Goalkeepers are the great intangibles of footballing world
It's time to own up - my school team lost 6-0 way back in the 1960s because the goalkeeper, yours truly, did not try an inch. Shots were fumbled at the feet of the centre forward (this was in the pre-striker era) and long-range hits parried dramatically, but not saved.
The team had lost 6-0 before so nobody really questioned the result or the goalkeeper's role. No money changed hands because this was not a case of bribery, but one of coercion. When there's a thug standing behind the goal threatening you with a knife, the mind tends to be concentrated on one thing - letting in goals by the barrowload.
With goalkeepers having a reputation for being a little crazy, if not downright crazed, a few kicked posts to show anger at not saving a shot tended to disguise the fact that there was not much effort going into the performance. Given this schoolboy scenario, it's easy to decipher the signals coming out of the so-called 'Soccer Trial of the Century' in England.
When you have a motive - a flashing blade or a flash million or so - eccentric goalkeepers with a habit of letting in goals which are contenders for 'Howler of the Season', shadowy Indonesian betting syndicates and secretly shot video footage of meetings when match-fixing was discussed, any prosecutor worth a spot on LA Law would fancy his chances of a conviction.
But when you're dealing with 'keepers, those great intangibles of the footballing world, you can't be sure of anything. Goalkeeping guru turned television pundit Bob Wilson has testified that one of the accused, former Liverpool 'keeper Bruce Grobbelaar, could not be faulted for any of the goals in one of the matches under investigation. But being of the goalkeeping ilk, Wilson must know that it's impossible to tell the difference between a bumble and a deliberate fumble, a foul-up and a shady slip-up.
The video evidence may eventually nail the accused, but it certainly will not be the TV footage of the matches involved. Grobbelaar and co-defendant Hans Segers, formerly of Wimbledon, are not the only goalkeepers in a bit of bother. Manchester United's Peter Schmeichel may find himself in the dock on racist abuse charges following a game last November and Mark Bosnich, of Aston Villa, has made Nazi-like salutes at Spurs supporters. Even though it's accepted that goalkeepers, in general, are a Carlsberg or two short of a six-pack, being a little bit quirky is no excuse.
A bit belatedly, the English Football Association are trying to bring Schmeichel and Arsenal's Ian Wright - the alleged victim of the abuse who attempted two-footed retribution during last week's match at Highbury - together for a peace powwow.
If they had taken that route after the original incident, rather than calling in the police whose investigations have dragged on somewhat, the matter may have been positively, if not amicably, resolved by now.
