So the Manc loving Daily Fail has realised that they can no longer run the Suarez racist, biter stories. So they find a new angle..."Let's try and upset SAS"...PATHETIC The SAS might be firing on the pitch but they aren't exactly bosom buddies... Suarez and Sturridge need to copy Shearer and Sutton's blueprint for success By ROB SHEPHERD Chris Sutton was once asked who was the best striker he had ever played with. He replied: âEfan Ekoku.â And his tongue was not entirely in his cheek. Sutton was the 'lesser S' in the original SAS strike partnership with Alan Shearer and it always bugged him that he was regarded as being in his fellow striker's shadow. Sutton had joined Blackburn for £5million from Norwich - where he played with Ekoku - in 1994 and proved the last piece of the jigsaw that would see the club, financed by the late steel magnate Jack Walker, win the title that season. Instantly Shearer and Sutton formed what was often described as a âtelepathic partnership.â Although both physical centre forwards, Sutton took on the role as the âsecond strikerâ, given that Shearer was the better natural finisher. As Rovers went on to win the title Shearer hit 34 goals - still a Premier League record - many of which were created by Sutton, who bagged 15. They were a dynamic duo. Given the evidence on the pitch you might have expected they were bosom buddies off it. Far from it. Basically they didnât get along. Apart from exchanging pleasantries they barely spoke. Itâs unlikely that the new SAS, Liverpoolâs prolific duo Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, go out dancing together either, judging by their body language. It was common knowledge that Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole disliked each other so much they didnât even say hello, let alone chat, when combining so successfully at Manchester United. âWhen it comes to striker partnerships itâs often the case that neither get on,â says James Scowcroft, the former Ipswich, Crystal Palace and England Under 21 striker who now a radio pundit. âBasically itâs in the nature of a striker to be selfish and arrogant so they donât really like anyone else taking the glory. âI never really got on well off the pitch with any striker partners I played with. âIn recent years the trend for many teams to play with only one striker but these things go in cycles so were are now talking about strike partnerships again like Suarez and Sturridge or Aguero and Negredo at Manchester City and itâs often the case there will be a strained relationship. Often itâs down to plain jealousy. âYes, from a professional point of view you work together, although when people talk about a telepathic understanding, thatâs b******t. âThe understating comes from hard work on the training ground, where you work on drills - who drops in deep to get the ball and who spins to make a run. âSo there has to be an element of verbal communication but it doesn't mean you need to have a conversation off the pitch. âProviding things are working on the pitch and goes are going it really doesnât matter if you hate each other.â Tony Cottee who formed a prolific partnership with Frank McAvennie at West Ham for a couple of seasons in the mid-Eighties admits: âWhen Frank arrived there was a bit of jealousy. âHe was scoring all the goals, getting all the headlines and I was out of form. âI was jealous of his goals but in our case it inspired me and I eventually started scoring a lot, too. And as it happened, despite being different types of people, we got on pretty well off the pitch, too. âBut you donât have to be mates to make a good strike partnership.â Ultimately for strike partnerships to work there has to be an element of compromise, where one player is willing to work not just for himself but his partner even if a selfish streak is part centre forwardâs psyche In the case of Aguero (26 goals) and Negredo (23) at City that seems to be the case. But although Suarez (23) and Sturridge (17) have more goals between them there are signs that the âjealousyâ between the two of them could be reaching a tipping point given the spat between the pair in this weekâs 4-0 win over Everton. Former Liverpool start John Barnes suggests: âThey are not going to be a classic partnership because they are very individual. âYes, every now and again you will see there is a partnership in terms of movement and the passing to each other but, more often than not, all their work is going to be of their own making. âThat is what is going to be quite frustrating for either one of them, when they believe they are not getting the service or the passes from the other one. âWhile they are two fantastic players, it is not a classic partnership. If anyone is going to look for a classic partnership between them, it is really not going to happen. âThat's not to say they are not both going to score lots of goals, but they will get frustrated and you will see some incidents like the one against Everton.â What makes a classic partnership? That is open to debate. In the Seventies and Eighties that tended to be a âlittle and largeâ duo like John Toshack and Kevin Keegan at Liverpool. Then there was the evolution of the âsplit strikerâ duo like Sutton and Shearer, or indeed with England Shearer and Sheringham. The truth is there is no identikit. Itâs just a case of talent and handwork forging an understanding even if the pair canât really stand the sight of each other. The problem comes if a relationship becomes so soured that a team mate becomes so self-obsessed they stop passing to one another, as Ian Rush discovered during his brief and painful spell at Juventus Suarez and Sturridge would appear to teetering on the brink of breakdown on that front. They would do well then to remember the motto of the real SAS - âWho Dares Winsâ â leave their egos and the door and do what it takes to be a successful partnership, even if they are really the best of enemies.
not sure what point they are trying to make here, so they may or may not be best buddies, so what either way, doesn't effect **** all on the pitch where it matters. they actually pay people to come out with ****e like this ffs.
That! I couldn't give a **** if they get on or not, they can play together and that's all that matters. As the article shows, Sutton and Shearer did it, so did Cole and Sheringham.
I can't remember the DM mentioning Cole/Sheringham whilst they were still at Utd, only after they had both moved on, but I bet they were aware of it. If it is us though they delight in any negative story, however tenuous the basis. It just gets my goat...and he's a pretty difficult goat to catch
I've seen them celebrate together enough this season to know that there is no problem there, made up nonsense after they had a bit of a tiff against Everton.
I thought the thread title meant Lucas was trying to piss them off. Who cares whether or not Goofy and Grumpy hold hands off the pitch?. As long as they're such a great double act on it. Newspapers remind me of detention in school where they made you write an essay on the most nothing subject they could think of.
Bloody hell! How many of you really like the all of the people you work with? It's the same for SAS. As for UIR he's just being childish as usual
We didn't get writing essays writing as a punishment we got the cane or strap depending which sadistic bastard was doing the punishing.
That's because you obviously needed breaking. We had a more civilised, intellectual punishment regime that better reflected how much more cleverer we was.
We had the strap as well, tbh. Towards the end of my school days they went all PC and anti-corporal and so introduced detention.
Our teachers and headmaster revelled in dishing corporal punishment out and lifting us off our feet by our sidies.
Or, if you had a woodwork teacher like ours, he would actually snap long lengths of 4 x 1 over your ass!!
