hypochondriac

I wasn't referring to that. Did you watch the video where the fact he was wearing a star of David was cited as evidence of provocative behaviour?

So we know that anti semitic exists. I'm not sure why you would think it wouldn't be at the very least a factor in the decision to ban these fans. Do you think if it were another Israeli club that didn't have some history of disorder, that some serious consideration wouldn't be given to banning those fans too? If you honest you know that the fact they are fans of an Israeli club potentially coming in big numbers into an area with a large Muslim population has factored into this decision. It's obtuse to pretend this is solely due to disorder from the away club.

We've also had this shocking thing being reported today. Yet people like to pretend there's no heightened risk:

Yes but it's not for the club hierarchy to be swayed by fan reaction, it's about being above that and doing what required for the team. Say what you like about Cortese but do you think he'd give a fuck what the fans think about a decision? Do you think he'd be staying with Still in the current scenario or he'd have allowed us to go into a season woefully weak in key positions?

This performance and result would have been acceptable after two or three games. The problem is we are ten games in with a load of underwhelming performances so it isn't really acceptable. We can't really afford performances like this.

Scienza and Armstrong.

Well that's certainly a team. Glad Manning has been dropped but a back five is very irritating. If we fail to win then 5 at the back is also pointless. Azaz not playing is a damming indictment of our transfer business, arguably fellows also.

Personally I think if you lower yourself to pathetic insults then you've already lost but you do you.

You realise you can just ignore questions if they upset you? The point is you don't cave into terrorism and threats of violence.

Should we ban all depictions of the prophet Muhammed? Banning them would be the most sensible way to stop people getting injured or killed.

If I walked through Birmingham wearing a Haifa top and singing a football chant, who do you think would be most likely to confront me?

Public Israeli fans will statistically be at greater risk in areas of the country that have higher levels of anti-Semitism. That will include areas with high Muslim populations like Birmingham. Again, not all Muslims or individuals living in Birmingham.

Again, I never said they were.

You don't think that different demographics in cities have an impact on how safe certain identities are ?

I know this is said in jest but I'm sure there are security measures they can implement that can mitigate any violence before it gets to that. You know there's loads of people in this country desperate to have a scrap with some real life Israelis.

If that's true then what does that say?

Should any gathering of Israelis be cancelled in high Muslim population areas of the UK lest a section of them are unable to control themselves?

I assume Jewish villa fans won't be recognisable. A load of Haifa fans would be recognisable as Israeli which is why they would be less safe and more liable to be attacked.

I never said that. It's a fact there's a high population of Muslims in Birmingham and Israelis walking around in public as an Israeli is likely to be less safe than many other areas of the country.

We all know it's at least partly because Birmingham has loads of Muslims in it and a percentage of Islamists who are intent on dealing out violence if a bunch of Israelis come into the city because enough of them don't share the same values as the average native Brit.

Surely that's for the individual supporter to decide. Of course you might need extra resources but what you shouldn't do is ban something due to the threat of violence. That shouldn't be the country we are. Do bubble buses if required the same way they do with our derbies.

Correct.

That's the key for me. If the police threat assessment includes being unable to keep the away fans safe from Islamist extremists in Birmingham then that's unacceptable and the decision needs to be overturned.

No I haven't. Outrageous to ban away supporters because of where they come from if true. No wonder people are trying to get the decision reversed.

Having looked into it I'm pretty sure that the decision is at least partly influenced by the potential disorder for pro Palestinian protests in a high Muslim area. So it doesn't appear to me to be solely on the hooligan element of the away fans.