Daily Post (long) column: Shifting Loyalties in politics and football
WHISPER the name Javier Mascherano to Liverpool fans and loyal is not likely to be one of the words that will be used to describe the midfielder this week.
Anfield legend John Aldridge articulated the feeling of many fans when he said the player's refusal to face Manchester City on Monday night was selfish and unprofessional - he had let the club down badly.
Mascherano wants to abandon Liverpool in favour of Spanish champions Barcelona.
The timing of his act of disloyalty could not have been worse, if Liverpool's season does not pick up many will look back on this game (lost 3-0) as having set the tone for another disappointing year.
And while the Argentinean's team mates were warming up for their game at Eastlands another act of shifting loyalties was playing out in the corridors of power at Liverpool council.
Liberal Democrat Ian Jobling, sporting a red tie, was posing for a picture shaking hands with Liverpool Labour leader Joe Anderson as he sealed his defection.
Turning his back on a party he has belonged to for 34 years was no easy act for Cllr Jobling who also sat on the police authority.
But he can no longer stomach the coalition cuts and has protested that he Lib-Dems have betrayed their election manifesto.
Cllr Jobling seems, in the main, to have avoided the vitriol that political parties tend to pour on defectors.
Warren Bradley, his former party leader in Liverpool, warned last month that a number of local members were considering leaving the party in the wake of the coalition's cuts.
Cllr Jobling's defection seems to have been met philosophically by his local party, which is acutely aware of how unpopular teaming up with the Conservatives captained by David Cameron has been in places like Liverpool.
Defecting, like signing for a new football club, is no simple act and timing can be crucial in these matters.
Had Mascherano not turned his back on Liverpool on Monday and his transfer to Barcelona taken place earlier in the summer, he might have departed with the best wishes of Reds fans. Now similarly to the way Evertonians felt when Joleon Lescott made his ill-fated move to Man City last year, Liverpool fans just want rid - but at the right price.
Cllr Jobling's defection grabbed headlines in Liverpool for one day, but had it been delayed a month it might have had a bigger impact as the Lib-Dems prepared to meet for one of their most important party conferences at the Echo Arena and BT Convention Centre.
Talk has turned to whether Cllr Anderson is preparing to make another, more high-profile signing that he can unveil as the Lib-Dems gather. Transfer deadline: September 22.
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David Bartlett
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Joe Anderson has been delaying Jobling's defection for weeks. Not because of any clever scheming on Joe's part, but because he wasn't much keen on having this guy in the Labour Party. However the scratching and whining outside his door became so persistent, Joe eventually gave in. As someone else has asked, does this mean Jobling has sacrificed his nice little earner on the Police Authority? You might more sensibly ask if Javier Mascherano has given up football to work in the local orphanage.
The answer? It gets worse. Here's your starter for ã10k. Places on the Police Authority are allocated proportionally, by party. So only if Labour has a vacancy could Jobling retain his place. Now here's a happy coincidence! Labour does have a vacancy, thanks to Rose Bailey. And she will be turning in her grave!
I feel it in my bones that there are more to come!
Ronnie de Ramper you are quite wrong. The Labour place on the Police Authority has already been allocated to another Labour Councillor.
I'm delighted to hear it. Who?
I cannot help but wonder whether an imposter wrote this first entry here. If this was really written by the person who outed themselves to me as Ronnie once, and who I shall give no clues to, I need to tell you that you have completely the wrong story. I have no idea who has fed you this false information but I can assure you that it is completely wrong and you have been seriously mislead. As the Chair of the Labour Group, I know the detailed facts of this defection. There was no delay in Cllr Jobling moving across the floor. He contacted Cllr Bradley and told him he was not planning to stand again as a LibDem in early August - I have seen the email he sent. It was at least a couple of weeks later that he then made contact with the Labour Party to express an interest in joining. The move was completed within two weeks. Ian has been welcomed with open arms, in fact I can think of no other Councillor in the city who would have received such a positive and warm reception, because he has always been at pains to be friendly with all councillors from all parties and has never taken part in the nasty stuff that some delight in.
Ian defected with one promise to him, that he would not be given any favours, no seat on the police authority and no guarantee of any seat in any forthcoming elections. He was told that if he joined our group and our party then he would have to take his chances with all of our other members, whether they were councillors or prospective ones. You are totally out of order by mentioning Rose Bailey in conjunction with this story - another reason why I struggle to believe that this entry was written by the person I know to be Ronnie who would never have made such a terrible political dig. Councillor Irene Rainey is our new member on the Police Authority. I have written about Ian's defection on my blog and I stand by every word. I am extremely disappointed to have discovered this set of comments, written while I was on holiday otherwise I would have picked up on them before.