Segun Oluwaniyi

To me a failure does less than what is expected of him. Imo, neither Butt nor nolan or failures. Nolan has proven himself to be a decent player with good instincts, who is rather worn-down physically and unfit. Butt has been useless for three years now. He's unequivocally proven himself to be finished as a footballer at any decent level. This is what I expected from both. Shola and Barton are definitely both disappointments, though. However, this is because they haven't been able to stay fit at all.

I think that with Kadar's versatility, it is likely he will see a fair bit of time next season, whether we are in the Premiership or not.

I don't think Baba meant it like you're thinking tbf. I think he's saying it's an example that would terrify any gay footballer, rather than being critical of Fashanu himself. Feel free to correct me though Baba. Well yeah, I am not really being critical of Fashanu himself (though he is no saint. Do not forget their was a rape charge hanging over him before the hanging). The fact of the matter is that the only openly gay footballer saw his career go into tailspin and ended up dead eight years later. If the first black footballers had horrible career experiences, found no success, and ended up killing themselves then it probaly would have set back integration for a fair bit. No one wants to have to carry the weight that Justin did. It is much easier to play pretend and hide your sexual orientation. On my point about the atmosphere around professional sports, here is an interview about John Amaechi, a basketball player that came out after retirement (British-Nigerians breaking down barriers!): These attitudes are more common in male-dominated industries than other places, imo. It is best to keep quiet.

Tevez is an interesting example. I thought of him as an outcast from a club. Mr. Ferguson wasn't playing him too much and Man U didn't show any urgency in getting him to sign permanently. (i.e. they didn't enter serious negotiations during the season) From what I could understand, they just weren't very interested in paying 30-40 million pounds for a backup striker. Regardless of all that though, I agree with the point about forcing the players hand. Especially these days, when agents exert such a heavy influence over players. That will definitely be the case in some situations.

You're being too negative about the modern footballer. If you'll notice, the players they've gotten thus far are outcasts from other top clubs after a pay day, or the top players from middling sides that are in a different stratosphere financially. The top, top players who have their pick of any club in the world, have almost universally rejected them. They've had the money for four windows now. At what point have they beaten out any of the clubs I mentioned, or any other top club for a top player? Eto'o, Kaka, and Ronaldo all went to more established, popular, and historically successful clubs. City are still nouveau riche. This counts for something in the minds of players and everyone else. They have a way to go, yet.

Marseille was actually put in their as a bitter, bitter joke, but I think there is a lot more prestige in playing for teams with more history who are already constantly in Europe and near the top of their leagues anyway. Most players don't want help build a club, they want to go to one that is established and continue the tradition. Unless you are talking about giving out outrageous wages for average players (tbf, City do this occasion), all those clubs would be willing to pay top players very high wages.

You're mad if you think they are ahead of Inter, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Milan, Juve, Valencia, and Olympique Marseille.

Tbf though, if City want any of your players, they'll probaly end up getting them. They're fans are well within their right to throw names around when the club is in the position that City is.

The Fashanu story isn't exactly encouraging anyone to come out. He lived throughout his career searching for love and lust in the shadowsand the darkness. When he finally did admit his way of life, he was otracised, his career took a turn for the worse, and all the events culminated in him commiting suicide. He didn't set a good example.

You could've got a better photo Being knocked out of what is likely to be his only World Cup can't be his happiest moment.

Any particular reason they've done the deed, now? They're still in good position for a CL spot. Is it due to with the loss to CSKA? Bit harsh if that is the case.

Is this being televised? Definitely would like to see SJP lit up for this massive game.

That doesn't make any sense at all. I don't want to hear about promotion plans until we are mathematically sure.

This commentator is far too excited, ffs. Calm down.

It sounds like we've put more pressure on.

From what I've seen of us on televison, I am going to guess not.

Jonas and Routledge seem dangerous so far.

Couldn't we just start a striker instead of Butt? Are we that scared of Doncaster

Agreed. Put him on the bench at least. He's important, but the club should not be bending over backwards for his nonsense.

Also, being the first to come out is daunting for anyone. I think it is more likely that someone will come out near retirement like Fashanu or that someone will be exposed. (Actually, this has already happened, but it is generally swept under the carpet for the sake of the player)

I didn't really intend negative connotations btw. I guess what I'm saying is that because it is a behaviour rather than a physical condition (i.e. you can't look at someone and deduce that they are gay) that it will be more looked down upon than race, disabilities, etc. Also, one can not deny the second part of my point, that male-dominated areas of society are not places in which people are openly gay. Footballers hide more for the reaction from teammates than from fans.

This is a false statement by the way. Homosexuality occurs in many vertibrates across the animal kingdom and there is actually a great deal of research showing the benefits from an evolutionary standpoint. Ok, that is fair, but surely you cannot dispute the fact that it is a deviant behaviour and that people who engage in it will always be otracised to some degree. That is just the fact of the matter. Deviant? You're either born gay or not, dude. There's nothing deviant about it. Do you know what the word means? It deviates from the norm....therefore it is deviant regardless of how one becomes this way. That is quite clear.

This is a false statement by the way. Homosexuality occurs in many vertibrates across the animal kingdom and there is actually a great deal of research showing the benefits from an evolutionary standpoint. Ok, that is fair, but surely you cannot dispute the fact that it is a deviant behaviour and that people who engage in it will always be otracised to some degree. That is just the fact of the matter.

Name these players at every club who has fractured a team mates jaw. I have only known one person hit another at work and he was sacked on the spot, rightly. Yeah, generally committing an assault in your job is probaly a good way to be lose said job. We need to stop making excuses for these idiots. It is embarrassing.

Homophobia always has been and always will be prevalent, simply because homsexuality is wrong just from a biological perspective. Some people will always have hatred for those who engage these behaviours The biggest problem is not with the fans itself, but with the atmosphere among footballers. It is male-dominated and homosexuality is well-hidden in almost every male-dominated industry. Even on this forum....how many openly gay members do we have? How many gay friends do you have?