Jason Roberts...Do you sometimes find him annoying?!

[Alexander Litvinenko]

I agree with Zac fwiw. As I asked earlier, what does he expect them to change? Perhaps he could work WITH them to try and instigate some of these changes, rather than slagging them off.

Would you wear a STAR lapel badge?

Roberts thinks KIO is ineffectual, ineffective and counter-productive. Why should he publicly support them?

[Rex]

No denying that, I just think he's needlessly undermined an organisation that has done good work and needed a vocal ambassador to breathe new life into it within ranks. Especially as the job is obviously not done. Not a vocal critic.

They'd probably have welcomed him with open arms but he's kind of poisoned the well for himself now hasn't he?

I agree with Zac.

I don't necessarily agree. Sometimes it's great to initiate debate from all angles on an issue. He's opened a window for debate. It is how his views are absorbed, learnt from and either dismissed or progressed that could actually push the debate and issues forward. The whole world of football from a professional or spectator angle needs reassessing. Supporters hiding behind a wall of spectators who shout racist chants, comments,need to be singled out and dealt with by supporters, players, and stewards and dealt with in legal terms if need be. Abuse is standard fayre in football and as such is moving back towards alpha male behaviour. The footballing world wants to move away from this, sanitise football and get family bums on seats. While I applaud this to a certain extent and feel all stereotypical labelling of individuals should be limited or eradicated, football can be that highly charged event where passion, emotion and frustrations need venting at the end of a working week. Combine that with tribalism and alcohol and a meek and mild middle England accountant bumbling through life in a non entity job and pack mentality can take over.
How this is moved forward logically and without charged emotion will be interesting.

[Rex]

Supporters hiding behind a wall of spectators who shout racist chants, comments,need to be singled out and dealt with by supporters, players, and stewards and dealt with in legal terms if need be.

Yeah, people who shout the word "black" need to be put in prison!

Read it slooooowly.

[Pandoras Box]

Burkhas? Muslims? Islam? So when has Islam been a race? There's some right cr@p spouted on this thread.

[ankeny]

"
"I agree with you about this country being one of the most welcoming in the World, and I also agree with you that racist tendencies have lessened in the past few years. I do not, however, see everything white as bad and everything black as good. The vast majority of my family are white, it's just my wife and two of my children who aren't. Why I dislike racism and believe it to be one of the things in this world which need to be got rid of is simply because I know that some people look at my wife and see only the colour of her skin. I hope that by the time my 2 daughters grow up (they're 4 and 2) that all white people will see them and not make up their minds about what sort of people they are simply by looking at the colour of their skin. The change is starting (helped by organisations like Kick It Out) and I hope it will make our society as race-blind as Brasil is now.[/quote]"
Cheers for that,nice one,good luck to you and your family, I have a friend with a mixed race child who went to live in the mid west of America ,the Bible Belt.At first they had a hard time but now nothing,I have been there and saw no Rascism so everything is changing albeit slowly in some places.

[PBR]

why does reading keep signing outspoken retards, first kitson, then liam, now jason roberts. just do your job, save the media career for after you retire. just stinks of self promotion. refusing to wear a t-shirt is akin to starting a facebook page to stop world poverty, absolutely pointless. think there is a problem with racism? do a bit more than retweet your black friends and be proactive, or is that too difficult ? give him a mbe, he hates racism.

[TBM]

Ferguson added: "If everyone believes in it you should do it together. We shouldn't have sheep wandering off - I think it gives the wrong message.
All the players are wearing it. I have only heard that Jason Roberts is different."

lol, Rio didn't wear one making Fergie look stupid

[Still Hate Futcher!]

In the real world calling someone a ‘f***ing black c***!’ at work would result in instant dismissal, yet in football the punishment is 4 extra days off and the loss of a week’s pocket money. Terry hasn’t even lost his club’s captaincy. So to all those slagging Roberts off, could you please explain how being told to wear a stupid f***ing t-shirt for 20 minutes a year is going to help combat racism?

I think Roberts did the right thing, as did McDermott in backing him. Contrast that with Ferguson’s comments on Roberts and Ferdinand and I’m more proud than ever to support Reading FC. Judging by a few comments on here the fight against racism still has a long way to go – I get the impression a few of you miss the good old days of monkey chants on The Southbank.

[RobRoyal]

why does reading keep signing outspoken retards, first kitson, then liam, now jason roberts. just do your job, save the media career for after you retire. just stinks of self promotion. refusing to wear a t-shirt is akin to starting a facebook page to stop world poverty, absolutely pointless. think there is a problem with racism? do a bit more than retweet your black friends and be proactive, or is that too difficult ? give him a mbe, he hates racism.

If refusing to wear a t-shirt is akin to starting a facebook page to stop world poverty, wearing the t-shirt is what, exactly?

[RobRoyal]

Morons like this are the problem! Racism is appalling. Calling people Racist when they are not is equally so - but it's so easy for the mentally-underpriveleged!

To describe someone as black is absolutely acceptable (e.g. Nelson Mandela - first black president of RSA. Barack Obama - first black president of USA), to say that they are somehow less than you - BECAUSE they are black, that is Racist! To repeat what I have previously posted, the abuse on football pitches (or sledging in a cricket contest), is endemic. Why is it OK to call people fat, ginger, queer, whatever, to say 'I slept with your wife last night and she was rubbish! but, if you say 'BLACK' , suddenly you can be hung out to dry? Any professional footballer who has not grown up being sledged - is not a professional footballer! The current situation IS the new 'diving to cheat' situation.

Real racism was totally on show in the U21 match against Serbia, strangely, few people seem to be talking about that!

Shit, accidently read a TheSiege post. Another hundred brain cells shut down in protest.

[Royal Lady]

I agree with Zac fwiw. As I asked earlier, what does he expect them to change? Perhaps he could work WITH them to try and instigate some of these changes, rather than slagging them off.

Would you wear a STAR lapel badge?

Roberts thinks KIO is ineffectual, ineffective and counter-productive. Why should he publicly support them?

Slightly different to compare Kick Out with STAR!!

What is Roberts going to do now? Start up his own anti-racism in football group? Are the FA etc going to follow him? If not, he'll be a lone voice and he won't do any better on his own than with the organisation that he was previously happy to support - it seems to me, he's got the hump because Terry didn't get an 8 match ban and because of what happened in Serbia - neither of which could be influenced by any anti-racism campaign groups.

[DelBoyRodders]

Slightly different to compare Kick Out with STAR!!

What is Roberts going to do now? Start up his own anti-racism in football group? Are the FA etc going to follow him? If not, he'll be a lone voice and he won't do any better on his own than with the organisation that he was previously happy to support - it seems to me, he's got the hump because Terry didn't get an 8 match ban and because of what happened in Serbia - neither of which could be influenced by any anti-racism campaign groups.

Agreed 100%.
You speak a lot of sense.

[Stuboo]

Slightly different to compare Kick Out with STAR!!

What is Roberts going to do now? Start up his own anti-racism in football group? Are the FA etc going to follow him? If not, he'll be a lone voice and he won't do any better on his own than with the organisation that he was previously happy to support - it seems to me, he's got the hump because Terry didn't get an 8 match ban and because of what happened in Serbia - neither of which could be influenced by any anti-racism campaign groups.

Agreed 100%.
You speak a lot of sense.

Also agreed. Even if the prevailing majority (judging by the radio, twitter, etc) don't. But then again it's hard to tell what the percentage split of opion is. I'm guessing 60% for Roberts, 40% against. We could do with a Hob Nob poll.

I'm also in the unfamiliar position of fully agreeing with Sir Alex Ferguson. Argggh!

[ManchesterRoyals]

Slightly different to compare Kick Out with STAR!!

What is Roberts going to do now? Start up his own anti-racism in football group? Are the FA etc going to follow him? If not, he'll be a lone voice and he won't do any better on his own than with the organisation that he was previously happy to support - it seems to me, he's got the hump because Terry didn't get an 8 match ban and because of what happened in Serbia - neither of which could be influenced by any anti-racism campaign groups.

Agreed 100%.
You speak a lot of sense.

Also agreed. Even if the prevailing majority (judging by the radio, twitter, etc) don't. But then again it's hard to tell what the percentage split of opion is. I'm guessing 60% for Roberts, 40% against. We could do with a Hob Nob poll.

I'm also in the unfamiliar position of fully agreeing with Sir Alex Ferguson. Argggh!

I like fergie on MOTD saying that ferdinand has made him out to be a idiot and he will be dealt with

[Alexander Litvinenko]

I agree with Zac fwiw. As I asked earlier, what does he expect them to change? Perhaps he could work WITH them to try and instigate some of these changes, rather than slagging them off.

Would you wear a STAR lapel badge?

Roberts thinks KIO is ineffectual, ineffective and counter-productive. Why should he publicly support them?

Slightly different to compare Kick Out with STAR!! .

The fundamental principle is the same - he's being asked to publicly support an organisation he thinks is pointless and ineffective, and exercising his right not to do so, unlike so many other supine footballer who do exactly what their manager tells them without exercising a moment's thought.

And as for those people making a case that KIO is a charity .... yes it's a charity, but it's a charity funded almost exclusively (and barely) from *inside* football, and so it dances to football's tune. It's primarily a box-ticking exercise, so that those in power in the game don't have to spend the money and to ruffle the feathers that having a properly-funded, fully-effective anti-racism organisation.

That's his whole point!

[leon]

Let's all be honest. Jason Roberts has dropped a wobbler! He could have attacked people or responsible organisations like UEFA or the FA, however, he might then have either been sued or brought before the various football authorities. It's easier to attack an almost charitable institution who do their best with little funding and no power!

If honesty unbelievably surfaced, perhaps those people who have been so vocal so far might say that, deep down, they have always been pissed off that John Terry is a better footballer than they are!

You! Are! A! Tiresome! Fucking! Boring! Cunt!

Die!

[St Pauli]

Can't be arsed to read the whole thread, but needless to say, Roberts is in the right. It's not his responsibilty to sort out KIO's shitness for them, or start up another organisation, but if he sees the problems in KIO's actions he should speak out about it.

+1 JR.

To all those 'JT's not a racist'/'my best man was black'/'Muslims not a race' phuck off back under your Headhunters/Leeds/Rangers stone.

[Ups and Downs]

In the real world calling someone a ‘f***ing black c***!’ at work would result in instant dismissal, yet in football the punishment is 4 extra days off and the loss of a week’s pocket money. Terry hasn’t even lost his club’s captaincy. So to all those slagging Roberts off, could you please explain how being told to wear a stupid f***ing t-shirt for 20 minutes a year is going to help combat racism?

I think Roberts did the right thing, as did McDermott in backing him. Contrast that with Ferguson’s comments on Roberts and Ferdinand and I’m more proud than ever to support Reading FC. Judging by a few comments on here the fight against racism still has a long way to go – I get the impression a few of you miss the good old days of monkey chants on The Southbank.

Succinct. Although we have to accept; as long as dickheads exist, they'll always be dickheads.

[Avon Royal]

Roberts was in the right, if he wasn't committed to the KIO organisation he did the right thing in not wearing their shirt.

He was however somewhat hypocritical by then pulling on a Reading shirt..........

[Royal Lady]

The point is, up until the two most recent racist events, Roberts appeared to be supporting KIO - I've not heard him moan about them before - and if he has, he certainly couldn't have been as vocal as he has recently been. So what happened to make him suddenly get all mouthy over how bad KIO are? Like I said, the FA decision to ban JT for 4 games and the racism in Serbia spring to mind. Why didn't he mouth off when Suarez got an 8 game ban and a big fine?

And, at this moment in time, I'd prefer our players to be concentrating on the playing side of their game - I think the close season is time enough for Roberts et al to spout all they want about their opposition to campaigns such as KIO and do something about it then. It's not like anyone is going to turn around tomorrow and say, "we're dropping KIO with immediate effect because one player spoke out and 2 others also refused to wear a t shirt".