Are you lot serious? Someone mischievously titled a photo with the most innofensive epithet I can think of, the BBC inadvertently publish it leading to 130 pages of internet rage.
Then to crown it all and to defend the clubs bruised honour after this egregious slur, a city fan publishes an article on a popular football website which speculates that the fan in question might be suffering from some form of mental illness. It even throws a popular one in there without any knowledge at all about the fans medical history and without any consent from him.
Which is worse, being called Bertie or having your mental health speculated about on a football website?
Embarrassing and ill considered.
Outrage generated in the echo chamber of an internet forum isn't the real world.
I included in the piece a caveat that I had debated long and hard about whether to touch on the possibility of any mental condition so I don't necessarily disagree with your viewpoint Guy Debord. However I would like to say my side of it.
Earlier in this thread a poster insisted that Pete once informed his child that he suffers from a form of Asperger's. Elsewhere several other posters mention a learning difficulty.
These claims are by no means factual which is why I said they were 'unverified reports'. The reason I included such 'speculation' (and I am certainly not in the habit of speculating to anyone's mental condition, least of all a Blue) is because in this particular instance its possibility IS pertinent to the BBC's mockery of the man. It potentially is part of the story.
That assertion is based entirely on fact and, more so, the most factual source a writer can possibly have - my own personal experiences.
I have run social media pages for a number of different companies ranging from Puma to clothing sites who request that I 'bantz' with fans to boost interaction.
None of these pages would have permitted me to run with this post and it has precisely nothing to do with the use of 'Bertie'.
Apologies if this is indelicate - and this is absolutely no judgement of Pete in any way, shape or form - but with only a photograph to go on of a man dressed entirely in blue, with a plethora of badges, and carrying City paraphernalia the suggestion would be that the man is eccentric or possibly more than eccentric. And all six companies I have worked for would definitely err on the side of caution here and forbid any post that could be construed as mockery.
This is the BBC who did this. The BBC!