BlueStar

Waded into this one, last response I got was "I'd rather be a fascist scumbag than a Geordie" Sums it up

There was some outrage. And people probably said "where was the outrage when Barclays sponsored the league?" And when people questioned that it would have been "where was the outrage when murdoch got his claws into the game?" You can't have a negative opinion on anything as long as someone can find something dubious you've not devoted exactly as many words and minutes to.

The fact he's been given so many chances to say he's not a fascist and refused (obviously not wanting to upset his old Lazio mates) makes the statement about it being 'insulting' to suggest he might be look pretty stupid.

Well no, aside from living in Minority Report there's no way of knowing if other managers or players secretly want to Nazi salute, racially abuse or stab to death, so we'll just have to judge people on their actions.

To turn it around, that Greek lad who made a straight arm salute ONCE has been banned from international football for life and his career is bssucally over. Where's that level of condemnation for PDC?

The latest trope on RTG is threads like Subject: I have Jewish blood... Post: And I'm delighted to have Di Canio here! Subject: I'm an old school socialist... Post: And Di Canio is my new God, every time I think about him I weep tears of joy! Subject: My grandparents were tortured to death by Mussolini's thugs... Post: And I just gone and got an exact copy of Di Canio's tattoo on my face!

I can't believe I'm even having the conversation Every time there's a scandal about bungs in the premier league, or someone punches a fan, or someone makes a racist comment on the pitch, or there's a terrible refereeing decision or tackle are we going to say "How come you're not talking about this similar incident between Shrewsbury and Crawley? WHERE WAS THE OUTRAGE? How come the papers are reporting on that and not this? Isn't Tom Eves also a role model for children? Why are you victimising this guy? Huh? HUH?" Something being allowed in the premier league makes a bigger statement about how acceptable it is in football than the same thing happening in Blue Square North. Yes?

Just realised I've got an AS Roma scarf in my loft, might dig it out for the derby. Song suggestions? I think "What would your grandad say" would stir things up nicely if directed at the away support.

I genuinely don't even understand why this question has to be asked. There'd be more outrage if Nick Griffin became a member of cabinet then if he became MP. There'd be more outrage on here if a jihadi sympathiser was the CEO of Amazon than if he was the boss of a haulage firm in Kent. There'd be more outrage on here if someone with extreme views took over North Tyneside council than if they took over somewhere in London or France. Proximity and the high-profile or otherwise nature of the position, it's no real mystery. We've had a thread on the mackems sicne the board was opened, go have a look in the Swindon thread to see if it was discussed there. as so it's not the principle then, it's the heightened level of publicity that's bothering people and the fact it's sunderland just wanted to know No, it is exactly the principle. Being a manager at the top level is an honour and makes you a much more public figure. Giving someone a job at the very top of their profession validates their beliefs far more than if they're at a lower level. But you knew that, unless you didn't read my post.

But you can't criticise them for that! It's journalism, not politics. What do their views and actions have to do with anything? If you express your opinion on their behaviour you're basically oppressing them, stop it. How is journalism and politics not directly linked? The profession was created and continues to be used to influence public opinion! SAFC is a privately owned company and they can ban whoever they like from their press conferences. Once again, I don't deny that the club has brought this s*** storm on itself. Whether they intended to do that or not, they're now scrambling to try and deal with it. As long as they do that without breaking any laws, then so what? Football influences public opinion! It probably influences public opinion more than every leaflet put through every bloody door in the country! The very fact that this debate is going on is evidence that it's not 'so what', people have a pretty non-controversial opinion that they don't want a fascist manager in the premier league and people are trying to imply they can't hold that opinion because it somehow infringes on the rights of others for reasons I can't quite pin down. Paolo Di Canio has the right to be a fascist, other people have the right to believe he's a f***ing c*** for holding those views and they will continue to say so. Not going to disagree with that at all. However, PL or L2, it shouldn't matter imo. He'll be in as much of a role model position to kids growing up in Sunderland as he was for kids growing up in Swindon. But there's a lot of kids that follow the premier league and know the name and personality of every manager in it. How many could name Swindon's current manager, and know what kind of person he is to be allowed to hold that position?

Hope other fans jump on the bandwagon and start giving him shit. Sadly they've got Chelsea next and they like a bit of right-wing - but fascism has always conflicted far-right hooligans. On the one hand they admire the strident nationalism, on the other they want to glorify England's war victories against that very ideology. Hopefully his West Ham links will push it to the latter and they'll go for the whole "10 fascist bombers" route. That's the stick the Sun is using to beat him with today. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4869485/War-veterans-boycott-fascist-Sunderland-manager-Paolo-Di-Canio.html

But you can't criticise them for that! It's journalism, not politics. What do their views and actions have to do with anything? If you express your opinion on their behaviour you're basically oppressing them, stop it. How is journalism and politics not directly linked? The profession was created and continues to be used to influence public opinion! SAFC is a privately owned company and they can ban whoever they like from their press conferences. Once again, I don't deny that the club has brought this shit storm on itself. Whether they intended to do that or not, they're now scrambling to try and deal with it. As long as they do that without breaking any laws, then so what? Football influences public opinion! It probably influences public opinion more than every leaflet put through every bloody door in the country! The very fact that this debate is going on is evidence that it's not 'so what', people have a pretty non-controversial opinion that they don't want a fascist manager in the premier league and people are trying to imply they can't hold that opinion because it somehow infringes on the rights of others for reasons I can't quite pin down. Paolo Di Canio has the right to be a fascist, other people have the right to believe he's a fucking cunt for holding those views, that they don't want him in the club or the league or the sport and they will continue to say so.

I genuinely don't even understand why this question has to be asked. There'd be more outrage if Nick Griffin became a member of cabinet then if he became MP. There'd be more outrage on here if a jihadi sympathiser was the CEO of Amazon than if he was the boss of a haulage firm in Kent. There'd be more outrage on here if someone with extreme views took over North Tyneside council than if they took over somewhere in London or France. Proximity and the high-profile or otherwise nature of the position, it's no real mystery. We've had a thread on the mackems sicne the board was opened, go have a look in the Swindon thread to see if it was discussed there.

But you can't criticise them for that! It's journalism, not politics. What do their views and actions have to do with anything? If you express your opinion on their behaviour you're basically oppressing them, stop it.

Not a single poster has said that. I'll admit I haven't read every single post since the appointment, but out all the posts I have seen, no one has seriously said that. Not sure if serious...

PVC might not even be there for the derby at this rate Can't believe some of the hand wringing that's still going on "Won't somebody please think of the fascists" http://i.imgur.com/JVL1fCj.jpg

The Depache Mode chant of "Racist Bastard" we regaled Suarez with is easily modified into "Fascist Bastard".

Decency still exists on the SMB. That's a cracking post, has to be the best post ever made on there. Don't agree. People seriously needs to separate football from politics. FWIW I think Di Canio should have a look at himself if he supports the belief and firm stance that Benito Mussolini apparently had... The opportunist that he was and the left-wing to right-wing switch is really a firm stand. The man clearly knows nothing about his supposed beliefs and should have a look into history books. We seriously need to thrive for football free from politics, it's beyond ridiculous at times. Di Canio is an ignorant person, but I can bet my house that this man will be as happy as ever if Di Canio wins them a trophy ( won't happen ). I'd also like to thank Cajun and TT for getting me to see the great enjoyment that this is. Di Canio was the one that brought his political beliefs into football, not the other way round. His actions while at Lazio were a disgrace and he was rightly banned for bringing the game into disrepute. Also you can't sperate politics from most things in life, football isn't a exception. First of all, him bringing it in or not, my point is that people is caring more about his political views than his managerial abilities. As for separating politics from most things in life you've must never have played any sports. When you walk into the pitch, you don't care if the other man is a socialist sympathizer or a right-wing extremist. All you care about is winning. That's what sports is about, it's entertainment. Would you refuse to watch a movie if the director said he had fascist views? Sports is entertainment, deal with it. I understand that it's hard to separate politics from most things in life, I'm just saying that people should thrive for it. Obviously that would only happen in an ideal world. Eh? Football and politics are intrinsically linked. Historically, yes absolutely. But it's sickening. And I for one was hoping that we'd seen the end of that link with football becoming a global sport. Disagree with that, I think it would be very bland. You know the type of person who follows Chelsea, you know the type of person that follows Liverpool, a region's politics is integral to its identity Please enlighten me, don't really get what you mean? (serious question). It's more than just 22 blokes running around on TV in sportswear, isn't it? The people in the crowd largely didn't pick the club they're following out of a hat or because they like the colour of their strip, it's part of their cultural identity. El Classico isn't just about who's got the best football team now or in the past, it's inherently political.

Decency still exists on the SMB. That's a cracking post, has to be the best post ever made on there. Don't agree. People seriously needs to separate football from politics. FWIW I think Di Canio should have a look at himself if he supports the belief and firm stance that Benito Mussolini apparently had... The opportunist that he was and the left-wing to right-wing switch is really a firm stand. The man clearly knows nothing about his supposed beliefs and should have a look into history books. We seriously need to thrive for football free from politics, it's beyond ridiculous at times. Di Canio is an ignorant person, but I can bet my house that this man will be as happy as ever if Di Canio wins them a trophy ( won't happen ). I'd also like to thank Cajun and TT for getting me to see the great enjoyment that this is. Di Canio was the one that brought his political beliefs into football, not the other way round. His actions while at Lazio were a disgrace and he was rightly banned for bringing the game into disrepute. Also you can't sperate politics from most things in life, football isn't a exception. First of all, him bringing it in or not, my point is that people is caring more about his political views than his managerial abilities. As for separating politics from most things in life you've must never have played any sports. When you walk into the pitch, you don't care if the other man is a socialist sympathizer or a right-wing extremist. All you care about is winning. That's what sports is about, it's entertainment. Would you refuse to watch a movie if the director said he had fascist views? Sports is entertainment, deal with it. I understand that it's hard to separate politics from most things in life, I'm just saying that people should thrive for it. Obviously that would only happen in an ideal world. Eh? Football and politics are intrinsically linked. Historically, yes absolutely. But it's sickening. And I for one was hoping that we'd seen the end of that link with football becoming a global sport. Disagree with that, I think it would be very bland. You know the type of person who follows Chelsea, you know the type of person that follows Liverpool, a region's politics is integral to its identity

"Don't bring politics into football!" whines man who whipped off his shirt to expose Mussolini tattoos and fascist-saluted the crowd when playing left-wing or Jewish-linked teams. (Not an Onion article)

So you're putting Di Canio ahead of the Durham Miners' Association? Fuck me lengthways. What the fuck has happened to you lot? It's like you've all caught scouse.

Only on the internet could "I don't like fascists" be seen as a controversial statement

Basically him saying it's offensive to slag him off for being a fascist, followed by Implying it's insulting to call someone a fascist, basically doing exactly what he was complaining about. Ace.

Did he really just use the line of "I've got black friends"?

An anti-facist or anti-racist banner at SJP for the derby would stir the pot nicely. Obviously not explicitly directed at Di Canio, just fiegn ignorance and say it's our own version of their Nelson Mandella day or something. Would goad him or their fans into kicking off about it and make them look even worse