Almost a week on from Athens, and the dust still hasn't settled on the row about the shambolic ticket arrangements and the trouble outside the stadium on the night of the match.
Some criticism has started to wing its way in our direction, from people who feel that we were too soft on the fans who misbehaved that night.

Here is an extract from one thought-provoking email that came my way, which accused us of shying away from the bad behaviour of some Liverpool supporters, because criticising Uefa played better to a local audience:

"As Liverpool fans we are happy to bask in the praise and self congratulation
for great atmosphere on big European nights. We should also be big enough to
acknowledge when some of our own have behaved like scum and stop
romanticising the 'loveable scall' .

"More disturbing is that this wasn’t a one off, bad behaviour by our fans
especially away from home has become more common (Barca away , Chelsea away,
PSV away , the damage at Old Trafford in the FA cup semi). In addition
there’s the growing internal divide in our support between locals and
'wools' heightened, unintentionally, by the RTK (Reclaim the Kop) campaign .

"A small but growing hooligan element is creeping back .They may only be a
minority but they will drag the name of the club and the city down further,
unless we do something about it."

Others, inevitably, took the opposite view. Almost the next email that hit my inbox read:

"I write to you to urge you and your readers not to give up speaking out for football fans (sorry, scumbags and troublemakers) who find themselves, once again, scapegoats for the ineptitude and carelessness of Uefa. Given their recent experience in Lille, even our neighbours in Manchester might for once stand united with us: if football’s European governing body is not called to account, it is only a matter of time before lives are lost at a European football match."

So who is right here? We made it clear from the start that there were some Liverpool fans who did not cover themselves in glory that night. But it is equally clear, and hugely unjust, that a lot more who travelled innocently and peacefully at great expense, with legitimate tickets, found themselves locked out of the stadium and in some cases tear-gassed without provocation.

We won't flinch from criticising football fans who misbehave and let their club and their city down, but it seems to me that Uefa managed to create an environment for this match that was a recipe for trouble. We mightn't have been so harsh on the organisation but for its instant verdict that it was all the fault of the fans, and nothing to do with its own greed and ineptitude.

Tut-tutting about the bad apples among the Liverpool fans won't do much to help. It would be great if they could all be removed permanently to allow the true supporters who have no truck with violence and criminality to enjoy the game they love in peace, but we have been saying that for generations now, and however many measures are introduced it seems there are always a hard core of idiots with the potential to scar the sport for everyone.

What will help, though, is if we keep the pressure on Uefa to acknowledge its own responsibility, rather than allowing it to shrug off its own involvement by pointing fingers at the fans. Uefa's only solution to the problem so far is to seek to ensure that nobody without a ticket for next season's Champions League final in Moscow is granted a visa to enter Russia. That is a classic short term solution to a long-term problem. It doesn't address the real issues at all - unless they are proposing to hold every Champions League final in Russia from now on.

Until we hear that Uefa is taking serious, robust measures to change things - starting with providing a decent ticket allocation to the participating clubs - we will not be happy that the lessons have been learnt.

What happened to a lot of supporters in Athens was unfair and unpleasant, but it could have been very much worse, as we all have reason to remember in these parts. Uefa has it in its gift to make changes that will improve things for future seasons, and might well avert a future tragedy. However much the organisation might lose from its corporate sponsors, it is a price worth paying to ensure that the ordinary fans who are the lifeblood of the game are treated fairly. Their very lives could depend on it.

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