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Transfer Balls: Manchester United have £50m for Spurs’ Harry Kane

Transfer Balls: Manchester Untied will offer Spurs £50m for their striker Harry Kane, says the Daily Star.  The paper says United manager Louis Van Gaal is  “demanding the Old Trafford top brass” sign the 22-year-old England striker.

The paper says United launched a failed £25m bid for Kane over the summer.

Will Kane and Spurs take the money?

Who know? After all, this is the Daily Star, which told Google News that Kane already plays at Old Trafford:

Screen Shot 2015-10-24 at 14.15.57

 

And:

Screen Shot 2015-10-24 at 14.18.37

Such are the facts…

Posted: 24th, October 2015 | In: manchester united, Reviews, Sports, Spurs, Tabloids | Comment


Transfer Balls: Spurs chase Moses as Gent suffer shock loss

Keen to hook up with Son

       Danny keen to hook up with Son

 

Transfer Balls: a look at football reporting in the news. The Mail and Mirror say Spurs are chasing Moses Daddy-Ajala Simon. Compare and contrast the newspapers’ reports.

Daily Mail:

 

transfer spurs

 

Tottenham are following Gent winger Moses Simon. Club scouts have been following Gent’s centre forward Laurent Depoitre, who started and scored for Belgium against Andorra. A Nigeria international, Simon scored seven goals last season as Gent finished second in the Belgian Pro League and set up Depoitre for the winning goal in the Belgian Super Cup.

Tottenham and Liverpool wanted to sign Simon when he was a teenager but he opted to train with Ajax instead. Now they are back on his trail after a string of impressive performances. Depoitre scored Belgium’s fourth goal on Saturday night as they sealed their place at next summer’s European Championships with a 4-1 victory over Andorra

Darren Lewis, Daily Mirror:

Tottenham are tracking Gent winger Moses Simon. Spurs are already monitoring the progress of the club’s Belgium forward Laurent Depoitre, who started and scored against Andorra on Saturday. And now they are watching Simon, 20, a Nigeria wideman who scored seven times last season to help Gent win the Belgian Pro League.

‘The North Londoners have been keen on Simon since he was a teenager, but he chose to train with Dutch club Ajax instead. Depoitre, 26, hit the fourth goal in the 4-1 win for Belgium over Andorra that sealed their place at the Euro 2016 Finals’ – Darren Lewis, Mirror Football.

This is last season’s Belgian league table:

Screen Shot 2015-10-13 at 08.13.58

 

Gent won. But the two papers appear to agree pretty much for for word on everything else.

Posted: 13th, October 2015 | In: Reviews, Sports, Spurs | Comment


Tottenham: Spurs invite Wayne Gretzky to Arsenal match, spell his name wrong on shirt

spurs wayne gretzkyHaving moved to woo the US market with a new stadium geared to American football, Tottenham invited legendary ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky to see them take on Arsenal in the League Cup.
Generous to a fault, Spurs gave the Canadian a club shit with his name on the back. Well, it had someone’s name on it. Instead of Gretzky, the shirt said ‘Gretsky’.
Who he? 

 

Posted: 24th, September 2015 | In: Sports, Spurs | Comment


Spurs and Chelsea: London clubs plans to share Wembley a ‘spoiling tactic’

Wembley daily mail

 

Can Tottenham and Chelsea share Wembley Stadium while their respective stadiums are being renovated?

The Daily Mail says “desperate Spurs are losing ground in battle with Premier League rivals Chelsea in bid to relocate to Wembley”. 

And:

“Spurs’ spoiling tactics have included making clear they would be happy to share with their London rivals.”

Spoiling tactics?

Spurs’ spoiling tactics have included making clear they would be happy to share with their London rivals, despite the regular Wembley calendar making that a non-starter.

That’s odd because on September 10, the Mail said:

Chelsea and Tottenham could share Wembley while they build new stadiums…

Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn has backed plans for both to use Wembley, even though that could mean the two doing so at the same time…

And while it is possible both clubs could play at Wembley without overlapping, the FA boss said he was happy to entertain the idea of them sharing the ground to boost profitability.

So much for sharing the ground being a “non-starter”.

Posted: 16th, September 2015 | In: Chelsea, Sports, Spurs | Comments (2)


Spurs balls: Rodney Marsh on Harry Kane and forgetting Benzema to Arsenal

In the Daily Express, a “Man City legend urges Harry Kane to leave ‘mediocre Spurs’ for Man Utd”?

Who is this quotable legend? It’s Rodney Marsh, who tells talkSport:

“He needs to go on and become the player he can be. He isn’t going to become that at Spurs because Spurs have now become that mediocre, second-tier team in the Premier League.”

There goes Rodney, making a comment to get himself on the news cycle. And it worked. Just as it worked when he opined:

“I had a phone call from a mate of mine, and he’s been right on many things, and he said that he believes Real Madrid have accepted a bid somewhere in the region of £48million for Benzema from Arsenal. In the past this guy has always been right, he’s never been wrong yet…”

Unlike Marsh…

Posted: 10th, September 2015 | In: Arsenal, Sports, Spurs | Comment (1)


Chelsea and Spurs can share Wembley Stadium

urs groundp

 

Chelsea and Tottenham can share Wembley Stadium while their grounds are redeveloped. FA’s chief executive, Martin Glenn says:

“We are there to provide help. We can run the FA for less costs and we can raise more. There’s a range of things. It’s primarily a football stadium, football matches are more profitable to run than concerts and other things.

“We are the national stadium and seeking to use it more is what we are all about. We have an obligation to football. I’m not talking specific clubs but it’s in our interest as an association for clubs to redevelop their grounds, make superb facilities and if it’s possible to help them in that transition by using Wembley, we are absolutely supportive of that.”

 

 

The Standard says Chelsea would prefer to stay at the Bridge when the builders move in. Tottenham have looked at relocating to Milton Keynes’ Stadium:mk for the 2017/18 season.

And can two sides share Wembley, a busy the stadium that hosts the RL Challenge Cup final and a series of NFL games, domestic cup and play-off finals and and a rugby union fixture?

The FA’s decision is surely all about the money. The Mail says Chelsea have offered £11m a year to use Wembley for three years while Stamford Bridge is rebuilt from 2017. Spurs have bid £8m a season. Given the vast sums of cash in the Premier League, both bids sound low.

 

 

Posted: 10th, September 2015 | In: Chelsea, Sports, Spurs | Comment (1)


Tottenham Balls: Emmanuel Adebayor is like a ‘negative woman’, says coach

adebayor

 

On Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor, Togo head coach Tom Saintfiet had this to say:

“If you are dating a woman who does not want to respond positively, then you must look for another woman” 

A striker is like a fine wine…

 

Posted: 9th, September 2015 | In: Sports, Spurs | Comment


Transfer Balls: Arsenal set to beat Spurs to Breel Embolo

breel

 

Arsenal wants to sign FC Basel’s Breel Embolo, says the Daily Express. The Cameroon-born 18-year-old has scored 11 goals in 36 appearances for the Swiss outfit.

The paper says Wenger will bid £10million for the Swiss international in January.

It was only in July Steve Bates told his Sunday People readers that Embolo was headed to either West Ham or Tottenham. He didn’t.

The Times’s Gary Jacob says Basel want £20m for the player. Wenger will have to dig deeper.

 

Screen Shot 2015-09-08 at 20.01.52

 

Is Embolo any good? This report suggests he is:

Debuting in the 2013/14 Europa League against FC Salzburg aged 17, Embolo also made his league debut three days later, scoring his first professional goal only four minutes after coming off the bench.

 

y5eVrD

 

Best not show that goal to desperate Manchester United. If they see it young Breel will be worth £30m plus…

 

Posted: 8th, September 2015 | In: Arsenal, Sports, Spurs | Comment


Transfer News: Everton fans drive John Stones out, Chelsea want Linpeng, Arsenal meet Higuain asking price

higuain arsenal

 

It was obvious, really. The way to keep John Stones from leaving Everton is for the club’s fans to make him “flee” his Widnes home and hide out in a hotel. Well, so says the Sun and who in Liverpool can doubt the veracity of that paper’s reporting on the Merseyside teams?

No news on how fans of Wolfsburg have taken the news that Kevin de Bruyne will head to Manchester City for a weekly retainer of £200,000, says the Telegraph , or £300,000 a week if you believe the Daily Mirror.

Liverpool’s Serbian winger Lazar Markovic, 21, a £20m signing from Benfica just last summer, has left Anfield to join Fenerbahce on a season-long loan in the tax-free Turkish leagues, says the Daily Mail

Another on his way to Turkey – maybe – is Chelsea and Nigeria midfielder John Mikel Obi, 28. Besiktas are keen on the uninspiring midfielder, says the Daily Mirror. 

The Guardian says Norwich have offered £1.5m for Stoke City’s never-say-die Jonathan Walters. Stoke says that offer is laughably low.

The Times relays news from Chinese media that Chelsea are after Zhang Linpeng, who plays for (it says here) Guangzhou Evergrande.

Also in the Times news that West Ham United still want Tottenham’s Emmanuel Adebayor. The 31-year-old former Arsenal and Manchester City striker turned down the chance to reunite with Tim Sherwood at Aston Villa because he wanted to stay in London. Adebayor is in the last year is a contract worth £100,000-a-week. West Ham think he’s worth it.

According to the Daily Express, Arsenal will offer £59m for Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain. The Italian will reject that vast sum and only sell in January for reasons that are as clear as mud.

 

 

 

Posted: 28th, August 2015 | In: Arsenal, Manchester City, Spurs | Comment


Transfer Balls: Tottenham play poker with Berahino, West Brom player holding twitter cards

saido

 

Tottenham’s move for West Bromwich Albion striker Saido Berahino will come to nothing. Albion chariman Jeremy Peace is unimpressed with Spurs’ recent bid of £22 million (made in “stage payments and add-ons”). He wants £25m in a single hit.

Says Peace:

“As I have made clear from the moment Tottenham lodged their first bid for Saido on August 18, selling our top goalscorer was never on our agenda this summer. Not only have the offers been too low as a valuation of the player, but they have been based on stage payments and add-ons over a long period, which do nothing to reflect Saido’s ability and potential.

“I have the greatest respect for Daniel Levy but he must surely appreciate we would have needed to replace Saido had he left and no consideration of that position has been reflected by Tottenham’s strategy.”

Will he keep his word? It looks like it. Peace has told Berahino that’s he’s staying.

But Harry Redknapp (who he?), says it’s all bluff – and he should know.

“It’s only a game of poker at the moment between (Tottenham chairman) Daniel Levy and Jeremy Peace,” Redknapp said. “Jeremy Peace holds all the aces in that situation because Tottenham are desperate for a striker – he’s the one they’ve identified, so I think the deal will happen before the deadline. Everything’s probably all done with the player behind the scenes. He probably has a good idea about where he’s going to live, even.”

As for the player, well, he’s “cut his ties with West Brom – on social media”, says Sky Sports. Saido has unfollowed West Brom on twitter – which might be most pathetic thing we’ve hear all year.

 

Posted: 28th, August 2015 | In: Sports, Spurs | Comments (2)


Transfer Balls: Tottenham new boy Clinton Njie was waiting for the Arsenal highjackers

Clinton Njie SpursTottenham have signed Cameroon international Clinton Njie from Lyon. The 22-year-old cost Spurs €14million plus another €3million in bonuses.

As Spurs fans rush to find out who Njie is (he scored seven goals in 30 appearances for Lyon last season), someone leaks a story that he’s so good that Arsenal tried to scupper his move to White Hart Lane.

The Metro says “Arsenal made attempt to hijack Tottenham’s Clinton Njie transfer”.

The paper’s scoop is rooted in a single report in L’Equipe, which says Arsenal asked about Njie. they amde no offer. They did not meet his representatives. As highjacks go, it was like trying to seize control of the plane by browing in the Duty Free shop.

 

 

Posted: 15th, August 2015 | In: Arsenal, Sports, Spurs | Comment


Transfer Balls: Manchester City will get Kevin de Bryune for £45m, West Brom go for Salomon Rondon and stunning Chelsea news

Is Kevin de Bryune heading to Manchester City from Wolfsburg? Yes, says the Guardian, so long as City cough up £45m for the 24-year-old former Chelsea player. But even if they do, Wolfsburg managing director Klaus Allofs says Man City will have to persuade De Bruyne to ask for a transfer, reports the Daily Express.

The Birmingham Mail says West Brom are to invest £15m in Venezuela striker Salomon Rondon, 25. The player, currently knocking them in for Zenit St Petersburg, would become Albion’s most expensive player.

The Daily Star reports that Everton want to take 23-year-old Inter Milan midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri on loan.

The Sun says nippy Aaron Lennon, 28, is on the verge of leaving Spurs. They’ve not even given him a squad number. Aston Villa are said to be interested.

The mighty Bournemouth have seen their £3m offer for Crystal Palace’s Glenn Murray, 31, rejected by Palace. The Guardian says the Cherries will now up that offer.

The Daily Telegraph states the bleedin’ obvious by reporting that Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho thinks you can only sign players from Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Real Madrid if a) the club wants to sell them or b) the player wants to leave. No sh*t Sherlock.

 

 

 

Posted: 8th, August 2015 | In: Chelsea, Manchester City, Sports, Spurs | Comment


Transfer Balls: Spurs sell Kaboul as earthquake leaves Sunderland last club standing

Spurs have sold Younes Kaboul to Sunderland for £3m. The players is chuffed to bits:

“I’m delighted to be a Sunderland player and it’s an honour to join this club.”

Or as his agent put it in July 2008:

“Younes would not join Sunderland – even if there was an earthquake. We’ve much more interesting options. No disrespect”

Ddi the earth move for you?

Posted: 17th, July 2015 | In: Sports, Spurs | Comment


New Spurs ground makes Arsenal look like Number 2s

spurs toilet

 

Spurs have unveiled plans for a big new ground. The ground will also stage two American football matches a season for ten years. To some, the stadium’s design resembles a giant bed pan. One single tier home stand will have enough seating for 17,000 fans. It will be a “wall of sound”, says the club. But if Spurs fail to win, that sound will be the rattle of seats popping up. After all, as Spurs fan know, if you can’t win the match at least win the journey home.

At full capcity the ground will hold more fans than Araenal’s Emirates and Chelsea’s reworked Stamford Bridge.

 

 

south-stand-render-page

 

Spurs will be the biggest team in London. Well, in terms of ground size, they will.

The Daily Telegraph says the new ground gives Spurs bragging rights over their London rivals:

Arsenal’s ground has a max capacity of 60,432, which means at 61,000, the new Spurs ground will be exactly 0.9398993910510988% bigger. Now this might not sound like a lot, but football is a game of small margins. Matches can be won and lost by fractions of a centimetre – those extra seats will make a difference.

If bigger grounds mean bigger success, can Tom explain why Newcastle United win less cups than Chelsea?

 

Posted: 9th, July 2015 | In: Sports, Spurs | Comment


Transfer Balls: Spurs sign Toby Alderweireld – Southampton don’t

Transfer balls: Spurs have signed Toby Alderweireld from Atlético Madrid.

On June 5, the Telegraph said Chelsea and Spurs wanted Alderweireld. The clubs are “forced” to pay £14m for the player:

 

Screen shot 2015-07-08 at 10.10.13

 

 

June 7 and Spurs don’t pay £14m for the player:

 

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Of course, the Belgian signed for Arsenal in 2014:

 

Screen shot 2015-07-08 at 10.15.52

 

 

Arsenal never bid for the player.

Such are the facts.

Posted: 8th, July 2015 | In: Sports, Spurs | Comment


Chelsea invade Arsenal and Spurs turf and move to Wembley Stadium

Chelsea have made a move to rent Wembley Stadium. The Blues have offered £11 million a year to use Wembley as a temporary home while Stamford Bridge is rebuilt.

If approved, Chelsea will play home matches at Wembley for two seasons from 2017.

This is bad news for Spurs, who are redeveloping their White Hart Lane ground. They have offered Wembley about £8 million a year.

Spurs’ fans are local to Wembley. That moves makes sense. But Chelsea based in north London is odd? The Blues did petition the Rugby Football Union about using Twickenham, a move that would keep Chelsea in touch with its fanbase. But that ran into problems with local residents, crowd management and council planners.

Of course, it could be argued that Wembley has been a second home for Chelsea in recent years. No longer do the club’s fans need orienteering skills and tissues to stem a nosebleed as they head north on the Metropolitan line. Spurs, however, well at least they have their memories and a ‘Tottingham’ song:

 

Posted: 7th, July 2015 | In: Chelsea, Reviews, Sports, Spurs | Comment


Transfer Balls: Spurs and Arsenal target Yannick Ferreira Carrasco is like Ronaldo if you say he is

Transfer Balls: The Metro spots the “next Ronaldo”.

Who is he?

Jamie Sanderson tells his readers that the next Cristiano Ronaldo is Yannick Ferreira Carrasco. And Spurs are in for him.

Tottenham have made a £9.9million transfer offer to sign Monaco ace Yannick Ferreira Carrasco, according to reports.

Number of reports linked to: none.

Spurs, who are already believed to be negotiating with Monaco for striker Anthony Martial, have been following Carrasco’s progress closely.

Believed by whom?

The 21-year-old winger has bags of pace and tricks and has been compared to Cristiano Ronaldo in the past.

But we’ve looked and can find not single source other than Sanderson saying that Carrasco is like Ronaldo.

It’s being claimed in some sections that the offer has been rejected, but Tottenham are likely to make a new bid to do business.

In a single story we learn of a bid for player might have happened and that it might have been rejected. Maybe.

Of course Daily Expess readera know this is balls. After all, in May they head in the Express that Carrasco was heading to Arsenal:

 

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And in summer 2014, the Express told us that Carrasco was on his way:

 

Screen shot 2015-06-26 at 14.52.22

 

Such are the facts…

 

 

Posted: 26th, June 2015 | In: Sports, Spurs | Comment


Transfer Balls: Manchester United’s 25m bid for Spurs Lloris in euros and pounds

lloris hugo

 

Transfer Balls: how much will Manchester Untied need to pay Spurs to sign Hugo Lloris?

Daily Mirror: “Manchester United transfers: Hugo Lloris given ‘verbal agreement’ on sale if Tottenham received £18m bid”

The Metro: “Manchester United ‘to make £25million transfer bid for Hugo Lloris very soon’

Such are the facts when the Metro can’t work out the difference between euros and pounds.

The story is rooted in L’Equipe, which reports that Lloris has an agreement that Spurs will sell him if a bid for €25m (£17.8m) arrives.

Posted: 23rd, June 2015 | In: Sports, Spurs | Comment


Transfer Balls: Spurs find £20m for PSG’s Adrien Rabiot, who already signed for Roma and Arsenal

Transfer Balls: Are Tottenham readying a bid for PSG’s Adrien Rabiot? The Times says they are:

Tottenham Hotspur have expressed further interest in signing Adrien Rabiot, who has played in midfield for France at all youth levels but has asked to leave Paris Saint-Germain.

Rabiot is represented by his mother, Veronique Rabiot, who says her lad fancies a return to the Premier League (he was on Manchester City’s book for a short time):

“Adrien loves PSG and would love to make a career for himself there, but it’s not possible. He needs 35 games per season to continue his progression, and this won’t happen at PSG next season. I’ve asked for a transfer and it is better that he leaves. Adrien is happy when he wears the colours of PSG. If he cannot play for PSG, then his choice is the Premier League.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 20th, June 2015 | In: Reviews, Sports, Spurs | Comment


Transfer Balls: Manchester United chase Spurs Harry Kane in every decreasing ciricles

Transfer Balls: time to cacth up with what has been busy transfer window for Spurs and England’s Harry Kane. Sky News has all the scoops:

May 15: “Harry Kane is not a summer transfer target for Manchester United, according to Sky Sports News HQ reporter James Cooper.”

May 26: “Harry Kane has reaffirmed his commitment to Tottenham after reports of interest from Manchester United.”

June 12: “BREAKING: Sky sources: Manchester Utd interested in signing Tottenham’s Harry Kane.”

It’s going to be a long summer of Harry Kane.

Posted: 12th, June 2015 | In: manchester united, Sports, Spurs | Comment


Transfer balls: Eden Hazard, Morgan Schneiderlin and the magic of the Spurs transfer list

Transfer Balls: The Mirror says that Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson “tops Spurs wishlist”. The Cherries’ striker is, apparently, heading to Spurs for £12m. Well, maybe.

The tabloids love to talk of transfer lists. In recent times, the tabloids have told us other player who sat atop The Tottenham list:

The Metro in 2010: “Croatian Lionel Messi’ Mateo Kovacic on Spurs’ transfer wish-list”. (He was Mateo Kovacic – he still is).

Daily Mirror: “Yevhen Konoplyanka, who is one of the hottest properties in Ukraine football” was at the top of the list.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 5th, May 2015 | In: Sports, Spurs | Comment


Spurs Balls: Kyle Walker is monitoring twitter for signs of idiocy

Spurs and England footballer Kyle Walker is in the news for something he didn’t do. Someone told someone who told us that Kyle Walker was in the news. So. We looked at Google. And this is what we saw…

 

Kyle walker sick video lie

 

The video being shared on social media features, we’re told, a dog, a woman and a bed. It has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Walker. But a few bellends on twitter, reportedly, have tried to insult the Spurs defender by linking him to the video. Of course, they are wrong. Their claims as false as they are ridiculous. They should be easy to ignore or mock.

But Walker thinks it a good idea to respond, writing on Facebook:

I wasn’t going to comment on the rumours going around about myself and my family but as people are still talking about them, I feel I need to set the record straight. I am aware of a video being shared on social media and am disgusted by the suggestion that it’s anything to do with us. With so many young people on social media I am horrified that content of that nature has been shared so many times. My legal team are monitoring the activity surrounding this.

And with that the story is amplified and internet is full of headlines about Kyle Walker and a sick video. A few oddities who get their kicks from watching something the sane would find unplesant and others who just want to make a dumb adolescent joke about a footballer, who most likely plays for a team they don’t support, are now being ‘monitored’ by a legal team.

What they going to monitor next, claims that the referee is a w*nker?

The best reponse is from one wag who replies: “Hope his legal team are better at defending him than he is lloris”

 

Screen shot 2015-04-26 at 21.40.19

 

Lloris is Hugo Lloris , the Spurs goalkeeper. And he’s not the video, either…

Posted: 26th, April 2015 | In: Sports, Spurs | Comment


Police remind Spurs and Chelsesa fans they are all racists-in-waiting

To Wembley Stadium for the Capital One Cup Final between Chelsea and Spurs. The once “institutionally racist” Met police have erected an electronic sign to educate the mob:

 

Screen shot 2015-03-01 at 13.21.58

 

To the polcie all Spurs and Chesla fans are racists in waiting. Unless the police, those great moralisers, are there to observe, listen, record and threaten football fans will race riot.

They “may” arrest you. Or they “may” not for saying things.

What utter self-serving, moralising, top down balls.

Spotter: @tariqpanja

Posted: 1st, March 2015 | In: Chelsea, Sports, Spurs | Comment


‘New’ footballers: Spurs sign a ‘new Paul Pogba’

Paul Pogba Watch: a look at the lazy media obsession with finding the ‘new’ versions of existing top footballers. Today we learn of the new Paul Pogba, which is very off when you consider that the real Paul Pogba – the old one – is 21 years old.

Today the Daily Mirror brigns news of Baubacar Djalo. He’s 18. He plays for Sporting Lisbon’s Under-19 side. Not good enough for the Sporting first team, Bubacar is, nonetheless, good enough for Spurs.

And he is… the “NEW PAUL POGBA”.

 

20150223_194401(1)

 

Previously in the Mirror (Jan 6 2015), we met another New Pogba:

Screen shot 2015-02-23 at 20.09.34

 

Twins!

 

Posted: 23rd, February 2015 | In: Sports, Spurs | Comment


Chelsea and West Ham United fans in battle of who is the more racist

Meet Richard Barklie, 50, of Carrickfergus, County Antrim, who was on the Paris Metro when a black man was barred from boarding the train.

Barklie is a former Royal Ulster Constabulary and Police Service of Northern Ireland officer,. He now works as a director of World Human Rights Forum.

It’s stated mission is:

To unite the human rights activists and organizations around the globe to protect and to promote human rights, values and global well being necessary for the creation of a better world order.

He’s one of the directors:

Screen shot 2015-02-23 at 10.37.20

 

Belfast solicitor Kevin Winters speaks on Barklie’s behalf. He says his client did not sing racist chants. He says his client is not a racist:

“As someone who has spent years working with disadvantaged communities in Africa and India, he can point to a CV in human rights work which undermines any suggestion he is racist.”

And, well, we didn’t see him singing anything in the video. And since when is singing a crime?

The full statement runs:

“We act on behalf of Mr Barklie identified as one of the people sought by authorities investigating an incident on the Paris Metro on 16/2/15 . We contacted London Metropolitan Police today to advise that our client is happy to assist with inquiries. Pending formal engagement with police, our client is anxious to put on record his total abhorrence for racism and any activity associated with it.

”As someone who has spent years working with disadvantaged communities in Africa and India he can point to a cv in human rights work which undermines any suggestion he is racist.

”Today a senior official in the World Human Rights Forum confirmed their support for him.

”Mr Barklie is a Chelsea season ticket holder and has travelled to matches for over 20 years now without incident

”He travelled alone to the Paris St Germain match and has no knowledge whatsoever of the identities of the other people depicted in recent YouTube video releases. He wants to stress that he was not and never has been part of any group or faction of Chelsea supporters.

”He did not participate in racist chanting and singing and condemns any behaviour supporting that.

”He accepts he was involved in an incident when a person now known to him as Souleymane S was unable to enter a part of the train.

”He has an account to give to police which will explain the context and circumstances as they prevailed at that particular time.

”In the meantime pending that, he wants to put on record his sincerest apologies for the trauma and stress suffered by Mr Souleymane.

”He readily acknowledges that any judgement on the integrity of his apology will be kept in abeyance pending the outworkings of the investigation.

”Given the extremely sensitive nature of the issues engaged we urge upon all media outlets to exercise as much restraint as possible when commenting on the case.

”We accept on behalf of our client that public interest demands nothing but total indignation and condemnation from all media reporting but such reporting ought not to persist at the expense of undermining Mr Barklie’s right to a fair trial

”Tonight London Met confirmed with us that arrangements were in hand to take the investigation to the next stage.”

Or as the Sunday World put it:

 

Screen shot 2015-02-23 at 11.13.12

 

Was it a “secret life”? Once upon a time a secret life would have meant you working as a spy, being gay or murdering womenm in Yorkshire. Now the guilty is secret is that you watch football.

And meanwhile…on the train to Spurs with the West Ham United fans:

 

 

But what’s odd about the Daily Mail’s take on that chanting is the headline:

 

Screen shot 2015-02-23 at 11.17.59

 

Yeah. Not alleged anti-semites. But “alleged West Ham fans” – as if being a West Ham United fan is a crime; just like being a Chelsea supporter is a “secret life”.

It’s not so much racism the papers hate – it’s football fans

 

Posted: 23rd, February 2015 | In: Chelsea, Sports, Spurs | Comment