I read it as being the other team doing it.

 

Both teams will.

Only players who have won things should receive such a gesture from opposition players, especially in the competition that match is taking place in.

Stevie has a grand total of 0 winners medals in this league.

Feck giving him a guard of honour.

I hope Leon Osman gets a guard of honour too.

I don't think you can place arbitrary conditions on who should get a guard of honour. Ultimately we all know the players who are deserving of such an honour. Carragher is, Gerrard is, Lampard would've if he'd stayed, JT is, Osman isn't, Mikel isn't.

 

It's not about medals. It's about what they meant to the game, to their club and to the fans.

I dunno, they're pretty hard to separate. let's look at the evidence here.

 

Osman vs Gerrard

- both one-club men

- equal number of Premier League titles

- both play at Liverpudlian clubs

- both midfielders

- both score the occasional world-class goal

- both apparently have awful taste in music

 

Tie-breaker - how do they express that taste?

 

 

 

I think Osman might nick it, you know.

I dunno, they're pretty hard to separate. let's look at the evidence here.

 

Osman vs Gerrard

- both one-club men

- equal number of Premier League titles

- both play at Liverpudlian clubs

- both midfielders

- both score the occasional world-class goal

- both apparently have awful taste in music

 

Tie-breaker - how do they express that taste?

 

 

 

I think Osman might nick it, you know.

 

See I know you're joking but I'll treat it's like an earnest opinion and say this.

 

 

If you can't tell the difference between an Osman and a Gerrard then football isn't for you. I'm being put in a position where I have to defend Gerrard and I don't like it.

 

Football supporters can recognise something special when they see it though and that's what happened on Sunday. No pre-planning, no orchestrated tribute just 30,000 or so fans coming together to applaud someone a little bit special.

 

Let's be honest, there's no song about Riise putting the ball in his own net is there?

 

Let's be honest, there's no song about Riise putting the ball in his own net is there?

 

There was - the Kalou song!

There was - the Kalou song!

 

That's more of a Kalou song than a song to needle Riise, although you have a point.

Edited May 12, 201511 yr by Blue Daze

Davey will be pleased of your support Blue Daze; he'll be sneaking onto the pitch to join in the guard of honour(sorry Davey, I’ll swear I’ll stop once the season is over).

The sceptical part of me thinks this could be another reason why Gerrard announced his move in January; I just wouldn’t put anything past him when it comes to getting an opportunity to lap up as many separate plaudits he can get. I know he won’t have been the only ever player to do it (Vidic rings a bell) but it’s not exactly a common occurrence.

It's not about medals. It's about what they meant to the game, to their club and to the fans.

May I ask in your opinion what he has done to the game to warrant something like a guard of honour? As an outsider, i.e. non-Liverpool fan, what has impressed you on numerous occasions? Undoubtedly scored a couple of crucial goals in his club career, can’t argue with that.

Football supporters can recognise something special when they see it though and that's what happened on Sunday. No pre-planning, no orchestrated tribute just 30,000 or so fans coming together to applaud someone a little bit special.

 

Someone so special that they resumed abusing him 10 seconds later! That doesn't seem very sincere to me.

 

Good player, sure. Liverpool legend, sure. But I ask again why great players who have done more in English football than him were not afforded a similar honour. The huge hype surrounding him seems to be based more on who he plays for and a few spectacular performances ten years ago, which he's lived off ever since. He's at the right club for that. Even last season, the closest he came to winning the league, they were carried by Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling. His role was mostly just to take the 50 penalties those three won and we all know who blew it for them in the end.

Someone so special that they resumed abusing him 10 seconds later! That doesn't seem very sincere to me.

 

 

We only abuse the ones we love....or something. Like I said, he played a massive part in the rivalry between the two clubs and it's a rivalry that has heightened the experience of supporting this club over the last decade.

 

You respect the opponents who give you the toughest battles I think and that's what the applause was about. Respect.

 

May I ask in your opinion what he has done to the game to warrant something like a guard of honour? As an outsider, i.e. non-Liverpool fan, what has impressed you on numerous occasions? Undoubtedly scored a couple of crucial goals in his club career, can’t argue with that.

 

He's been a top player over a decade and had some inspired moments like the goal against Olympiakos, the CL Final in 2005 and the FA Cup Final against West Ham. Has he been overhyped by an English media looking for something great? Almost certainly. 

 

But when you follow a sport, you want to see the best talent and he's been that. What's nice is that people in the ground on Sunday recognised that and it's a good moment for sport. If people disagree then fine.

His club can honour him, give him the guard of honour and a testimonial if they like.

Why should other clubs and fans be brought into it? Steven Gerrard has done nothing for us, why should we show appreciation for his time at Liverpool? It’s not like he is a living legend…he’s never won the bloody thing for goodness sake lol.

It’s typical scouser ambulance chasing mentality, let’s pretend we are special and this is a crowning moment to throw our favourite son in everyone’s face before he fecks off to earn a fortune playing sub-standard football in the sun.

Meh, I’ll be singing the Demba Ba rendition like I was on Sunday. That’s the only thing Gerrard means to me…failure and laughter.

See I know you're joking but I'll treat it's like an earnest opinion and say this.

 

 

If you can't tell the difference between an Osman and a Gerrard then football isn't for you. I'm being put in a position where I have to defend Gerrard and I don't like it.

 

Football supporters can recognise something special when they see it though and that's what happened on Sunday. No pre-planning, no orchestrated tribute just 30,000 or so fans coming together to applaud someone a little bit special.

 

Let's be honest, there's no song about Riise putting the ball in his own net is there?

 

Heh, above anything else I wanted an excuse to post the Boom Boom Shake the Room video. Osman is class though, I like him a lot, it's a shame he never had a proper international career.

 

I agree though, the amount of attention Gerrard gets from us is symbolic of how much he has stuck in our collective craw. He's clearly a good (if flawed) player that I've enjoyed watching and also enjoyed mocking. I'm not going to pretend my negative feelings towards him didn't go way over the top at various points but now it's all over most of the ill-feeling has evaporated.

 

I don't think there's anything wrong with applauding a rival we've enjoyed sparring with over the years, I think it was a nice touch, although probably not worth the amount of attention it has received. Equally I don't think there's anything wrong with having one final joke at his expense, either way this is an opportunity we shouldn't let slip.

 

(Edit - forgot about the guard of honour): Personally I think a guard of honour is excessive, not just because I don't particularly like him, but for any individual really. If it's within his own club then it's their business really, I'm not particularly arsed either way.

Edited May 12, 201511 yr by PloKoon13

You respect the opponents who give you the toughest battles I think and that's what the applause was about. Respect.

 

70 minutes of abuse. Oh Gerrard's coming off and it's his last game at the Bridge, better applaud him for a few seconds. Resume abuse. Like someone insulting you, apologising and then right away insulting you again. The respect bit just rings hollow. And it also gave him the opportunity to reject it and have a pop back.

70 minutes of abuse. Oh Gerrard's coming off and it's his last game at the Bridge, better applaud him for a few seconds. Resume abuse. Like someone insulting you, apologising and then right away insulting you again. The respect bit just rings hollow. And it also gave him the opportunity to reject it and have a pop back.

 

What can I say? Being a football supporter is a complex thing and I genuinely think that after he went off that chant was at it's loudest.

 

If he wasn't a top player why would the fans bother? It was one of those great moments that only sport can create. You either get it or you don't.

70 minutes of abuse. Oh Gerrard's coming off and it's his last game at the Bridge, better applaud him for a few seconds. Resume abuse. Like someone insulting you, apologising and then right away insulting you again. The respect bit just rings hollow. And it also gave him the opportunity to reject it and have a pop back.

But just because you take the p*ss it doesn't mean you can't respect his career. The abuse wasn't nasty, personal stuff either. Certainly not like their lot with Terry.

But just because you take the p*ss it doesn't mean you can't respect his career. The abuse wasn't nasty, personal stuff either. Certainly not like their lot with Terry.

 

I just don't find that especially respectful. It was bizarre and, to me, insincere. 5 seconds of 'respect' sandwiched between 90-odd minutes of abuse and mockery. Do you think there would still have been respect if he'd scored the winner and cupped his ear to the MHL? After all, he'd still be leaving and still have had the same career. I certainly wouldn't call it a great moment in sport, but to each his own.

I just don't find that especially respectful. It was bizarre and, to me, insincere. 5 seconds of 'respect' sandwiched between 90-odd minutes of abuse and mockery. Do you think there would still have been respect if he'd scored the winner and cupped his ear to the MHL? After all, he'd still be leaving and still have had the same career. I certainly wouldn't call it a great moment in sport, but to each his own.

 

If he was a scrub, no-one would give a sh*t. Fact is in a match that didn't matter, 30,000-odd supporters applauded an opposition player who has been the main guy at our biggest rivals over the last decade. It was a moment of class that you only get in sport and I didn't expect it, but when it happened I turned to my old man and said 'fair play'. That was to the supporters and to the player.

 

And then I went back to singing that song louder than I had done before, because that's the relationship we have with him. The player you love to hate.

 

Did you clap?

May I ask in your opinion what he has done to the game to warrant something like a guard of honour? As an outsider, i.e. non-Liverpool fan, what has impressed you on numerous occasions? Undoubtedly scored a couple of crucial goals in his club career, can’t argue with that.

He hasn't won the league but has won the rest to be fair. 2 FA Cups, 3 League Cups (I think), European Cup, UEFA Cup and Super Cup. Not a bad haul considering Liverpool aren't what they used to be. I agree with Blue Daze in that it's more what they represent to their club. Ossie never won the league but he has a statue. Would you disagree with that? David May won the Champion's League and Le Tissier never won a trophy. You can't solely base it on that.

Edited May 12, 201511 yr by George Mills

I just don't find that especially respectful. It was bizarre and, to me, insincere. 5 seconds of 'respect' sandwiched between 90-odd minutes of abuse and mockery. Do you think there would still have been respect if he'd scored the winner and cupped his ear to the MHL? After all, he'd still be leaving and still have had the same career. I certainly wouldn't call it a great moment in sport, but to each his own.

If the circumstances were different then I agree, it would no doubt have been different (I made this point earlier). But the circumstances (1-1 in a nothing game with Chelsea already crowned as Champions and it knowingly being his last game at Chelsea) allowed it to happen. I think it was spontaneous more than anything.

If the circumstances were different then I agree, it would no doubt have been different (I made this point earlier). But the circumstances (1-1 in a nothing game with Chelsea already crowned as Champions and it knowingly being his last game at Chelsea) allowed it to happen. I think it was spontaneous more than anything.

 

Doesn't that rather prove the point though? In a meaningful match where he made a meaningful contribution, he probably wouldn't have been applauded off. Well, fair enough, if people wanted to clap Steven Gerrard off the pitch then that was up to them. But in the context of the abuse he was getting for the whole of the rest of the match, I just found it all a bit hollow and very bizarre.

Giving someone stick for 70 mins then clapping for a few seconds then going back to giving him more stick doesn't really come across as respecting him tbh.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32713079

 

I don';t think i'm ever going to understand this love-in everyone else has with him.

It's pretty hilarious that some people are angry at Gerrard for having a dig at the Chelsea fans instead of thanking them for a little applause inside a barrage of abuse.

 

If we're moaning about 'class', we might as well support Arsenal.