Premier League 2012/13 general thread

[vanpeebles]

They just been covering it on the north east news, showed a great clip of Di Canio kicking a player up the arse as he was being substituted.

[Kit]

Just seen that one.

Check this one out, Mr Peebles:



This might actually give Sunderland the kick up the arse they need!

[vanpeebles]

Actually the more I see of him, the more I like him. Not enough footballers are kicked up the arse these days.

[sj33]

There aren't many other industries where we tolerate self-proclaimed fascists, to be honest.

[prinnysquad]

This is an embarrassment. We've got ourselves into a Reich mess

[vanpeebles]

I wonder if someone on the board said what we need is someone who will give the players a right kick up the arse and everyone else took it literally. So they went out and a got a manager who will actually kick them up the arse.

[Kieran76]

Not sure why no one kicked off when he was manager of Swindon. Any football fan knew about Di Canio's political views a long time ago. Are people really saying it is okay to have those views lower down the football pyramid but not in The Premiership?

[sj33]

Some people did, in fairness. The GMB Union withdrew their funding for the club. But it's always irked me that Swindon fans seemed to be indifferent.

[EJG1980]

It is strange. Not sure why it is but because he's in football he's not taken seriously and it's seen more as a joke than anything else, "crazy Paolo", etc.. Yet if he was a politician, prominent businessman, or similar, there would be quite a different reaction if he aired the exact same views.

[nakamura]

Do his views really matter? So long as he keeps them away from his job?

[EJG1980]

I suppose so, it's a tricky thing balancing an individual's right to freedom of speech and thought against the fact that there are things society in general has deemed unacceptable. I guess it just feels "iffy" that someone in a high profile position once celebrated a goal with a nazi salute and said that Mussolini was misunderstood.

[nakamura]

I hear what you are saying. I just feel that if the FA allowed him to play in this country and manage Swindon then he should be left alone. If Sunderland want to employ a man with views like that then it's up to them.

[EJG1980]

Yeah, in the end I agree. There's no point being a democracy if you're going to take away the rights of people to lead a normal life just because they hold views that most would find objectionable (unless they're breaking the law, of course). You have to trust that the majority reject those views and because of that the number of people holding such views dwindles over time.

That was far too serious, better hunt for some more jokes about playing on the right

[Kit]

Sunderland are now sayings to call Di Canio a fascist knocks the "integrity of the club."

[nakamura]

Who would have thought a craphole like Sunderland would have any integrity.