We've actually managed to get the only referee ****ter than Mike Jones for Saturday's game against West Ham. Southampton v West Ham United Referee: Lee Mason Assistants: C Hatzidakis, M Wilkes Fourth official: N Swarbrick
Be okay if Mario has been told that headbutting someone in the groin is considered a bit iffy in the English game.
Saints didn't put up any pictures or video from the Swansea game...can't be embarrassment as they have put stuff up from games we lost before. Or did I blink and miss it.
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/sa...t_believe_how_attacking_we_could_be_/?ref=rss Nathan talks about feeling hesitant last season, but feels Mauricio has instilled more confidence. Not worried about not scoring on Saturday as the chances were there and he is confident that we will score playing like that.
Good on him. We’re all the same, white, black, brown, yellow, straight, gay etc. Some one should tell those Neanderthals in Charlottesville and Mr Trump that... (Sorry, slightly wrong thread) I’m more impressed that the great Jody Scheckter‘s son works at our club
Agreed, good on him. Its a shame anyone has to come out and declare their sexuality as it doesn't make a blind bit of difference who they fancy to whether they can do their job properly or be a friend Hopefully this will lead to some positive news from SMS for a change
If you register you get some free articles, so it might be worth doing at some point, but here's this one: Man at heart of the dressing room who came out to Southampton side Player liaison officer Hugo Scheckter tells Alex Kay-Jelski how the squad reacted with humour when he told them he was gay Hugo Scheckter’s phone rang twice in the seconds after he sent a Whatsapp message to Southampton’s players and staff to tell them that he was gay. Two of the squad told him how happy they were for him, offered their support and wished him all the best. And then the other messages started. “I got two asking if Charlie Austin had stolen my phone. I had to record a voice message to prove it was me,” laughs Scheckter, Southampton’s player liaison officer and one of the few men, if not the only one, to have come out to a Premier League dressing room. The response, rather than being a mixture of the awkward, rude or dismissive many might wrongly expect from a group of footballers, was far more welcoming. “One player said, ‘It is only natural when you are around someone of such beauty that you would be changed but sorry I’m happily in a relationship.’ So I told him I was out of his league,” he says. “That showed the acceptance. Immediately people wanted to have a laugh about it. “One wife wanted to do shopping and sleepovers all of a sudden so I said, ‘Where was that offer before I came out?’ She soon realised that’s not me. “Ronald Koeman [who had moved to Everton by this point] was so supportive. He texted me, ‘Fantastic my friend, really happy for you.’ When I saw him last season, he said, ‘How are you enjoying your new life?’ He showed he really cared.” Maybe that should be expected of grown men but Southampton are a family club where everyone knows everyone, so he also had to share his secret with the academy players. “I thought I’d get silly responses from the 12 to 18-year-olds but they were so supportive,” he says. There is a reason why people care about Scheckter, a 26-year-old who is the son of the former Formula One world champion, Jody, and now the man who makes the first-team squad and staff tick at St Mary’s. “I’m the player liaison officer, which means looking after the first-team players and some of the management staff, taking care of houses, cars, bank accounts, sorting relocation when players come in,” he says. “Tomorrow I’m on two house viewings, today I’ve bought three cars and went to pick up a visa. It can be anything and everything. “I travel to all the games home and away with the team and run the trips, making sure flights are on time, sorting problems with tickets and being that one-stop shop for everything they need. “You do get weird requests like a pink Christmas tree or 10,000 roses and it’s never with a month’s notice, it’s always an hour if you’re lucky. But you get to be really creative and there is not really a budget. I count myself lucky, although the phone can go 24 hours a day. I do answer it at two in the morning but if it’s not an emergency they get some fairly harsh words back.” Scheckter was born in Atlanta but spent most of his childhood at boarding school in England — Charterhouse — before heading to university in Washington DC, where he did his coaching badges and took charge of the college team. It was there that he realised he was gay. “I went to boarding school here, where homosexuality is never talked about. So I didn’t really even understand it as a concept,” he says. “It took until I was 21 to realise. That was a lightbulb moment, so I made a list of 20 people I wanted to tell in person and the rest I just stuck on Facebook. I told my parents over the phone. “Part of coming out was coming out to my team as I was coaching at the George Washington University. It was a very progressive place so it wasn’t an issue. We had three openly gay players in the starting XI. Then I went to my first club in Indiana, where it was not a very liberal state, though the club was. So I was half in, half out. Some knew.” But when he became Southampton’s first player liaison officer — a role Koeman created — he was not so open. “I felt lucky to be here,” he says. “I felt overwhelmed by the opportunity and didn’t want anything to be a distraction or stop me doing the job the best I could. I’ve always wanted to be a player liaison who happens to be gay, not a gay player liaison. “I was coming in and supposed to be the person the players trusted with so much of their lives. They didn’t know me and suddenly I was asking for their kids’ names and bank account details. I didn’t want to add something else. Most people don’t go back in the closet but I did. I used to disappear to London on days off then be really vague about where and with whom.” But as he settled into the job, Scheckter decided to do what many would deem unthinkable and in October last year he came out to the players. “I was asking the players and staff to trust me 100 per cent with their lives but I wasn’t trusting them with mine. So after two years, I felt I had to be more open. I’ve not faced anyone who has been unaccepting or dismissive.” But what about the perception that footballers are a close-minded, intimidating, macho clique who want nothing to do with gay men and gay issues? Isn’t the sport supposedly lagging behind rugby union, cricket and others because of backwards attitudes? “A Premier League changing room is one of the most diverse places in the world,” Scheckter says. “You’ve got people from Africa, Asia, Europe and elsewhere. You have poor backgrounds and rich backgrounds. It’s more diverse than almost any person’s friendship group. And they are accepting of each other’s races and religions. “The footballers I know are generally kind people, good people, sometimes a bit lonely and happy to talk. They’re regular people. Of course there’s a bad egg in every group but they’re people who just happen to play football. There were one or two that I thought it could go either way with because of their religious beliefs or things they’d said before but not one said anything dismissive or derogatory. It’s part of the changing-room joke set now, which shows they’re not uncomfortable.” So what needs to happen for the next step, for a player to have the same confidence Scheckter did and come out? Surely being a player means that there is the added worry of fans’ reactions? “I was tweeted some abuse but I retweeted it and made a joke of it,” he says. “The support I then got from the club and the fans was huge. Fans were telling off people for their comments to show they didn’t accept homophobic abuse. I’m sure other clubs’ fans would do the same. “I’ve been very fortunate but there are problems. Sophie Cook, the transgender photographer at Bournemouth, had a hard time despite the club being very accepting. Away fans will always have their moments. But look at Robbie Rogers [the gay LA Galaxy player] in America. He’s generally had a positive experience and parts of America are far more conservative than here. “We just have to stop the witch-hunt of trying to find a gay footballer and create an environment where someone can feel supported and comfortable. “Having role models in the sport is really important. I’m down the pecking order, but I’ve had fans get in touch asking to talk about coming out as they don’t know any other gay people. If I can help in any way, then great. I want to show football is a good place where gay slurs aren’t thrown around any more.” Southampton and their players have certainly taught him that.