THE PRICK’S STILL PRATTLING ON!

That fucking idiot Oliver Holt, from The Daily Mirror, is still trying to cause unnecessary racial issues in the beautiful game.  He’s still prattling on as you can see from the link to this story, that The Jimmy Walker sent me.

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Open-Goal-campaign-Football-League-stats-shed-new-light-on-how-black-would-be-managers-discriminated-against-exclusive-story-article799229.html

Holt is claiming that the statistics he has provided in this (yet another totally pointless) article prove that black managers are being discriminated against, however, the statistics in this article seem to have no relation to race at all.

If you’ve got a lot of qualified black coaches not being given opportunities when unqualified white coaches are then fair enough, but these statistics don’t seem to prove anything.  This is saying that a lot of managers are performing their role without having the qualification but not much else.

If some players go on to become managers through getting an opportunity at the club they are with and do a good job surely that’s all that really matters.  If you work in a job long enough you become ‘time served’, which is the same as going through an apprenticeship, only without the formal qualifications.  So that seems a moot point.

If there is a pool of qualified managers who aren’t in employment then you should be taking the statistics from that.  For instance, say you have 200 qualified yet unemployed coaches and 50% of those coaches are black, yet only 2% in the English league in employment are black, then you have a point.  But if out of those 200 qualified unemployed coaches, only 2% are black then it is a relative and fair figure.  Therefore the argument should be about not letting unqualified managers run teams and force clubs to only use qualified managers.

The Daily Mirror seems to be trying to create a racial issue from nothing if you ask me.

OLIVER HOLT SHOULD BE SACKED FOR CAUSING UNNECESSARY RACIAL PROBLEMS IN FOOTBALL!

A WEEKEND IN WORDS

After a long, hard and loud weekend involving funerals, football, gigs and politics, it’s time to set a few things straight and get a couple things off my chest.

We’ll start with the antics of Oliver Holt from The Daily Mirror.  My previous blog raised an issue with Holt’s article in Wednesday’s Daily Mirror.  I was also having a debate of sorts with Holt on Twitter, although he seemed to stop responding to me when he realised that I was making a valid point.  Holt mainly seems to be responding to the arguments put forward only by bigots and simpletons and has resorted to insulting these plums in an attempt to justify his self-indulgent, attention-seeking crusade.

Holt’s article – http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/columnists/holt/2011/09/07/it-s-a-scandal-we-only-have-two-black-managers-in-2012-115875-23401746/#.TmdPeHoG_zI.twitter

If it weren’t for having such a difficult weekend, I would have written this blog earlier because this clown’s really twisting my melon with the drivel he’s been spouting on Twitter.  After his article on Rooney’s Rule on Wednesday, the following day Holt tweeted “Piece by me in Mirror tomorrow too, starting with conversation I had with former top flight manager a couple of years ago…. We were watching a Premier League team’s training session and started talking about Thierry Henry, who was playing for Arsenal then… There are only two problems with Thierry Henry: he’s French and he’s black.”

Well my thoughts on this are as follows; firstly, I think this is absolute hoop!  If a racist football manager had actually said this to him, then why wait until now to mention it?  It seems all too convenient that he only brings this to light now when it supports his argument wanting to introduce positive discrimination into the process of recruiting managers for football league clubs.  As I am currently boycotting The Daily Mirror, as it ranks in the same league as The Sun and I refuse to part with my money for cheap toilet roll, I was unable to verify whether or not he chose to name and shame the offending manager.  However, I did ask him for the manager’s name or an online link to his article on Twitter and was not given a response.  So, I am assuming that he didn’t name the manager and that this is nothing but a cock and bull story fabricated to support his case.  If, however, this story is true then why does Holt refuse to name the manager?  And for what reasons has he never before mentioned this?

Holt is claiming that English football is institutionally racist and that managers from ethnic minorities are denied the opportunity to progress into football management after their playing careers are over.  Holt’s article on Wednesday was based on a conversation with ex-Arsenal footballer Paul Davis, who, as Holt even stated himself “hasn’t even bothered to put himself forward for management jobs.”

On Twitter, I asked Holt to provide me with answers to several questions.  I want to know, first and foremost, the name of the offending manager.  Secondly some examples of footballers from ethnic minorities who have actually applied for managerial positions and been denied on the basis of their race.  And finally, which clubs it was that refused to give managers opportunities based on the colour of the skin.  So far Holt has refused to dignify me with a response and I believe the reason for this is simply because his head’s stuck up his arse and everything that comes out of his worthless mouth is a lie!

Holt has created an issue where there was not an issue before.  Most people, when thinking about football managers, do not even consider the colour of their skin.  I, for one, was totally unaware that only two of the ninety-two managers in English league football are black.  A football manager’s ethnic origin has never been a concern to me.  I judge a football manager solely on the basis of his ability to manage a football team.  One example that I would like to highlight of a black football manager being given ample opportunity to prove himself as a manager is Paul Ince.  When Ince joined Blackburn Rovers as manager special dispensation had to be made allowing him to do the job.  Despite being a manager for two years, and working at two professional clubs, Macclesfield Town and Milton Keynes Dons, Ince had not obtained the necessary qualification.  Also Ruud Gullit began his managerial career at Chelsea in the top tier of the English leagues before going on to become Newcastle United manager.  Chris Hughton is another black football manager who was once in charge of Newcastle.  So, several examples can be given.  My friend, Joe Short, made an interesting statement on Facebook regarding this issue.  Joe said, “These tossers who write these arguments always seem to skip over one obvious point: there were fewer black players in days gone by, and given that most managers have played professional football at some stage in their lives (and this is the most common route into the managerial system), then clearly it follows that there aren’t likely to be many black managers kicking around right now.  Give it 10-20 years when the current crop of players have retired from playing the game and I’m damn sure we’ll see higher proportion of black managers plying their trade.”

An article by Martin Samuel worth reading – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2036302/Martin-Samuel-Being-black-Cole-Co-held-back.html

I put it to you that Oliver Holt is a shameful antagonist and a liar!  His article was, in no way, an attempt to highlight an issue, but in fact designed to create one.  Introducing positive discrimination would only serve to create a divide between managers of different races who believe that other managers are being given opportunities they have not strived as hard for simply because their skin colour fits the right categories and ticks the right boxes to keep the PC brigade happy.  My argument is still, that nobody should be looking at another person and seeing a skin colour, they should simply see another human being and if that is not the case then the goal should be to change that person’s perception, not introduce laws and rules to force people to do things.  In my opinion Ollie Holt should be using his position to report NEWS and not stir trouble and he should quite frankly shut the fuck up!

Now that I’ve said my piece on that prick, I’d like to get into the weekend’s football.  The Toon are now fourth in the league after another clean sheet and have still taken more points off the Mackems than they have actually picked up all season, happy daze, Sunderland’s a massive club!  As an added bonus, I even racked up a few points in my fantasy football teams with another Coloccini and Steven Taylor clean sheet, goals from Agbonlahor and John Terry, and hat-tricks from both Aguero and Rooney.  NICE!

My next topic is music.  On Friday, my band Downtown Lester Brown performed with Manalishi at The Telegraph in Newcastle.  We were all sporting ‘tashes as a tribute to Joey Barton’s loyal service for the Toon over the past few years.  I’d like to wish Joey good luck at Queens Park Rangers.

DLB - Tashes for The Telegraph

The gig went well, from what I’m told.  I was so drunk that I only have a few fleeting memories of the night.  Apparently, The Telegraph was unable to handle Downtown Lester Brown’s funk and we tripped the power whilst playing our first track, Each To Their Own.  I’d like to thank everyone who attended, Wor Colin (for helping with transport), Manalishi, The Telegraph, Chay at North-East Rehearsals-Recording (for equipment hire) and, of course, the one and only Downtown Lester Brown for, what I’m told, was a good night.

Also on the subject of music, Downtown Lester Brown had a very productive day yesterday.  We released our single Empty Heed on mp3 download, which you can find on Amazon, Soundclick, CD Baby and several other sites.  We also spent last night down at North-East Rehearsals-Recording with Chay and recorded another three tracks for our debut EP ‘Love & Other Diseases’.  All went very well and thanks again to Chay.

Empty Heed by Downtown Lester Brown – http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/downtownlesterbrown2

Empty Heed

Finally, I would like to pay my respects to my friend Dave Richmond, whose funeral I attended on Friday afternoon, and would encourage you to check out his charity page and please make a donation to help raise some money for Bristol Drugs Project, as this was a cause he supported wholeheartedly.

Dave’s Justgiving.com charity page – http://www.justgiving.com/Evad/?fb_ref=fundraising-page-top&fb_source=profile_multiline

A DIRECT RESPONSE TO OLIVER HOLT

I have decided to start blogging as a direct response to Oliver Holt’s article in today’s Daily Mirror as the 140 character limit for tweets on Twitter is not enough space to express a valid point and justify it.

Holt’s article is designed to cause a stir and create a story.  He claims that it is a “scandal” that there are only two black football managers out of ninety-two in the English football league and that an equivalent to NFL’s Rooney Rule should be enforced in English football.

Rooney’s Rule requires National Football League teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation opportunities and is often cited as an example of affirmative action.  Rooney’s Rule enforces positive discrimination and forces teams to interview a candidate on the sole basis of their race and not their merits or achievements.  Positive discrimination is still a form of discrimination and should not be allowed, let alone enforced.  Only the right candidates for any job should be considered, and given interviews and opportunities based on their merit, experience qualifications and achievements, not on race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin.

Along with everybody I have spoken to today, I was unaware of the statistics Holt’s article cites.  “25 per cent of our 4,500 professional players are from ethnic minorities – but this group only makes up two per cent of our managers.”  Nobody that I spoke to had even thought about it.  The reason for this?  The colour of a manager’s skin is irrelevant.  If you look at somebody and see the colour of their skin, rather than a person and an individual, then you are part of the problem, not part of the solution.  All people are equal so why focus on the colour of their skin?

Holt’s article, which claims that black managers are not given the same opportunities as white managers, is based on the opinion of Paul Davis.  Former Arsenal player, Davis coached Arsenal’s Under-13 and Under-15 teams before quitting in 2003.  Davis thinks that for black players applying to get into management “It’s a waste of their time and a threat to their dignity.”  The same Paul Davis, who after quitting as a youth coach, “hasn’t even bothered to put himself forward for management jobs.”  Like any job, you will rarely find one if you don’t look for and apply for one.

As in any walk of life, unless you know the right people, you need to start your career on the bottom rung to prove  yourself before you can work your way up the ladder.  Most football managers begin their careers coaching youth teams or managing smaller clubs.  There are some exceptions, such as Mark Hughes starting his managerial career at Wales, Gianluca Vialli for Chelsea and even Alan Shearer getting a short pop as Newcastle United manager, but these people usually served as a leader for the team as a player.  I have no doubt that if a player such as Patrick Vieira chooses to go into football management there would be several teams willing to give him an opportunity.  Has Holt bothered to ask ex-footballers such as Garth Crooks, Marcel Desailly and even John Fashanu why they chose careers in television, rather than in football management?  Davis’ claim that applying is “a threat to their dignity” is ridiculous.  Would it be good for someone’s dignity knowing that the only reason they were selected for the job was because their skin was the right colour? 

Holt is creating an issue with this article to fill his column space and grab attention for himself.  This is not aimed at identifying or finding a solution to a problem.  This is about creating a problem.  If people, society, look at people and see skin colour before anything else the solution is to try to change the perception of the people not create rules and laws to enforce positive discrimination because then you create a divide.  Plus rules are only made to be broken.

You can read Holt’s article at – http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/columnists/holt/2011/09/07/it-s-a-scandal-we-only-have-two-black-managers-in-2012-115875-23401746/#.TmdPeHoG_zI.twitter