Premier League 2019/20

[DavidMarrio]

 

2 hours ago, Adam said:

I think you're probably right, and it makes me recall the other month when I read that Joe Cole literally didn't know how to use e-mail despite being nearly 40 years old.

A lot of the clubs have the liaison officers who basically sort out everything for them so its not surprising in certain extents that some players may not actually know how to do a lot of things when they've got someone on speed dial. 

[Gazz]

Steve Bruce doesn't know how to use email.

[Adam]

1 hour ago, DavidMarrio said:

 

A lot of the clubs have the liaison officers who basically sort out everything for them so its not surprising in certain extents that some players may not actually know how to do a lot of things when they've got someone on speed dial. 

Oh aye, I understand why it's the case but when you look at it in the context of society rather than football it is somewhat baffling. He explaiend that his wife always books their holidays and things like that that need doing, and I'm sure during his playing career his agent or someone at his club will have sorted most of it out. It's not good though, footballers shouldn't just live in a football bubble without learning necessary life skills.

I mean, I'd trade all my life skills for a chance to play professional football but that is beside the point .

[Colly]

In defense of footballers, outside of the standard thick as pigshit Englishman you've also got a shitload of foreign players who speak a minimum of two languages plus Shaka Hislop who legit worked at NASA.

I mainly posted this because I love that fact.

[The Lusophone]

29 minutes ago, Colly said:

In defense of footballers, outside of the standard thick as pigshit Englishman you've also got a shitload of foreign players who speak a minimum of two languages plus Shaka Hislop who legit worked at NASA.

I mainly posted this because I love that fact.

My favourite is that Newcastle legend Jean-Alain Boumsong almost completed a medical degree but then his playing career took off, so a few years later he went back and got a degree in mathematics instead.

[Colly]

In other news.

BBC News - Dictionary includes Spurs fans in Yid definition
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51479810

😕

[stokeriño]

Yeah, not pleased that "but it's in the dictionary" will now be added to this discourse. Last thing it needed...

[Lineker]

12 hours ago, Colly said:

In other news.

BBC News - Dictionary includes Spurs fans in Yid definition
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51479810

😕

Tottenham Hotspur have criticised the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) after it expanded its definition of the word “yid” to include a “supporter of or player for” the football club.

The word, typically used as an offensive epithet for Jewish people, has been adopted by some Spurs fans as a nickname. Use of the term among Jewish and non-Jewish supporters alike has been the subject of controversy in recent years but has been defended as an attempt to reclaim the term from its racist usage by opposing fans.

The OED, has included the word in its latest list of new and updated entries, along with the related term “yiddo”. It said that as well as their racist meanings the words could refer to “a supporter of or player for Tottenham Hotspur football club (traditionally associated with the Jewish community in north and east London).”

It said the words’ use was “originally and frequently derogatory and offensive, though also often as a self-designation.”

In response, Spurs told the Guardian: “As a club we have never accommodated the use of the Y-word on any club channels or in club stores and have always been clear that our fans (both Jewish and gentile) have never used the term with any intent to cause offence. We find the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of the word misleading given it fails to distinguish context, and welcome their clarification.”

The OED said it was bound to “reflect rather than dictate” how language is used, and noted that it had labelled the term as offensive and derogatory.

Some critics said the decision to add the definition could give legitimacy to use of a term that they viewed as unequivocally racist.

David Baddiel, the writer and comedian who has campaigned in the past against the chanting of the word yid and other antisemitic chants across a variety of football clubs, said the association that the OED had noted was mainly mythical.

“The vast majority of fans of the club, including those who self-designate as Y-words, are not Jewish and therefore have no right of ‘reclamation’,” he said.

“What it will weirdly give succour to is: when The Y-Word campaign first started, a Spurs fan said to me, a Jewish person who feels uncomfortable with that word: ‘Fuck off, it’s our word now.’ Can you imagine something similar with any other race hate word? Jews are not even allowed to own their own hate.”

Tottenham fans and other Jewish people offered differing views. Stephen Pollard, the editor of the Jewish Chronicle, tweeted: “Not controversial among many of the Jewish Spurs supporters, such as myself, who are proud to be Yiddos.”

Last year the north London club carried out a consultation with fans on their use of the Y-word and received more than 23,000 responses. It found that 33% of respondents used the Y-word “regularly” in a footballing context, while 18% who did not use the term in a footballing context considered it offensive, rising to 35% among Jewish respondents.

Almost half of all respondents said they would prefer to see supporters chant the Y-word less or stop using it altogether. The club, which has been organising focus groups to explore the issue further, said at the time that sentiment around the term appeared to be changing among the fanbase. “There is a recognition of the offence the Y-word can cause and that a footballing context alone does not justify its continued use,” it said.

Another Jewish Spurs fan, speaking anonymously, told the Guardian he was surprised at the number of Jewish fans coming out against use of the word. “When do I feel uncomfortable being Jewish at Spurs? When Chelsea and West Ham fans make gas chamber noises. Not when fans of the club that embraced Jewish immigrants chant a word rooted in that history,” he said.

The new OED entry on the word refers to mentions made in news reports dating back to 1972 and 1982 of antisemitic chants during clashes between rival football supporters.

The OED said it had chosen to cover this sense of the term now because it was revising and updating words from this part of the alphabet.

“As a historical dictionary, the Oxford English Dictionary records the usage and development of words in the English language,” a spokesperson said. “We reflect rather than dictate how language is used, which means we include words which may be considered sensitive and derogatory. These are always labelled as such.

“The entry for ‘yiddo’ is labelled as offensive and derogatory and our reference to Tottenham Hotspur is a reflection of the evidence for the word. As we state at the closely related word ‘yid’, Tottenham Hotspur football club is traditionally associated with the Jewish community in north and east London, and the term is sometimes used as a self-designation by some Tottenham fans. We will ensure the context for this connection is very clear in both definitions.”

[stokeriño]

Chelsea have officially confirmed the Ziyech deal, subject to the player agreeing personal terms.

[Adam]

Good move for Chelsea.

It's a bit like when you start your Christmas shopping straight after New Year though, maybe that will become a trend for responding to the difficulty of the January window.

[SquareRootOfSi]

18 hours ago, DavidMarrio said:

 

A lot of the clubs have the liaison officers who basically sort out everything for them so its not surprising in certain extents that some players may not actually know how to do a lot of things when they've got someone on speed dial. 

Social media manager at work has done that same role at 3 separate prem clubs and she's always said they pretty much have to hand-hold the players when it comes to their interactions with Fans.

[stokeriño]

40 minutes ago, Adam said:

Good move for Chelsea.

It's a bit like when you start your Christmas shopping straight after New Year though, maybe that will become a trend for responding to the difficulty of the January window.

The impression I get is that the odds of both the club willing to let the player go AND said player being willing to uproot their life mid-season are just exceedingly slim.

(I mean, it always was...but in recent years it feels like more so.)

But hey, if we're working now then hopefully that will prevent more last-minute bullshit in August.

[FLiam]

Ziyech is an absolute top signing for Chelsea, even moreso at that price.

[The Lusophone]

Get ready for a ton of dumb comparisons with William because he's an attacking player who has the numbers 22 and 10....

[Baddar]

1 hour ago, Liam Mk2 said:

Ziyech is an absolute top signing for Chelsea, even moreso at that price.

Yep, can't help but feel Ed and the other higher ups at Utd wouldn't have been able to get him for less than double that. 

[Naitch]

1 hour ago, Mad Jack Frost said:

Get ready for a ton of dumb comparisons with William because he's an attacking player who has the numbers 22 and 10....

I mean, he's basically also being brought in as a direct replacement for the guy, so those comparison were always going to be there.

[The Lusophone]

32 minutes ago, Naitch said:

I mean, he's basically also being brought in as a direct replacement for the guy, so those comparison were always going to be there.

But they're nothing like each other? Like for a start, Willian has never put up the kind of numbers of Ziyech does, even before he was at Chelsea. Ziyech is pretty much an ideal creator - and has tremendous ability to unlock low press/low block defences that are increasingly common in the Premier League.

Willian is just... well he's just not that kind of player is he?

[FLiam]

If Ziyech has to be a replacement for anybody, it's more Eden Hazard. He'll create things, he'll score goals.

[stokeriño]

Willian's a weird one. Sometimes he displays vital creative impetus (but with very little reliability). Sometimes he's just a box-to-box runner who brings energy but nothing either defensively or offensively. And sometimes he stands in front of the opposing full-back trying to overcome him via some kind of obtuse telepathy.

But I'd rather say a new player is a replacement for him than for Hazard - because the latter would just end up disappointing everyone.

[Szumi]

You already have your Hazard replacement. Captain America baby!

USA! USA! USA!