... and a massive reaction before the facts are known. So now it's being claimed Sunderland supporters attacked a totally innocent man in Blackpool. It may be true and I'd be the first to want the attackers to be dealt with ... ... but surely there should be some kind of context or evidence before people make such serious accusations. What actually happened, who witnessed it, how many Sunderland supporters were involved, etc etc etc. "Sorry if this is old news but a friend of mine ,former chair and bus convenvenor at Tranent Hearts ,John Forsyth,was jumped and badly beaten by Sunderland "supporters" late Saturday/early Sunday and was put in an induced coma having serious head injuries.He was described as stable earlier today.John and his daughter drove down on Saturday morning for the game and were booked into a Blackpool hotel for the one night.After making there way from Fleetwood John was assaulted outside the hotel .John is one of the quietest easy going lads I know." https://www.hmfckickback.co.uk/index.php?/topic/204770-john-forsythtranent-hearts-sc/
Not excusing it, (if it did actually happen), but my first thought was - is this the bloke wearing the Mag shirt at the game?
I don't know any details other than those quoted here, but why would anyone specifically lay blame with Sunderland supporters unless they were pretty certain of it? I'm sure Blackpool would have been full of people from all over the place on a summer weekend, and I'm sure any random attack would have been reported as such. He/she seems very sure of the attackers origin. I hope the guy pulls through ok.
TBF mate, people have been hung or given life sentences because the courts were sure they were guilty.
We are now living in a world where I don't believe a single thing on social media, in a world of attention seeking and need for "likes" it's tough to know what is true anymore. If it's true and there were no mitigating factors then whoever is responsible deserves a kicking. I watched the Idiocracy movie not long ago and it's scary how close we are to following that path...
I'm not looking for excuses and, if a bunch of Sunderland supporters have attacked an innocent man, there is no excuse. But being a bit of a cynical bastard I have a sad tendency to notice things in the way they're phrased. When I see someone say this lad was 'jumped' that rings alarm bells. That implies there was absolutely no previous interaction and these Sunderland lay in waiting, jumped out and put the lad in a coma. If that's what happened I'd be absolutely disgusted and would want them named and totally shamed. By the same token I'd expect a full apology if these allegations prove to be untrue.
Seems like it happened at 1.00 am in Blackpool on a warm day. Sure CCTV will link it but could well just be mindless violence rather than football related violence. Either way, hope the fella makes a swift recovery.
This could be the assault. Nothing about an induced coma though. Anyway , as others have said if the story is as the original link says, it’s absolutely wrong and I hope whoever did it gets found and dealt with. Although I think that we’re living in a society where more and more people either don’t care about or don’t consider the consequences of their actions. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw5y4y3rrk7o.amp
Must be about 10 years ago now one of my mates from down Teesside was drinking in his local with a few mates and one of them got into an altercation with a bloke who happened to be a grandad. Hit him once and killed him. How many people are left devastated by that, one side losing a grandad, dad, brother etc and the other side an 18/19 year old lad going to prison for a long long time. Really not worth it although I know when people are full of drink/drugs or just not in the best place mentally it’s easier said than done.
Careful with that, because word choice, especially in this day and age when it comes to social media and clickbait-type media outlets, is a tool used to farm outrage and forment political divide.
