- Dec 22, 2005
- 2,553
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I don't think it's laughable at all.
Souness put the numbers in the hat, and kept his hand in the hat, he had to be told to remove his hand before drawing a number. That is not paranoia, that is the action of someone cheating. Coupled with the look he gave Redknapp, you have to say the draw isn't what he wanted, or maybe not what he planned.
Obviously the draw isn't what he wanted, he's a Liverpool fan and they drew the favourites. I'd have pulled that face in my home if we'd drawn Chelsea, it doesn't mean I'd try and fix the draw if I got the opportunity.
To avoid all this idiotic suspicion they shouldn't have people with known biases do the draw just in case (the same reason they asked him to remove his hand, to prevent baseless accusations like this one), but if you honestly think a televised draw in front of hundreds of thousands of witnesses would be openly fixed in the way you're suggesting, then you've cracked. Further, if you believe that they would take that mammoth risk and then not actually manage to fix the draw, you need to have a word with yourself.
Think about the implications of what you're saying. It's a simple question of risk and reward - do you really think he would risk his well-paid, cushy Sky Sports job for the sake of fixing a draw for a relatively minor cup competition? Redknapp would have to be on board seeing as he was drawing the second ball - are you saying the pair of them cooked up the scam and then Redknapp fucked up? Bottled it? Changed his mind? He's not the brighest button but he's not brain dead.
The risks are too high and the possible reward too minimal for your theory to make any sense. It's a stupid, paranoid theory based on nothing but Souness pulling the same face any fan would have done in his position. It was unprofessional to show his annoyance, nothing more.