Mark's Noble Decision

Mark Noble is eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland.

He was born in England.

He has played for England.

He has even captained England.

But his Grandparents are Irish.

According to FIFA, this makes him eligible.

It’s that simple.

If Mark was to play for the Republic of Ireland in their next game against Gibraltar - nobody could have a problem.

Not the English FA.

Not the FA of Ireland.

Neither UEFA nor FIFA.

Nobody could have a problem at all.

Nobody except Mark that is.

After all is said and done, with rulebooks checked and applications processed, there remains only one simple hurdle in the path of the player playing for the birth country of his Grandparents.

Mark Noble does not want to play for the Republic of Ireland.

Or perhaps more pertinently, Mark Noble does not want to play for the Republic of Ireland, yet.

And it’s the use of the word ‘yet’ that has turned this story into a debate.

Dave Kitson was available to represent the Irish national side.

He made it clear from the beginning that he didn’t feel Irish and didn’t feel it would be right to play for Ireland.

He falls into the category of ‘not wanting to play for Ireland’.

So too, do Zat Knight, Anton Ferdinand and Curtis Davis.

All players eligible to play for Ireland.

All players who’d rather have represented their country of birth and were prepared to finish their careers uncapped than represent the birth country of a member of their family.

The difference between all of them and Mark of course, is the little word ‘yet’.

Mark has already told us he would rather play for England.

He has told us this for many years.

And for that he deserved respect.

He was biding his time for an opportunity.

But as the door opened with the retirement of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, it subsequently closed with the call-ups of Jack Colback and Fabian Delph.

This was the chance Mark had waited for.

Instead it went to two younger, fresher midfielders.

If Mark wants to play international football, he will most probably now have to switch allegiance.

A topic which is not unfamiliar.

The Republic of Ireland have benefited aplenty in the past.

Most nations have at some stage.

Only last year did a tug of war take place between Spain and Brazil for the services of Diego Costa.

The same Spain and Brazil who were favourites to lift the World Cup.

Diego had the opportunity to play for both and chose Spain.

He turned down the chance to play for Brazil in a World Cup in Brazil.

That’s how much he wanted to play for the Spanish national team.

Winners of the actual tournament Germany, had two Polish born players.

Runners-up Argentina had a Frenchman.

Third place Netherlands had players born in Portugal, Canada and Switzerland.

But for every Miroslav Klose, Lucas Podolski and Gonzalo Higuain - there is a Kevin Prince-Boateng.

Mercenary extraordinaire.

At the age of 27, he has amassed a grand total of fifteen caps for Ghana.

Seven of which came in World Cup tournaments.

Five in World Cup build up games.

And only three other ‘non World Cup related’ appearances.

You get the feeling if he was in Mark’s situation, he might wait until the Euro 2016 campaign starts to show more than just promise.

No show of national pride like in the case of Diego, who turned down the opportunity of playing for his country of birth at a World Cup in his country of birth.

You don’t get much more noble than that.

Not every switch of allegiance is as extreme a case of course.

For every Kevin-Prince, there is a Kevin Kilbane, a Clinton Morrison and a Paul Butler.

The question of Mark’s ability compared to these guys should be asked.

Not his ability on the football pitch mind.

His ability to affect the Irish squad.

Of which he can affect massively.

Just maybe not in a positive way.

Or just maybe not in a positive way, yet...

Sorry Liverpool Football Club

Not in an apologetic sense.

But the actual sorry state of the club right now.

They are completely wrong in their handling of the Luis Suarez racism situation.

And it’s time to change their staunch attitude towards supporting Luis and try save some grace.

Because the way things are going - they are on course to do some serious damage to the reputation of this great club.

Following the release of the 115 page document from the Football Association, it has become quite apparent just how guilty Luis actually is.

But Liverpool Football Club seem insistent on giving their full backing to a player who has unequivocally being found guilty of racial abuse.

The show of ‘unity’ from the club by wearing t-shirts supporting Luis before the Wigan game was a disgraceful decision.

If they had t-shirts supporting anti-racism - I could understand.

But to stand by a player who has just been convicted of racism, completely undermined the whole idea of zero tolerance against this disgusting side to the sport.

What was going through Glen Johnson’s head as he warmed up for the game?

It was a baffling decision by Glen as an individual - let alone by a club the size of Liverpool.

At the start of this unsavoury incident, it was unclear as to whether Luis was a racist or actually misinterpreted.

To support a player at this stage is what one would expect from most clubs.

But Liverpool, and Kenny Dalglish in particular, must have known from an early stage that Luis was going to be found guilty.

If they didn’t, then why didn’t they instigate an internal investigation immediately?

Liverpool’s defence was built on misinterpretation, because of the different cultures.

Put a Uruguayan and a Frenchman together in England and it’s easy to understand how that could happen.

But as soon as Luis admitted to actually saying all of the numerous different expressions of the insult that he used, it became clear that he didn’t have a leg to stand on.

According to the 115 page report from the FA, Luis admitted to calling Patrice Evra ‘Negro’ seven times.

He also admitted to saying “Because you’re black” when asked by Patrice why he had kicked him.

He continued with “I don’t speak to blacks” and “OK, blackie, blackie, blackie” during the exchange.

Luis and Kenny were joined by Dirk Kuyt and Damien Comolli in issuing statements regarding the incident.

The FA found them to be ‘inconsistent’ and ‘unreliable’.

At least one of them was lying.

The report suggests at least two.

It is both thorough and conclusive.

And the FA should be commended for their handling of the case.

Clearly stating facts and providing hard evidence.

All of it leading to no doubts about Luis being guilty.

100%.

It was one thing supporting a player before his conviction.

But an entirely different situation if you continue to support a player in this way when found guilty.

An appeal now, would be irresponsible beyond belief from a club that has held so much respect in the footballing world for as long as I can remember.

Liverpool Football Club should back down immediately from their current stance.

Because they aren’t just supporting Luis.

They’re supporting racism.

That part of the situation is black and white...