the other hand is a completely different player to Gravenberch who runs and bombs forward with the ball but is not as press-resistant like Gravenberch.
I would think that Gravenberch is gonna be the first name on the teamsheet while Macca and Szoboszlai rotate throughout the season.
On reflection maybe the tightness of the hammy on Frimpong threw us a bit defensively it didnāt look like a sub he would have done usually. Hopefully at least Bradley and Gomez can remain fit for longer periods so that the Endo option isnāt required. I suppose at points like that the team needs to accept that here is 20 mins your 2-0 up, you win the game 2-0 thatās fine no worries Hugo has his goal all is good.
Maybe that is where the problem lay though the subs at 2-1 seem to acknowledge that the team is still far too committed even at 2-1.
Itās that or Slot was annoyed everyone was claiming he was boring last year 
There is something about him why it always feel heās better off with us than anywhere else. He performs whenever called upon and has been part of the team for so long. I can understand the injury frustrations and if its him wanting to leave for his own good, but I always love when he is playing. The VVD Gomez partnership was monstrous back then. When fit, Gomez is such a good player to have in the side.
He will always be used if he is fit to be honest as he is an option across that entire back line.
Itās more of Semenyo meeting a Robbo in a very obvious physical declineā¦
That poor steward got a sudden white cock to his face lolā¦
The Chiesa goal looked messy but looking at it again it was something else. The touch by Dom to bring the ball down. The ball in by Mo looked speculative at best but was actually diabolical. And then the finish with his body going in the other direction.
For context I did have us winning despite my praise of Bournemouth. Just didnāt expect the stroll in the park some did, and certainly do not expect anything other than a very good Bournemouth this season.
I was just watching the highlights again, and even in slo-mo his reaction looked fast. In real time it was sublime. He could certainly end up with 10+ such goalsā¦opportunistic, after the 80min mark when weāre still going and the opposition has tired.
That is ridiculously unrealistic.
Iād bench Flo because Iām not sure heās ready yet. He didnāt have much impact on the game, offensively or defensively. His corners were decent, nearly slipped Hugo through a couple of times but not quite.
Grew into the game? He literally let Simanyo waltz up to him, turned his back, ran the wrong way then fell flat on his face. All the more baffling because itās not like Simenyo even tried any sort of fancy dribble. And there were plenty more after 5 minutes.