Taking the knee

Before I start, having an act of solidarity for their stance against racism is all well and good and I support it wholeheartedly but taking the knee is not and should not be that act IMHO, it is the act of support for a wholly undemocratic far left wing organisation and it also relies heavily upon peer pressure. Why not stand arm in arm or arms around each other.

Rugby players don't have any act before any game now.

Should the crowd be booing?, probably not but it was entirely obvious it would eventually come to this and having the likes Lineker and Southgate saying the people who boo are racist or part of the problem, is wide of the mark.

I have switched off England's game against Romania, because I have had enough of the hypocrisy surrounding this issue. And here's the thing, how many of these millionaire England players will carry their new found political stance on to refusing to play in the 2022 Qatar world cup? and play in the stadia built using slave labour with zero rights or health and safety cover? A country where human rights abuses are happening on a daily basis and then in the run up to the event filling their already bulging bank accounts endorsing sweat shop made goods?

The point has been made, but the good will is running thin, change the act of solidarity now, this ain't going end well.

 

Ouch, but perfectly said jiffie.

 

If they play in Qatar and endorse sweat shop made goods, their present actions are merely virtue signalling and greed.

 

I forgot to add people like Lineker, will no doubt be attached to the Qatar gravy train as well and won't blink.

 

Mr Southgate has been found lacking over misunderstanding human emotions before. His handling of Joe Gomez led to behaviour from fans that was predictable but also unnecessary.

Here Mr Southgate accepts that there will be an adverse reaction but the Manager is more determined to take the knee = They do not care. Not a moment of self reflection, no dialogue with fans, a we don't care. The negative response is again predictable but also avoidable. This is overshadowing the game. The outcome could become .. Its not hard to see this can go down a unpleasant path .. Its avoidable.

The normally eloquent Mr Southgate is portraying himself as arrogant and as thick as ****.

Change your action and communication and respect will be shown, as it is towards kick it out.

 

Yesterday was the 77th anniversary of D Day, they could have honoured the hundreds of thousands of men and women, who died protecting the freedoms that these overpaid hypocrites are abusing.

 

The players have had more than enough time to change their protest, everybody with a brain cell knew that this would be the reaction once crowds were allowed back in, the booing is about the significance of the act of taking the knee, nothing else and as crowds increase in numbers so will the booing.

The problem is people will still be labelled as racists if they turn their backs, as Sir Matt Busby said "football is nothing without the fans" and footballers are biting off the hands that indulges their overpaid pampered existence.

The hypocrisy is beyond belief, for instance why would black players still play with or for players found guilty of racism?

 

No right minded person would condone racism of any description. However taking the knee before games is a political statement and now should be stopped. It’s no surprise supporters don’t want to see it so it’s inevitable once crowds were allowed back it would be an issue. Whether booing is the answer I’m not sure, however where do you draw the line. For me no politics should be allowed in football whatever the merits of the cause.

 

Has Gareth said when it ends? Theres always going to be something to object to????

 

This - absolutely.
I think 'taking the knee' has become less relevant over time - possibly even damaging the message it's trying to convey as it winds some people up rather than brings them on board. Despite my feelings on this I wouldn't boo anyone who chose to do it - I'd just ignore it.
I doubt if Southgate has 'instructed' the players to take the knee - I suspect that he gave them a choice and respected their preference.

Jiffie makes a good point;

.. Wasn't England fined by FIFA recently for displaying a poppy on their shirts, because that symbol of remembering our war dead was classified as 'political'?
This stinks of yet another example of double-standards.

 

Southgate is either stupid or is living on another planet as he's clearly in denial.
The fact that anyone is booing players taking a knee should be all he needs to know, which is that a lot of people are beyond sick of the hypocrisy.
If the players want to continue this sheep behaviour then they must be prepared for the booing to continue.

 

He and the squad have backed themselves into a corner and to quote the bard of the west country Adge Cutler famously said:-

Oh, thee’s got’n where thee cassn’t back’n hassn’t
He’s gott’n in a fine old mess somehow
He’s never oughta stuck’n in there dissant
Now what bis gonna do about it now.

I find it bizarre that black players still play with and FOR players/ex players whom the authorities have found guilty of making racist remarks to black players, surely those players should receive the same punishment the players expect for racist fans, a life ban?

It also concerns me that there are almost certainly players in that squad are doing it because of peer pressure and that cannot be correct either.

 

Thees cop a packet if thee casn't shift 'un
For a Copper always turns up from someweere
Oh ah, thee's been and gotten where thee cassn't back'n hasn't
Now how bist gonna get 'un out of there
W'out a corkscrew

 

And black people in general use the 'n' word about themselves, yet anyone else using it is accused of racism
It's in the Oxford English Dictionary (or was) ffs !

 

Brilliant stuff
I've got 3 of the original albums on vinyl

Live at the Royal Oak, Adge Cutlers Family Album and Cutler of the West
Was also lucky enough to see the original band live at Sandy Bay before his fatal crash
They were awesome

 

I saw Adge and the Wurzels at a works social club about 8 years before his demise.
Straw bales everywhere added to the evening, Adge brought the house down. He was brilliant and so funny as well.
I was drinking in the White Hart, MSN that Sunday lunchtime when he terrible news came on the radio.

 

I remember it was a Sunday when my Mum told me the news. Just looked up the date that he died, it was May 5th 1974 and I was 13 at the time.