Marcus Rashford lobbying govt to help vulnerable children

[Boris Becker’s Backhand]

Due to having exceptional talent and being fed well by the clubs he was working at?
Takes a special kind of bitterness to post something snidey about this story.

My point was that he wasn’t brought up in some dystopian hellhole, foraging for crumbs of food with no chance of success. Any kid in this country with talent or a work ethic will do well.

 

[Mike Cledford]

Does it matter? If it was me I may get help to write it ,doesn't mean I wasn't behind it or suggested it. If it's a good thing to push it's a good thing to push.

Agreed but as l said be honest about it and sayhe puts his name to it and backs it fully - as l do.

 

[Cotton Weave Blue]

Berts are gonna bert, I guess. They’d take a completely opposite view if it was a City player behind it.

Tribalism at its lowest. The lad is doing a good thing and has invested in a PR team to pick up the messages and he's the face of it. Cant blame him given the media (and rival fans) looking for anything to trip him up.

 

[domalino]

Same here, grew up in Collyhurst in 60’s without a pot to piss in but never went hungry, my grandmother who was born in Collyhurst slums in 1905 grafted to make sure her 5 kids never went hungry it’s an admirable acton by Rashford but it will be abused no doubt and Ashtons sticky PR mits are all over this story, many footballers from a multitude of clubs do great things in their community but don’t get any media attention.

What about all the kids who don't have a grandmother to feed them?

You'd condemn them all to hunger all summer just to stop it getting "abused" - and by the way what does that even mean? It's a couple of quid a day for a crappy school lunch, it's nothing, unless it's the only proper meal you'll get all day and then it's everything.

 

[Mike Cledford]

Same here, grew up in Collyhurst in 60’s without a pot to piss in but never went hungry, my grandmother who was born in Collyhurst slums in 1905 grafted to make sure her 5 kids never went hungry it’s an admirable acton by Rashford but it will be abused no doubt and Ashtons sticky PR mits are all over this story, many footballers from a multitude of clubs do great things in their community but don’t get any media attention.

City did get a mention - one of the anti City brigade said City making the Etihad available was just a publicity stunt.

Expect more like this. I had forgotten Ashton was now in his natural home.

 

[Vialli98]

He no more wrote that you or I did. The media carefully uses laguage to suggest 'all my work'. It is clearly written by an experienced charity worker using a lot of jargon and not a young man who is putting his name to it.
Credit to him for that but let's not have the media kid us It was actually written or even dictated by a man who mumbles and stumbles through post match interviews.

I said nothing about who wrote the letter, as it's completely beside the point. I'm more interested in what he's trying to achieve. Any initiative that aims to feed the hungry in general, but especially hungry children is a wonderful initiative that should both applauded and taken seriously. I have noted the views about the PR incentive, but if you're in dire straits in desperate need for help and someone offers you that help, would you really stand there and wonder about whatever PR motives the good samaritan has in his heart?

 

[Vialli98]

I doubt a Chelsea would understand that.

I got the gist though :)

 

[BillyShears]

I said nothing about who wrote the letter, as it's completely beside the point. I'm more interested in what he's trying to achieve. Any initiative that aims to feed the hungry in general, but especially hungry children is a wonderful initiative that should both applauded and taken seriously. I have noted the views about the PR incentive, but if you're in dire straits in desperate need for help and someone offers you that help, would you really stand there and wonder about whatever PR motives the good samaritan has in his heart?

Its a bit like the “Abu Dhabi are sports washing” argument.

Smacks of sour grapes. And to have sour grapes that a kid is literally trying to feed other poor kids is just mad in my book. But okay it takes all sorts.

 

[domalino]

There's 1.3m kids eligible for FSMs.

It costs £15 per kid per week.

So we're talking about the government spending £117m-£156m to cover 6-8 weeks.

Remember that the government spent £88m of tax payer money by doling out post-brexit ferry contracts to unqualified companies, costing them £33m in compensation to the Eurotunnel company and £50m for cancelling the contracts it did give out to ferry companies who didn't have any ferries.

The government spent £15m on pubs "to bring communities together by expanding their services beyond food and drink"

Let's not even get started on the £2.8 Billion wasted on Crossrail simply because of delays.


This free school meals is an absolute pittance, if anyone tells you the money isn't there, they're full of shit.

 

[Vialli98]

There is absolutely nothing good that can come from questioning Rashford's motivations behind this. I genuinely believe his heart is in the right place. He's a local lad, grew up skint, seems to honestly care. Even then, it simply doesn't matter. As others have said, regardless of the motivations, it'll end up with kids being fed if he succeeds. That's class.

Even better, it might end up causing loads of other footballers to use their prominency to stoke some more positive flames. And footballers really do have a fucking huge amount of clout if they really want to push something. They could be a huge force for good. It is too easy to be cynical, but really, what does it achieve? Nothing. It allows people to undermine the cause, and that'll detract from the unquestionable good that will come from this campaign. Always support these things. It doesn't matter if it's feeding one player's ego or PR if it means the right thing is done.

Rashford deserves all the praise he's getting at the moment in my opinion. Yes, he will have a PR team helping him, yes his management will be involved, but ultimately, it's his call, and he made the right one. Fair fucks. He's a good lad and a credit to the City. We should appreciate him. He's a proper Manc.

To undertake such an initiative, is it even feasible to achieve properly without the aid of his management and PR team?