At first I thought, “just one line”. But then I decided there was no reason to stop there. Let’s do lots of lines. More and more lines. Before I knew it, I had several paragraphs.
I’ve seen lots of angry messages on Twitter about Mr Livermore. It is an understandable reaction. I wanted to take my time before I came to a conclusion.
People take social drugs, such as cocaine, for a variety of reasons. Cocaine is one where you can, if not careful, slip into dependency. I have absolutely no idea whether this was a one-off, or whether Jake does have some form of dependency.
I think a fair few people reading this will have experimented with social drugs, including those doing the castigation. A kid’s role-model such as a footballer, would ideally not take part in such endeavours, but we are only human.
Whereas Bullard was a blatant piss-taker, I have no reason to believe that Jake is. I do think he cares about the club and the fans, as opposed to his own celebrity lifestyle.
He has fucked up. But please tell me, have you ever fucked up? I know I have.
Therefore, if Jake is sincere about rescuing his career, if he is willing to apologise to Steve Bruce, his team-mates and of course, the fans. If he is willing to take action to tackle any dependency, should there be one, and drastically limit his exposure to such substances, then I would like to see an olive branch offered.
I say this, partly as a human, who believes in giving people a second chance (some people seem to be giving Allam a second thousandth chance), and also one that thinks he could be a very good Championship player in a couple of years, or a decent back-up to the first team if we stay in the Premier League.
Clearly he should not be paid whilst suspended, and any comeback should be on a vastly reduced wage. Still enough to afford plenty of cocaine.