Tammy Abraham: England prepared to walk off over racist abuse

[WanChaiMiller]

First of all loads of respect to Gareth Southgate who before the game was played had the difficult task of trying to smooth over an issue which should have never been anywhere near the press. All this should have been dealt with well away from the glare of the media. Tammy Abraham was very naive to be taken in by the press like that (the press themselves should hang their heads in shame for their part in this) Once the media got hold of it, it obviously dawned on the FA that they had huge gaps in their racism policy especially in respect about players talking to the media about it especially in potentially volatile situations. Every nutcase in Sofia would have made their way down to the stadium tonight because of all the needless publicity. Why couldn't England adhere to the policy and walk off if abuse started without bringing it up in the media first?

I applaud the England players and Southgate if they do go off. No problem with that.

But is clear to me the FA do not have a policy at all about players talking to the media about these issues.

The FA have to thank their lucky stars that they have a leader like Gareth Southgate who had the grace and intelligence to handle the press superbly and do a superb damage limitation job.

Gareth Southgate is an FA employee so excelent work by the FA.

[Yak]

UEFA will still bottle it.
It’s disgusting and shouldn’t be tolerated.

Throw them out of all European competitions for the next 4 years.

Anyone think that’s gonna happen ?
Nope me neither.

And some think it’s been blown out of proportion before tonight .

[WanChaiMiller]

To be fair, they are damned if they do, damned if they don’t

There is an issue with racist chanting but it is also overblown in the press and in online media.

If the FA was to agree with that view then they would be crucified in the media because it sells papers and gets hits on websites.

The sheep would never stop bleating.

Sheep still bleating.

[Brin]

Yep. Image of the night for me was that long line of hoodied scum bags making their way to the exits after the 2nd stoppage. Looks like the procedure worked very well tonight and well done both sides for keeping cool and playing on. Football won.

Wonder if they got a good discount on the black hoodies? Many seem to be wearing the same one

[flourbasher]

Uefa should follow this up by expressing to the Bulgarian govt how the scenes were unacceptable.
Action plan required from them to stop it happening again including a significant police presence in the home end with commitments to make immediate arrests.
Warn the Bulgarian public why it,s wrong and what will happen.
If their action plan isnt forthcoming or is inadequate then there,s a ban or behind closed doors games or away games only.
On the day of their next game if the action plan isnt in place 3 hours before KO then the game won,t be allowed to start.

Make an example of them as a warning

[WanChaiMiller]

Six Nil England. Fantastic result in a hostile environment. Im really proud of how this group of young England players handled themselves.

[WanChaiMiller]

First of all loads of respect to Gareth Southgate who before the game was played had the difficult task of trying to smooth over an issue which should have never been anywhere near the press. All this should have been dealt with well away from the glare of the media. Tammy Abraham was very naive to be taken in by the press like that (the press themselves should hang their heads in shame for their part in this) Once the media got hold of it, it obviously dawned on the FA that they had huge gaps in their racism policy especially in respect about players talking to the media about it especially in potentially volatile situations. Every nutcase in Sofia would have made their way down to the stadium tonight because of all the needless publicity. Why couldn't England adhere to the policy and walk off if abuse started without bringing it up in the media first?

I applaud the England players and Southgate if they do go off. No problem with that.

But is clear to me the FA do not have a policy at all about players talking to the media about these issues.

The FA have to thank their lucky stars that they have a leader like Gareth Southgate who had the grace and intelligence to handle the press superbly and do a superb damage limitation job.

A lot of bluster. Your only actual complaint against the FA is that you think they have no policy to censor England players during news conferences.

Explain where you saw evidence of this comment "it obviously dawned on the FA that they had huge gaps in their racism policy especially in respect about players talking to the media about it especially in potentially volatile situations". I think you made it up.

[the_idiotb_stardson]

Thought the team performed and handled themselves impeccably. Good performance , well done one and all.

You have to feel for the normal level headed Bulgarian fan who just attended to see their team play. Their team may well suffer further sanctions thanks to the morons who were giving out the abuse and left early.

I agree Brin. The team handled the evening superbly well. I genuinely felt gutted for players like Mings, making their debut tonight who had to endure the disgusting chanting.

However, there always was going to be an incident tonight, the media, and a complete lack of media savvy by the FA made sure of that. They made the situation much worse and it could have got really ugly.

Delighted that friends out there are now on their way home safely.

[millertop]

Yes England team handled it very well, if only others followed.

FA want action from UEFA, I agree you want action but how about our own football Associations get their house in order

[WanChaiMiller]

Yes England team handled it very well, if only others followed.

FA want action from UEFA, I agree you want action but how about our own football Associations get their house in order

In what way should the FA get its own house in order. There are 2 schools of thoughts. First, they go disproportionately over the top on racism and they should scale back. And, second, they dont do anywhere near enough.