Well, Jermaine Jenas certainly seemed to know enough about Livermore's problems, which makes me wonder whether they go back further than this year with us. The secret footballer article that OLM posted earlier (click on the link as there is more to it than the bits he posted) has some interesting speculation as well, more or less wondering whether Spurs sold us Livermore knowing there were issues. From the snippets coming out it seems unlikely that Livermore just had a one-off aberration and happened to be caught out; if this is the case, surely at least some of his team-mates would be aware of what was going on?
The bits highlighted in red make very interesting reading! Is there more to the Jake Livermore case? Just read between the lines Share0 Tweet4 Email2 0 “You don’t see one for years and then two come along at once.” You could apply that quote by a friend of mine at a Premier League club to quite a lot of the football world but perhaps none more so than players accused of taking drugs. It emerged last week that Jake Livermore, Hull City’s £8 million signing from Tottenham Hotspur, had failed a drugs test for cocaine after the 2-0 win at Crystal Palace last month. You want the truth? The footballers I know were shocked for about two seconds and have since been shrugging a shrug that says: “Actually, it’s not that surprising.” But Livermore’s manager at Hull, Steve Bruce, did seem genuinely taken aback, probably because he never expected to find something like this in his own club. The former Manchester United captain said: “I’m shocked, saddened, disappointed, angry – all of those things. Why wouldn’t I be? I can’t come to terms with it if I’m being honest. The conversation I had with him is the hardest conversation that I’ve ever had with any footballer.” My stomach dropped when I read that quote from Bruce because I’ve been in a meeting like that with one of my own managers – not for a failed drugs test, I hasten to add. You sit there in front of a man who has brought you to his club, nurtured you, helped you, defended you, trusted you, and you have let him down badly in the most public way and you can see the disappointment in his eyes. It is a horrible feeling that takes a few weeks to fully recover from. Forget form, playing football is a non-starter altogether. For the moment, playing football is something that Livermore won’t have to worry about as he waits an hearing that could result in a lengthy ban if the B sample that is yet to be tested also returns a positive result. I’ve yet to hear of a case where the A and B samples haven’t matched one another. On Saturday, it emerged that Sheffield United midfielder Jose Baxter had failed an out-of-competition drugs test and had been suspended by the League 1 club. I asked a friend who knows Baxter well whether he knew he was up to something that he shouldn’t be. “Didn’t have a clue, mate,” came the reply, “but I’d be really surprised if he was. He’s a decent kid.” He went on to tell me that Baxter had told him that he believes he was spiked on a recent night out in London. The drug in question is Ecstasy. Drugs tests are clearly a necessity but are seen by players as a major ball ache Drugs tests are clearly a necessity but are seen by players as a major ball ache nonetheless. The testers can collar you at any time – at your home, at training or after a match. A few years ago, the FA introduced a phone number that each player had to text if he wasn’t coming into training, informing them of his whereabouts. That meant that the testers could reroute and come to your home to test you. I’ve never been tested at home. I’ve been tested at the training ground of nearly every club I’ve been at. The testers are quite human but extremely professional in the sense that they do not take their eyes off your nob once you attempt to deposit a sample. Apparently, they’ve had players in the past pouring “Lucozade” into the sample jar, among other things. I struggle with their close attention because I suffer from the fact that what had been a burning desire to have a piss diminishes completely once somebody enters the urinal and stands next to me. After an away match is always the best time to be tested because although you’re dehydrated and you may keep the bus waiting for a good hour – personally, the record is two-and-a-half hours – the club provide as much beer as you like to get you to go the toilet faster, so they can shut the stadium and go home. I can recall being in a drug-testing room with a fellow home player and two away players, having just drawn a dour game 0-0, drinking Coronas as if the duty was about to be doubled. I’m always last. Always. There is no excuse for taking cocaine as a Premier League footballer – or any footballer, for that matter. Everybody knows the rules. Random drug tests are exactly that, random, and anyone can be pulled out at any time. No excuses. But that didn’t stop Jermaine Jenas, Livermore’s former Spurs team-mate, from pointing out during Saturday’s “Match Of The Day” that while he couldn’t condone Livermore’s actions, “he has gone through some very tough personal issues which have been hard for him. I would like to see Hull help him to some extent because it has been a tough year for the lad”. The first thing that came into my head when I heard Jenas say that was that this was common knowledge at Spurs. Some of Livermore’s team-mates knew and that if they knew, it is reasonable to assume that others at the club knew – and sold him when the opportunity arose. I say that from experience. I say it as a man who was at a club when an identical situation to Livermore’s occurred in our own changing-room. The player in question was bought to our club in one window and sold in the next. with little football in between. Once he was sold, I took a call from a club official who was fishing for information. What did the players know? What had they heard? I told him that we just hadn’t taken to him. “Is that what the other players think, too?” he asked. “Yes,” I said. I didn’t want anything to do with it; it was far too close to home for me. He was happy to hear my explanation, even though I suspect he felt that I was lying to him. The whole thing came to a head later in the same season. We played against the player’s new club and it was perhaps the dirtiest game of football that I have ever been involved in. Simply because the truth had come out in the football world and the opposition manager was livid that he had been “played” in the transfer of the player. The game ended with an almighty scrap in the tunnel and was made worse by the fact that we had won the game in highly controversial circumstances after some favourable decisions from the officials. Though the player’s name never came out, I know that he regrets the trouble that his actions caused. It would have been hard for him to comprehend at the time that one line of cocaine taken in a nightclub cubicle could affect so many other people for years to come. But much of football is about reading between the lines. And Steve Bruce’s latest comments are an eye-opener in that respect. “Could we embark on doing it [drug testing] ourselves every week?” he asked after Hull’s 2-0 defeat to Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Saturday. “That might be a way forward.” That is an interesting line from Bruce because, in my head, it suggests that Hull’s problems in this respect may not end with Livermore. So where now for Hull and Livermore? Well, relegation looks an odds-on certainty It alludes to a manager who, despite his best efforts, has had to deal with issues beyond his control and is keen to make his trials and tribulations loosely public. So where now for Hull and Livermore? Well, relegation looks an odds-on certainty for the club and that is one of the reasons why I think that they will extend an offer of “help” to their midfielder. There are few Championship clubs that can survive on parachute payments while writing off £8 million-worth of player. Don’t forget, Hull will have no insurance cover for this. There are some clubs that can’t even afford blanket cover for career-ending injuries to their playing staff, let alone added extras such as drug abuse. It is my hope that we now return to the barren years of drug exposes and, personally, I’m with Bruce. The closest thing to a clean game isn’t random testing, it is regular weekly testing. Such measures could certainly exist in the Premier League, where the money is there to support such a roll out in partnership with the FA and the testers. Perhaps both are frightened by what they will uncover. http://www.thesecretfootballer.com/...e-livermore-case-just-read-between-the-lines/
I think that may be because you're stupid, both cases would be drugs related, and that is the comparison.
Why should we eat humble pie for a guy that knew the rules but decided he was better than everyone else and ignored them. All he had to do was speak to Brucie and he would of got the help required. We are facing relegation due to c**** like him. None of our players are worth even a grand a week based on the performances this season.
what a positon he as put the club in he as let us all down and shouldn, t play for the club again, how ever how can any club afford to just wipe 8 million off
One involves the deaths of hundreds of people. The other results in the suspension of a sportsman. The latter is insignificant in comparison to the former. It is a very stupid comparison.
The concerning thing about that Secret Footballer blog article is that it states, if I'm reading it correctly, that people at Spurs, team mates included, knew about Livermore's habit. It may all be conjecture but wasn't his mate Tom here on a permanent transfer a full year before Jake was? Surely that being the case then would Tom not have known about Jake's alleged usage? Yet we still went on to pay £8M for him. It just all seems like madness to me, but then so do a lot of things at City over the last couple of years, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised.
That's exactly the point numbnuts, they're BOTH significant in different ways but the root cause is the same. You wouldn't forgive one so you shouldn't forgive the other!
It's very unlikely his B sample will give a different result to his A sample. He's just an idiot and the sooner he is sacked the better.
Agree, just interested in when the results are in and then city can cut there losses, wages etc. I would imagine city will still be paying his wages till the B sample results are in.
RH originally said he got the results on Tuesday, but then last night said he had 5.00pm to request a B test ahead of appearing before the FA. Richard Scudamore on Jake Livermore: "Disappointing. You feel sorry for him, family, friends and club. Sends strong message."
