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In another life, Brendan Rodgers would have made an excellent primary school teacher. His reactions to the Great Luis Suarez Debate of 2013 have been taken straight from the "ages and stages" chapter of any book on psychological development in children, and his tactics to dealing with one of his "students" acting out have been quick and exacting, if also a little old school.
Having been sent to the corner to think about what he's done, Luis Suarez spent the week training apart from his teammates. Rodgers sees this as but the first step in reconciliation between Suarez and his fellow Reds.
"Initially there will be a recognition that [there needs to be] an apology to his team-mates and the club," said Rodgers. "I have seen him over a period of time I know it is not the Luis Suarez we know and I have to protect the fans and the players because they deserve more than that.
"Luis missed a few games at the end of last season and we continued to score and win without him. That is not to say that we don't want him here. He is a world class striker and when he is committed to the cause of playing for Liverpool then we will welcome him back with open arms."
With Suarez off to Japan for an ill-timed international friendly with Uruguay, Rodgers will have to wait a little bit longer for Suarez's apology for the disrespect he's shown his teammates and Liverpool fans. Rodgers will be keen to have his star striker return to training with the rest of the squad as early as possible, but with Suarez's ban extending well past the closure of the transfer window, Rodgers seemingly has all the time in the world to wait for Suarez to take action.
Suarez, for his part, allegedly has no intention to apologize, according to sources "close" to Sky Sports. Grains of salt and all that, but if true this isn't necessarily surprising given that Suarez feels like the aggrieved party and does not feel he has done anything wrong through this whole sordid mess. They say "love means never having to say you're sorry"; maybe this is Suarez's convoluted way of showing affection for his club. Or not.