Liverpool's supporters have sought to restore their reputation for sporting behaviour by wishing Alan Smith a full recovery from the terrible injuries he suffered in Saturday's FA Cup tie at Anfield.
Smith has indicated from hospital he does not harbour any bad feelings, the Manchester United player choosing to remember the Kop's standing ovation rather than their chant to John Arne Riise of "I want to know how you broke his leg".
Smith, who is making satisfactory progress from a broken left leg and dislocated ankle, has received several hundred letters, including one from the Merseyside branch of the Liverpool supporters' club.
"I just feel some of the headlines since Saturday have told only part of the story," the club secretary Les Lawson said last night. "Yes, that song was sung when he first went down but it was tongue-in-cheek because everyone expected him to get back up. Even Alex Ferguson said he had no idea how badly injured Smith was.
"Nobody really thought it possible that someone could be badly hurt trying to block a free-kick. Once it became apparent, however, everyone stopped singing and the whole ground stood to applaud him when he was taken off. Nobody wants to see a player seriously injured."
Although they stop short of saying sorry, the letter to Smith wishes him a full recovery from "all Liverpool supporters".
Lawson added: "We hope he's playing again soon. If he needs any inspiration he should look at Djibril Cisse, who suffered a horrific injury a couple of years ago but is now back playing."
Reflecting on the injury yesterday, Smith said: "When I looked, the leg was lying one way and my ankle was pointing towards Hong Kong so I knew I was in serious trouble. But the doctors are very positive, I've had an operation and now it's a question of starting on the road back."
If Alan Shearer is to end his illustrious career with the FA Cup winners' medal many believe he deserves, he will have to do it the hard way. Robert Lee, his former team-mate, did Shearer no favours yesterday when he paired Newcastle United with Chelsea in the draw for the quarter-finals.
It is a repeat of last season's fifth-round tie when Newcastle prevailed through Patrick Kluivert's goal though this time Stamford Bridge and not St James' Park will be the venue. It means Shearer, who will retire in the summer, could hang up his boots with only one piece of silverware, the Premiership title he won at Blackburn in 1995.
Team-mate and midfielder Scott Parker, who joined Newcastle from Chelsea last summer, is determined to cause an upset against the cup favourites: "We won't be afraid of going there because we have a lot of quality as well. When you get to the quarter-finals you are down to the nitty gritty, and if you are going to win the FA Cup then you have to beat the best teams around," he said.
Birmingham City will take on Liverpool at St Andrew's buoyed by recent history. Though the European champions' progress in the Premiership suggests Rafael Benitez has adapted to the nuances of domestic football, he has oddly still to come to terms with Birmingham City, drawing twice and suffering two defeats.
If that is an omen then Steve Bruce will hope the same is not true of Birmingham's last appearance in the FA Cup quarter-finals 20 years ago, when a 3-1 defeat to Watford precipitated relegation. Mindful that a repeat is possible this season, Benitez said: "Maybe Birmingham will be more concerned about their league position and this might not be as important to them as staying in the division."
In the other two quarter-finals Charlton host Middlesbrough while Manchester City or Aston Villa have home advantage against West Ham or Bolton.
Alan Curbishley's satisfaction with a home draw was tempered by the scheduling. All four ties must take place between Monday, March 20th and Thursday, March 23rd to facilitate the Premiership's early conclusion. "The FA have some sorting out to do," he said. "It means someone will have to play on the Saturday and again on Monday, which isn't ideal. It doesn't look too clever."
