Tag: Take the Knee
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Penalty Points
Once again, racist abuse and the Government’s response to it have made the headlines. The three England players who botched their spot-kicks bore the brunt of racist abuse in the aftermath, and the great and good reached for their telescopes so that they might have a clearer view of the scene by peering into the…
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Jester Politics
So England never made the grade, but some sort of political row was as nailed on as Italian on-field cynicism. Seriously, though, the Azurri deserved their victory. Over and above the match itself, it was always going to be the case that a Three Lions debacle would see a fringe of racist nutters having a…
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Replica Shirks
Shell-shocked, I’ve been eating gargantuan wedges of humble pie after Gareth Southgate steered the Three Lions to their first major final in 55 years. Whatever the ultimate outcome, the team has, after a sluggish start, performed magnificently. Forget the tactical analysis, and that’s not just because, like most punters, I don’t really understand the technicalities.…
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It’s Coming Home
So, Euro 2020 is underway, and the immediate focal point will doubtless be the knee-taking that will almost certainly overshadow our chance-taking. We will therefore be showing the red card to racism but getting fervently behind our respective teams, right? Now that raises an uncomfortable question regarding our own comfort with football patriotism. If racism…
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Knee Jerk
Reportedly, Gareth Southgate is to hold urgent talks with the England squad about taking the knee. In all truth, he’d be better off talking to them about taking the piss. That performance versus Austrian opposition would have had Neville Chamberlain’s paper fluttering in the wind. In elite football terms, we’re not waving but drowning. As…
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Flip Flop
You couldn’t make it up. The Free Speech Union has supported the ban on taking the knee at the Tokyo Olympics. One of their gang said: ‘The majority of people support banning taking the knee. It is divisive and doesn’t have much to do with kicking racism out of sport‘. That’s a belter. If shooting…
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No Kneed
This week, some footballers ‘took the knee’ and people in the crowd booed. The sweet FA is apparently investigating and has ‘asked both clubs for their observations’. Here’s my observation for the FA grandees – they should start dealing with the nailed-on cases of racism that they routinely bottle rather than pandering to high-profile, super-woke…
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