It's not often I've agreed with something Bellyache has said, even when he was in a West Ham shirt (which wasn't often, let's face it!) Excellent footballer he may be under Mark Hughes but, as a man, few would disgree with the assessment, "Obnoxious Welsh runt", except to say that's not strong enough of course!
However, in coming out against fans who hurl foul abuse about family members, Bellamy has, for once, got it right. I spoke out very strongly on this blog against the abuse Lamaprd and Terry received at Upton Park for family related matters and, typically, received a tirade of abuse myself. Stuff like, "After what Fat Frank has said about West Ham" and "If your Mum goes shoplifting what do you expect?" as if none of us have ever bad mouthed a former employer or slipped a garlic clove into the bottom of our Tesco trolley and forgotten to pay for it. I know the argument that football is a passionate game and these guys are grown ups being paid a fortune, but that is no excuse. There should be a line of what is considered unacceptable and when that line is crosed, action should be taken.
It is not just banter of course. Banter is fair enough and when clever, generates a laugh amongst the crowd and often a rueful smile on the face of the player. John Terry's Mum shoplifting would have triggered some witticisms from the wags in the old days and Terry would have acknowledged them with a grin and a shake of the head, and everybody would have moved on. But now, everybody is so full of hate. Instead of banter it is abuse, with faces contorted by spite and malice as foul comments are delivered. I well remember a couple of seasons back when a fan ran down a block and a half of seats to hurl abuse at Lampard as he was about to take a corner. I called it cowardly at the time because the guy knew full well that Lampard could not respond as a bloke might in a pub, by lamping him.
Where Bellyache is wrong in saying that fans can rely on stewards to take action. That is nonsense. I have witnessed stewards ignoring the most appalling abuse. I was at the England v Scotland play off game a few years back and, despite my complaints about Nazi salutes during the National Anthem and the most foul abuse directed at black players on the pitch, the stewards did absolutely nothing about it. Similarly, I was at the Bridge for a Chelsea v Man City game and despite "Kick Racism Out Of Football" banners all around the ground, I witnessed constant racist abuse of Wright-Phillips (before her had joined Chelsea) and Thatcher (before the assault). Thatcher, as an ex Spurs player, was taunted with "Yiddo" and "F'in Yid" throughout the game, in the very week when the attrocities at Auswitzch were being remembered. A steward was sat in front of our section and a number of times looked directly at the worst offender, in a season ticket seat, and did absoltely nothing about it. This was not banter, this was not passion, it was racism of the crudest and most disgusting form and it was tolerated.
West Ham have now published pictures of the rogues gallery at Upton Park but I think this is too little, too late. The club should not be waiting for a Millwall style incident to happen before taking action. Let's root out the racists and the thugs earlier and kick them out of football, as the "Kick Racism Out Of Football" movement is supposed to want.
Mind you, players have a responsibility too. Tevez and Dunne have recently shown that common sense can suffocate passion, even in that moment of scoring a goal. Lampard and Joe Cole could learn from that when we are playing Chelsea and Bellyache himself should learn to control his gob when on the pitch. He doesn't think players should be abused so he should cut out the abuse of referees. How many times have we seen him using the F word at the ref? I remember very well our game at Portsmouth a couple of seasons back (0-0, late saved penalty?), not for the game, although bringing on Ferdinand as a sub was daft, but because of Bellamy's running battle through the first half with both Hreidarsson and the referee. He crossed the line in that game without question and should have been sent off.
The example Period Pains quoted about somebody taunting him about his dead cousin seemed a bit weak, of course, and I could be tempted to make a racist joke here... but I will restrain myself. However, you do have to say that, if you can be kicked out of football for abusing a player, isn't it fair enough, given all the warning signs, to be shot for worrying sheep? I'll get my coat...
19 comments:
Oh dear, yet another anal footballer unable to take a bit of stick,look in the mirror Craig and look at how you conducted yourself at West Ham.
While we're at it can someone publish the do's and dont's for football supporters and advise us who and why has set the standards.
I can't disagree that, for me, a lot of the abuse that certain players get crosses the line but let's not fool ourselves in to looking at the past with rose tinted glasses.
In the past few decades I've seen just as much extreme abuse at matches delivered with just as much venom as nowadays, if not more.
In my opinion, modern day player 'banter/abuse' isn't half of what it was in the 70's/80's when any topic was deemed fair game, homophobia and race included.
Teasing JT about his Mum's shoplifting hardly compares (IMHO) but the stuff about Lampard's Mum was utterly dispicable but unfortunately I'm fairly certain that he would have got the same treatment from similar idiots 20 years ago.
Yeah, i don't get it with the family stuff. Some players have brought it on themselves by what they have said afterwards, but your personal life is your own business. No one forces you to speak or tells you what to say, & the likes of Lampard supposedly has an iq of 150. He either doesn't use it or the assessment was wrong. We have shown maximum respect to the likes of Ferdinand & Tevez so obviously there has been some problem with the others, without spending time digging up dead bodies. Very little loyalty in football now, or anywhere for that matter. The only player i can think of who would genuinely be prepared to die for us on the field would be Mark Noble. I agree though, keep it to what happens in the game. Remember Cantona & the flying side kick.
Dave - what exactly did Bellamy do wrong at West Ham apart from be injury prone?
Be sold by the club for double the money?
I'm sure if you pledged your allegiance to your job and found out they were touting you around the very next day to all and sundry you'd be a little annoyed too.
Ultimately apart from accept an offer from Spurs in retaliation to being badly treated Craig did nothing wrong.
Sure he is an obnoxious twat of a man when he wants to be but you are naive if you think Duxbury didn't play a blinder on the PR front for this piece of asset stripping.
I appreciate what you're saying, but you must understand that alot of people do not abide by societies norms and values. Whereas most are disgusted by rascism, others see it as justified because they buy into the BNP's messages and Hitlers etc. Therefore telling these people that what they are chanting is wrong is like talking to a brick wall, their opinions are cemented in their brains. I have tried numerous times telling unintelligent people that rascism is unjustified but they continuously counter argue with the 'they takes our jobs' argument. My point is I do not blame stewards for their lack of intervention, one because it wont work, and two, let's face it, who wants to argue about rascism at a football match? particularly when you're being paid peanuts
1144, an interesting point. It is difficult to make a comparison because people genuinely didn't understand the issues surrounding racism in the early 70s. Clyde Best got no end of racist abuse from his own fans but they thought it was just "humour". I'm not condoning that but watch "Mind Your Language", "Love Thy Neighbour" and "Till Death Us Do Part" and you see the context - and that was allowed on mainstream TV!
Nowadays, there is a really unsavoury flavour of hatred IMO. It is in our society - the first resort in any potential conflict situation is to scream and shout and get into somebody's face. All very unfortunate. The flip side is the whole PC business which, if we are not careful, will kill comedy. The fuss over the Jimmy Carr gag is absurd - yes it was in bad taste but most humour is. I cracked a similar gag when the government announced a drive to increase our medal haul in 2012, suggesting a "Don't wear a seat belt" campaign to increase our medals in the Paralympics. That, of course, was offensive to anybody who had suffered a terrible accident on the road. There is a very funny song out there called "Special Olympics". It is incredibly bad taste but is funny because it crosses every PC boundary! But there is no way the performers hate people in wheel chairs, they are just laughing about the absurd dimension of wheelchair basketball and the like. And there is an absurd dimension to it, whether we like to admit it or not.
So, in summary, it is the malice and hatred I object to. I dislike Bellamy but we can move on. I don't dislike Defoe now and I certainly do not hold a grudge against Lampard or Ince; it is all too long ago! Mind you, if Lampard or Defoe were to miss a penalty against us, I would be delighted! Certainly we should leave the family and race out of it, unless it is a harmless gag, like suggesting the Welsh are overly fond of sheep!
Fonzie, are you suggesting that Duxbury is not all he appears? I thought you objected to my presentation of him as the Dark Puppet Master?
1342, that points to a real issue, which is the use of stewards rather than the police because it is cheaper for the clubs. On that basis, we don't have a leg to stand on when we are charged over the pitch invasions during the Millwall game. If we really wanted to clean things up, we would be paying for policemen to do the stewards' jobs and arresting thses morons. There are black, asian and Jewish people in the stadium, why should they suffer this? The club has a duty to stop it and so does society. Remember, most tickets are now bought with credit cards so offenders can be identified by seat numbers. Get the police in, arrest them and ban them from football for life. That isn't hard when you think about it, is it?
Fonzie yeah I took offence at the little prick demanding a move to Spurs because Harry had offered him an extra 50% increase. Then stamping his feet so he could move to City.
You'd have thought that he'd feel a debt of gratitude to a Club that went out on a limb to accomodate him when he was injured and who against their better judgement allowed him to continually represent his Country even when he nearly always came back injured.
Still this is the same prick that took a weapon to an unarmed man and attacked a supporter while he was held by four stewards.
I'd say he was fair game.
Hey Hammersfan, the day I come on here and see a positive article means the world has turned upside down, you know what I mean?
lol
I've objected to your completely one sided view point for most of my comments on this blog (if not all...) but that is because I the issue more in Grey than Black and White.
Duxbury is not a Saint and not a Devil. He has been at the helm for three administrations and carries some of the success as well as the fuck ups.
There is little doubt in my mind that the man is a self preserving, self promoting piece of pond life at times, but then I don't picture him as you seem to portray him, cackling as he plots ways of screwing the West Ham faithful... and that is probably where we differ - I believe him too much at times, you not at all.
However I know for a fact that the Bellamy sale was an extreme piece of duplicity which upset the player and the fans alike.
Now a man who was quite happy to play for us gets booed on return and it's an easy distraction from the fact we flogged him and BG pocketed half the money (Savio - £9m ahahahahahahaha!).
Whether Duxbury was The Dark Puppet Master or following orders is the sticking point between us...
Not such a big sticking point. I do exaggerate a little at times!
Dave,
Bellamy ACCEPTED Spurs offer, he didn't demand a move.
The club was touting him around way before the window opened, just like they were touting Upson around before last window and accepting offers from Fiorentina.
The club took City's money as it was a) More b) Cash up front not payment in installments. Bellamy was happy to be reunited with Hughes so everyone a winner, except the fans cheated out of Europe because we were asset stripped.
Loyalty to the club?
I'm sure Anton, Collins and Zamora might have some interesting things to say on that subject...
As I said before the man can be an obnoxious twat at times and probably is fair game but at the same time is ease to make a villain of a man with a bad reputation, no?
Hammersfan, it's not just the standards of spectators that has dropped but the sport in general, players as well. Try swearing at the umpire at Wimbledon. Bellamy would be the first to spout vitriole at the referee but in principle he is correct. It seems to be tolerated more as you move up in the sport. One of my sons in his 20's who plays at a district level has been sent off twice in recent months for swearing. Not directed at players or officials but within earshot of spectators. Straight red both times. I agreed with both decisions. It is something that has crept into the game in recent years & i know of no other sport where it is tolerated to such an extreme, Especially when as you say someone runs from the back of the stands then goes back to their seat unhindered. There is only one way to stop both personal abuse & racism & that is removal from the game. That is what happens in the lower grades. I have even seen referees stop a game to walk to the sideline to speak to spectators & coaches about foul language. I believe it is in the rules to do so.
Spot on Fonzie and Winston! With regard to the conduct of players on the field, I don't understand why red cards are not shown for dissent. It would stop very quickly then. Look at the picture I carried on the article where I claimed (tongue in cheek)that refs had been instructed to relegate West Ham. I don't think Keane was sent off for that but look at the ref's body language and facial expression, he was being assaulted far more than the plonker who took a tumble when Di Canio pushed him!
There's more to Bellamy than meets the eye (as, invariably, there is with everyone). We want a two dimensional villain to direct our venomous spite at but read the following article and then ask yourself if you still feel the same way?
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/owen_slot/article6843814.ece
It certainly made me stop to think.
S4W.
Hammersfan I've been agreeing with you quite a bit lately, I'm starting to get worried.
The hatred and anger being screamed out on the terraces is not banter. It's nasty, personal stuff and would unlikely be said to someone's face.
It's not funny, it's not witty, it's cowardly.
And if a player replies with a gesture or a swear word, we all run to the stewards and the media demanding they get punished.
Childish. Hypocrites. No Class.
Spot on Munky. You're worried about agreeing with me, how do you think I feel agreeing with Bellyache?!!!!
Twerp, how so very wrong you are. “watch "Mind Your Language", "Love Thy Neighbour" and "Till Death Us Do Part" and you see the context” (sic)
"Till death us do part" was the exact opposite to the other two which were so clearly racist.
Johnny Speight (wrote the satire “Til death us do part”) he made an extreme personal sacrifice in originally basing the character of Alf Garnet on his staunchly reactionary father, an east end docker, who he felt held “unenlightened” views and attitudes towards black people. Speight sought the outlet of the satirical sitcom, as a way to inform an oblivious society of the day (and blog writer it seems) of the subtle unacceptable views held by ‘the accepted norm” at that time.
Garnet's views were so clearly unacceptable they were laughable, some people considered the series uncomfortable and disturbing and were ill at ease facing their own imperceptible racism so prominently and cleverly flaunted in this master-piece of anti-racism.
Speight made it clear that he regretted his father held such attitudes - beliefs Speight regarded as reprehensible.
Speight saw the show as a way of ridiculing such views and dealing with his complex feelings about his father.
Twerp yourself, Johnny Speight was a second cousin of my mother's, I have been at family weddings with him. I know full well what Speight was doing, Alf was the absolute spit of my grandfather, down to supporting the Tory party, despite being a merchant seaman and docker, and having a picture of the Queen and Bobby Moore on the living room wall.
My grandfather lived his whole life in Canning town, East Ham and Plaistow - his house (St Mary's Road), complete with outside loo, was compulsary purchased and he was moved into a block of flats in Katherine Road. He lived and died a racist. The family had his corpse driven to Bethnal Green as it was the nearest church with a white vicar. The opening words of the funeral service were, "Arch was man who wasn't afraid to call a spade a spade".
I know that Till Death was far superior to the other two and was fantastic satire, but East Enders of my parents' generation loved it BECAUSE they shared the views of Alf. The middle class understood the satire perhaps, the working class enjoyed affiliation with Alf and his bigotry.
My point is that the BBC would not commission the series now! Imagine the storm as soon as Alf said, "Bleedin nignog" or "It's the coons and wogs". Why do we never see repeats given it is such a classic?
All this is a side issue. I was there in person to hear the "banter" directed at Best - "Tripped over his bleedin' spear!" - and did not understand myself why it was so wrong. Times have changed.
Post a Comment