No wonder this football club is in trouble

[Parma Ham's gone mouldy 2,219]

An interesting collection of disparate and conflating views:

1. Is Norwich City well run?

2. Should public figures make political statements or express personal views publicly?

3. Does 2 influence 1?

4. Does Brexit influence football and is the EU a benefit to us overall?

5. What are reasonable expectations for Norwich as a club and what should fans expect?

6. How do we move forward as a club from here?

Parma

[A Load of Squit 5,135]

Now she''s gone and changed the menu at her restaurant, is there no end to this womans meddling? [;)]http://www.canaries.co.uk/news/article/norwich-city-the-week-ahead-3127574.aspx

[nutty nigel 7,513]

This thread has turned our even crazier than it started and that''s an achievement in itself!

''Slim - if you don''t agree that the main reason for our relegation was lack of signings in the summer that''s fine. But what I was saying was most people said it was and that the Jan window was managed better.

Curio - You yourself started a thread inquest into what went wrong a d the majority of your reasons were from before January.

Curio - that post count argument is child like whether it''s used for those with few of many posts. Can you explain the relevence? BTW I cleaned those bogs for nearly 25 years and by the time I was made redundant they let me order my own supplies and everything....

Why should Delia have mentioned football. She was talking about issues concerning the referendum campaigns and I haven''t seen football or Norwich mentioned in that. Have you?

If you remember Kevin Keelan then you will remember the late great Sir Arthur. How many political speeches do you reckon he made whilst chairman of NCFC?

[PurpleCanary 5,554]

[quote user="Curious Canary"]1. I accept that there are football issues around the EU. Point is that Delia didn’t mention any of them,

If she had said that she wanted to stay in the EU for football and business reasons and explained what they were that would have been fine.

2. That there has been no demo, doesn’t mean that nobody cares. How about if Nigel Farage or John Major had been appointed chairman. Would you be happy with that? Would you welcome him with open arms?

3. Delia is high profile and making public statements in support of Labour Party policy, Ed Balls is an ex-Labour politician. How can their statements be separated from their roles in NCFC? Of course it politicises NCFC. 4)Your point about West Ham being politicised because they acquired the Olympic Stadium is total rubbish. It was a football and business decision. It was going to go to West Ham, Spurs or Leyton Orient. The decision was made by the Olympic Park Legacy Company, nothing to do with Johnson.5) Just give me a few examples of these football club owners “political - in the broad sense – statements, almost invariably they are expressing - in crude terms - right-wing opinions”.[/quote]2) As another poster has said, this is a stupendous non sequitur of a paragraph, but I will do you a favour and split it up. For starters, very few posters here - apart from you and a usual suspect - seem at all bothered by this. It hasn''t even surfaced as an issue on Norwich Talk. look behind you - it is a very small army you are leading.As to John Major, I would have no objection on political grounds (although cricket is more his thing). And like Ed Balls he is no longer very active in politics. Farage is a different matter, because while he may not be a racist he leads a party that undoubtedly contains racists and with a platform that is dog-whistle racist. That could actively discourage some players from wanting to join the club (it might encourage others...) and that would be to politicise Norwich City.3) No matter how many times you keep asserting this that still won''t make it true. Has Delia''s proffessed Catholicism, religified the club? Nope. Did Elton John somehow gayify Watford? Nope. We used to have Arthur South as chairman, who was a high-profile Labour politician and making political statements all the time. Many more than Delia. He would write pieces for The Guardian on education, which was a pet subject of his. Did South''s support for state education antagonise fans or players who wanted to use private schooling? Nope.4) Another poster has pointed out the naivety of your view on this.5) And helpfully provided the example of Gold giving money to the Tories, although I was careful to refer to politics in the broad sense rather than party politics. Mike Ashley''s defence of his company''s employment practices (which actually included a personal attack on Ed Miliband) is the kind of thing I was talking about. That and general support for the economic status quo in the UK.

[Curious Canary 0]

[quote user="A Load of Squit"][quote user="Curious Canary"]Your point about West Ham being politicised because they acquired the Olympic Stadium is total rubbish. It was a football and business decision. It was going to go to West Ham, Spurs or Leyton Orient. The decision was made by the Olympic Park Legacy Company, nothing to do with Johnson.

Just give me a few examples of these football club owners “political - in the broad sense – statements, almost invariably they are expressing - in crude terms - right-wing opinions”.[/quote]

David Gold and Karren Brady are fund raisers and donors to the Tories and they got the stadium.

[/quote]

Totally irrelevant.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company made the decision not the Tories.

Maybe Spurs didn’t get because Joe Lewis lives in the Bahamas and doesn’t pay his fair share of tax.

There goes another complete red herring.

[A Load of Squit 5,135]

[quote user="Curious Canary"][quote user="A Load of Squit"][quote user="Curious Canary"]Your point about West Ham being politicised because they acquired the Olympic Stadium is total rubbish. It was a football and business decision. It was going to go to West Ham, Spurs or Leyton Orient. The decision was made by the Olympic Park Legacy Company, nothing to do with Johnson.

Just give me a few examples of these football club owners “political - in the broad sense – statements, almost invariably they are expressing - in crude terms - right-wing opinions”.[/quote]

David Gold and Karren Brady are fund raisers and donors to the Tories and they got the stadium.

[/quote]

Totally irrelevant.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company made the decision not the Tories.

Maybe Spurs didn’t get because Joe Lewis lives in the Bahamas and doesn’t pay his fair share of tax.

There goes another complete red herring.[/quote]

I''ve got a very good friend in Nigeria who has some investment opportunities that you''ll not want to miss.

[Rock The Boat 1,326]

[quote user="PurpleCanary"]Farage is a different matter, because while he may not be a racist he leads a party that undoubtedly contains racists and with a platform that is dog-whistle racist. [/quote]

Just for political balance here, we should point out that the Labour Party, too, contains racists, some of whom were forced to resign in the past month. There are many who thinks Corbyn holds racist views against the state of Israel and the platform given to terrorist organisations such as Hamas is also dog-whistle racist.

So let''s not sling those allegations in just one direction, eh Purple?

[OldRobert 38]

[quote user="Rock The Boat"][quote user="PurpleCanary"]Farage is a different matter, because while he may not be a racist he leads a party that undoubtedly contains racists and with a platform that is dog-whistle racist. [/quote]

Just for political balance here, we should point out that the Labour Party, too, contains racists, some of whom were forced to resign in the past month. There are many who thinks Corbyn holds racist views against the state of Israel and the platform given to terrorist organisations such as Hamas is also dog-whistle racist.

So let''s not sling those allegations in just one direction, eh Purple?[/quote]^^This

[PurpleCanary 5,554]

[quote user="Rock The Boat"][quote user="PurpleCanary"]Farage is a different matter, because while he may not be a racist he leads a party that undoubtedly contains racists and with a platform that is dog-whistle racist. [/quote]

Just for political balance here, we should point out that the Labour Party, too, contains racists, some of whom were forced to resign in the past month. There are many who thinks Corbyn holds racist views against the state of Israel and the platform given to terrorist organisations such as Hamas is also dog-whistle racist.

So let''s not sling those allegations in just one direction, eh Purple?[/quote]I was asked about Farage and by extension Ukip, so that is what I replied to. I wasn''t asked to imagine Corbyn becoming chairman of Norwich City. But I am happy to point out that while there may be some racists in the Labour party (although almost certainly fewer than in the Tory party) neither of those parties have what are widely seen as racist policies at their core.As for Corbyn, I have seen nothing to suggest he is a racist. Just the opposite; he seems on the side of minorities. He has frequently - and justifiably - attacked what Israel has become, and is anti-Zionist. What he fell victim to was the very well-funded lobby that shamelessly conflates anti-Zionism with anti-semitism/racism and uses that to try to smear critics.

[norfolkbroadslim 223]

Nutty, the point isn''t about me agreeing or disagreeing about the summer. I agree with you, that a lot of people seem to have placed the blame at the activities of the summer transfer window and also that some are of the belief that the club is now better run.

My point was that for this apparently widely held belief and for one which AN has himself highlighted, that the stats don''t appear to back it up. Points wise we performed 30% worse during the second half of the season than the first.

Perhaps it''s just me, but this leads me to ponder the following -

- Was the squad actually improved in January?

- In what ways was the club better run during the second half of the season?

[Rock The Boat 1,326]

[quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="Rock The Boat"][quote user="PurpleCanary"]Farage is a different matter, because while he may not be a racist he leads a party that undoubtedly contains racists and with a platform that is dog-whistle racist. [/quote]

Just for political balance here, we should point out that the Labour Party, too, contains racists, some of whom were forced to resign in the past month. There are many who thinks Corbyn holds racist views against the state of Israel and the platform given to terrorist organisations such as Hamas is also dog-whistle racist.

So let''s not sling those allegations in just one direction, eh Purple?[/quote]I was asked about Farage and by extension Ukip, so that is what I replied to. I wasn''t asked to imagine Corbyn becoming chairman of Norwich City. But I am happy to point out that while there may be some racists in the Labour party (although almost certainly fewer than in the Tory party) neither of those parties have what are widely seen as racist policies at their core.As for Corbyn, I have seen nothing to suggest he is a racist. Just the opposite; he seems on the side of minorities. He has frequently - and justifiably - attacked what Israel has become, and is anti-Zionist. What he fell victim to was the very well-funded lobby that shamelessly conflates anti-Zionism with anti-semitism/racism and uses that to try to smear critics.[/quote]

Corbyn is no victim. He has chosen his friends carefully, among whom he has named Hezbollah and Hamas, two terrorist organisations that have called for ''the total annihilation of Israel''. He supports these racist organisations and their objectives. He has acclaimed them as his friends, therefore he is a racist. And any attempt by you to deflect that fact by blaming a ''well-funded lobby'' is quite shameful.

[norfolkbroadslim 223]

Purple, do you have anything to back up your claim that there are almost certainly fewer racists in the labour party than the tory party?

[nutty nigel 7,513]

Was the squad actually improved in January? I would say yes. We lost Grabban and gained Pinto, Klose, Naismith and Bamford. Would be interested to hear the alternative POV If anyone has it.

In what way was the club better run? The transfer window was managed better which most people believed was the biggest failing of the first half of the season.

Were results better? No.

[OldRobert 38]

[quote user="norfolkbroadslim"]Purple, do you have anything to back up your claim that there are almost certainly fewer racists in the labour party than the tory party?[/quote]I too would be interested in some facts to back up that ''claim''.

[Parma Ham's gone mouldy 2,219]

Received wisdom within football has it that the momentum created by winning regularly - and its attendant confidence - ensures that promoted sides are more dangerous in the first part of the season. Once injuries appear and a levelling out of confidence occurs, then promoted sides results decline.

Thus conversely you might conceivably see a promoted side with a paper-weaker squad achieve better results in the first part of the season, to then paper-improve the squad and nevertheless achieve inferior results.

For context top clubs avoid buying heavily (or at all) in January, because the further canon is that January recruits undergo too much upheaval personally, privately and in a sporting sense and are thus comparatively (to their previous level) less effective for a period.

Thus both opinions could paradoxically be simultaneously true.

Parma

[ricardo 7,349]

[quote user="OldRobert"][quote user="norfolkbroadslim"]Purple, do you have anything to back up your claim that there are almost certainly fewer racists in the labour party than the tory party?[/quote]I too would be interested in some facts to back up that ''claim''.[/quote]Bob, when are you going to accept that the left have the monopoly on virtue.

[nutty nigel 7,513]

[quote user="Parma Hams gone mouldy"]Received wisdom within football has it that the momentum created by winning regularly - and its attendant confidence - ensures that promoted sides are more dangerous in the first part of the season. Once injuries appear and a levelling out of confidence occurs, then promoted sides results decline.

Thus conversely you might conceivably see a promoted side with a paper-weaker squad achieve better results in the first part of the season, to then paper-improve the squad and nevertheless achieve inferior results.

For context top clubs avoid buying heavily (or at all) in January, because the further canon is that January recruits undergo too much upheaval personally, privately and in a sporting sense and are thus comparatively (to their previous level) less effective for a period.

Thus both opinions could paradoxically be simultaneously true.

Parma[/quote]

Dean Ashton came in and had an immediate impact for Worthy. Naismith seems to have found it much more difficult. Could it be the different roles they play?

[Mello Yello 2,281]

We''ll see how much ''trouble'' the club is actually in, (if any) come December.....or possibly, earlier.......

[OldRobert 38]

[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="OldRobert"][quote user="norfolkbroadslim"]Purple, do you have anything to back up your claim that there are almost certainly fewer racists in the labour party than the tory party?[/quote]I too would be interested in some facts to back up that ''claim''.[/quote]Bob, when are you going to accept that the left have the monopoly on virtue.[/quote]Probably after they screw down the lid Ricardo.

[TIL 1010 4,722]

[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="OldRobert"][quote user="norfolkbroadslim"]Purple, do you have anything to back up your claim that there are almost certainly fewer racists in the labour party than the tory party?[/quote]I too would be interested in some facts to back up that ''claim''.[/quote]Bob, when are you going to accept that the left have the monopoly on virtue.[/quote][:D][Y]

[Herman 9,717]

[quote user="Rock The Boat"][quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="Rock The Boat"][quote user="PurpleCanary"]Farage is a different matter, because while he may not be a racist he leads a party that undoubtedly contains racists and with a platform that is dog-whistle racist. [/quote]

Just for political balance here, we should point out that the Labour Party, too, contains racists, some of whom were forced to resign in the past month. There are many who thinks Corbyn holds racist views against the state of Israel and the platform given to terrorist organisations such as Hamas is also dog-whistle racist.

So let''s not sling those allegations in just one direction, eh Purple?[/quote]I was asked about Farage and by extension Ukip, so that is what I replied to. I wasn''t asked to imagine Corbyn becoming chairman of Norwich City. But I am happy to point out that while there may be some racists in the Labour party (although almost certainly fewer than in the Tory party) neither of those parties have what are widely seen as racist policies at their core.As for Corbyn, I have seen nothing to suggest he is a racist. Just the opposite; he seems on the side of minorities. He has frequently - and justifiably - attacked what Israel has become, and is anti-Zionist. What he fell victim to was the very well-funded lobby that shamelessly conflates anti-Zionism with anti-semitism/racism and uses that to try to smear critics.[/quote]

Corbyn is no victim. He has chosen his friends carefully, among whom he has named Hezbollah and Hamas, two terrorist organisations that have called for ''the total annihilation of Israel''. He supports these racist organisations and their objectives. He has acclaimed them as his friends, therefore he is a racist. And any attempt by you to deflect that fact by blaming a ''well-funded lobby'' is quite shameful.[/quote]I''m sorry but that is mixture of half-truths and lies propagated by the right-wing press who are scared of a popular, socialist, leader of the Labour party. The well-funded lobby at work.[Y]

[PurpleCanary 5,554]

[quote user="norfolkbroadslim"]Purple, do you have anything to back up your claim that there are almost certainly fewer racists in the labour party than the tory party?[/quote]A Tory cabinet minister, Andrew Lansley, said some years back: "There is endemic racism in the Tory Party. It is in the system," and his comments were echoed by Lord Taylor. Last year Derek Laud, a former part adviser said: "There is no other party better at pointing the blame their way [at immigrants] than the Tories. They are the ultimate racists because they deal in stereotypes."This year Shazia Awan, a former Tory parliamentary candidate, said: "There have been times in my life when I’ve experienced racism – sinister and ugly, divisive by design, with the sole purpose of intimidating and making one feel inferior. It was this sort of deep-rooted hostility behind the scenes at the grassroots level of the Conservative party that eventually prompted me to let my membership expire."And there have been any number of specific remarks by Tory MPs and councillors that are plainly racist. Not to mention Goldsmith''s recent campaign to be mayor of London, which was so dog-whistle racist that even other Tories distanced themselves. I didn''t deny there are racists in the Labour party, but I have never seen any evidence of the kind of ingrained racism these Tories admit runs through their party.

[nutty nigel 7,513]

Over to you guys then.....

[Katie Borkins 1]

Opinions and facts are somewhat different.

That said, I would be amazed if the Labour Party had anywhere near the number of europhobes, closet racists and immigration-phobics as the Tories... many of whom, apparently, will be voting in the referendum by proxy or postal vote from their retirement homes in Spain.

[Curious Canary 0]

[quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="Curious Canary"]1. I accept that there are football issues around the EU. Point is that Delia didn’t mention any of them,

If she had said that she wanted to stay in the EU for football and business reasons and explained what they were that would have been fine.

2. That there has been no demo, doesn’t mean that nobody cares. How about if Nigel Farage or John Major had been appointed chairman. Would you be happy with that? Would you welcome him with open arms?

3. Delia is high profile and making public statements in support of Labour Party policy, Ed Balls is an ex-Labour politician. How can their statements be separated from their roles in NCFC? Of course it politicises NCFC. 4)Your point about West Ham being politicised because they acquired the Olympic Stadium is total rubbish. It was a football and business decision. It was going to go to West Ham, Spurs or Leyton Orient. The decision was made by the Olympic Park Legacy Company, nothing to do with Johnson.5) Just give me a few examples of these football club owners “political - in the broad sense – statements, almost invariably they are expressing - in crude terms - right-wing opinions”.[/quote]2) As another poster has said, this is a stupendous non sequitur of a paragraph, but I will do you a favour and split it up. For starters, very few posters here - apart from you and a usual suspect - seem at all bothered by this. It hasn''t even surfaced as an issue on Norwich Talk. look behind you - it is a very small army you are leading.As to John Major, I would have no objection on political grounds (although cricket is more his thing). And like Ed Balls he is no longer very active in politics. Farage is a different matter, because while he may not be a racist he leads a party that undoubtedly contains racists and with a platform that is dog-whistle racist. That could actively discourage some players from wanting to join the club (it might encourage others...) and that would be to politicise Norwich City.3) No matter how many times you keep asserting this that still won''t make it true. Has Delia''s proffessed Catholicism, religified the club? Nope. Did Elton John somehow gayify Watford? Nope. We used to have Arthur South as chairman, who was a high-profile Labour politician and making political statements all the time. Many more than Delia. He would write pieces for The Guardian on education, which was a pet subject of his. Did South''s support for state education antagonise fans or players who wanted to use private schooling? Nope.4) Another poster has pointed out the naivety of your view on this.5) And helpfully provided the example of Gold giving money to the Tories, although I was careful to refer to politics in the broad sense rather than party politics. Mike Ashley''s defence of his company''s employment practices (which actually included a personal attack on Ed Miliband) is the kind of thing I was talking about. That and general support for the economic status quo in the UK.[/quote]

1) You still haven’t mentioned anything that Delia has said in relation to football and the EU.

Looks like you accept that the answer is nothing.

2) I don’t lead an army, perhaps you do. I express my own view as I see it and try to back it up with facts and logic. Rather too many posters on here prefer to throw insults, take a condescending attitude and/or just make spurious inane comments.

Your views on John Major and Nigel Farage are revealing. At least it establishes that you don’t care about the political persuasions of anyone in our football club. Maybe you are grasping at a few straws to find a football reason why Farage would be unacceptable. So all your slagging off the Tories is just at the ones who are with other clubs. If they were our Tories they would be paragons of virtue. The only thing that matters to you is success on the football pitch, that’s your opinion.

So Chinese ownership, no problem. Russian oligarch welcome aboard.

3) I don’t know why you keep raising the subject of Delia’s religion. I haven’t mentioned it at all. It’s not an issue. It could only become an issue if it clearly affected her judgement and the running of the football club. I don’t see any evidence that this is the case. If she invited a Catholic bishop onto the board and started preaching in the media to convert the heathens to Catholicism then I might change my mind. Presumably you wouldn’t have a problem with this. I don’t know why you mentioned Elton John, talk about non sequitur.

As for politics if she invited a Labour politician onto the board and made him/her chairman and started preaching in the media to convert the proletariat ….Oh hang on …

4) It’s my naivety that I don’t agree that West Ham only got the Olympic Stadium because of Tory connections. Let’s look for a conspiracy theory. Let’s make an allegation that has no factual basis. Let’s base it on prejudice and say anyone who doesn’t go along with it doesn’t really understand. Are you saying that the board members of the Olympic Park Legacy Company were just subservient to the Tories and that it was just a front for the power base of Johnson?

If you repeat it often enough it becomes a fact. So it must be true, it’s because West Ham gave more money to the Tories than Spurs. Where''s the evidence?

5) Gold gives money to the Tories, Does he? How much? Where can I find the details?

Delia gives money to Labour. Does she? How much? Who knows?

Checking some detail on Mike Ashley it seems that he lives as a recluse, avoiding public gaze.

The incident you mention seems to relate to a Daily Mirror article when apparently Ashley vented his fury at what he sees as “interfering politicians” when Mr Miliband referred to Sports Direct’s “Victorian” working conditions. But who cares about his so called crude right wing opinions? Surely not you.

If he decided to jump ship, sell Newcastle and buy Norwich you would welcome him with open arms because you are only interested in success on the football pitch and it’s obvious that we would have a better chance with Ashley’s billions rather than Delia’s mere millions.

[A Load of Squit 5,135]

[quote user="Curious Canary"]

4) It’s my naivety that I don’t agree that West Ham only got the Olympic Stadium because of Tory connections. Let’s look for a conspiracy theory. Let’s make an allegation that has no factual basis. Let’s base it on prejudice and say anyone who doesn’t go along with it doesn’t really understand. Are you saying that the board members of the Olympic Park Legacy Company were just subservient to the Tories and that it was just a front for the power base of Johnson?

If you repeat it often enough it becomes a fact. So it must be true, it’s because West Ham gave more money to the Tories than Spurs. Where''s the evidence?

5) Gold gives money to the Tories, Does he? How much? Where can I find the details?

Delia gives money to Labour. Does she? How much? Who knows?

Checking some detail on Mike Ashley it seems that he lives as a recluse, avoiding public gaze.

The incident you mention seems to relate to a Daily Mirror article when apparently Ashley vented his fury at what he sees as “interfering politicians” when Mr Miliband referred to Sports Direct’s “Victorian” working conditions. But who cares about his so called crude right wing opinions? Surely not you.

If he decided to jump ship, sell Newcastle and buy Norwich you would welcome him with open arms because you are only interested in success on the football pitch and it’s obvious that we would have a better chance with Ashley’s billions rather than Delia’s mere millions.[/quote]

Details herehttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/05/27/west-hams-12500-donation-to-the-conservative-party-raises-seriou/

[A Load of Squit 5,135]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/05/27/west-hams-12500-donation-to-the-conservative-party-raises-seriou/

West Ham''s £12,500 donation to the Conservative Party raises ''serious questions'' over ''dubious stadium deal''

(L-R) West Ham

United joint Chairman Daivd Sullivan, London Mayor Boris Johnson, West

Ham United Vice-Chairman Karren Brady, Mayor of Newham Robin Wales and

West Ham United joint Chairman David Gold stand in front of the Olympic

Stadium

Credit:

AFP

• Cristina Criddle

27 May 2016 • 11:58am

West Ham United are facing

questions over their new stadium, after it emerged that the club donated

£12,500 to the Conservative Party.

The Taxpayers'' Alliance said this raises "serious questions" over the

"dubious stadium deal", while a Labour MP said it was inappropriate.

The money, listed in the Electoral Commission''s register this week, was given on January 14.

The Premier League team''s vice-chairman and Tory peer, Karren Brady,

attended the party''s annual black and white Ball with club co-owner

David Gold a month later.

[nutty nigel 7,513]

[quote user="Curious Canary"]

If he decided to jump ship, sell Newcastle and buy Norwich you would welcome him with open arms because you are only interested in success on the football pitch and it’s obvious that we would have a better chance with Ashley’s billions rather than Delia’s mere millions.[/quote]

 

Who is only interested in success on the football pitch? And why would we have a better chance with Ashley''s millions? I think it would be fairer to say we''d have a better chance if Delia had Ashley''s millions because he''s not done any better at Newcastle...

 

 

[Yellowbeagle 0]

[quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="norfolkbroadslim"]Purple, do you have anything to back up your claim that there are almost certainly fewer racists in the labour party than the tory party?[/quote]A Tory cabinet minister, Andrew Lansley, said some years back: "There is endemic racism in the Tory Party. It is in the system," and his comments were echoed by Lord Taylor. Last year Derek Laud, a former part adviser said: "There is no other party better at pointing the blame their way [at immigrants] than the Tories. They are the ultimate racists because they deal in stereotypes."This year Shazia Awan, a former Tory parliamentary candidate, said: "There have been times in my life when I’ve experienced racism – sinister and ugly, divisive by design, with the sole purpose of intimidating and making one feel inferior. It was this sort of deep-rooted hostility behind the scenes at the grassroots level of the Conservative party that eventually prompted me to let my membership expire."And there have been any number of specific remarks by Tory MPs and councillors that are plainly racist. Not to mention Goldsmith''s recent campaign to be mayor of London, which was so dog-whistle racist that even other Tories distanced themselves. I didn''t deny there are racists in the Labour party, but I have never seen any evidence of the kind of ingrained racism these Tories admit runs through their party.[/quote]

What a load of guff, labour are just as likely to be as bad as any of the other parties as "evidenced" recently by Ken Livingston and Naz Shah.

[danielsroundabout 9]

Its a shame that in her figurehead position at the football club, Delia seems unable to prevent herself from alienating a significant proportion of the support base with her political outbursts. A football club, like any other sports club, should be in the business of pulling together its supporters from all backgrounds and viewpoints, it is not a place for politics. This thread is now 120+ in number and it was provoked by the clubs owner putting her yellow and green scarf on and getting on the political bandwagon. A repeat of the last election and from the same thinking that has seen the arrival of Fry and Balls.

Numerous posters on here tend to be sycophants as far as Delia is concerned and think that because they agree with her views, then its fine for the clubs owner to take a public position on divisive issues.

Many who support this public positioning of the club argue that those of us who oppose these matters would take a different view if Delia''s support was for the opposite wing. Well in my case, certainly not. I agree with much of what she says and will vote with her in the referendum but I resent the discord she insists in initiating in the clubs support. Not at all clever.