Sir Alex would not have handled Suarez differently

Brendan Rogers has dealt with his troublesome star man in the same way Ferguson would have.

I’m not surprised Liverpool want Luis Suarez to sign a new contract. But after Ian Ayre accused the Uruguayan superstar of damaging Liverpool, I won’t be surprised if he tells them to shove it.

According to the Reds’ Managing Director, Suarez’s bite on Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic in April was harmful to the club’s “brand”. I reckon that comment could prove to be just as harmful if Liverpool’s star man doesn’t extend his stay at Anfield.

Whether or not you can see where Ayre was coming from, making his thoughts public in such a pivotal week was crazy. The night before, Suarez had returned to the Liverpool first team after serving his 10-game bite ban, and performed marvellously.

The response from Ayre, given at a sports industry breakfast just hours later, began as it should have, with an assurance that the club wanted to extend his contract. It should have stopped there.

Instead, he undid all his good work by getting drawn into an admission that Suarez’s behaviour had hurt the Reds. Some might see that as refreshing honesty but I see it as a terrible bit of PR.

I’d bet plenty of money that Brendan Rogers would have been raging when he heard those comments. Put yourself in his shoes.

You’re trying to repair a fractious relationship with a volatile, but sublime, player, who almost left the club over the summer, but who is now resigned to staying. You want to get the best out of him, because at his best, he could be the guy who drives your team to a genuine title challenge. But above all, you don’t want to provoke him into doing anything daft, because while you respect his talent, you know he’s a loose cannon.

If you’d been dampening things down for weeks, only for your Managing Director to stroll along and blithely light the fuse, you’d be furious.

Some would say Brendan has been too soft on Suarez, anyway, as if that justifies Ayre’s comments. I don’t believe that.

I don’t think the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson would have played the situation differently to how Rogers has. Sir Alex always backed his best players, even if their behaviour sometimes verged on the bonkers.

Just look at Eric Cantona. He leapt into a crowd and karate-kicked a fan. But his manager stood by him because he knew Cantona was too good to let go. Brendan Rogers will be looking at Suarez the same way and rightly so.

With the Uruguayan in the side this season, Liverpool could be contenders. If they hold onto him for years to come, who knows? By offering him a new deal, they’re giving themselves a chance.

But the worry for the red half of Merseyside is that, thanks to Ayre’s comments, his mind might already be made up.