Charlie Adam is still a Liverpool player and still deserves our support

Like it or not, Charlie Adam is a Liverpool player who still deserves our support…

Over the course of the last couple of days, I have noticed that a small minority of our “fans” have taken it upon themselves to send distasteful messages to Liverpool midfielder, Charlie Adam, on Twitter.

The substance of these tweets have varied somewhat; some “fans” have simply told him to leave, because he is not and never will be fit to wear our shirt, with the odd couple even offering to help him clear his locker and pack up his belongings. Of course, these tweets did not appear as politely as I have just described them; the majority were plagued by foul, disgusting language.

Others, however, have chosen to go a massive and unnecessary step further and venomously attack Adam’s physical appearance; “fat,” “ugly” and “gappy toothed” are just the tip of the iceberg of the online abuse suffered by Charlie Adam recently. The truth is, some of these tweets are too appalling to repeat and I wouldn’t really want to repeat them because I feel they bring nothing but shame on the true fans of our club.

I wrote a blog a couple of weeks ago where I touched on our negative “fans’” premature opinions of both Brendan Rodgers and Fabio Borini. Many people who read this blog agreed with me whilst others pointed out that fans are entitled to an opinion, whether it is positive or negative. They also pointed out that sometimes it is difficult to be positive when a player simply isn’t good enough for Liverpool Football Club and being realistic in admitting this fact, does not make them less of a fan.

These people do indeed have a point, I can’t deny that. Of course, if we have paid £48 to sit in the cold and watch a rubbish performance, we are perfectly within our rights to express our frustrations and disappointment. Negativity never provides a nice atmosphere, true and sometimes fans have to be realistic. However, there is a big difference between criticism and abuse.

I have mentioned Adam’s performances in previous blogs. Basically, I think his performances in a red shirt have been nowhere near good enough for us. His set pieces have been awful, his passing has often let the opposition in and cost us goals and his discipline is equally as bad. He lacks pace and this has often led to him mistiming his tackles badly.

I personally have never claimed that Adam is a world class footballer. I think he tries his best but so far, his best has been far from good enough and if he has a role to play at our club, then I feel he has to step up his game, big time.
However, good enough or not good enough, the simple fact is, Charlie Adam is a Liverpool player and whilst fans are free to express their opinions and if necessary, criticize his performances, I do not agree with launching personal attacks and sending him messages of abuse. This will drag down both, the player and the reputation of our true fans. In my opinion, anybody who deliberately sets out to alienate and break the confidence of one of our own players and is willing to risk our fans’ reputation in the process, do not deserve to be referred to as true Liverpool “fans.”

Everyone knows that our fans are widely regarded as the best fans in the world. Other clubs could only dream of having our famous atmosphere. No other fans come close. We are renowned for supporting all of our players through both the bad times and the good times. What we do not need is childish messages of abusive being sent to one of our own players simply because they do not feel his efforts are good enough. If he had done something awful, like disrespecting our dead then I would understand the venom but he hasn’t done anything of the kind. Our job as fans is to encourage all of our players to improve and support them during their LFC journey and Charlie Adam should not be an exception.

There have been quite a few rumours surrounding Adam’s future. He has recently been linked with moves to Fulham and Everton and some of our fans literally cannot wait to see the back of him and would happily pack him off to anybody who would accept him. So far though, nothing has materialised and until it does, Charlie Adam is a Liverpool player and while he remains on our books, we should, in my opinion at least, have the decency to show him a bit of respect. Brendan Rodgers is in charge after all and he will ultimately have the final word on Charlie Adam’s Liverpool career. If Rodgers chooses to keep him, we as fans have to trust, accept and respect that decision, not protest it. Our club has been through enough turbulence recently and fans really need to try pull in the same direction as much as possible, if we are to be successful again.

If however, Adam does go on to leave our club in the next few weeks then good luck to him. He may not be one of our greatest signings but I certainly don’t feel he is deserving of some of the abuse he has suffered. Sometimes, giving 100% just isn’t enough and things fail to work out as planned and Adam’s time at Liverpool may, at worst, prove to be a prime example of that.

The bottom line is, Adam has never disrespected our club or our fans, so we should not disrespect him, especially while he remains one of our own.

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