aintforever

Because if Newcastle are desperate for a centre back in January they might pay silly money, if we don’t want to sell Salisu they will buy someone else.

A big pile of cash?

Probably because he took Bournemouth from -12 at the bottom of the 4th tier to the Prem in about 6 seasons. I agree he's an odd choice for Newcastle in their current situation but you cannot doubt Howe's achievements.

This. The brain is a weird thing, depression is not just someone not being man enough to deal with shit. Went for drinks with an old mate a while ago, he’s the sort of guy who has everything - self made millionaire before he was 40, trophy wife, load of sports cars, great family. Turns out he was suffering from depression and is on anti-depressants. He admitted it was weird, didn’t really understand why as he hasn’t had to put up with any real hardship, it just got to the stage where every mole hill looked like a mountain. Similar things have happened to other people I know and none of them have had to put up with anything particularly out of the ordinary - when you suffer from this illness it can just make anything seem like problem I guess. It could happen to any of us.

If I was Conte I would pick Newcastle over Spurs any day.

He won the league last time he managed it.

Superb performance, just need to be more clinical in front of goal now, that should have been 3 or 4. Think the goals will come for Armstrong.

You’re wrong, I’ve worked with sports marketing departments for over 20 years, including some EFL and PL clubs - there is no way taking the knee would have been forced on the players by the PL. I haven’t read one thing that even hints at it being imposed from up above. If it was not player led why did the logo get designed by Troy Deeney’s Mrs? https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/troy-deeney-thanks-premier-league-for-providing-black-lives-matter-platform-39313387.html

It’s been a player led initiative right from the start, the PL have just backed them. If anything I expect the PL were uncomfortable with the BLM connection, especially during the protests. I wouldn’t be surprised if they would much prefer to have no taking the knee and just have a kick it out logo on the shirt. The players are clearly free to choose as some are doing now.

I’ve never said nobody cared just that most people don’t care either way because it’s a small harmless gesture. Of course there is peer pressure but that’s just human nature. That’s why some players do it in the Prem but not when their team mates don’t in the Euros for example ( a concept that Turkish seems to not understand) There’s a big difference between that and the PL forcing players to do it and it’s no different to the wearing of the poppy which players get slaughtered for when they don’t conform. What do you suggest is done about it then - do you think the PL should force players to not take the knee?

Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. The vast majority seem to support Alonso’s right to do whatever he wants from what I can see. He certainly hasn’t been hounded out the game like some on here suggested he would, quite the opposite in many cases.

Alonso is not black, he doesn’t take the knee. Please keep up.

My point is simple - unlike the SA cricketer, they are not forced to do anything.

Inconsistency, brilliant! From the person who thinks the Premier League are forcing the players to take the knee, despite the fact that some players are choosing not to take the knee.

I've watched plenty of players taking the knee on the TV.

Still much higher profile even if some TV channels don't show it.

I thought it was the Premier League that were forcing them to do it? I guess the EFL are as well then

Probably a bit of both. Definitely were not ordered to do it by the PL as you bell-ends believe.

I'll go out on a limb and say that virtue signalling to a global audience of millions will have more effect than to a few thousand in some Championship stadium. Surely even you can understand that.

Blimey it's not rocket science. They stopped doing it in the Championship because they felt it was losing impact - The anti-racism message is stronger in the Prem because it is watched by millions around the globe, and because their fellow teams were all doing it it made sense to join in.

no

Promotion to a league which is viewed around the World, and seeing that as all the other clubs were doing it, a united approach would be most effective. If the Brentford players were so against it what would stop 2, 3 or more players doing exactly what Toney does?

You're the naive one if you think the PL are ordering the players to take the knee, it would be leaked out and be a PR disaster. The Daily Mail and other gammon rags would have a field day. The fact that some players are choosing not to do it make your whole theory complete bollocks.

Yeah brilliant, just ignore every word they said and make up your own interpretation in your little gammon head. So the PL forced them to take the knee, except for Ivan Toney - he's alright he can do whatever he wants.

Here's Brentford's full statement, weirdly, no mention of being ordered to do anything by the Marxists at the PL: Brentford FC can confirm that our players will take the knee before all First Team matches in the coming season. Our players and staff held meetings to discuss whether or not to take the knee at kick-off, having not done so since February. We believe that in the upcoming season the collective cause of tackling discrimination and racism will be best served by acting in unison and solidarity with all our fellow Premier League teams, as was outlined in a statement from the Premier League yesterday, which can be seen here. A joint statement from the football authorities followed this morning. Taking the knee will not on its own solve the problem of racism but it will continue to draw attention to the discrimination that exists within football, as well as society generally. We all saw the support that the act of taking the knee received from fans before matches during Euro 2020. With fans now back at stadiums for the upcoming season we want to play our part in keeping the fight against discrimination at the forefront of the agenda. As well as taking the knee, we will continue to invest our time and energy into taking concrete steps towards making football more respectful, fair and equal for everyone. We will continue to be at the forefront of the fight against abuse and hate on social media platforms. Our actions as a club will also demonstrate our commitment to equality. The Club respects the rights of all individuals to show their opposition to discrimination and racism in whichever way they feel is most appropriate to them. During our meetings to discuss these issues, Ivan Toney told us that he would prefer not to take the knee and will continue to make his own personal statement before matches this season. Brentford FC stands fully behind Ivan’s decision and will continue to support him in any way we can.