Born to be a coach [soccer]

Chapter 233

In Sunderland's small meeting room, Anton looked at Sir Dalglish, who was bowing his head and meditating silently.

He worded his words carefully, and then said softly: "Sir, I understand your sadness very much, but you must believe that the truth cannot be concealed forever. The British government's agreement to release all documents is only a beginning, but it represents hope. It means that the day when the truth will come out.”

It turned out that Kenny Dalglish came to see Anton when the two teams were about to face each other because he had mixed feelings in his heart and was unable to confide in his closest relatives.After he left London, he went straight north to Sunderland to see Anton.

What can make Dalglish so excited is only the old case 22 years ago - the Hillsborough tragedy.

At the beginning of February, people in Merseyside launched a large-scale petition campaign, leaving more than 2 valid signatures on the British government website—the only purpose of their petition was to fight against the Hillsborough tragedy on 14 Before the anniversary, the British government was able to publish the full documentation on the incident.

Those who participated in this joint event include survivors of the tragedy, families of the victims, and fans of the Premier League teams; Sir Dalglish himself, Liverpool's current captain Steven Gerrard, and the "mortal enemy" Manchester United who were voted for Michael Owen, whom Liverpool see as a 'traitor'...

It is precisely because of this joint name that the British Parliament has publicly discussed this old case and promised to disclose all documents, no matter which side justice is on. The 96 Liverpool fans who died in the Hillsborough tragedy deserve a the truth.

It was for this that Dalglish went to London to meet with the Home Secretary.The British House of Commons has authorized the government to fully disclose all the documents and materials of the incident, and form an independent investigation team to conduct a completely fair and thorough investigation of this "old case".

It happened to be Friday when Dalglish got the news.The Home Secretary informed him that an announcement would be made to the entire UK next week.

After being wronged for more than [-] years, there is suddenly hope that the truth will be revealed, but Dalglish does not see any joy and relief on his face.

"Anton...you are too young, you may not be able to imagine what we went through at that time." Dalglish said to Anton.

"Indeed!" Anton calculated quickly in his mind. He was only 6 years old when the Hillsborough tragedy happened.

But he clearly knew the ins and outs of the whole tragedy and many details.

Because his younger brother Bernard is a Liverpool fan, he knows a lot about the Hillsborough tragedy, otherwise he would not have directly attacked the reporter of the Sun at the press conference.

The Hillsborough tragedy was a man-made crush and stampede that was once blamed on Liverpool fans themselves.However, it was not the Liverpool fans themselves who caused the accident, but the chaotic stadium management, the stadium scheduling that made wrong decisions, and the South Yorkshire Police who lacked resilience and did not respond in time to the dangers that had occurred on the pitch .

"You never know what we went through, and I hope you never go through that again..." Dalglish murmured.

It was an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, and the match was held at Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield Wednesday's home court.

Due to the large number of fans who came to watch the game, there were still about 5000 Liverpool fans who did not enter the stadium until the game started.After cheers were heard in the stadium at the beginning of the game, these fans were very excited and demanded to be admitted immediately.

The Yorkshire Sheriff Dukenfield, who had no experience in stadium management, issued an order by mistake and opened a narrow passage leading to the stands of P3 and P4 in the Hillsborough Stadium, allowing a large number of fans to rush in in a short period of time The stands, which can only accommodate 2000 people, resulted in the trampling and squeezing of the crowd, resulting in the unfortunate death of 96 fans.

This is a tragic accident, but what makes Liverpool fans even more distressed is that Yorkshire Sheriff Duckenfield directly dumped the blame as soon as the accident happened, and put the hat that caused the accident on the heads of Liverpool fans.

He claimed early on in the tragedy that Liverpool fans were drinking heavily and trying to storm the pitch without a ticket.The sheriff's casual remark was immediately quoted by the BBC and other news media, and quickly spread to the whole world.

While Liverpool fans are desperately saving themselves and helping the wounded, while they are crying for the dozens of lives lost in just a few minutes, they still don't know that "themselves" are the ones who "created" the tragedy people.

But even then, they had a chance to get justice for themselves.

After the accident, the British government appointed Justice Taylor to investigate the matter. After visiting multiple witnesses and conducting a detailed investigation, Taylor issued a "Taylor Report", which clearly pointed out that the cause of the accident was the design of the stadium. Unreasonable, and the wrong command of the police to the scene.A small number of Liverpool fans consumed alcoholic beverages, but this was not the main cause of the incident.

Despite the fairness of Taylor's report, in Britain at the time, the police's honor was higher than the truth of the matter.The police have joined forces with politicians in rejecting the fairness of Taylor's report, arguing that witnesses in the report did not testify under oath and should not be considered valid testimony.Moreover, the police tampered with the confessions of many on-site police officers in the ensuing investigation, and deliberately ignored a series of evidence against the police.

Therefore, when the results of the investigation into the Hillsborough tragedy came out in 1991, it was officially determined that the fans were killed in an "accidental" accident rather than man-made.

The slander against Liverpool fans by the "Sun" back then came to light one month after the incident. The Sun was discredited and the editor-in-chief was forced to apologize.

However, the justice that the official should give to Liverpool fans has yet to come.In the long period of more than 20 years since then, the families of the victims, survivors, and Liverpool fans formed the "Hillsborough Justice Movement" organization, launched various lawsuits, and persisted for 22 years, but so far have not been able to recover the money. justice.

"At that time, I felt that I had done everything I could, but I hadn't done anything..." Dalglish continued.

When the tragedy happened, Daklish, as the head coach of Liverpool, had been trying to use the radio to call on Liverpool fans to remain calm, but he was alone and had no way to prevent the tragedy from happening.

Dalglish later resigned as Liverpool's head coach, withdrew sadly and stayed away from football, precisely because there was still no way to recover from the shadow of the tragedy.

"You may not imagine how many funerals I have attended since then..."

"At that time, some family members of the fans asked me with tears in their eyes. Is it true that Shankly said, 'Football is higher than life and death'? I am not qualified to say this sentence, in front of life, football can be said to be so humble that it is nothing..."

Dalglish fell into memory, but also seemed to be expressing.At this moment, which was still dark before dawn, he wanted to vent all the infinite emotions that had been hidden in his heart for many years.

Anton didn't speak, just sat quietly aside, playing his role of listener.He knew in his heart that Dalglish could only say these words to a friend like him who had nothing to do with the past.

"...Life should be respected even more. I always believe that it is my unshirkable responsibility to bring this group of fans to seek justice for the victims of the year."

Although Dalglish's body is a little thin, but when it comes to this, he still tried to straighten his spine.

Anton can only express complete respect for this: these people have insisted on 22 years for the justice that a group of lost lives deserve.

At this moment, Dalglish finally let out a sigh of relief. He had said all he should express and confide in one breath, and he felt much more relaxed.Finally he turned to look at Anton: "Do you remember what I told you in Scotland last summer?"

Of course Anton remembered, but it was inconvenient for him to interface.

Dalglish had wanted to invite him to coach Liverpool at the time, but Anton declined the invitation for Sunderland.

"To be honest, I've been really tired recently," Dalglish told Anton, "At first, I still had some confidence in my coaching level, but once I really returned to the game, I realized that I was old. I distanced myself from the game and found out after a few years that I was never coming back..."

In other words, in the just-concluded Europa League 1/8 finals, Liverpool narrowly lost to the Portuguese team Braga and were upset.This is the end of Liverpool's last cup front other than the league. The team is facing a situation where all four teams are empty, and it is still difficult to qualify for the European competition.

"...The tactics I use have already been eliminated from the field, and my experience has become old-fashioned experience. Even the players' judgment on the field may be better than mine."

"Anton, you also know that I can't keep up with the analytical tools and scientific methods used by your young people, and I can't understand them. Our older generation's command of the game is different from your younger generation's. In comparison, it's like playing cards, it's all about luck..."

Anton quickly interrupted Dalglish: "No, you can't say that!"

"The King" is the spiritual pillar of Liverpool. Football games have never been entirely dependent on skills. As long as Liverpool has Dalglish standing on the sidelines, the players on the field will have endless motivation to continue playing.

Dalglish shook his hand and said, "No, Anton, you misunderstood me. I know you have your own ideas, and I will never force you. This time I came here... I really just want to talk to someone. Although I really want you to join the club I love so much, as long as you are willing to come, I am willing to offer the position of head coach with both hands..."

Anton: ...Do you want to force it?

Dalglish continued: "At the moment I really, really want to be fully committed to 'Hillsborough Justice', but until I find the right man to take over as Liverpool manager, I'm going to fight this old bone. , and will lead this group of players forward!"

"I just came here to tell you that if one day you leave Sunderland, please don't go to another team to coach. Liverpool has a head coach seat waiting for you..."

Anton didn't know why Dalglish had such confidence in him.

But he realized that the next game against Liverpool is likely to be a difficult game.

The author has something to say: The historical facts in this section mainly refer to the BBC's detailed report on the matter, and also refer to the whole picture of the incident compiled by Du Niang.