I got in at lunchtime the other day, put my tablet on and logged on to The Mag – “Comme d’hab” as we say down this way – to be hit by a double blast of bad news. Anthony Gordon and Tino Livramento out for the foreseeable!
So, that Anthony Gordon is at it again.
He has got the absolute temerity to be injured just when we don’t want him to be. Not content with pretending to have a hamstring injury, he’s now claiming to have a bad hip.
Hold on, though. Craig Hope of The Mail saying that his information from inside the club is that he had a scan last week that showed a relatively minor, but still troublesome hip injury. There you go then, mystery solved?
Not on your Nelly!
This is Anthony Gordon we’re talking about – the nominated whipping boy. Rumour has it that he wants away so his most logical course of action is to down tools and pack himself into a box of cotton wool ready for the World Cup, isn’t it?
He’s got previous, mind. Remember the Man City game when he feigned a hamstring pull in order to get off the pitch? Presumably he either blackmailed or bribed the physio to come on and back him up – then missed the following match just to make it seem a bit more realistic.
Talking of being backed up, he must have it off to a T. This time the club have invented a scan. Not only are they mildly accepting arguably their best player saying he can’t be bothered to turn out but they’re actually making up a cover story and briefing the press with it.
Tino is being tarred with the same brush, I notice. Despite the fact that he was clearly injured on Saturday and had to be subbed off, we’re now told that he’s swinging the lead because he wants a move in the summer and also to be available for “the Ingerlund”!
The real venom though is aimed at Mr Gordon. He’s never really been forgiven for being a scouser and the Everton player we all disliked the most – even more than the Mackem between the sticks! No matter how hard he works and how well he plays, in some fans’ eyes he’s only one indifferent performance away from being “the Scouse doylem”.
It’s so sad to see the relationship between parts of the fanbase and the team (and I include Eddie Howe and his staff in that) starting to break up.
It reminds me of the impending end to an adolescent love affair. Rumour has it that your girlfriend’s going to pack you in. Do you talk and find out whether it’s true or sit and look at ways of solving your problems? No. She’s a two-faced slapper, which you knew all along, and the best bet is to show her the door and bad mouth her to all and sundry.
Meanwhile, one of the rumour mongers eases their way in and gives her a shoulder to cry on.
Nobody but Anthony Gordon knows the exact state of his body but we are clearly being told by the club that a scan has confirmed a hip injury – presumably a flare-up of the one he suffered on England duty.
Those people claiming he’s a malingerer have no evidence to back up their claims other than their ongoing prejudice. But when the pitchforks are out and the torches are lit no one’s looking for evidence.