Platini

[Dubai Blue]

in an interview today platini denied that he has any responsibility for racism at football matches, saying he's not a racist and if it happens it's not his fault. no, this cheese eating surrender monkey would rather persecute owners investing in their football club than take steps to eradicate racism at football matches in europe.

what a twat.

You're having a go at him for not being tough enough on prejudice while labelling him as a 'cheese eating surrender monkey' presumably on the sole basis that he is French. You could cut that amount of irony with a knife.

But yes, he is a twat.

Yes but could you cut that amount of irony with a Cheese eating surrender monkeys knife

Only if it's not too blunt from chopping all that garlic.

 

[badmash]

Good work from Martin Samuel yet again about Twatini

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/euro2012/article-2155591/Michel-Platini--style-substance--Martin-Samuel.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/euro20 ... amuel.html</a>

 

[ell]

Just imagine what it will be like in 15 years time with the current "modern day footballer" in charge

 

[laserblue]

in an interview today platini denied that he has any responsibility for racism at football matches, saying he's not a racist and if it happens it's not his fault. no, this cheese eating surrender monkey would rather persecute owners investing in their football club than take steps to eradicate racism at football matches in europe.

what a twat.

You're having a go at him for not being tough enough on prejudice while labelling him as a 'cheese eating surrender monkey' presumably on the sole basis that he is French. You could cut that amount of irony with a knife.

But yes, he is a twat.

that was meant to be tongue in cheek especially as it's pretty widely known that the phrase originated in an episode of the simpsons. maybe i should have added a ;)

 

[waspish]

Good work from Martin Samuel yet again about Twatini

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/euro2012/article-2155591/Michel-Platini--style-substance--Martin-Samuel.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/euro20 ... amuel.html</a>

About midway through Wednesday’s inquisition at the Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw, UEFA president Michel Platini mentioned his nine goals for France in the European Championship in 1984.
‘No player has scored more than that,’ he offered, hopefully. He is used to getting a round of applause at this point. None was heard. Instead the hot potato topics kept coming: racism, match-fixing in Italy, Panorama, more racism, match-fixing in Turkey, racism, expensive hotels, racism, player walk-offs, racism.
Platini arrived saying he was in a good mood, by the end his face had crumpled like a used dish rag. And he was leaking, the psychological term for when a person makes a subconscious movement, such as bouncing a leg or drumming four fingers. The exterior may be calm, but the leak betrays inner tension. In Platini’s case, he bobbed his head. The fact that he was wearing earphones to aid translation made him look like a teenager lost in his music on a train.

Clueless: Michel Platini had no answers



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The cheery veneer had faded by now, too. Asked by a German radio reporter if there were regrets about hosting the tournament in Ukraine, Platini repeated once more that it was the decision of UEFA’s Executive Committee, not him, to take the tournament east. ‘Germany voted for Ukraine,’ he said, sharply. ‘You shouldn’t have voted for Ukraine, then — there you go.’
The problem with Platini was plain throughout the session. Below the surface, very little is there. He knows the issues, and he genuinely wants to address them. His solutions, his examples, his logic, however, do not bear scrutiny.
You can see it with financial fair play. Football’s economics are problematic and as UEFA chief, Platini feels he should take a lead. So far so good. He thinks the key is to stop clubs living beyond their means. Right again. The way he has gone about it, however, is to create a system that could cement the richest clubs in place and thwart the ambitions of mid-ranking rivals. No, no Michel.
So when Platini was asked about the next European Championship, in France in 2016, and whether the switch to a 24-team tournament would suck the thrill out of it — which it undoubtedly will, and the qualifying stages will be a moribund, driftless affair, too — his reasoning was poor and his comparisons with other sports baseless.
The present format has 16 teams, which means qualifiers must hit the ground running, and throws up exciting group stage match-ups: England versus France, Spain versus Italy, Germany versus Portugal in this competition alone.
The expansion in 2016 means half the continent goes to the finals and groups will either have to be big and unwieldy with plenty of dead rubbers, complex and turgid with four of six third-placed teams progressing or three-team wham, bam, thank you mam, affairs in which one misstep could lead to the best players as good as disappearing before the end of week one.

Stars: Clarence Seedorf and former referee Pierluigi Collina (right) were also present
And why did Platini support this? To place a protective net beneath Europe’s useless also-rans. England in 2008, for instance.
‘We decided there are 24 good teams in Europe,’ Platini said, without evidence. ‘In 2008, no British team qualified. This year there is no room for Switzerland, Norway or Serbia. That shows you the tournament can sustain 24 teams.’ No, it doesn’t.
England have just played Norway away, in Oslo. Norway are lousy. They don’t deserve to be here. England did not deserve to qualify in 2008, either. They played four games against Russia and Croatia and collected three points. They drew at home to Macedonia. They had to hold a 2-2 draw with Croatia, who had nothing to play for, at Wembley for 25 minutes, and failed. Still Platini’s blather continued.
‘We want to increase participation,’ he said. ‘Look at rugby. Wales and Scotland do well in competitions, they are always there. In football it is much harder for them to compete.’
You can see the problem here. Wales and Scotland are not admitted to the Rugby World Cup on some smaller nations outreach scheme. Wales have spent many years at the pinnacle of the sport in Europe, with players who are regarded in many quarters as rugby’s equivalent of Holland’s total footballers, while Scotland have for the most part been among the best eight nations in the world.

Memories: Platini will be fondly remembered for his footballing ability - but little else
They beat Australia away, this week; certainly the equivalent of defeating Argentina in Buenos Aires, even if it is the All Blacks who equate to Brazil.
So the International Rugby Board do not have to torpedo their own tournament with duds to find room for Wales and Scotland. They are present on merit.
Platini could have selected the Rugby World Cup participation of Georgia or Romania and may have had a point, but Wales and Scotland? This argument falls apart beneath the merest scrutiny.
Platini’s style is to wash his hands of a problem — ‘It isn’t my fault that hotel prices are high,’ he said, when told that German fans were desperately attempting to sell their tickets, put off by extortionate accommodation charges — or to approach it from the intellectual shallows.
He talked of the great debate around punishment for racism as if it was just another talking point, to be tossed around after the game, and not a curse that could envelop this tournament unless UEFA care to be strong.
Confronted, he was petulant. Asked about Sol Campbell’s assertion that black fans could come back from Ukraine in coffins, Platini snapped: ‘What do you want me to say? How do you want me to answer that? I’ve nothing to say — everyone can do what they like.’

Warning: Sol Campbell told fans to beware what could lie in wait at Euro 2012
Quite what the last fragment of that response meant, who knows? The racists could do what they liked? The black fans? Campbell? It wasn’t such a hard question. Platini could have challenged Campbell’s knowledge of Ukrainian culture, or said that the only way to confront racism is with black faces, black athletes, a black presence that will change attitudes over time.
He got there eventually, much later in the session, remembering the way English football confronted hooliganism and changed attitudes, and hoping the same could be done with matters of race.
Yet, like so much of Platini’s rhetoric, it was sandwiched between the usual platitudes and vacuity. He had not even bothered to watch the Panorama programme on which Campbell’s comments were made.
Still, what about those nine goals? What about the president at his peak? Two perfect hat-tricks, against Belgium and Yugoslavia and, as for the total, nobody has ever come close. Thanks for the memories, Michel. And beyond that, quite frankly, thanks for nothing.

 

[waspish]

God help us when there are knobb heads like this around

 

[Citizen_Ando]

Good read as ever from Samuel. I fear for the future of the game both domestically and internationally with this twat at the helm. Hopefully he'll dig his own grave in the end.

 

[Rammyblues]

No votes in sorting out the real problems in football, he would rather go for the easier stuff such as increasing number of teams in Euros, as Samuel said no substance. Just like his mate Blatter it is all look at me.

 

[redmizzle]

Of course Mr Twatini, we know you take this racism issue very seriously. In terms of importance, it's right up the priority list, just behind turning up a minute late on the pitch. Fucking hypocrite. Quite surprised it's not actually a red card.

 

[BoyBlue_1985]

Of course Mr Twatini, we know you take this racism issue very seriously. In terms of importance, it's right up the priority list, just behind turning up a minute late on the pitch. Fucking hypocrite. Quite surprised it's not actually a red card.

Im quite surprised he doesn't just show us his cape and hood