Webber makes the national news

[GodlyOtsemobor 2,310]

On 25/03/2024 at 19:23, ......and Smith must score. said:

If you’re always right in the first place how can you be getting righter ?

Because...... 

[Robert N. LiM 4,360]

2 hours ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

Note he hasn't been condemned by the players he mentioned

Just on a point of fact, his comments were criticised on Twitter by Abu Kamara, Jamal Lewis's mum and by Max Aarons' mum and brother. All of them except Jamal's mum explicitly called them out for racist stereotyping, and she retweeted the one from Max's mum.

[Big Vince 318]

All of this touches on what Enoch Powell prophesied decades ago. 

[repman 635]

16 minutes ago, Robert N. LiM said:

Just on a point of fact, his comments were criticised on Twitter by Abu Kamara, Jamal Lewis's mum and by Max Aarons' mum and brother. All of them except Jamal's mum explicitly called them out for racist stereotyping, and she retweeted the one from Max's mum.

Max also liked a tweet that called the statement weak so I think it's fair to say the reaction from the players mentioned hasn't been great.

[littleyellowbirdie 2,550]

I think if I was in Webber's shoes, I'd find a different charity to try and raise money for. No point wasting effort where it's not welcome.

Edited March 26 by littleyellowbirdie

[Mengo 822]

14 minutes ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

I think if I was in Webber's shoes, I'd find a different charity to try and raise money for. No point wasting effort where it's not welcome.

God help the sherpas.🤣

 

[wcorkcanary 4,334]

9 hours ago, Mengo said:

God help the sherpas.🤣

 

Tillo has a side hustle, i know this is irrelevant but your Sam & Dave post reminded me of this.

[Monty13 2,234]

9 hours ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

I think if I was in Webber's shoes, I'd find a different charity to try and raise money for. No point wasting effort where it's not welcome.

I think the racism was what wasn’t welcome. 

[dylanisabaddog 4,929]

12 hours ago, Big Vince said:

All of this touches on what Enoch Powell prophesied decades ago. 

How do you manage to type with your right arm in the air? 

[......and Smith must score. 1,343]

22 minutes ago, dylanisabaddog said:

How do you manage to type with your right arm in the air? 

Head-butt the keyboard.

[Rock The Boat 1,332]

2 hours ago, dylanisabaddog said:

How do you manage to type with your right arm in the air? 

Same way you type with one hand on your d***

[littleyellowbirdie 2,550]

3 hours ago, Monty13 said:

I think the racism was what wasn’t welcome. 

I don't agree it's racist. People have chosen to take offense on race grounds, but he never said a word about race.

But that won't stop the anti-racism inquisition and their zealotry. Repent, sinner, or suffer eternal damnation!

 

Edited March 27 by littleyellowbirdie

[Mengo 822]

23 minutes ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

I don't agree it's racist. People have chosen to take offense on race grounds, but he never said a word about race.

But that won't stop the anti-racism inquisition and their zealotry. Repent, sinner, 

Sinner2🤣🙃

 

 

Edited March 27 by Mengo

[LaUnionCanary 86]

21 minutes ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

I don't agree it's racist. People have chosen to take offense on race grounds, but he never said a word about race.

But that won't stop the anti-racism inquisition and their zealotry. Repent, sinner, or suffer eternal damnation!

 

Sorry, every player he mentioned was black. You can't get much more racist than that. Hope he never works in football again.

[Google Bot 3,278]

14 minutes ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

I don't agree it's racist. People have chosen to take offense on race grounds, but he never said a word about race.

Can any of us come to such a binary conclusion without knowing how his internal dialog went, though?

I think it's better to ask whether those named individuals and their families are justified in perceiving it as racist, or at the very least that you can appreciate why they would perceive it as such.

We will learn very little about each other otherwise.

[hogesar 9,676]

1 hour ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

I don't agree it's racist. People have chosen to take offense on race grounds, but he never said a word about race.

But that won't stop the anti-racism inquisition and their zealotry. Repent, sinner, or suffer eternal damnation!

 

I don't think it's our place to say if its racist or not (although plenty have done). 

I think it's best to listen to the community he's referring too, i.e black people. Certainly that's been a mixed bag in the media so far. Troy Deeney didn't think it was racist when he spoke about it on the radio a little while ago. 

[littleyellowbirdie 2,550]

13 minutes ago, hogesar said:

I don't think it's our place to say if its racist or not (although plenty have done). 

I think it's best to listen to the community he's referring too, i.e black people. Certainly that's been a mixed bag in the media so far. Troy Deeney didn't think it was racist when he spoke about it on the radio a little while ago. 

What Webber did wrong here was to bring individuals into it at all, regardless of their colour. I think they had every right to be upset because of that and I think he owed the families apologies for it, which he gave, but I see no indication that there's actually anything wrong with what Webber said. Raheem Sterling's dad was killed in a drive-by shooting. The footballers he's talking about came from high crime areas where a lot of kids get sucked into violent crime and gangs. Their careers in football pulled them out of that situation, but they're a lucky minority. The unlucky majority run the risk of becoming the next Stephen Lawrence. It's those people Webber's charitable activites are intended to be aiming to help, so how on Earth does it make sense to brand the guy as prejudiced against the very people he's actively trying to help?!

And yes the communication was poor, yes it was insensitive to the individuals concerned, yes they were all owed apologies personally, but racism and profiling is just a ridiculous accusation. And what's more, I think people attacking someone so hard who's very obviously trying to do a good thing for those not lucky enough to be good at kicking a ball around a field, simply because some people are so precious about communications only helps drive a wedge in that ensures people stick to their own 'communities' to avoid all of this bullsh1t.

 

[dylanisabaddog 4,929]

Arguing whether or not it was a racist comment is to a large degree irrelevant. I think it clearly was but that's just my perception and other people see it differently. 

I have yet to see anybody say it was a sensible thing to say, in fact I'm sure 9 out of 10 would agree that it was stupid and unnecessary. 

The big question is, did Webber's comment make it more or less likely that a talented young black player will sign for us. I'm absolutely certain that it will make it less likely and as a result the club and its supporters will ultimately suffer. 

The only other question is whether or not Webber deliberately set out to damage the club. 

[littleyellowbirdie 2,550]

8 minutes ago, dylanisabaddog said:

The only other question is whether or not Webber deliberately set out to damage the club. 

What a stupid suggestion.

The whole thing has been blown massively out of proportion.

Edited March 27 by littleyellowbirdie

[Mengo 822]

9 minutes ago, dylanisabaddog said:

Arguing whether or not it was a racist comment is to a large degree irrelevant. I think it clearly was but that's just my perception and other people see it differently. 

I have yet to see anybody say it was a sensible thing to say, in fact I'm sure 9 out of 10 would agree that it was stupid and unnecessary. 

The big question is, did Webber's comment make it more or less likely that a talented young black player will sign for us. I'm absolutely certain that it will make it less likely and as a result the club and its supporters will ultimately suffer. 

The only other question is whether or not Webber deliberately set out to damage the club. 

What does expect the unexpected mean?

Answer and Explanation:

'Expect the unexpected' most closely means accept the fact that there will be surprises along the way and/or things that cannot be controlled. Essentially, don't be surprised by random and/or unusual events that may occur.

[......and Smith must score. 1,343]

2 hours ago, hogesar said:

I don't think it's our place to say if its racist or not (although plenty have done). 

I think it's best to listen to the community he's referring too, i.e black people. Certainly that's been a mixed bag in the media so far. Troy Deeney didn't think it was racist when he spoke about it on the radio a little while ago. 

Troy Deeney’s take on this is interesting. As a black man who had a chaotic upbringing and has done time at Her Majesty’s Pleasure he’s got skin in the game in more ways than one.

Edited March 27 by ......and Smith must score.

[lake district canary 4,531]

1 hour ago, LaUnionCanary said:

Sorry, every player he mentioned was black. You can't get much more racist than that.

Just because someone mentions black players, it doesn't make what they say racist.

He was poor with his choice of words, shouldn't have mentioned individuals, but that is all.

It's getting to the point where people can't use the word "black" anymore, because the word itself is seen as racist, which is ridiculous.

 

[Midlands Yellow 3,986]

Hoggy, LYB and Lakey know best! Everyone else is just plain wrong. 

[dylanisabaddog 4,929]

1 hour ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

What a stupid suggestion.

The whole thing has been blown massively out of proportion.

Err, read it again. It wasn't a suggestion, it was a question.

Do you think that Webber may be on the autistic spectrum?  One of the symptoms of autism is an inability to accept that you're wrong and everyone else is right. This may be a very difficult question for you to answer 

Edited March 27 by dylanisabaddog

[lake district canary 4,531]

6 minutes ago, Midlands Yellow said:

Hoggy, LYB and Lakey know best! Everyone else is just plain wrong. 

Amazing how people can't stand a debate without resorting to put downs. Maybe it's because they are losing the argument.......

[shefcanary 2,409]

1 hour ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

The footballers he's talking about came from high crime areas where a lot of kids get sucked into violent crime and gangs.

Careful, LYB. Define high crime area? Lots of people who live in very well to do locations snort coke, smoke weed, probably have done illicit deals at work and paid backhanders to people in cash to avoid tax and to get a job done more cheaply. I'd argue the value of those crimes far outweighs the value of crime in the areas you are thinking about.

And, I say it again, the majority of those lads were brought up in areas which definitely are NOT high crime areas by any reasonable marker! That is why, and here I agree with you, the parents of, and the players themselves, are so pissed off about!

If Webber did mistakenly link these players to being brought up in a high crime area (however defined) then as head of the institution where they were in effect placed in his care as vulnerable youngsters whilst in receipt of training that is a massive failure on his part. And thus indicative of an institution that is not managed effectively. This calls very much into question the status said institution enjoys from its major funder.

And again I ask people on here, are they at all concerned about the Category 1 Academy status the club enjoys and do they not see why it is very much now under scrutiny, if not being threatened with the loss of said status? Even if this doesn't result, potential players who may not have given the opporutinty a second thought will be wary of joining now. After all it remains our major advantage over similar clubs, especially the Binners.

Thankfully Knapper seems more interested in doing his job, so my "hysterical" fear should not come to pass.

However, I'm sure the FA will be putting the club on "notice", and the recruitment team are going to have to work that much harder to sign young players from the hinterland of London.

Corporate governance hey. Yawn! Means diddley squit in the real world! 😉 

[dylanisabaddog 4,929]

2 minutes ago, lake district canary said:

Amazing how people can't stand a debate without resorting to put downs. Maybe it's because they are losing the argument.......

At the moment about 90% of people think you're wrong. Amazing isn't it 

[Midlands Yellow 3,986]

1 minute ago, lake district canary said:

Amazing how people can't stand a debate without resorting to put downs. Maybe it's because they are losing the argument.......

There's three or four of you who won’t have it, I’d hardly call that winning the argument. Keep digging though, why admit you’re wrong when you’ve come this far. 

[Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB 1,024]

52 minutes ago, lake district canary said:

Just because someone mentions black players, it doesn't make what they say racist.

He was poor with his choice of words, shouldn't have mentioned individuals, but that is all.

It's getting to the point where people can't use the word "black" anymore, because the word itself is seen as racist, which is ridiculous.

 

He was wrong to profile only black lads as there are plenty of examples of white lads born on the "wrong side of the tracks". 

He was wrong to mention the individuals names without their permission.

He was wrong to suggest the individuals he named were saved from a life of crime by football when clearly that was not the case.

He was wrong to besmirch the families of the individuals he named.

Everything about that interview was plain wrong, there are absolutely no positives to be found...........

[Monty13 2,234]

1 hour ago, lake district canary said:

Just because someone mentions black players, it doesn't make what they say racist.

He was poor with his choice of words, shouldn't have mentioned individuals, but that is all.

It's getting to the point where people can't use the word "black" anymore, because the word itself is seen as racist, which is ridiculous.

 

Christ this is boring. People have pointed out multiple times why what he said was racist, you keep ignoring it.

He profiled 5 black men, he attributed things to them collectively that were not true about all of them. What he said was racist.

That doesn’t make him racist just because he said something racist, but it doesn’t change what he said and calls into question why he said it.

The fact he named these individuals also defames their character, family and upbringing. A bigger deal for those individuals definitely, but doesn’t take away from the above.

He said something he should not have done, he’s apologised and the club has released a statement, both of which took longer than they should have IMO but it was required.

I’m pretty sure personally he didn’t mean to be racist, I think once again his ego got the better of him and he started to take some tacit credit for these lad’s achievements without thinking for a second of the impact of what he was saying on them and their families.

He’s got main character syndrome and he finally unthinkingly said something that upset more people than he’s used to, maybe he’ll learn but damage has been done because he didn’t think.

Edited March 27 by Monty13