OzzieMandias

It appears you're basically using the fact people are using the poppy remeberance as a political tool to downgrade the poppy rememberance. This is the same kind of ideology that makes being proud of being English shit because the bnp have latched onto the union jack and britishness and its sad and wrong in my opinion. It is thought like that that does more harm than anything, more harm than a mere poppy stiched into a bit of fabric at a sporting venue would ever do. I'm not doing anything of the sort. It's meaningless, though, if you HAVE to do it.

I see Prince William and David Cameron have both now weighed in about the issue. Nothing political there, then.

Some sense here, at least: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/nov/09/england-poppies-spain-game

Some "symbol of respect" for their war dead. So you have no idea how the 3 countries that you mentioned commeorate their lost? Or even if they do so already? Symbols of respect for individuals who've lost their lives shouldn't ever be omitted by force. The poppy promotes peace between nations, if anything. You're drifting off into drivel. Try tuning your brain in a bit more carefully, and consider the question I was actually asking.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-24007829-defy-fifa-play-with-a-poppy-england.do Personally I think it's a load of fuss over nothing. I didn't think anything could be as dull as the Terry story this week but I've been proven wrong. Also, what if - for whatever reason - a player didn't want to wear a poppy on their shirt? Aye, I've been wondering that too. As if the robotic, braindead morons in the England squad would make such a statement. More than fair point, but it's still a valid question. If the "sacrifice" of British soldiers in those conflcts that were worth fighting means anything, it's about the right to live in a country where you don't have to wear some fucking symbol of nationalist or ideological orthodoxy if you don't want to. It always depresses me this time of year when I watch some British TV and am reminded how it's obviously simply impossible not to wear a poppy if you're a professional broadcaster or any kind of public figure.

Some "symbol of respect" for their war dead.

The fact that money from the shirts/poppy symbol is going to support a military body is enough for FIFA to say, "Like f***". They can't afford to set a precedent. It's nowt to do with international football which is what this boils down to. Sometimes matches occur that are played in politically-charged circumstances: matches with Israel, the Koreas, some African games, etc. FIFA has to ensure that ultimately the game is simply a match between two football sides. I know people like to lay the boot into FIFA because they're a bunch of corrupt wankers, but their job is to run football and they're doing the right thing in this instance. How on earth is the poppy going to cause unrest amongst rival nations? It stands for nothing but respect and remembrance. It sets a dangerous precedent. You allow this and then you have countries wanting to commemorate war victories or pay respect to charities or all kinds of nonsense. Putting a blanket ban in place (which has always been the rule) means this doesn't even become a topic. Like Keefaz says it's a sport and FIFA's responsibility is to make sure it remains solely about the sport. It's their job to make sure politics and sport remain separate, and I completely agree with that. I still don't see how this can be linked to politics. It's a symbol of respect sewn onto a shirt. So what if the German national team wanted to sew some similar thing on to their shirts? Or the Serbs? Or the Israelis? It's laughable to suggest it can't "be linked to politics".

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-24007829-defy-fifa-play-with-a-poppy-england.do Personally I think it's a load of fuss over nothing. I didn't think anything could be as dull as the Terry story this week but I've been proven wrong. Also, what if - for whatever reason - a player didn't want to wear a poppy on their shirt? Aye, I've been wondering that too.

It's nonsense to suggest that it has nothing to do with politics. It's all about the English/British national myth. Us vs The Continent. Battle of Britain. Agincourt. Blah Blah. It romanticises sacrifice. But the Great War wasn't fought for any high ideals. It was an imperialist squabble that ended an age of empires. Casualties were enormous -- but largely because military strategists had utterly failed to understand the impact that the machine gun would have on the nature of warfare. The generational consequences of fighting a war of attrition (not just the deaths of so many young men, but also the degree to which the first world war and its botched settlement led into the second war) should be laid at the feet of our own, miserably stupid politicians and generals.

Bang on.

Poppies are wank. It's nothing these days but a trite orthodoxy of "patriotism". A bit similar to the way in which, since 9/11, US politicians all apparently have to wear little stars-and-stripes lapel pins. Why is it suddenly an issue now with the national team? Because we've got a crap Conservative government. FIFA are right about this one.

To be fair, I did once work with a lad from Walker so thick that he didn't know where France was.

At least Colo can't now play the "let's wait until we're safe in the league" card.

His dislike for us goes back way further than last season -- as could be proved if anyone was sad enough to do the Lawrenson League final tables for the last fuck knows how many seasons.

"Appointing the father of Chatty Man as our chief scout!? Whey, man, he's just laughing his cockney tits off at the great traditions of our beloved club!!"

This video is not available in your territory Internet still ropey in Fenham? How can i get it to work like? Fenham is resembling Baghdad tonight like, they love fireworks here. Fuck all else to do.

I don't share the general desperation to see HBA, Marveaux and Santon flung into the fray. If Pardew doesn't think they're ready, or wants to keep something in reserve, then that's fine by me. It's not like the side he's been putting out has done badly. Having a bit of quality on the bench allows us to move up a gear at some point.

We got a manager who was in many ways similar the kind of players we've been after -- underrated or overlooked, available without spending big bucks, hungry and with something to prove.

How well or quickly we pick ourselves up again after the Man City/Man U/Chelsea fixtures will be the measure of something, anyway. If we can maintain the current focus and spirit on the other side of that difficult run, then I'd say Pardew will have passed another test.

But... but... he's nowt but Ashley's puppet!!

Now he's making the position his own, we have something we've lacked for a long time: a really good spine to the team. Krul – Colo – Tioté – Ba.

For every last little stupid throw-in. It was excellent.