Perch denies diving, Kenny says it's forgotten

Newcastle utility player James Perch has claimed he didn’t dive in the incident that led to Liverpool’s Pepe Reina getting sent off on Sunday, despite television replays showing there was no contact from Reina’s head.

Liverpool were 2-0 down and chasing the game and after making a save Reina was running through his area with the ball in a hurry to get Liverpool going forward again. To stop him doing this Perch brought him down – and was booked for doing so – but Reina’s reaction saw him sent off.

Described in the article as “one of the most honest professionals in the game”, there have been suggestions it would be very much out of character for him to fake contact and try to get an opponent sent off. Yet that honesty is surely under question given his claims in The Journal.

One camera angle in particular showed a side-on view of the two players as Reina moved towards Perch. It couldn’t have been any clearer: Reina’s head did not touch Perch’s head. Yet Perch threw himself back as if he’d got caught up with Yozzer Hughes on a particularly bad day.

To be fair to Perch nobody would really expect him to come out and apologise for play-acting in these circumstances, particularly when it was so clear from the replay. Footballers are quick to condemn others who dive or feign injury in order to “get a fellow pro sent off”, especially when it happens off the ball as in this instance. The usual response from players doing this is to keep quiet about it.

Perch probably would have been better off keeping quiet. Instead, ignoring those replays, he carried his on-field acting into the interview: “If someone makes contact with you, someone makes contact with you. That’s it.”

If Reina had made contact, Perch would have a point.

This wasn’t one of those occasions where contact was made but the player is being accused of exaggerating how strong the contact was. In those cases, however unlikely it seems, there’s always a possibility it really did hurt. The player could say, for example, that it got him right on a spot he’d been having trouble with previously. The player could say – as controversial as it is – that he was making sure the referee knew there’d been contact.

This was a case of a player acting like he’d been head-butted when replays showed the heads didn’t touch. There was no contact. But Perch, “one of the most honest professionals in the game”, wants us to believe what the replays showed didn’t actually happen.

The fact the paper interviewing him is happy to let him, without pointing out what anyone else watching it saw, possibly says a lot about how local media outlets have to become outpost PR departments for their local sides if they want to retain the access to players and staff they need to keep sales up.

Perch seems to have missed most of the coverage of the incident after the match and if he watched the game back on TV must have fast-forwarded through the replays. Either that or he hopes everyone else did. In fact he suggests it was only Liverpool fans criticising him for trying to con the officials: “I wasn’t really surprised by some of the things that were said,” he claimed, “It’s Liverpool fans and all that.”

It wasn’t Liverpool supporters showing the lack of contact on the numerous replays they showed of the incident, it wasn’t just Liverpool supporters discussing it elsewhere in the media. Numerous commentators, without necessarily going overboard and condemning him as a scourge of the modern game,  have pointed out what Perch did and called it for what it was. Former referee Graham Poll pointed out what he’d done, saying Liverpool should appeal (they decided not to), but Perch must have missed that too.

People who have commented on the incident, whatever comments they might have passed on Pepe’s decision to walk over to Perch in that manner, have generally said Perch took a dive.

But Perch has only heard it from Liverpool fans.

Not that he cares: “They can say what they want, it’s water off a duck’s back,” he claimed.

Probably caring more than he let on, Perch continued: “I’m not bothered, I don’t really read too much into it. I’m not a diver. People who have seen me play know what kind of player I am. I’m not going to go and dive about and act silly and the rest of it.” See – he’s not that kind of player.

Perch got something right: “He [Reina] shouldn’t have done it really and I know deep down he’ll think ‘I shouldn’t have done that’ because it’s cost them at the end of the day. It’s his actions that have caused it.

“He was probably frustrated at the way it was going. I’m not going to blame him for doing it because he’s frustrated and he wanted them to do well. Things happen; I bet he regrets it now.”

Pepe will regret because he knows he gave an opponent the opportunity to deceive the referee. He knows because it’s happened before to him.

The Spanish keeper had only been sent off once for Liverpool before Sunday and that was in a similar kind of situation after he raised his hands to Arjen Robben, then of Chelsea, and the Dutch player threw himself to the floor as if Reina had secretly hidden a stun gun in his gloves.

Players like Perch, and Robben, know that the chances of being caught “making the most of it” are slim – and that the penalties are far from harsh when they are caught.

At the same time players like Pepe know how harsh the punishment is if they let themselves fall into the trap of reacting. Of course Reina knows he shouldn’t have reacted.

If Perch was worthy of the “honest” tag in the past it seems to be far from accurate now. “There’s no need for all the talk really,” he complains, “you just need to look at the telly to see he’s in the wrong.” People looked at the telly James. They saw what you did. Honestly.

How much Pepe, and Liverpool, come to regret it remains to be seen. In terms of the fixture itself it made no difference, the game was already over for Liverpool who looked less like scoring the longer the game went on.

The red card of course means Reina misses three games for Liverpool. Alexander Doni and new dad Brad Jones will provide cover until the Spaniard returns, but in the grand scheme of things the first two games of the ban aren’t particularly important. Liverpool’s league season, despite the hysteria, is really no further off track than it was after losing to Arsenal a week after qualifying for Europe by winning the Carling Cup final. Liverpool do need to win some league games though, not so much for the points as the opportunity to restore some pride and silence the critics.

The players also need to build some confidence for the third game of Pepe’s ban, the one that is the biggest blow to have him missing for, the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley against Everton.

That’s the game that could yet leave James Perch as the player with regrets about the incident. If Everton win the FA Cup there won’t be a place in Europe for the team that finishes sixth in the league. Even if Everton finish as runners-up in the cup they could take that European place – as long as their opponents qualify for the Champions League.

Should Liverpool make the final the top six will all qualify for Europe – barring an unexpected and heavy collapse from the current top six – and that means Newcastle will be rewarded for their results over the course of the season. Their victory on Sunday wasn’t down to Pepe Reina being sent off.

Liverpool have moved on from that game now though, according to manager Kenny Dalglish. The frustrations were aired and dealt with after the match and forgotten the following day: “We’re fine,” he told reporters. “Everything that happened on Sunday was addressed on Sunday. The doors are closed now, we’ve learnt our lessons from it. The players came in on Monday and trained.”

Kenny is happy with the hard work he’s seen his players put in this week: “The training has been very impressive. Obviously there was a disappointment amongst everybody with the recent run of results but the only way we’re going to address that is to work as hard as we have done.”

Perhaps hinting at that dive, or thinking back to the handball on the line the officials missed that would have seen an early penalty for Liverpool and Newcastle down to ten men, Kenny pointed out that the focus is on curing Liverpool’s own problems, not dwelling on where others have got it wrong: “We can change to our benefit things that are in our jurisdiction. There are other things that have happened that we can’t change because they’re out of our jurisdiction so there’s no point looking at it.”

Some of those things maybe can be changed though. Liverpool have struggled to respond well to injustices – or perceived injustices – from referees this season. Referees get things wrong – we’d never notice them otherwise – and alongside hitting posts, conceding fluky goals and other incidents that can be classed as unlucky it’s all part of the game. What Liverpool’s players desperately need to improve is how to react to games that seem to be going away from them in those circumstances.

And from what Kenny says, it’s already being looked at: “They don’t like coming off the pitch having lost a game. That disappointment is a virtue in some ways if we can control it.”

And the key to getting back to winning ways? “We just stick together – players, fans, staff, owners – everybody sticking together.

“As we’ve always said, we’ve got a better chance of getting through it if we stick together.”

That needs to start now, and has to be loud and clear on Saturday against Aston Villa.

36 comments

    • Sam T

      That’s really conclusive that Steve isn’t it?! I bet you weren’t very good at art at school were you?

      • John

        How much more conclusive do you want when you can clearly see it for yourself.
        This is taking defending one of your own teams players a bit too far, you can’t defend that when Reina was the aggressor.
        You don’t all have to copy Dalglish and defend the players no matter what, that just makes you all look silly as well.

    • John

      Quote by Jim Boardman (4th paragraph):

      It couldn’t have been any clearer: Reina’s head did not touch Perch’s head. Yet Perch threw himself back as if he’d got caught up with Yozzer Hughes on a particularly bad day.

      Please look at the picture in the link Jim and try to justify that comment.
      Are you still saying Reina’s head did not touch Perch’s head?

      Some things you just can’t defend against so why don’t you just let it go?

      • John: “why don’t you just let it go?”

        A: As far as I know, we had let it go. We (the club) had not appealed the ban and we (the fans) had been more concerned with other issues Liverpool have in terms of form and so on.

        Who was it that brought it back up again? Mr Perch, in that interview.

        I decided to respond to that (as you can see) and that’s pretty much the end of it for me. If Perch wants to sell his story to the local papers (or give it to them free, he might not have been paid for the interview) he’s inviting more comment. If he stays quiet, it blows over.

        Not that you’ll see that of course, Mr Perch can do no wrong. If there was contact (and the TV replays suggest there wasn’t) was it sufficient for him to throw himself on the floor the way he did?

        It’s laughable. Think of all the different ways you can make slight contact with something with your head away from a football field and imagine reacting like that every time!

        Open cupboard door in the kitchen, you realise just in time but still manage to slightly brush your head against it. If you react like Perch seemed to you’d be in hospital, having cracked the back of your head open on the tiled floor, probably with some scalding injuries needing treatment too if you’d been carrying a couple of brew at the time. Meanwhile the front of your head, where that slight contact occured, is unblemished.

        You’ve got a toddler, toddler wants a hug off daddy, slightest of contact from the toddler’s head on your eyebrow. Do what Perch did and that’s you AND the toddler down the infirmary, you with injuries to the back of your head and the toddler suffering from being dropped on the floor.

        Windy day. Stray leave blows off a tree and you walk into it as it’s floating in the air. Right on the cheekbone. Luckily you didn’t have your back to the busy road otherwise, when you threw yourself on your back, you’d have skipped the hospital completely.

        What Reina did was wrong. We’ve said that.

        If you think what Perch did was right then you should stop criticising any other club for what its players do. As you say, some things you just can’t defend.

        • John

          Eh? windy days, toddlers wanting hugs from daddy, kitchen cupboards brushing against you head – got it! many ways to bang your head and all James Perch’s fault if you’re a Scouser, thanks for explaining Jim.
          Try imagining the house that you’re in while all this happens is Pepe Reina’s house, then you’ll start to understand where the blame lies.

  • Austin Errington

    This from a team that has luis surez!Hypicrits.

    • Maximus Rod

      Hypi what?

      Let me guess…

      Suarez must be a diver given he’s foreign, Perch can’t be because he’s English?

      Am I right? I am aren’t I?

      And from the club that gave us David Ginola.

  • Reina is a disgrace – he should not attempt to head-butt anybody – it’s about time Liverpool took responsibility for their foolish goalkeeper – and not try to shift the blame to Perch.

    • Maximus Rod

      @ Newcastle supporter.
      I’m sure Liverpool have dealt with Reina, reminded him that as long as there’s lowlives like Perch in football he needs to be careful what he does.

      By the way, what was Perch doing bringing Reina down in the first place? Cheating? Of course he was.

      You must be proud.

  • ss

    Reina was right in being sent off, everyone knows if you feign to headbutt a player contact or no contact its a red.
    Its one of those unwritten rules that everyone understands.

    Perch however hasnt done himself any favours. Like you said he should keep his trap shut as its clear to see there was not contact. His continued acting out the ‘injured party’ (oh the irony) is laughable.
    Sad to see another english player have caught on to the foreign disease of gamesmanship. For perch to claim in the cold light of day otherwise just adds damage to his reputation.

    • John

      “Clear to see there was not contact”?????????? are you blind man??????????
      Take off the rose-tinted glasses and look at the picture again.
      I can’t believe some people, put an image on where it’s plain as day that there is contact yet some idiots still REFUSE to see it. Wake up!!!

  • Paul

    Now let’s discuss your diving number 9

    • Maximus Rod

      @Paul

      So you accept your player dived?

      By the way, whether Carroll dived or not, he got booked for it.

      Perch is going to be an easy target at set pieces if he falls down at that amount of “contact”. Or he’s a diver.

      There might still be time for him to get on the Olympics diving team. Then again, he’d probably disintegrate as soon as hit the water.

  • liam0

    You must be deluded slow motion clearly shows contact on Perchs cheek bone under his right eye one of the most painful and dangerous and tender parts of the face to receive a blow.

    What is happening to Liverpool football club and its fans. First the disgraceful defence of Suarez over the Evra incidence and now this ridiculous statement. TV did show contact, at least the ones owned by the rest of the country did anyway.

    At one time LFC were liked and admired as a team and as set of fans who seemed ooze dignity and class (Hysel being the one abomination) whilst playing the game in a fair and attractive manner but no more.

    Please sort yourselves out get rid of Suarez and stop defending the indefensable

    • Maximus Rod

      His nose, his cheekbone, where was it? Make your minds up. Get your stories straight.

      Had to bring Suarez into it didn’t you? Them nasty foreigners, get them out of our game eh?

      Newcastle. The Angels of the North.

  • John

    What utter tosh by an utter idiot, the pictures showing Reina’s head firmly planted against Perch’s nose confirm there was contact, yet you still say there was no contact when it’s there in front of you. Perch didn’t get him sent off – he did that himself by using his head in an aggressive manner – tv replays would have been enough for the FA to ban him after the game anyway.
    I can’t understand why Liverpool fans have suddenly become the biggest whingers on the planet.
    Oh how the mighty have fallen.

    • Maximus Rod

      Your mate up there says it was his cheekbone under his eye, you say it was his nose. He says it was one of the most painful places to get hit, you say it was his nose.

      Either way, there was nothing wrong with Perch afterwards was there?

      The Sports Direct Dot Com Bowl. Bringing you divers since 1993.

  • Foggy

    For once Dalglish makes some sense, why don’t you listen to him and get over it. If you hadn’t guessed I’m a Newcastle fan. Interesting you never mentioned Andy Carroll diving, trying to get Tim Krul sent off. Just before Pepe Reina got sent off you should have been down to 10 men, the already booked Skrtel fouled Ameobi. It should have been a yellow card but don’t think the ref wanted to send him off. There’s 2 decisions for you. On the day you were beaten by a better team, get over it!

    • Maximus Rod

      I don’t think this article is disputing who deserved to win. Even if Liverpool got the penalty they should have had they would have broke the habit of the season if they’d actually put it away. The last week against Wigan they played against 10 men for a while cos Wigan had an injury to a player and nobody noticed wigan were a man down because liverpool were that poor.

      Carroll looked to me like he fell over rather than dived, like he almost tripped over the ball.

      I’ll say something though, if he did dive it wasn’t to get anyone sent off, it was to try and win a penalty. Wrong? Yes. Done for the right reasons? Probably.

      Like your man who batted the ball off the line with his arm. He did it to try and stop a goal. Wrong? Yes. Done for the right reasons? Probably.

      Your man Perch did what he did for the wrong reasons.

      If that whole game had gone the other way round and it had been our player pretending to be violently assaulted purely to get one of yours sent off I’d be embarrassed about it.

      You lot seem proud.

      • John

        It’s frequently the other way around with one of your players pretending to be violently assaulted….namely Suarat.

  • John

    Author: Jim Boardman!!! you’re not Stan Boardman’s brother are you? ‘cos you’re a joke!! get real man!!

  • daglish hav said it all that what happen on sunday have been treated so let get over it.

  • john lfc usa

    lets move on

  • Foggy

    Thought I’d bring 1 more thing to your attention, James Perch has now been racially attacked by a ‘Liverpool Fan’. Since the Suarez incident there has been; Oldham, Man U, Newcastle….

    • Is there a point to that observation ‘Foggy’?

      I’ve talked about the Suarez incident endlessly on here so I’ll not go over old ground.

      The incident against Oldham – the person arrested for this was eventually released and won’t face charges.

      The incident against MUFC I don’t think we’re allowed to comment on at the moment. If the allegations are proven to be true I hope he’s dealt with properly.

      The incident on Twitter against the NUFC player. I saw the tail end of that and believe the person has been arrested. Not sure what there is to say to that other than hoping he’s dealt with appropriately. The account’s now been deleted.

      There was another incident on Twitter relating to the same player, this from a Twitter account purporting to be one belonging to a Liverpool fan. However it actually belongs to a fan of another (Non-PL) team who has been trolling Liverpool fans for a long period of time. In the midst of one his trolling sessions against LFC fans (usually about Hillsborough) he set this other account up and used a picture of a couple of LFC fans from the BBC website as the profile pic. This person has also, I believe, been reported for his racist comments. As far as I’m aware it’s not been reported in the media yet and I’ve not checked for a couple of days to see if the account’s still around.

      Presumably you’re a Newcastle fan by the way. Before you start throwing stones I suggest you think a little. Are all NUFC fans like this one?

      http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/3704234/FA-regret-Newcastle-racist-in-Mido-case-not-banned.html

      Of course they’re not.

      What was your reason for listing those incidents?

  • Budgie69

    I didn’t see the game live or even on highlights so the picture linked by Steve is the first I’ve seen of the alleged headbutt.

    I’m a Liverpool fan and have to say that unless that picture has been tampered with it looks pretty clear to me that contact was made. The picture doesn’t give any idea as to the force of the content but that’s not the point being made in the article.

    We all know players exaggerate and that includes Liverpool players so there really is no point moaning when someone does exactly that, as may have been the case here. Reina shouldn’t have attempted a head butt or put his head anywhere near an opponents – end of…

  • Foggy

    Jim, the reason I listed those incidents is because since Liverpool’s hierarchy supported Suarez those incidents have occurred, read into that what you like. I’m sick of the majority of Liverpool fans taking the moral high ground about being ‘sportsman like’, classy, etc. Picking and choosing which incidents to highlight and conveniently forgetting ‘their’ players actions, ‘their’ managements actions, ‘their’ fans actions.
    With regards to the article you mention. Obviously you recall the incident? Being a font of footballing knowledge. You’ll remember that the Newcastle fan was chanting that Mido looked like Richard Reed the shoe bomber, which he does. Mido being Mido pulled the race card. Obviously you know all this because you didn’t just type Newcastle and racist into google. You purposely chose an absolutely ridiculous example. Tried harder next time, or you might end up looking like a fool.

    • talking nonsense

      Foggy you seem to have cheerfully ignored your own players are making racist and Homophobiac comments on twitter and in the media and seem proud of the fact that they havent been banned by the F.A funny how they should have recieved the same punishment as the Anti-Christ of modern football(Suarez).
      Just for your information I dont support either club lfc or nufc so I can happily say that Reina shouldnt have leaned forwrd (even if Perch did react like his namesake) and the nufc player on the line should have been sent off for delibrate handball yet I dont see you decry this either.