The Ched Evans affair

I'm not really a football man.  I like it enough, I guess - but I'm hardly what you'd call a fantatic.  I leave that level of obsession to cricket, for which which I'm much more likely to forego sleep for.  I follow Fulham FC - those that want to can trawl through various of my posts on them - I like it when they do well and I follow the Premier League pretty closely, but in general I follow it because I like sport in general rather than having any sort of great attachment to the Beautiful Game. 

The Ched Evans affair has piqued my interest a little however, most likely because if you follow British sport at the moment you can't not read about it, and have an opinion by consequence.  For those that don't peruse the BBC website as regularly as I do, the bare bones of it are that in 2012, Ched Evans, then a Sheffield United footballer, was convicted of raping a 19 year-old woman in a hotel room and sentenced to five years in prison.  After having served half his sentence (par for the course in these situations, apparently), he was released in October 2014 and has been looking for a gig since.  

Given the fact that the transfer window for signings opens every January, the story has really grown legs lately as speculation has mounted as to whether anyone would sign him.  His old club Sheffield United were moderately keen to re-sign him but bowed to public pressure to have nothing to do with him, and another club in Oldham Athletic were quoted as saying that they were 80% sure they would offer him a contract until they in recent days also pulled out following pressure from sponsors, the public and allegedly, threats that had been made against various of their staff if the deal went through.  Meanwhile, Evans has protested his innocence throughout, and the entire case is subject to an enquiry from the Criminal Cases Review Commission.  

Things are very messy indeed at the moment, with every man and his dog offering an opinion.  Any number of MPs and public figures have labelled Evans as a monster and worse, and have condemned attempts from any clubs interested in signing him.  This has actually extended to Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, both of whom have weighed in against Evans and questioned his future in the game.  It hasn't all been one-way traffic though, with Premier League managers Harry Redknapp and Steve Bruce both suggesting that he had done his time and that he should be given the opportunity to work again.  Bruce in fact seems to have risked being found in contempt of court by questioning the convinction.  

Sex crime and its perception within the community is a really difficult beast to tackle, but as I suggested above, it has been interesting to see the British reaction to it.  Historically, Brits have loved a sex scandal, and whilst this doesn't quite qualify it's certainly ballpark.  The fact that it involves the national obsession in football, during transfer "season" only serves to make it worse, and I have to admit that it bothers me a little that people like Clegg and Cameron think it's appropriate for them to comment on the man's future.  It seems like this is one of those stories that just need to die down for a week or two for Evans to get a break and a contract, but there are any number of elements of the British media and society at large that keep stirring it up.

Does he deserve to get a break and a contract, though?  I'd argue that he does, although "break" isn't really the word I'd use.  We are dealing with a convicted criminal here and that can't be forgotten, but something that a lot of people seem to be forgetting is that he went to prison for two and a half years.  The nature of being "sent down" is that you are rehabilitated, and that you pay your debt to society.  By very definition of the law as I understand it, he would not have been released if these critirea were deemed not to have been met.  That being the case, he should be afforded every opportunity to re-enter society, and being that he's a footballer he should be allowed to play football!  As Harry Redknapp suggested, he must be allowed to live his life.  Anything else is extra-judicial punishment, and essentially makes a mockery of the prison term - if he wasn't paying a debt for previous mis-deeds, then what was he doing there?  

Clearly when it comes to something as high-profile as football we're dealing with more than black and white legal issues, of course.  One of the first things anyone thinks of upon hearing the word "football" is "money", and with money comes the nature of branding and marketing and image - does a company in the business of producing football, who want to engage with their local community by necessity, want to ally their brand with a convicted rapist?  You could see why that would be a challenging thing to consider.  I still think he has earned his right to be considered for a contract along with anyone else, though.  By definition of his imprisonment and release, he should be allowed to ply his trade, and his slate should be clean.  Shouldn't it?     

Why it would be great if Newcastle United got relegated.

.... or how the hell have the managed to get themselves into this situation in the first place??

OK, so there are five games of this Premier League season to go. Newcastle are currently in 18th spot, on 31 points, three from safety. They really need a win, but there's no telling where it's coming from - they're playing Liverpool away today, Middlesbrough at home next week who are in the same position and will be fighting for all they're worth, then Fulham away after that who have the 3rd best home record in the league, and then Aston Villa away, who might still be having to scrap to get a European place. I can see them losing all of those matches - or at least losing most of them and getting a draw or two from the others, which won't be good enough. If they draw or lose against Middlesbrough next week they're sunk, I think. And if I were a betting man, that's exactly where I'd be putting my money. .... Which would then by consequence guarantee a 15-0 win for someone, which is why I'm not a betting man.

Anyway. The thing about Newcastle's plight that really strikes me is that they really do epitomise - or SHOULD epitomise - the expression "too good to go down". Have a look at their team. Michael Owen, Alan Smith, Damien Duff, Joey Barton, Mark Viduka, Kevin Nolan, Nicky Butt, Shola Ameobi and Njitab Geremi to name no fewer than nine players who are household names in any football supporter's house - and within that a good three or four in anyone else's house for that matter as well. Madness. You look at that team at the start of the year and you think "there's a lot of quality there, they should score a lot of goals, guaranteed top half of the table finish, probably pushing for Europe as well". And yet there they are, down in 19th.

What this does is really point out to me that all the money in the world won't get you anywhere if you don't have good management - and good management WILL get you anywhere with surprisingly little expenditure. Look at Fulham. 7th place, Europe looking entirely possible. Last year seemed down and out, but a change of coach, change of SOME of the personnel, and hey, presto, top-half finish. And conversely, look at Man City. A license to print money by their new oil-rich Arabian owners, and have struggled to be mid-table.

But I can't believe that the evidence of that would be so stark when it comes to Newcastle. Because there really are some great players in there. It makes you wonder what would happen to Arsenal or Manchester United if Wenger or Ferguson needed mid-season heart surgery like Newcastles's ex-boss, Kinnear did. Would their absence produce a similar fall from grace, and possible regulation? The mind boggles.

To explain the headline of this post, though - I would LOVE to see Newcastle go down. Not because I have any great dislike of them, but just to see what would happen to their squad. There would be a lot of players looking for new clubs at the end of the season, and a lot of them would be offering fantastic value for money in transfer fees by consequence. What chance me going to the Cottage next season to see Michael Owen up front for Fulham? Well - probably not. But there's every chance of seeing someone like Mark Viduka, or Shola Ameobi - or any one of the others, for that matter. What a fantastic prospect!

... to be honest, though - can't really see it happening. They'll probably bore everyone stupid and stay up on the last day. Care of an away victory against Fulham the week before....

You little bewdy, back in business!!!

Which continues my recent classical allusions theme. Pat managed to pick "Clancy of the Overflow" below - although I must admit, I thought it was by Kevin "Bloody" Wilson - let's see who can pick this one!

Right! So the prodigal flatmate has returned and re-booted his modem. Thankfully he didn't notice my attempt to break into his room with a kitchen knife the other night. I now have access to all the internet I can handle!

It has been awhile, and no question. A pity, because it's been an interesting few weeks. In no particular order, since I last posted -

- Australia have drawn a test they should have won, were completely pummelled in the next, and are probably on their way to saving another as I type. They have also picked one of the most unlikely (and arguably one of the worst) players to ever pull on the baggy green in Cameron White. I refuse to discuss the Stanford Debacle on principle.
- I have become the only person on the face of the earth to benefit from the global economic crisis, care-of a tracker mortgage and plummeting interest rates. Hooray.
- Fulham FC have lost a few, drawn a few and won once. They will lose this weekend at Everton. Hull FC went bananas for awhile. Liverpool ended Chelsea's 86-match unbeaten stretch at Stanford Bridge and are top of the league with the equal-best start to a Premiership campaign ever, but they'll choke - they always do.
- Dabbling in Art is agreeing with me.
- I went back to London for a few days and realised that it's actually quite a nice place when you're not working for dickheads and stressed out of your mind.
- Am enjoying living in Holland. The Dutch are a nice bunch, and the (many) other nationalities in my course are pretty well-represented, too. Have realised after seeing quite a bit of the place that I live in the ugliest city in it, though! Oh well.

Which more or less brings us up to date... not the most fascinating of re-entries I know - but I'll see what I can do about that anon.

Oh - almost forgot! Despite being less than prolific recently, I have been Discovered! Head-hunted! Scouted! To whit, another blog wants me to write for them. Ain't that nice? Unfortunately I probably won't be allowed to write about cricket, and I might even have to write under another name - apparently this one is a bit obvious for their readership, *sigh*. Carrot - the man of a thousand faces.

And speaking of which - whaddaya think of the new profile pic?

West Hammered

The entire West Ham set-up can go take a long walk off a short pier, as far as I'm concerned. All of them! Players, staff, supporters, catering staff, the lot. The fact that they escaped with only a £5.5 million fine after they fielded an ineligible player in Carlos Tevez affair in 2006/07 was a complete joke, particularly in light of the £25 million television deal that was struck that year. I'm more than pleased that Sheffield United have managed to win their case through the recent independent commissions' findings. They're after £30 million, but that's yet to be confirmed. I hope they get it all, AND the Hammers get docked points like they always should have. It looks like some of the Sheffield United players are going to sue as well! To be honest, I'm just a bit annoyed that other clubs like Fulham and Wigan withdrew their threats to take legal action as soon as they realised they weren't going to suffer through West Ham staying up. I guess this shows the darker side of commerce and sport - when football is run purely by money, there's no room for integrity or loyalty anywhere. IPL/ICL, anyone?

There is another reason. Bastards. I really hate it when we lose at home!

Robbo's Rant

Just for the record, I agree with just about every word of this.

At the risk of paraphrasing the man, what is it with Newcastle United? It feels like the go through managers once every six months or so. Why do people even bother signing up? It's a revolving door! Can't their board see that that's no way to run a business - much less a football club?

Had a bit of a giggle at the mention of the lack of silverware. Even Fulham won the Intertoto Cup in 2002! And before the last eight years we hadn't been in Top Flight football since the 60s!

(Although a quick browse on Wikipedia tells me that Newcastle won the Intertoto in 2001, too - but y'know, whatever. We haven't gone through six managers in five years.)

And despite this, the constant obsession people have with describing Newcastle as a "big club", implying that they should consistently be in the top four, always makes me laugh as well - for a club that should be top four, they've not done that much recently, have they? And the last man that got them there was Sir Bobby Robson, and what did they do to him? Sacked him, surprise, surprise, and at the beginning of a season after a 5th-place finish the year before.

Wouldn't it be funny to see them go down? I used to like them, but now, probably along with everyone else, I think they're a laughing stock.

In other breaking news, ADO Den Haag are top of the Dutch League! Wow. What a great start to the season. I'm right behind you, boys!

I didn't even know this team existed before last week. I don't even know where they play.