The Rolling Football thread 2024/25 - part 3

[DuncinToffee]

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/sports/5250874-the-rolling-football-thread-season-202425-part-2?page=40&reply=144449521

Taking us to the seasons final ⚽

He was adored at Liverpool.

This is what they posted @Tiswa

Very sad that Tomiyasu is leaving. I can understand why, but he was brilliant when fit. He could keep the likes of Salah in his pocket. Unfortunately, he just has become permanently injured.

Well well well. Thomas Partey arrested on 5 counts of rape.

My god, yes, I just saw this. I saw a couple of days ago that he wasn’t going back to Arsenal, and now it’s clear why. I’m presuming he must have been the unnamed footballer mentioned in the media a few times recently because of rape allegations. How horrible.

On another note, just saw a beautiful tribute from Salah to Diogo Jota and André Silva. Lovely photo of Salah and Jota as well.

Yep this will come as a surprise to absolutely nobody, including Arsenal football club who have ignored it all and allowed him to keep on playing clearly until the evidence became too overwhelming. Very disappointing on their part. Suspension is a neutral act and could have been imposed whilst investigations were ongoing. It’s not a great look for them.

3 years it took and only after he left the club

Social media claims always have to be taken with a veritable cellar of salt, as we all know, but numerous social media platforms claimed Partey was the unnamed player as soon as the investigations came to light three years ago. Arsenal have been heavily criticised in those quarters for their lack of response, especially compared to how Man U dealt with Mason Greenwood or Man City with Benjamin Mendy even before those players were formally charged.

Not only not quickly managing the situation but actively saying about how well he’s doing in ‘difficult circumstances’ alluding to the situation.

It's a difficult one, as up until now it's only been rumours. Even now it's charges, and he hasn't been convicted (innocent until proven guilty and all that). If Arsenal had suspended him it would have opened them up to legal problems.

It's wouldn't be the first time that malicious rumours have been aimed at someone connected with Arsenal.

If he's guilty, I hope the book is thrown at him.

Nah I don’t buy that. Employers suspend employees all the time whilst things are investigated when allegations are made. It’s a neutral act in the face of allegations and is to protect the employee as much as anyone else. Arsenal just didn’t want to lose a good footballer so they chose to ignore all of the noise and support him anyway. It stinks.

Well, the legal situation was that he couldn't be named until he was charged.

If Arsenal had suspended him, that would have outed him, and could have had a significant impact on the case.

The timing is weird, but maybe because he has nothing now to tie him to the UK the Met decided they'd better "shit, or get off the pot" as the saying goes.

For Arsenal to have considered offering a new contract, now that is appalling...

Everton suspended a player when he was arrested. He never played for the club again even when his charges were later dropped.

City only suspended Mendy when he was charged, by the way...

No justice for those who have come forward and make what are at this stage allegations, to have to wait so long.

Remember why the justice system is failing, remember it was headed by people including Chris Grayling, Dominic Raab and Liz Truss.

You do not need the same burden of proof to dismiss someone as you do to find them guilty in a court of law.

The club paid his wages for the duration of his contract iirc but he was never seen or mentioned again.

I also don't think the 2 Manchester clubs handled it that much better.

At the end of the day, the club and the fans can make whatever excuses they want, the fact is, no player HAS to play or has a reasonable expectation that they will play week in or week out. If there were legalities around suspension or whatever then it would have been perfectly doable to drop him from the matchday squad and not play him in the first team. Christ, Eddie Howe sent Ryan Fraser off to train with the U21’s until they could sell him because his attitude in training pissed him off. There were ways the club could have managed these incredibly serious allegations that didn’t involve them playing him week in week out, placing him forefront on programmes and advertising and praising him for his performances during ‘a difficult time’. They chose not to and they have to own that.

Good to see that the Women's Euros mathes have sold more seats that the club world cup.

Only £8 to watch Chelsea

Adam Johnson played for nearly a year from his charges. they suspended him then brought him back

It is a real tricky minefield I have to say and one I am not sure what the right way to navigate is because ultimately some of the fan base won’t care

even now some fans want Mason Greenwood back and I am not sure how much the unwillingness to do so is becuase of the (admittedly failed) charges against him or because of his attitude issues. I suspect it is the latter which really puts teams off.

watching Al Hilal against Flumenise and poor Ruben Neves and Joao Cancelo look broken

@Tiswa 😥 Cancelo obviously played with Diogo Jota in the Portuguese national team, but Ruben Neves was a close friend of Diogo's from being at Wolves together. Neves posted a really moving tribute to Diogo and a lovely photo of them together which spoke a thousand words. Just so, so sad. ETA: I saw that Chelsea have offered Pedro Neto (also a friend of Diogo's) compassionate leave from playing in the CWC, which is a lovely human touch.

Sorry, I've just read back what I wrote and it inadvertently sounds as though I was minimising Cancelo's very apparent grief, which wasn't my intention at all. I was just particularly moved by Neves' words of tribute.

Cancelo was involved in a car accident when he was younger that killed his mother that he slept through - this has clearly brought up the unresolved trauma plus the grief from
someone he knew

I am still really sad about it - always liked him as a just ordinary nice man and nothing in this changes that it just makes me like him more

OMG, that's terrible. I had no idea.