I said recently that it might be time for football to rethink the whole ‘taking a knee’ gesture before games as it had started to lose its significance.
To some extent it would appear I was right, although rather than running out of steam it would appear the symbolic act is now starting to breed resentment.
And that is never good.
Since a limited number of supporters have been allowed back into English football grounds, there have been multiple instances of supporters booing as players take to their knees before a game.
Maybe booing the gesture is wrong (although fans don’t really have many other ways of showing their disapproval, if we’re honest) but it is exactly the sort of thing I feared would happen once bums returned to seats.
The reality is that, rightly or wrongly, not everyone agrees with the Black Lives Matter campaign. Some people feel it is a cause that has been hijacked by people with a political agenda. Others are just getting fed up with having a single cause – no matter how valid – being repeatedly pushed.
I have read, for example, that some of the people booing were doing so as a result of watching those videos of crowds of BLM protestors surrounding people sitting at cafes and demanding they express their support for the cause.
It may only be a tiny minority of the activists who are taking things that far but, as I said, it has made many people uncomfortable with the whole movement and equally uncomfortable that it continues to get football’s unquestioning support.
Of course, there is also the possibility that some of those doing the booing are just ignorant racists, something that sadly can’t be ruled out. But I genuinely believe many of those voicing their displeasure are doing so on more legitimate grounds.
As one online poster said: “It’s not that black lives don’t matter, of course they do. But don’t homeless people matter too. Isn’t child poverty an issue and what about sexual discrimination? Football can’t only push one cause, no matter how important it is.”
The worrying thing is that the booing situation will only get worse over the coming months if, as we expect, the number of fans being let into games starts to increase.
Whereas now it is easy to identify the dissenters and maybe take action against them (not sure that would be legally justifiable), that will become significantly harder in a full stadium.
Ultimately, I think football really needs to move on and find a new way of pointing out that black lives matter and supporting what is a very important concept. But in a way that means it can’t be politicised.
Otherwise this is all going to get rather ugly.
Sam’s back to save the day
You have to feel a certain degree of sympathy for Slaven Bilic who was fired by West Bromwich Albion last Wednesday to become the winner of the latest edition of the Premier League Sack Race.
It’s not a title he would have wanted and, to be fair, and I don’t feel it’s one he deserved. The first top-flight manager to go should have been Sheffield United’s Chris Wilder, but maybe that’s just my personal frustration showing through.
Football can’t only push one cause, no matter how important it is
Admittedly, West Brom’s start to the season hasn’t been great. They are second from the bottom with seven points from 13 games. But they have at least shown signs of being up for the fight, including a creditable draw with Manchester City last Tuesday night. And a not-so-hard-fought win over, er, Sheffield United.
But football is fickle and Bilic is out on his ear despite guiding WBA to promotion last season. And guess who’s replaced him? Yep, surprise, surprise, it is none other than Mr Sam Allardyce, saviour of seemingly doomed football teams since the dawn of time.
Will the former England, West Ham United, Everton and Bolton Wanderers boss be able to pull off another great escape? Some are suggesting the team he is taking over is just too weak; that not even a man with Big Sam’s immense motivational and organisational skills can rescue them.
To be honest with you, I have been taken aback by the number of experts and pundits suggesting that Sam has finally bitten off more than he can chew.
But I think they are wrong – he will guide them to safety.
From what I have seen of West Brom this season they aren’t a properly awful team, and a bit of work on their creaky defence combined with one or two clever additions in the January transfer window might be all that is needed.
If anyone knows how to cook up a recipe for snatching salvation from the jaws of certain doom, it is that man Sam.
West Brom fans should consider themselves lucky to have got him… I know I would have liked to see him weave a little great escape magic at Bramall Lane.
Another legend gone too soon
There are two things I remember clearly about the 1982 World Cup. One is that England managed to get themselves eliminated without losing a game, a remarkable achievement even by their high standards of failure.
The second is Paolo Rossi.
I had only been living in Malta for a short time when the tournament came round, so I hadn’t been exposed to much Italian football at that point in my life. On that basis, Rossi was a bit of an unknown quantity to me.
But I certain knew about him by the end of the competition. It wasn’t just his six goals that blasted Italy to victory but his overall performances – as close to the perfect display of forward play as you could hope to get.
Italy in ’82 were by no stretch of the imagination a one-man team. But I suspect they wouldn’t have won that World Cup if Rossi had not been in the squad. He was sublime, talismanic and game changing.
Paolo’s untimely death last week, coming so soon after Diego Maradona’s passing, means the sport has lost two of its superstars in very short space of time.
Just like with Diego, we should look back on the memories of Paolo banging in the goals and be thankful we actually got to see them happen in our lifetimes.
Another legend gone too soon.
email: james@quizando.com
Twitter: @maltablade