by NANNY RED » Tue Jan 25, 2011 8:22 am
Kenny Dalglish say gender is not an issue if you're good at your job
Andy Hunter The Guardian, Tuesday 25 January 2011
Kenny Dalglish has said he had no idea a female assistant referee had allowed Liverpool's first goal at Molineux on Saturday and, contrary to Richard Keys' pre-match claim, could not care less.
The Liverpool manager was unwittingly dragged into the controversy that led to Keys and Andy Gray being suspended by the satellite channel when the Sky Sports presenter alleged that "Kenny will go potty" if Sian Massey were to make a contentious offside decision in the match at Wolverhampton. As it transpired Massey did, correctly allowing Fernando Torres' opening goal to stand after Raul Meireles had just beaten Wolves' offside trap. But Dalglish was unaware there was a female official running the line on the opposite side of the pitch to his position until the second half of the 3-0 win.
Dalglish has admitted he needs contact lenses but, more to the point, he insisted he would judge officials only on their competence. "I never even knew it was a woman," the Liverpool manager said. "In the second half I was watching the game and I said to Steve Clarke [first‑team coach], 'Steve, that's a woman over there.' I don't have a problem with the gender of people officiating at a football match. They've got to know the laws of the game, haven't they?
"I don't know what Sky's attitude is towards women, but certainly for me if you're good at your job I don't think your gender should be a restraint. If they're there, then fine. As I said, I didn't even realise until the second half that there was a woman running the line. It didn't bother me in any way, shape or form. The most important thing is how they see and interpret the laws of the game. The fact that we never knew tells you something. And, by the way, I never noticed if it was a guy on this side either."
Dalglish's daughter, Kelly Cates, is a former Sky Sports News presenter who now works for ESPN, and the Liverpool manager taunted the satellite company during a scheduled press conference today to preview the home game against Fulham.
Taking his seat at Melwood training ground, and before a question had been asked, Dalglish asked: "Is it OK for a lady to be here? It doesn't affect Sky?" The televised section of the press conference (Dalglish does a separate conference with written media afterwards) passed without the issue being raised until he said to Sky: "Is that your last question? So you're not even asking me about lady officials? And you want me to answer your questions?"
Later, away from the cameras, Dalglish stressed that the controversy over Keys and Gray should not detract from the official's key judgment call at Molineux. "It doesn't matter what your gender is, you're not going to get everything right. But fortunately for her this time, because she's been put under the microscope, they can look back at that [first goal] and justify that she got that one right. That will certainly give her a lot of confidence going into the game."
HE WHO BETRAYS WILL ALWAYS WALK ALONE
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