Despite the press making an absolute meal over the recent pictures of Raheem Sterling and Jordon Ibe smoking from a sisha pipe, following a meeting with Brendan Rodgers at Melwood that allegedly took place on Thursday, the club has decided not to punish either player.
While Liverpool were widely expected to issue Sterling, who was pictured smoking on two separate occasions and also saw a video of him inhaling nitrous oxide leak to the media last week, at the very least a fine, he’s reportedly been let off with a stern talking to and has been warned over his future conduct. Same goes for Ibe who was pictured alongside his team-mate in a London club in shots that look to have been taken some months back.
With the Reds focused on their FA Cup semi-final meeting with Aston Villa this weekend, putting this little episode quickly behind them was for the best. Perpetually injury striker Daniel Sturridge is almost certain to miss out having failed to recover from a hip injury on time setting up Sterling as a lock to start at Wembley having scored the opening goal in the 2-0 win over struggling Newcastle United on Monday night. Ibe, on the other hand, will not be eligible to feature with his appearance for Derby County in a previous round cup-tying the 19-year old.
While Sterling has put off talks over a new contract until the summer, his partner in crime looks set to put pen to paper on a new deal that will see him earn at least £30,000-a-week before the end of the month — something that’ll put a smile on the face of Reds boss Brendan Rodgers. “He’s a classic example of where you’ve got to map out a young player and his development, in order to put him in. Now, he looks very much a first-team player” said the Northern Irishman. “He’s had a couple of loan spells, he’s had first team football, he’s come back and then obviously he picked up the injury. But he’s back now, and I see a significant difference in him, in both his confidence and the maturity in his game.”
