Dejan Lovren Penalty Miss ! A City Rejoices ! Friday, 27th Feb 2015 09:15 Even as the ball sailed over the bar and headed into downtown Istanbul and beyond the supporters of Southampton Football Club were gleefully celebrating what they saw as Karma. Out of last summers big name departures Dejan Lovren's was the one that stuck in Saints fans throats the most, he more than any of the other four behaved despicably and his quip that his "Head was already in Liverpool" even before any sort of dialogue was seemingly in place about a proposed transfer was not only unprofessional but downright disrespctful to the club and supporters. Of course the fact that one of the most ridiculed manager's inthe Premier League Brendon Rodgers was again giving it Billy Big Boots and trying to bully his way into signing one of our players made it doubly worse. Lovren had given scant service to Saints in his first and only season, missing almost a quarter of it through injury and although it could not be denied that in the first half of it was excellent, there was a feeling that he wasn't quite the same player when he returned after injuring himself at Sunderland in the January. But it was his eagerness to get away the moment someone waved a chaquebook in his face that riled most Saints supporters, he showed absolutely no class once Rodgers started to stir things up about a possible move via his media friends. It is not just about the fact that he wanted to move or in fact did move, indeed Lambert, Chambers & Shaw went and have not booed by Saints supporters, it was purely the way that Lovren went about things. His crass comments in the press almost burned his bridges in a way that Adam Lallana didn't despite that move having its lets say moments, nor Morgan Schneiderlin when he was annoyed at not being able to join Spurs, they knew when to keep quiet, they knew that transfers take place with or without the glare of the media, all a player has to do is say little publicly and then he is able to thank the fans of the club he is departing warmly and remain respected as well as join his new team with their fans already having the feelgood factor about him. Therefor altthough Lovren's head was already in Liverpool back in the summer he was clearly keeping his brain safely at home probably in a matchbox by his bed. Scousers be they Liverpool and everton fans can spot a "Wrong Un" from a mile off, thus Dejan Lovren's arrival on Merseyside was treated with suspicion not joy and that has showed in the way that long before yesterday Lovren was not the most popular man on the Kop by a long chalk, his performances were dire and the Liverpool fans who having seen the way he had dumped Saints saw him as a mercenary rather than a true Liverpool player, they didn't give him the tolerance he perhaps might have got and they were on his back almost immediately, Lovren had set out his stall and set the rules and he was now being taken to task on them. So to Istanbul, a ground were Liverpool fans have happy memories of penalty shootouts and Saints fans watching the drama unfold on TV were waiting for the moment when justice would start to be done. First ex Saint up was Rickie Lambert, in fairness although Saints supporters wanted Liverpool out, I think most did not want it to be Lambert who missed so there was a sense of relief when he put his spot kick away, then Adam Lallana, feelings rightly or wrongly are still mixed about our former Captain and I think 99% of Saints supporters were willing him to blaze over if only because they didn't think that Lovren would get a sniff of a penalty, in the game he had struggled to pass a ball 12 yards let alone score. So when Lallana scored the feeling was that Liverpool were going to sneak this one and that karma would have to be saved for another day . Then up stepped Lovren, it was now sudden death with Besiktas having scored all of their five penalties, the roar in Southampton as he blazed it over the bar (Blazed is the right expression) could be heard in Liverpool itself, Lovren's head might have been in Liverpool but now it was about to be joined by the ball which was half way back there even before he had dropped to his knees and pulled his shirt over his head in shame, it was significant that few of his team mates rushed to console him, MrPopular he does not seem to be. But even as the ball sailed over the goal social media was erupting as Saints supporters celebrated Lovren's miss, Facebook and Twitter were going into meltdown and even Barack Obama knew of the miss after it was rumoured that Lovren had dislodged Neil Armstrong's flag on the moon. The jokes came thick and fast and for Saints fans it was karma and perhaps a little closure on an event that last summer left a bitter taste in our mouths. So where does Dejan Lovren stand now, if he is still at Liverpool next season then Saints fans will not let him forget this One night in Istanbul (to coin a film title set at the 2005 Champions League final) and i suspect that Liverpool fans won't either, he now faces ridicule for the rest of the season wherever he plays and the red side of Merseyside thank god they have already played Everton twice. As I type Everton fans will be mercilessly taunting Liverpool supporters at work, school and in the street and Saints supporters have a feelng of Karma that they have been waiting for since the summer. So where does Lovren go now ? I fear that his time at Liverpool is fast drawing to a close and that in the summer they may cut their losses, Dejan Lovren won't care for him it will be another move and another signing on fee. We in Southampton don't hate Liverpool anymore than any other club in the country, in fact due to the connections between the two ports it could be said that we have much in common and indeed there are many in Southampton with scouse roots due to those shipping connections. Last night was nothing personal against Liverpool, it was between the City and supporters of Southampton and Dejan Lovren, we have seen some sort of justice done, perhaps now there is closure on the sorry tale and we can concentrate down here on trying to defy the odds and secure a top four finish, if Dejan Lovren was inadvertently help us do that with a few more attrocious displays in a Liverpool shirt then you won't find many down here with sympathy for him. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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