Butterfingers

4 minutes ago, zak said:

I at first with what media i received thought here we go England and have shifted my position with further information. I feel for most of the Engalnd fans out there and do not believe they deserve it or anything. What the Russians did was a disgrace, even more so by the MPs condoling their fans actions. I believe that alot of what has happened is due to Englands reputation and not their actions. Again, i do not agree any middle aged men should get the shit kicked out of them for supporting England.

However if you want to continue with your comparisons with Ireland, i dont think you would find the same scenarios. IMHO Ireland fans would not sing antagonizing songs to the city they are in and their police, posture up at the local riot police or throw bottles at them.

I take it you are under the belief the French police tear gassed England fans who were just sitting and drinking in pubs with maybe a few casual songs?

Again, my stance for clarity, i believe most England fans are completely innocent and definitely do not deserve the beatings from local Ultras and Russians. I also believe that there are others who IN SOME instances are not fully squeaky clean but still do not deserve being attacked.

 

You never seen the Irish in London then, I take it?

The police in Marseille stood back and watched the English get battered. They then indiscriminately fired tear gas at them. Are you surprised a few retaliated?

5 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I'm sure there will be English vs Welsh scuffles too, but I'd be surprised if it's anywhere near as bad as it was last week.

For me, last week is as bad as it could have got. I've ben round the block with the Villa. I was in the middle of the Brussels riot, the crush at Oxford and many horrible incidents in the 70's.

Apart from 1 incident at Newcastle where the old travellers club coaches  were battered as soon as they got off the coaches, nothing has come anywhere near last weekend, The cowardice, the bullying and level of violence was at a new level for me.

I find it unbelievable that there are so many clueless people who still think that we are somehow to blame.

Those injured, including the 50 year old who is unlikely to ever recover could quite easily have been any one of us off here. 

7 minutes ago, kurtsimonw said:

I suppose the English were at fault for the German and Ukraine fans fighting, 100s of miles away, as well.

Yes-It's the English disease don't you know.

I'd love Russia to play good old "everbodies friends" the Irish and see if people claimed that attacking these people was "fighting back"

1 minute ago, chrissmith921 said:

England fans have been at it for years. Still are.

This time, people fought back - and were prepared. And now in 2 years these English fans will need to go to Russia - its going to be the same. Not innocent at all though - years and years England fans have been pricks? Or is that not true as well?!

"Fought back"

Are you on drugs?????

Middle aged men were hunted down in packs, chased, beaten to a pulp and left unconscious. They had done nothing wrong other than to be enjoying the atmosphere.

Please point us to any videos where English are fighting before attempting to re-write history. The chairman of the FA has come out today and stated that English fans need protecting.

Some of this anti-English stuff really is disgusting on here.

Just now, chrissmith921 said:

Its known as the English disease for a reason

Oh right-So the Russians who planned all this months ago did so because they caught a dose of the English disease?

Priceless.

Likewise the Marseille scum who told Joey Barton they were attacking English "because it's our city"

With the greatest respect, it is known as the English disease because of clueless fools spouting crap and journalists who want to sell stories.

1 minute ago, kurtsimonw said:

That makes perfect sense. So if one of my Polish locals causes a bit of trouble, should I gather all of my friends to go in to the Polish shop down the road and smash the shit out of all of them. Because clearly they cant be innocent, they're Polish too, they're just as responsible for the man causing the trouble!

If anyone thinks that the actions of the English fans influenced the premeditated attacks on them by both Russian and French hooligans, they are seriously deluded.

1 hour ago, jon_c said:

Fee? Jesus, I assumed he'd be available on a free. 

Just looking on his Wiki page last night, it said he was 1 year into a 4 year contract. It's possible that some form of fee would be involved but I'd doubt it would be high. I assume Lazio got him for nothing? They may of course just be glad for someone to take him off their hands.

14 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

He really hasn't played much at all recently, played a couple of times for Lazio, was exiled for half a season at West Ham, didn't always play at QPR on loan.

Too much like Scott Sinclair for me, these guys who spend ages not playing and with dodgy attitude lose something in their game.

A lot would be dependant on what sort of fee was involved. At the right price, he could be worth a punt. I'm sure that Lazio are keen to part with him. A nominal fee represents no risk for me other than a commitment to wages. It could well be that he could end up replacing Sinclair, who is rumoured to be on his way out. For me, I would sooner take a chance on Ravel coming good than I would Sinclair.

I know that it would be a culture shock for many to see a midfielder who scores goals but we have to accept that we have to take a gamble on some of these signings-Its where we've slipped to. Is it any worse than the days of Tonev and Bowrey etc?

Lets trust RDM

In fact, Wikpedia says he plays for Aston Villa.

Will be pleased if this comes off.

I think he's good enough for the Prem. Would be worth a punt for me. He could well be at a crossroads here and his next move is make or break for him.

I wouldn't be upset in the slightest if we signed him. I think he may well appreciate the importance of his next move.

That was the only incident of note before Saturday. You failed to mention that yet again, the English were attacked. You made out that Marseille was systematically destroyed by marauding fans whereas in reality, it was a minor incident in which a few locals attacked a bar and a couple of chairs were thrown. When you retell the story though, you omit the locals and make out that it was indiscriminate mayhem by the English.

Had locals not attacked the bar, there would have been no trouble.

You try to make it out to be WW3 for some reason best known to yourself. It stirs it all up and people jump on the bandwagon that the English disease has returned.

Yes according to you. You tried to make a mountain out of a mole hill by turning one incident where local low life attacked a bar that English fans were drinking.

By the time this gets back to VT, Marseille is "destroyed" Priceless.

I really have no idea why people like you get off on this utter nonsense and exaggerating but it really does genuine football fans no favours whatsoever.

Those middle aged men getting kicked to a pulp on Saturday afternoon could just as easily have been me or you if it was the Villa who were playing. You really need to think about the rubbish you post. Having your skull smashed by a chair whilst running away does not constitute provoking trouble.

1 minute ago, HanoiVillan said:

You can avoid the point all you want mate, the reality is England's hooligans were top of the news cycle all day Thursday and most of the day Friday before the Russians turned up. There are abundant videos of chairs being thrown, bottles being thrown, xenophobic chanting and whatever else. You'd have **** hated it happening outside your door, I know that for a fact. 

I thought the French don't understand English? That's what they always say. Now all of a sudden they are able to translate explicit chanting.

I'm a bit more tolerant than you. If a group of foreigners want to come and chant in the bars of my city during a large tournament then that's fine.

Anyway, you seem to have detracted from poor old Marseille being destroyed and its now just a few chairs and empty bottles that (according to you) were damaged.

3 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

Do you not have a television or something?

Do your own Google search. 

If some other group of fans were throwing chairs and bottles and fronting up to police like we have been, but in Birmingham (or your city, wherever it is), you'd have a totally different story. 

I don't watch much TV & I've googled a lot since Saturday night. Funny thing is, I can't find anything about Marseille being "destroyed"-In fact you'll be pleased to hear that it looks perfectly intact on the subsequent videos.

13 hours ago, HanoiVillan said:

First of all, yes it did happen before the Russian fans turned up, we started destroying Marseille on Thursday night. 

Secondly, what I would expect people to do, if attacked by hardcore nutcases who are as lethal as you say, is run away. I certainly don't see how throwing empty bottles at French policemen is a sensible self-defense tactic against Russian hooligans.

"Destroying Marseille". Where was this? Where is the proof or are you just posting this for effect?

In many videos, the police stand back and watch English people take horrific beatings and then fire tear gas into them after the Russians have gone.

& most people did try to run away-Unfortunately, the speed of the assaults caught them off guard. One doesn't normally think a 100 strong group will attack 2's and 3's

23 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

through his official twitter account the bloke who is apparently the head of the russian equivalent of MI5 / FBI has tweeted that the french police couldnt cope with the russian fans because they're too use to policing gay pride parades

his name is vladimir markin 

 

 

In nearly very video I've seen, the police are just standing watching as the Russians go steaming into the English fans. It just beggars belief. Can you imagine our police just standing by on Broad Street or Centenary Square if England were holding a major tournament?

1 hour ago, 007√ said:

Don't just blame it on the Russians, the English is just to blame for this stupidity as well as the French.

All of you all are to blame for this! Quit pointing the finger and just face it that you have caused part of the controversy here. Not 100% of it, but you are reliable.

What you know about it all could be written on the back of a postage stamp.

To say that the English are to blame for people receiving life changing injuries is about as clueless as it gets.

48 minutes ago, 007√ said:

I would love for these types of people to come to Chicago and try what they are doing

If you think any of them have any respect for Chicago or any other American city, you are very much mistaken.

40 minutes ago, Wainy316 said:

 

Good, I'm just perplexed how there's no Russians been jailed.

No chance of that-The only 2 arrested were for running on the pitch.

4 minutes ago, The_Rev said:

Daft question, but why were there so many glass bottles in Marseilles?  Almost all the beer seemed to be Heineken, which presumably would have been bought locally on the day of the game and I dare say the bars, supermarkets and off licenses of Marseilles stocked up in anticipation of selling an absolute shitload more than they usually do so why weren't they asked to only provide plastic bottles to the area for a period of time ahead of the tournament?  That would be considered best practice, surely?  

More importantly, who in the right frame of mind would want to drink Heineken?

I have heard that some places didn't sell beer but many were buying crates from off licences.

2 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

"can you stick this in the bin for me please mr officer"

its all a misunderstanding...

After being attacked by the Russians-That's the only misunderstanding. None of that happened before the Russians landed, kicked many innocents to a pulp and ripped down English flags. If the police are going to stand by and watch, what do you expect people to do?

Just now, Genie said:

You could be right, send them over to the police who I'm sure will dispose of them safely

Chance would be a fine thing. They've shown complete ineptitude at policing, I doubt they could stretch to anything that involves work or making an effort.

1 minute ago, Genie said:

From what I have seen, the English 'sing-songs' seemed to consist of snarling in the face of the police, provoking the watching locals and police with songs like "stand up if you hate the French" and "10 German bombers..." whilst tossing empty bottles at the police for good measure. The English supporters (minority) are comletely trashing everywhere they go. I'm not talking about the fighting either, I'm talking about leaving everywhere like its just staged 2 weeks of Glastonbury, thousands of smashed bottles, shit, piss, rubbish everywhere. Incredibly disrespectful... then you say its not fair the police are protecting them enough :-o

 

You've seen different videos to me then. Where did you suggest all the rubbish was put? It looked to me like the bin men had been on strike for the previous month but if there is no provision to throw rubbish away, what would you recommend?