sydney_saint

Actually I know plenty of LGBT people who don't enjoy going to the football, and certainly don't feel comfortable to just be themselves. My sister who is trans for one. I also know two men in a relationship who are unfortunately United fans. They absolutely do not feel comfortable walking into stadiums as a couple, and absolutely not like a man and his wife would walk in. And come on, do you really think that it is surprising that they feel like that? The fact there is instant opposition to this shows why they feel like this. Does this shirt change anything? Absolutely not. But what it does do is show that there are issues for LGBT fans attending the football, so it does serve that purpose. I absolutely don't understand some people's constant opposition for wanting more people to feel included, especially when it does them not one iota of harm

Like everyone I would have loved Ings to stay and have signed a contract extension. But given he wanted away and only had 1 year left, to get Armstrong in as his replacement and still make about 10m profit seems to be pretty damn good business from the club. Can't fault that at all

Err it's pretty simple. We want a player who is young and hungry and guaranteed to improve, who has flair and creativity with consistent end product, who knows his defensive responsibilities and isn't afraid to bellow at his team mates and put in some hard tackles whilst dragging the team up by the scruff of their necks. They must be loyal to the club, hate pompey, happy to sign new contracts but won't let his contract run down, nor willing to stay at the club and be a drain on wages when approaching the latter end of his career. He must also be available for about 10m

I quite like Djenepo and think Ralph has managed him pretty terribly. He put in a man of the match performance against Chelsea, yet barely played since. All the while Redmond continues to stink the place out game after game and most games gets to play the full 90. How is Djenepo meant to get any rhythm going? He should have been rewarded for that Chelsea game with a few more opportunities in consecutive games. But oh no, Redmonds finger pointing must be essential to our play. That said, the idea that he is our reserve left back is utterly terrifying. We conceded so many goals last season so it's not like we have a good foundation to drop him into. We are woeful at the back. He will get stuck in, and occasionally look okay. But how is he going to go when there is a big lump up front peeling off and targeting him off crosses? Or someone with dancing feet looking for a penalty (which most wingers seem to do nowadays rather than going for goal). It's almost hanging him out to dry, cos he's gonna be awful, but that's not really his fault.

I think our keeper situation does pre date Ralph. Ever since we got promoted I feel we have had issues, with only world class defenders and cdms bailing them out. Starting with Davis who was only ever gonna be a liability, Boruc was good but also, well, Boruc, Stekelenburg was shit, Gazza was shit. Forster seemed okay, but really had some very good players in front of him. When we talk about wasted money, we talk about Carillo, Hoedt etc. But fuck me what a waste of 10m Gunn was. How our scouting team thought he was worth that when as far I can see, his only resemblance to a goalkeeper is designer stubble and trying to look like De Gea. But. Ralph has been here long enough to sort it out. There are players out there. I just had a quick glance and see that Stefan Ortega is available for a couple of million quid cos his contract running down. A proper scouting team should be able to find a few more of those. Use whatever money we got for Gunn and get in a new keeper. If we go into the season with our current two, and they make their usual errors, then the blame absolutely lies with Ralph. It's not like he needs 20m quid to bring in a decent keeper. Gunn out- new keeper in.

With strikers, it is pretty difficult to get a player in on the cheap that will do the job in the EPL. Any promising player globally will have a dozen scouts on him. Sure, you get the odd hidden gem, but by and large is a tough gig. With keepers, I feel it is more about the scouting than the money. Plenty of good keepers out there on the cheap and under the radar. Dubravka cost Newcastle a couple of million, Sanchez cost Brighton bugger all, Meslier cost 4m. We should be a big enough draw, and have a big enough scouting department to land someone decent. May not be world class, but better than what we have got. I do think it would be a big failing of the club if we don't bring someone else in.

His legacy is that he's set a solid foundation of rock bottom that we will struggle to beat

Seen white play a bit. Always looks decent but 50m for a centre back in a deflated market seems well over the top. He will need to become one of the top 5 or 6 centre backs in the world to justify that!

It's a weird group to throw together. If you think ITV and Sky will by absolute hypocrites on this. Then no shit. They are corporate greedy monsters who jump on any bandwagon if they think they can make some bucks. Nobody really believes for a second they genuinely believe in these campaigns. What you call 'woke warriors' (which is an odd way of describing people that actively oppose racism but whatever) are highly likely to be against the Qatar World Cup. I absolutely am. There are also many organisations and outlets highlighting both the discriminations and working conditions and slavery. Look at reports from Amnesty and the Guardian trying to drive home the point. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/03/qatar-world-cup-of-shame/ https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/23/revealed-migrant-worker-deaths-qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022 I will be extremely disappointed if none of the English footballers do speak out. There are signs that some might break ranks of this, and once a few go, hopefully lots will go. And you are right, if they don't then it is pretty hypocritical. There is still a long way to go and I sincerely hope momentum builds to oppose it. It has threatened to, but it does need a couple of serious figureheads (footballers) to really have an impact. But. It still doesn't excuse the racism here.

I get what you are saying, and no one should be above criticism. And that not all abuse of a black Asian person etc is inherently racist. On the mural, I agree that it may not be racist. It may or may not have had racist motivations, we don't know. But I also think it is not that important in this particular case. The site has become a symbol of the wider abuse he received, and isn't just focused on that one particular incident. Even assuming it was general abuse and not linked to racism, I don't see what's wrong with using the site to condemn the racist abuse he received from other areas? Sharing is a tricky one. Of course, you want to see proof. That is understandable. That said, overly sharing the images can impact other peoples mental health quite significantly. Imagine you are a black club footballer who used to have racist chants and comments etc. And all of a sudden there are widely shared screenshots everywhere of racist abuse similar to what you went through. It can induce all sorts of issues, from pain to panic attacks. It really is a careful line

The thing is, it isn't just social media. I mentioned on another post. But when watching the England Denmark, a group of drunk lads next to us called my friend a gorilla, made noises at her, and then tried to pass the buck by just saying it was banter, because she dared to get upset. This was devastating to see. This is real life and real people. And sure, it was a small minority in a pub. Does that mean we should just ignore it?

No worries. Do you mind deleting the picture in the quote? I wanted to demonstrate it happened, but do feel a little uncomfortable with it been shared too much

It was far, far more than 44

Here is one screenshot that was one Saka's instagram. I feel very uncomfortable sharing any more than this. May delete this post in an hour. But there was tonnes of this, plus n*igger and other racial terms. I am sure plenty will find a way to twist and aplogise for those doing it. EDIT: Now deleted

Why is it more important to you to constantly have a go at the people calling out racism, then those that are saying the racist comments in the first place? You are constantly downplaying them, dismissing them as trolls, yet spend no time empathising with those at the receiving end? Surely it is more important to spend time trying to understand those at the receiving end, rather than trying to downplay those making the comments During the Denmark game. I was out with my friend who is a black woman but also quite large as well. Whilst out, a bunch of these thugs started joking at her and calling her a gorilla. Even made deep gorilla sounds and then told her it was only 'banter' when she got upset. So in your eyes, is that okay? Cos most of the people in the pub were fine and it was only a small section?

Did you watch the Chelsea the game? He got booted hell for leather that game and kept getting up and flying into tackles. It's not his natural game, but he has shown some effort and desire to get used to the physical side of the game. Whether he can do it or not is very debatable. It's very difficult for a player to only have 20 minutes here and there to make an impression. Would have liked to have seen him get a run of games end of season when we were safe to help answer the question on whether he's good enough. Instead we wasted it on Redmond.

It's a difficult one as he has shown glimpses of quality and shown in other moments that he's out of his depth. What he hasn't had is a consecutive run of matches to really build up some form and rhythm. Which is really important at his age as me moves from a younger player to a proper member of the first Xi. Some of that has been down to injuries, and a lot of that has been down to Ralphs judgement. Though in Djenepos defence I don't really trust Ralphs judgement for players in that position, with the exception of Armstrong.

What annoys me is not only Redmond a deadweight for most games that he starts, but the signal it sends to other players. Take Djenepo for example. I'm not sure in all honesty if he is good enough. But I would certainly like to see more of him to really test that out. He had a stand out game against Chelsea when we drew 1-1, and was widely most peoples man of the match. Really gusty performance with heart and desire as he got booted all over the pitch. Since that performance his minutes look like this (also includes 2 FA Cup starts). How on earth is he meant to get a run of form together when he gets chopped and changed so much? Compare that to how Redmond was treated after his standout performance against Bournemouth, plus he started against Leicester in the semis. Not only does Redmond start nearly every game, he gets to see out a 90 rather than getting hooked. It's such a poor and demotivating signal to the rest of the team

What a waste of a dead rubber (for us). Redmond and minamino. Just such a waste. What are we going to learn here? What pisses me off is that Djenepo played one of his best games for us in the 1-1 draw against Chelsea. He put his body on the line, got constantly kicked and kept getting back up and throwing himself into tackles and was widely considered man of the match. Yet he has barely played since. Where's the incentive? Yet Redmond gets to put mediocre to terrible performances and gets played week in week out just about. Not to mention Tella who needs minutes and experiences, and has got himself involved in matches and playing well.

I still lose my shit thinking about the Cash handball. They found an obscure part of the rules not to give it...which turned out to be wrong anyway! Never seen a penalty turned down for that reason before, and seen penalties given since that have brushed the thigh or whatever. Though overall VAR howler of the season would be that West Ham red card.

Are their stats that similar? Armstrong is beating Redmond in nearly every single one. 24 vs 36 passes per game (and we know from the eye Armstrong passes it forward far more), crossing accuracy way higher for Armstrong, more goals, more assists, better defensive numbers. Redmond wins some pretty meaningless ones, like shooting accuracy. The only meaningful stat he wins is big chances created, which is pretty subjective anyway. All it confirms is what the eye shows anyway. Armstrong is a much better player which is why he gets plaudits. Anyone watching knows Redmond is cowardly with the ball, berates team mates, misses big chances, and just isn't very good. The stats kinda back all of that up. Perfectly fine for a team aiming for 30 points a season. But not good enough for us.

I can't see where he scored against Bournemouth in the league, or where he got an assist against Liverpool? I get the point on assists (and sometimes the opposite happens when you get one with little work or an astonishing finish like Ings), but Redmond has played enough game to have got more. Though you are getting a bit silly comparing Armstrong to Redmond. This is from March, can't be bothered to update it. Takes their entire Saints career. Done by minutes, as appearances can be very misleading if a player keeps coming off the bench and another always plays 90. Redmond- 11,841'- 19 goals, 13 assists Armstrong- 4,886'- 11 goals, 8 assists Che Adams - 3,020'- 8 goals, 7 assists Danny Ings - 6,158' - 37 goals, 8 assists Shane Long - 9,339' - 27 goals, 20 assists Djenepo- 1,963' - 3 goals, 2 assists Tadic- 9,617'- 21 goals, 30 assists Charlie Austin- 3,157'- 16 goals, 3 assists Gabbiadini- 2,271'- 10 goals, 0 assists Obafemi- 813'- 4 goals, 3 assists Boufal - 3,072' - 3 goals, 4 assists

I really disagree here. My judgement on Redmond is based on the the five seasons he has been here. I think it is far more knee jerk for people to think he's good because he curls a shot marginally wide, or hammers a championship opponent. Over a large sample of time, his output has been really poor. The Bournemouth game was presented as 'Redmond is back, watch how good he is with confidence!'. Since then he has added a goal and 2 assists in 7 EPL games, and managed to stand out as extra poor in amongst a bunch of poor players in the FA Cup Semi-Final. But actually, I think a telling indicator of his level is where he gets the goals and assists. Bearing in mind, his output is already low to begin with, he is mainly doing better against the poorer sides (all goals and assists from EPL) His numbers this season would be okay if he was a nipper. But he is now a 27 year old footballer with over 150 appearances for us, and over 200 EPL appearances. He is not going to suddenly kick on from here. I would love to see someone like Djenepo be given a run around. Maybe he's not good enough either, but he deserves his chance. Tella obviously as well.

There was an interview with Bertrand and Ings about a month ago. One of the questions that came up was who is the teacher's pet. Redmond came up top of the list.