21-06-2016, 12:10
SaltergateBorn I think I am in love with your dad and his microscope comment: there is loads of truth in all you say.
BUT we do know Ched's victim endured bucket loads of abuse, some of which apparently (and I don't actually KNOW this) came from people quite close to the player. We know she had to give up her life and move not house but town ......... All she did on the evidence so far was to be foolish enough to make herself vulnerable. The best interpretation imaginable of Ched's behaviour was that it was reprehensible.
I'm not at all mystified about why we moved now. If we had waited until after October and he is found not have raped the girl (and that law is framed by men remember) WE WOULD NOT EVEN HAVE BEEN IN THE RUNNING FOR HIS SIGNATURE. Furthermore we've just failed to sign Lee Novak after waiting weeks and desperately needed a newsworthy signing. By October we'd arguably have been bottom of the division and Ched would have been all those months from sharpness as a player even if we had then been able to sign him. By Christmas we might have a fit, free, committed Ched Evans scoring hatfuls ........ we extend his contract a year because he loves us now and in the summer we sell him for 2 or 3 million.
As regards our being able to sign other players, what does this do? We look like we want to win don't we? We have stolen a march whether I like it or not. Players are going to look at us and think, "if they get a sharp Ched Evans playing and that Dennis from non-league scoring goals ....... and they've got that nippy winger .......... maybe I should take a chance and sign too."
I'm 64 today. I was brought up on Racecourse Road. I've wanted Chesterfield to reach The Championship my whole life. I've always wanted a 30+ goals-a-season striker too. I hate that we just signed Ched Evans, but we've got the most decent, genuine manager I can imagine in charge. I couldn't desert the club of my life. But I'd like us as a club to take proper responsibility for offering Ched a way back. Sheffield United just washed their hands of him, disgracefully tried to welcome him back and then turned Macbeth when everyone pointed to the blood on their hands. If he's our player we need not only to stand with him, but also to ensure that women's voices and opinions are heard and that we commit to helping to change the behaviour of men. Surely we and younger men and boys can become more than just a penis in search of some excitement. We don't have to accept that this is what our footballers are like, what blokeish men are like!
The club is wrong to assert we've signed him, that's it, we will not enter into any further discussion. As Spireitematt points out this has split the fan-base, like me he's even torn over his own reaction. Just sitting there waiting to become the Millwall of the North shouldn't be an option. The club has made this move. It should handle it properly ....... on behalf of all those who've spent their lives loving the place and wanting nothing but success.
BUT we do know Ched's victim endured bucket loads of abuse, some of which apparently (and I don't actually KNOW this) came from people quite close to the player. We know she had to give up her life and move not house but town ......... All she did on the evidence so far was to be foolish enough to make herself vulnerable. The best interpretation imaginable of Ched's behaviour was that it was reprehensible.
I'm not at all mystified about why we moved now. If we had waited until after October and he is found not have raped the girl (and that law is framed by men remember) WE WOULD NOT EVEN HAVE BEEN IN THE RUNNING FOR HIS SIGNATURE. Furthermore we've just failed to sign Lee Novak after waiting weeks and desperately needed a newsworthy signing. By October we'd arguably have been bottom of the division and Ched would have been all those months from sharpness as a player even if we had then been able to sign him. By Christmas we might have a fit, free, committed Ched Evans scoring hatfuls ........ we extend his contract a year because he loves us now and in the summer we sell him for 2 or 3 million.
As regards our being able to sign other players, what does this do? We look like we want to win don't we? We have stolen a march whether I like it or not. Players are going to look at us and think, "if they get a sharp Ched Evans playing and that Dennis from non-league scoring goals ....... and they've got that nippy winger .......... maybe I should take a chance and sign too."
I'm 64 today. I was brought up on Racecourse Road. I've wanted Chesterfield to reach The Championship my whole life. I've always wanted a 30+ goals-a-season striker too. I hate that we just signed Ched Evans, but we've got the most decent, genuine manager I can imagine in charge. I couldn't desert the club of my life. But I'd like us as a club to take proper responsibility for offering Ched a way back. Sheffield United just washed their hands of him, disgracefully tried to welcome him back and then turned Macbeth when everyone pointed to the blood on their hands. If he's our player we need not only to stand with him, but also to ensure that women's voices and opinions are heard and that we commit to helping to change the behaviour of men. Surely we and younger men and boys can become more than just a penis in search of some excitement. We don't have to accept that this is what our footballers are like, what blokeish men are like!
The club is wrong to assert we've signed him, that's it, we will not enter into any further discussion. As Spireitematt points out this has split the fan-base, like me he's even torn over his own reaction. Just sitting there waiting to become the Millwall of the North shouldn't be an option. The club has made this move. It should handle it properly ....... on behalf of all those who've spent their lives loving the place and wanting nothing but success.