SpartyBlue

I think people generally greatly overestimate the degree to which the average athlete pays attention to or cares about cultural/political issues. See: LIV Golf Tour.

He’s currently the 17th highest paid player on PSG. So it wouldn’t have been a big deal for them to hold him if they wanted to. No reason they’d let a player go on a free whom they could get money for.

Ok now you’re getting a yellow for dissent.

Scoring this one a draw so far.

Ah

Well there are a lot of players promising enough to get a look. Many more get that look and don’t last long then establish themselves in the league

He had a decent loan last year and the year prior. You just never know if it’s going to *click* for these guys. He could certainly still progress. If he doesn’t show something this season I agree that it’s unlikely he’s going to break through with us. This is his chance. A good Championship loan should put him in the mix. I think sometimes we forget how big the jump is from the U-23’s to the best league in the world. For every Gordon or DCL there are 10 or 20 or 100 who don’t make it.

Broadhead is 24 so certainly he’s not likely to break through. Simms is 21 so still a question. Dobbin is a full two years younger at 19 so a successful high level loan would put him on a good path for the first team

Nice negotiating tactic

We scored 4!

On Kiev, they were playing a mixed squad on an emotional night two days after playing in the Champion’s League. I wouldn’t read too much into their performance.

Worth noting Rondon is only on 20k a week. I think he can have some utility if we need to press the ball late or in desperation as a second striker. For that amount of money I don’t think anyone should care much if he stays as long as we do bring in another option or have a plan for when DCL inevitably misses some games.

If we do end up with the general consensus that we’ve had a solid window I expect that our supporters will remember next time around to have some patience. Surely they will give our management more credit and not rush to judgement before a ball is kicked. Yes, I’m sure that’s what will happen.

You’d think he literally didn’t have a right foot. It’s not even that it’s terrible, his left is just a magic wand. If you had both a Ferrari and a Honda, chances are you’re going to use the Ferrari as much as you can.

I disagree with much of this but it was eloquently stated. We agree that many of history’s most horrendous acts came about as a result of some form of indoctrination. I just include religion as the worst offender. There is much intolerance, hatred, violence etc.. that has its genesis in religious texts. Not just a misinterpretation by some small, extremist minority but in the text itself. I don’t imagine you will require specific examples of this as it is so easily confirmed that it shouldn’t be a matter of debate. I think when you say that these are bad people who use religion as cover to do bad things you are being very kind to religion. I don’t believe someone flies a plane into a building to strike at the infidels unless they believe it is the will of their god. I do not believe a mother disowns her son for his homosexuality unless her religion has convinced her that her son’s identity is an abomination. There are many other examples where the catalyst for a terrible act is religious fervor and belief. Where that act would not have happened without the conviction that it is what god wants of them. I find it rather convenient to say that the perpetrators of these acts are simply not following their good book. In many cases their justification comes from a literal reading. Of course there is a flip side to that. Many people live a good life full of good deeds, in part, because of their faith. Because they believe their god wishes that of them and it is a path to paradise. While I can appreciate the value in that I would contend that nobody should need God to be a decent human being. Everyone is capable of leading a good and productive life without the influence of the supernatural. In fact, if someone is good simply because they fear God or because a deity told them to be I would find that to be a rather scary thought. The implication is that without God they may not be inclined to behave themselves. You are of course free to respond as you like but I don’t want to get into too much of a back and forth as it’s obviously a much longer discussion and as much as I enjoy this thread going off track I believe that would be a bit much. I do appreciate the thoughtful response.

A good person can be coerced into doing bad things if they believe it is the will of their god. I’ll take the example of conversion therapy for gays. They have been led to believe that homosexuality is an abomination and that it is a choice. So they sign their children up for these programs. It is an evil thing but I would argue that these people are not. Same as any religious war. They’ve been convinced that the other side is wrong, evil, whatever and so they go to arms. I do not believe that makes them evil, just indoctrinated.

People don’t blow themselves up in a crowded market in the name of atheism. They don’t force conversion therapy for gays in the name of atheism. They don’t start wars because they believe in a different god than another. Evil men and women may do terrible things regardless of if they have religion or not but it is not a driving force for non believers. It is the belief system itself (distorted or not) that is the catalyst for this behavior. Yes, people may abuse human rights in the name of politics or bigotry or other things but it is undeniable that religion has been used as justification for hundreds of millions of deaths and other destructive acts. The same is not true for atheists because atheism is not a system of belief.

This hits it. None of the atrocities committed by these men were done in the name of atheism. “With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil - that takes religion.” ― Steven Weinberg

Appreciate the honesty. You’d never get an accurate poll of course but I would guess there are a huge amount of people who would say they belong to a particular religion if asked who don’t really believe.

One thing that I was worried about with him was that if he started slow he may be affected by our fans jumping on him early. While it’s just the pre-season, that sort of introduction should buy him time to settle in.

Haha. I didn’t say I wanted to, just that I understand it.

Might be why he’s 20m instead of 50m+.That and his pace.

He’s always been a central midfielder. I recall Arsenal fans saying as much when he came. He doesn’t have the crossing or the 1 v 1 ability to be an effective winger. Put him in the middle and he has enough technical ability and passing to make an impact.

Well they were in relation to his decision and the various questions that it begs. Grant you we veered from football talk so I understand wanting to get things back on track.

If ever there was a thread that was designed to go off topic this would be it. Though I think it is actually on topic as the discussion has been centered around Gana.