"Proper England fans don't boo players"

[Otto_Man]

Says Herman Maguire...

What say you?

[Reesh]

If you've paid your money you have a right to voice your opinion particularly if it is the inclusion of Jordan fucking Henderson 

[Ozzie]

Bored of watching England under Southgate. How can players not getting games at their clubs earn a call up? it's a farce. We have some quality players in Bellingham, Foden, Grealish etc and their international careers will be wasted with the flag  waving, box ticking twitchy twat.

How many clubs in the Prem would take him? 

[Billysboy]

Speaks up against oppression against LGBTQ people then earns a lot of corn from one of the worst places for it, that's why he deserves the boos, plus he is a bit shit.

[mkowl]

Proper people who purport to support LGBTQ rights wouldn't under any circumstances work in a nation that does not endorse their views 

Lets be honest all the fucking kneeling, t shirt slogans, rainbow laces is 100% virtue signalling, to be seen to do the right thing but ultimately when it comes down to money like fuck it matters

 

[Boracic Lint]

That Mark Goldbridge, the Man U shouty bloke actually put it best.

Jordan Henderson gave up competitive football for the money, and if he doesn't play competitively for club, shouldn't for country.

Southgate's just taking the piss now though.

[Andyben]

Now?

[Boracic Lint]

1 minute ago, Andyben said:

Now?

He was before but he's just rubbing people's noses in it now.

It's like he's picking them just so he can have these little press conferences.

[HoylandOwl]

4 hours ago, holmesfield_owl said:

I for one enjoyed the performance last night, daft Southgate squad selection issues aside. 

Me too

[Reesh]

4 hours ago, Boracic Lint said:

That Mark Goldbridge, the Man U shouty bloke actually put it best.

Jordan Henderson gave up competitive football for the money, and if he doesn't play competitively for club, shouldn't for country.

Southgate's just taking the piss now though.

Goldbridge is an absolute fucking weapon of the highest order, he probably wears his cap indoors too.

[Boracic Lint]

8 minutes ago, Reesh said:

Goldbridge is an absolute fucking weapon of the highest order, he probably wears his cap indoors too.

Agree completely but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

It makes me laugh,'Oh no! Were only spending 2 billion this year, Man U is finished!'

It puts things into perspective and makes you realise that there are fans suffering out there with teams that are in much worse trouble than ours.

[Reesh]

Just now, Boracic Lint said:

Agree completely but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

It makes me laugh,'Oh no! Were only spending 2 billion this year, Man U is finished!'

It puts things into perspective and makes you realise that there are fans suffering out there with teams that are in much worse trouble than ours.

He's a Forest fan

[Kiwi Owl]

So when a manager says he only picks players for England based on their form

Then never selects James Ward Prowse as an example who's playing very well for West Ham

Hmmm, think I can understand why some fans will be annoyed 'favourites' are being picked instead of players on form

[Andyben]

...and he picks a shit full back to play in Midfield ahead of him.

If I was English and playing in a top championship team, I'd be begging to move to Palace as you're guaranteed an England shirt...

[Owling_Wolf]

20 hours ago, holmesfield_owl said:

I for one enjoyed the performance last night, daft Southgate squad selection issues aside. 

Once we got started. 

[M42Owl]

On one level, the footballing level, I agree with Maguire: “proper fans” don’t boo players. Not individually anyway.

Boo a team at full time if they’re poor or uncommitted maybe, but not an individual. There might be an argument that booing a player is the kick up the backside he needs. I don’t go along with that. Booing individuals damages confidence that is probably fragile to start with and is most likely to make performances worse.

Then there’s the non-footballing level, where a player does or says something away from the pitch (Ched, Greenwood, Hughes spring to mind). But there are areas that are less clear cut: I suspect most Jewish or Arab players are currently treading a fine line between staying silence and expressing their reasonably held views.

But on to Henderson. And I think this is where players live in another reality. It’s fine, in my opinion, for any player to express strong support for LGBQ+ or not. But if Henderson was sincere in his support for the LGBQ community then he wouldn’t have gone to Saudi - it’s not like he’s struggling with the cost of living crisis. So he’s shown himself to be a hypocrite and he deserves all the booing he gets. It’s nothing to do with his football (although being selected before better players doesn’t help). It’s not even his expressed views. It’s his sudden apparent change in those view when big money is involved; it’s his hypocrisy.

And Southgate and Maguire, presumably when asked, could hardly call Henderson a twat, but equally they don’t need to give such fulsome support for him. That why I think they’re not living in the real world. They don’t see that Henderson has done anything deserving of criticism. And the only way for most of us to deliver that criticism is via a few boos. Top footballers (and managers) are in their football bubble and nothing else matters. Social media accounts and support for any oppressed group or cause is mainly to boost their likes and their ego and their sponsorships.

Maguire and Southgate need calling out for supporting Henderson almost as much as Henderson does for his hypocrisy.

 

* There are some, perhaps many, exceptions: Grealish and Defoe, but at the top of the game, I think they’re probably in a minority.