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Playing Politics

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Despite everything in life being intrinsically-linked to politics, it's the slightly-comical outbursts like these that make me feel thankful that more footballers don't air their political affiliations
 
orly said:
Would you be more interested in Everton players if they engaged with the real world a bit more and aired their political views?
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Honestly mate, I'm not even remotely arsed.

orly said:
If you were asked for a list of ten Goodison icons from the glory days, high among them would be Peter Reid and Neville Southall. The latter is as hard left as possible, currently espousing skeletons for lampposts and pigs with lipstick (me neither). Reid has just been quoted tearing Boris Johnson a new one
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When Reidy and Nev were playing for us, I neither knew, nor cared, about their political viewpoints. What was more important was that they cared about winning, they cared about the club and, probably most importantly, they cared about losing.

In all walks of life there are people who's political and social views mirror my own, so they're broadly speaking, socialists. But I know many socialists who are total morons and [insert swear word here] of the highest order. Equally, I know quite a few people who's leanings are right-wing, but are far better people than the aforementioned [insert swear word here].

Turn up on the pitch and show you care is all I ask of our players.
 
orly said:
Thanks in advance to @Groucho for clearing the thread topic

Good morning Toffees

The danger of missing deadlines means this thread has gone up a little after the event (and indeed has been touched on by former crushed Echo weasel Greg O'Keefe in his new role http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41460584 ). There have been a number of threads and comments at the moment lamenting the atmosphere in the ground (again, this would have been a better question after Bournemouth than Burnley) and the general lack of empathy from player to fan and vice versa.

Would you be more interested in Everton players if they engaged with the real world a bit more and aired their political views?



I'm not a huge fan of the American volleyball, but I was struck at the time by this salvo directed by LeBron James towards arguably the most powerful man in the West. James had actively campaigned for Clinton in the election, and his views on Trump were well-known before this. It's important to remember that James and Steph Curry are not simply 'good players'; their footballing equivalents would be Neymar and Messi in the sense that not only are they at the top of their profession, they are making organisational, management-level interventions on a regular basis. We're doing the logical triple jump here, but James would be Wayne Rooney (best player), Jagielka (captain) Steve Walsh (Director of Football and overall footballing strategic direction) and a significant amount of Elstone's role all bundled in to one. It's a clumsy analogy, but here's an individual that not only effects the fortunes of their team in-game, but has unequivocally tied the entire organisation's colours to one political mast. Could you imagine that happening here? You've got whole teams kneeling during the national anthem before the start of American Rugby games, inspiring and alienating sections of their own fanbase in a definitive manner. But the net result is supporters are engaged on a far deeper level than simply watching them spend a couple of seasons jogging about in the jersey (yes I know jersey is not for the soccers but it works on a creative level here).

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Then of course you've got the middle of the Venn Diagram - the Catalan independence referendum. Pique, a wonderful snide on the pitch, the subtle knife in the ribcage to Ramos's sledgehammer in the chops, was pictured above in a Catalan polling station. He could quite easily have uttered a few neutral remarks, stayed at home 'for his own safety' and backed the winning horse when the political situation is resolved. But there he us, dressed like a child who wet his kecks on the first day at school and that's all they had left in the office lost property, leading the way. And naturally, the Barcelona fans love him for it; there's that empathy, that link between gajillionaire footballer and common man, he's one of us, we support him and by extension, we support him and team. Add Drogba and his political influence in the Cote d'ivoire and you've got players who transcend their sport.

Bringing us back to Everton (or British Football in general)



I'm not hugely sold on Bolasie the footballer, but he comes across as a likable individual who probably stops and has a quick chat on a match day. He's got an expansive, interesting playing career at a variety of levels and strikes me as man with an opinion.

But the tweet above is indicative of the level of common man 'bantz' you get out of players. "You play FIFA? So do I! Well, they pay me a bit of money and I tweet about it. But we've got that in common, right????".

Who are these people? The only time they seem to deviate from the script is when a cyclist has been run over, a rent-a-scandal lady has been driven home, a fan has been punched for nicking a hat. Only negativity breaks the spell. When the U23s helped raise money for the house to help the homeless, wouldn't it have been fantastic if one person, even David Unsworth, had commented on how disgraceful it is that a wealthy city can no longer look after its own, that in modern society we still have people going hungry and sleeping rough, that it shouldn't have to resort to a football club (and the donations from ordinary working people) to make a welcome if drop-in-the-ocean intervention? But instead, the usual trope, 'don't know how lucky we are' / 'good to give something back' / 'good lesson for the youngsters' etc etc.

If you were asked for a list of ten Goodison icons from the glory days, high among them would be Peter Reid and Neville Southall. The latter is as hard left as possible, currently espousing skeletons for lampposts and pigs with lipstick (me neither). Reid has just been quoted tearing Boris Johnson a new one. We are interested in what they have to say, whether we agree with it or not, and that helps build the link. What do we have from the current lot? You could probably get the after match comments of Weir, Jagielka, Neville, Stubbs, Baines, remove the team names and you'd have a homogenised mess of oblique phrases, impossible to attribute to any one individual. They come in, they do their thing for a few years, leave not utterances of note, they pootle out the door. It's like the footballing equivalent of Westworld, minus the boobs and violence. Well, we've got Williams for the former I suppose. No real affinity - no real link with the fans - very difficult to muster any real feeling for any of them on a Saturday afternoon. Just once, I'd like one of them to give us a bit of insight, some link that we can all work with, even if we score a goal (haha) and all eleven players lie on the floor in front of the Street End and spell out '51.9% LOL' (I've tried this with eleven matchsticks this morning).

Should Everton players and politics mix? And would you feel a greater affinity for a player who shared your views?

I probably should have a poll here.
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Very good O.
 

I don't believe in mixing politics with football.I couldn't care less what someones political or personal views are.That's nothing to do with me.So as long as a player is good enough to play for Everton and is putting in the performances every week.That's the only thing im concerned about.
 
I don't want the players filling their heads with political theory.

They've enough trouble passing the ball to each other at the moment.
 
While the Proles argue & bicker about politics, the Politicians are lapping up their tax payer funded lifestyle...they all feed from the same trough.
 

Honestly I have no problem with athletes or anyone with a platform to express their views. They are just as qualified as many of the talking heads on TV...and more genuine.

I look at the good that athletes do simply by using the platform they have and am awed by the likes of JJ Watt who raised over $37 mil for Hurricane Harvey relief, Russell Wilson who visits the Seattle Children's Hospital every week to spend time with sick kids and inspire them, and Larry Fitzgerald who took time to hug my mom before a game during breast cancer awareness month a few years ago. For me if they want to pipe up about politics and actual social change I am all for it.

Why should famous people be scorned for having a platform that can reach more than the average Joe? Oh wait...Trump.

Ffs...don't mind me...carry on.
 
Khalekan said:
You think Wayne would get more stick from the fans for voting Tory than he did for drunk driving the other week?

(he would from me, like, but I am just interested in where the moral compass is pointing on GOT :blush:)
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Good question, that. It feels like the general consensus on here is that voting tory is up there with rape and murder, so I suspect he'd get far worse stick than he has done so far. What do you reckon?
 
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