themanupstairs

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?

So we're concerned about the free-speech loving tabloid journalists now? These shit stirring twats are a massive problem, and very very few of them are a credit to their profession.

Yup. Immense finishing talent is being totally wasted. Do feel very sorry for him at the moment. When the scoresheet reads "Nil" to your team, as a striker you feel the burden of 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.

Ok, they are mackems, unwashed and we hate them. But it's not the fans' decision that brought Di Canio to their club. It was the decision of one, or possibly a small group of people at the top to interview then hire him. The Sunderland fans are desperate for something to cheer about, and even more desperate to stay up. Those who are acting like bellends condoning his views etc. are doing it out of a mix of ignorance and desperation. I don't think it says too much about their values as a collective sporting club when it was most probably the decision of their American owner.

can you expand on that? I already have earlier in the thread. Football clubs represent people and places. They inevitably take on the political identity of those places. Just because the game is a global money making machine does not change that. Barca-Real isn't the biggest game in world football because they're two very good teams. This is utter nonsense - NUFC is in what is generally accepted as a Labour voting area, but many of the fans share a love of the club whilst having totally different views about politics - and politics should NOT enter sport, OR be linked to it. Hitler tried that in the 30s but the England Team(and Jesse Owens in the Olympics)rammed that down his throat....similarly, the Soviets and Chinese have both tried to use sport to boost Communism and ironically, the Chinese have only started to show at the top of Olympic medal tables since they moved away from Maoism and to what is basically a Capitalist economy. Ask the likes of Olga Korbut and various Iron Curtain gymnasts what they thought of sport being used to foster a political agenda... As for Barca and Real, the only way they represent a political viewpoint is because the Catalans want autonomy from Spain and they identify Barca's successes with that aim, just as Real fans use Madrid as an emblem of Spanish would-be supremacy. There is NO similar situation in the UK unless you use the former rivalry between Celtic and Rangers and that is based on religion rather than politics - another thing which should be kept separate from sport. If you are trying to identify NUFC and most other Northern sides with the left wing of politics, it is hardly worth it if you subscribe to that view because apart from the 2 Manchester clubs, one of whom has many southerners in its fan-base, the northern clubs are not as successful whereas clubs in London(viewed by many Northerners as a den of Toryism)like Spurs and Arsenal have been more successful...... Politics has NO place in football whatsoever - either to boost the Right OR the Left and every effort should be made to keep the 2 separate. I agree with Felipao's views about the whole thing and about Di Canio... As I said before, I am far more concerned about his possible impact on the Mackems - and hence, on our chances of relegation - than any madcap political stance/demonstration he might make. If he replicates his successes at Swindon, any Socialists in the Sunderland fan-base won't give 2 stuffs about his views.... As Felipao said, we should be far more concerned about appointing a Lge 1 manager with a dodgy managerial record behind him........ Word

What has been the official club response to Milliband's resignation btw? I think I've missed it if there has been any forthcoming.

To be fair to Miliband he could kiss what remained of his political career goodbye if he didn't resign. There's no way he could've spoken with any authority as an ex-Labour MP if he sat quietly while the club he was vice chairman of appointed a self-confessed fascist. He had no where else to go. I agree. Just looks like he dropped them right in it for self serving reasons when he could have done it privately and with little fuss. is what I meant by shit stirred and handed to the media to do their best

Absolutely. Wasn't he offski stateside anyway? Expertly s*** stirred and served to the media on a silver platter. Until 24 hours ago he was remaining in his role at Sunderland. USA or not he wasn't going to jack in a job that paid £125k for a fortnight of work. Hadn't realized it was that significant of a role. I thought it was more a ceremonial one. Fair play to him then.

Good or bad, only time will tell. It certainly was a massive massive gamble, but if I were them I would have much rather tried an unknown than any of the merry-go-round band of boring rejects.

Absolutely. Wasn't he offski stateside anyway? Expertly shit stirred and served to the media on a silver platter.

Because we regularly hear about league one sides? I have already posted one article about his behaviour there so it obviously got some attention, plus there is a another video which certainly didn't escape the media where he fell out with a player and was reported to assault him. A premier league club is however going to get a hell of a lot more attention. Not sure why this is a shock to anyone It isn's a shock to anyone as much as it seems to have been a shock to the national media. A reaction I find absolutely hilarious/irresponsible/hypocritical by them.

League 1 club, Premier League club. Obviously one is going to get more media attention than the other. That's why 90% of football followers will know Chelsea won today but how did Crawley get on this weekend? I guess but if everyone (mainly the press) was so appalled by it then as they claim to be now it would never have come to this. Had the situation been reversed and he'd been appointed here there'd be a fair few backing him regardless too such is the exceptionally tribal/cult nature of football. Devils advocate and all that. Common sense

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. It really shouldn't though. Football is about entertainment, enjoyment, it's not about politics. Why shouldn't it be? Politics is a major part of the games history. Club's represent people and places, they're naturally going to take on a political identity too. That's what makes the game great. If you don't like it I suggest you stick to the MLS. Maybe that's how it all started. But that's a long time ago now. It's a global sport now. You have kids from all over the world growing up to support teams half way across the world without having a clue what the politics behind the club originally were.

At the end of the day, unfortunately, this media circus will cause opposition clubs' fans to sing back at Di Canio, which the mackems will have to counter, and it could possibly lead to some bans, investigations, and possibly some ugly scenes. It's completely needless, and once again, totally irresponsible by the media. Par for the course really. Also, this argument that Swindon aren't in the limelight isn't good enough. They're not exactly a pub side, and featured in some big televised cup games this season. Where was the condemnation then?

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.

No one is defending it. I'm asking the same question Disco just asked. Where was all this condemnation when he came back to manage in this country? Are Swindon and League 2 fans less important than mackems and the PL audience?

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. Have you seen the Lazio fans? Why doesn't every club across Europe protest against them? Why don't clubs refuse to play against them? As someone else said earlier in this thread, most of this "fascism" in football is just pathetic gang mentality to make oneself look hard. What's your point? My point is that it's this "label" that people carry around and choose to identify with, that does the sum total of fuck all in reality. Fascism is not in power now, and if people know what's good for them, they'll never vote for it to be in power ever again anywhere in the world. In footballing context it's nothing more than a "I'm well 'ard" image. IMO

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. Have you seen the Lazio fans? Why doesn't every club across Europe protest against them? Why don't clubs refuse to play against them? As someone else said earlier in this thread, most of this "fascism" in football is just pathetic gang mentality to make oneself look hard. There are plenty of other clubs and fans with extreme views. If we're going to pander to anyone who gets offended at opinions, we'll never play any football.

Number of black managers in the top flight = zero. Chris Hughton says hello Fair enough, but even so, it's a depressing statistic, especially the "fascists 1" bit. I agree about the sentiment. I just disagree with the labeling. It shouldn't matter IMO what or who anyone is. As long as they are not convicted felons, and do not impose their views on others, it shouldn't matter.

Number of black managers in the top flight = zero. Chris Hughton says hello

Thats the thing, you cant just dismiss it like that, it's not him coming out as a Tory or a Eurosceptic, he's a self confessed fascist, and a lot of people - quite rightly - still have a problem with that. You're right, he's entitled to his views, as that's the sort of thing we protect in a modern democracy - see what your average fascist thinks of that. I'm not even debating that. That's obviously a given. We haven't a clue what most footballers or managers political ideals are. All I'm saying is, he seemed to get on with his footballing job fine at Swindon (as in, without letting his political views get in the way), so why not just focus on the footballing aspect of this appointment? Why do we always seem to cling to details that deter from the matter at hand. If he'd been a convicted murderer, or a rapist, it would be a completely different story. The day political opinions become a crime is the day the democracy dies.

Unfortunately it's not irrelevant as he is in the public eye and a role model, also not surprised it offends people due to what fascism has caused in history. Will be interesting to see how their players react to him. I'm sorry like, but I don't see any extremist Christians being singled out for their beliefs! Extremist Christianity has caused far more death and misery throughout history. No doubt he made a huge PR mistake with those salutes. But if he was alright to manage Swindon in L2, then why is it not alright for him to manage in the top division? Why haven't we had a thread on him condemning him being allowed to be a public figure/role model as manager of Swindon Town? This whole circus will die down once the media finds something else to prey on. I just find the whole holier than thou attitude from our fans (and other clubs' supporters) a bit over the top. There's no denying that SAFC have brought this upon themselves though. Surely they would have known the kind of attention it would raise. From that perspective, to go along with the fact that he's a relatively unknown managerial quantity, this is probably going to be a disaster for them. Thank goodness for that!

So this carry-on is still going I see. Fascist this and fascist that. Why hasn't he been hounded out of England yet? Why was he allowed back in the country to begin with? Are Swindon fans who wanted the club to keep him "a bit special" too? His political views are absolutely irrelevant. He's a football manager, end of story. It's typical of the media to stir up this circus around him now because they have f*** all else to fill their column inches with. The title race is over, and their favorite teams are out of the CL. I hope he fails miserably because of who he manages, and there's nothing I can do about his political preferences.