El Hadji Diouf celebrated his 24th birthday last week, but the Bolton Wanderers player was most pleased when he received a telephone call from Steven Gerrard wishing him many happy returns.
The much-vilified striker likes to tell this tale for two reasons. First, it reminds everyone that he is still quite a young man in a strange country. He was only 22 and in his debut season in England when his first brush with notoriety arrived: the television cameras caught him spitting in retaliation to a Celtic fan’s perceived provocation.
Second, it underlines that he is still a Liverpool player. Not only in fact, with two years left on his Anfield contract once his season-long loan to Bolton expires, but in spirit as well.
”I have had no official contact with Liverpool this season but it is good to know I still have friends over there,” he says.
”My challenge now is at Bolton, I feel I am valued here and I am grateful for the chance to rediscover my form and get back on the right track, but I think the Liverpool fans still believe in me. The ones I meet when I go shopping are very supportive anyway. They know how I have been playing and they compliment me if I have had a good game.”
By his own admission Diouf is not the best reader of English mores and it is possible he is missing a note of disingenuousness if Liverpool supporters have been praising his performances for Bolton. Many who were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt over the incident at Celtic felt he went beyond the pale in repeating the crime this season, spitting in the face of Portsmouth’s Arjan de Zeeuw.
The defender’s eloquently expressed disgust was followed by Diouf’s three-match ban and universal condemnation. The Senegal striker had taken just over two years to fall from World Cup star to Premiership pariah.
Yet, as his skilful part in the goal that beat Arsenal last week proved, the boy can play. He still has his dreams of glory, too. Recharged by the confidence Sam Allardyce has shown in him, Diouf talks emotionally about his past mistakes and excitedly about his future prospects.
”I don’t know what the future holds, but I do feel I’ve found my form again,” he says.
”I came to Bolton because I wanted to play against teams like Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United. I want to show the form I showed in the World Cup and Bolton have put me back on track. My aim in the next two years is to be looked upon as one of the Premiership’s best players, along with, say, Thierry Henry and Robert Pires.”
No faulting the ambition, but Diouf must be aware he has put himself a long way behind the start line in any popularity race. He is, and the atonement process starts here.
”I completely regret the incidents against Celtic and Portsmouth. I let down my clubs, my teammates and the fans,” he admits. ”I realise it was not a great example to set before young fans worldwide, but people should remember I am still young myself. And I don’t like losing, I think that much is clear.”
There have been other, related controversies in games against Middlesbrough and Birmingham this season — and a spectacular dive that brought a penalty against Blackburn on Monday — and, although Diouf is confident that television pictures exonerate him, he is concerned that a bad-boy image is following him around.
”I actually get on with everyone here, and I have never had problems away from games in France or Senegal,” he points out. ”Maybe I have been too excitable though. Some of the senior players at Bolton have offered me guidance, telling me to calm down and express myself on the pitch.”
Stop spitting and try dribbling? Diouf is not yet ready for jokes on the subject.
”I wasn’t aware of the culture of spitting in England,” he offers in his defence. Hardly surprising, since there is no culture of spitting in England.
”I know that now, but in France it is more serious if you thump someone than spit at them,” he says, unintentionally echoing De Zeeuw’s complaint that he would much rather have been hit in the face than gobbed at.
”As my grandmother said, you can’t grow up without making mistakes,” Diouf says. ”I have learned, I have apologised, you will not see me do it again. It is all behind me now, and if you want evidence you need only look at the Arsenal game. I took several kicks, notably one from Robin van Persie, which I didn’t react to at all.”
Welcome to the culture of kicking in England.
Diouf would be better concentrating on his own game, which is recovering so well he could yet earn a recall to Anfield. He feels he received a raw deal from both Gérard Houllier and his successor, though Diouf is currently looking more robust and reliable than several of the players Rafael Benitez has brought in.
”I can’t say what will happen, but I’m very happy here, helping Bolton become better,” he says.
”There were other big clubs in for me after the World Cup, but I was impressed with Gérard Houllier. He told me I would be a striker. What happened was I was asked to play deeper and deeper. There were no discussions, he just told me to keep crossing the ball. My two years at Liverpool were difficult.
”The atmosphere between the foreign players and the English players was not great, and I never knew quite where I was with the coach. There were some gifted individuals at the club, but we didn’t get on as a team, and that’s what you need to do if you want to win things.”
Diouf believes his reputation ruined his chances of a fresh start under Benitez, which is why he is thankful for the intervention of the open-minded and ever-opportunistic Allardyce.
”I think Benitez had an image of me before he had the chance to judge me,” he says. ”Sam has given me my pride back. At Liverpool I didn’t have a relationship with the coach and I didn’t receive the respect I am getting here. That is what I need to give my best. When my head is clear I am just as good as anyone at fighting for the cause, and I know that English fans traditionally support a player who fights for the shirt.
”I have a lot to thank Bolton for and Sam has helped me tremendously, but recovering is also to do with getting my confidence back and growing up a bit. I have learned it is best to say nothing, to turn the other cheek. Some will like you, some will dislike you, but what I have to do is get on with my football.” — Â