Maurice Ross Sacked

[SwalePie]

First time poster here...but can't resist adding two cents on this.

I live in Kenya and one of the biggest jokes made about athletes is about fake birth certificates (so they can compete a junior levels for longer and get noticed by sponsors). It's not a great comment by MR, but in my book also far from the worst. In any other walk of life, I would expected this situation to be handled through an internal disciplinary, without the perpetrator being sacked or resigning.

But I think the big picture here is that racist abuse (going way further) is still a big issue in football. I suspect everyone on this board has witnessed it...and it's not the people being overly sensitive, snowflakes getting offended, kind. Personally, I can't think of an instance outside of football where I have witnessed the level of abuse that I've seen hurled freely, typically by an individual or at worst a very small group of fans, at games.

There are a lot of issues with the leadership of the modern game, but I think that the focus from top to bottom on kicking racism out is right and necessary.

If there was a continuum for these things, my guess is that most of us would agree that this was a relatively low level offense. But you can only set the tone by what you can control. In this case, is it OK for a coach on the touchline to use a racist trope to express his frustration about his own player?

I have sympathy for MR. It feels like he's falling foul of example setting and that far worse comments will be made and go unpunished every week. But I can't escape agreeing that the zero tolerance policy is right. There shouldn't be any ambiguity that racism has no place in the stands, on the touch-line, on pitch or on social media. And if you draw the line anywhere other than zero-tolerance, you have a minefield to navigate. From his actions this week, I feel like he get's it. I hope this doesn't stop him getting other opportunities in the game - this should not be career ending and he certainly seemed to have a drive and intensity that we've been missing.

As for his frustrations with the players...that was plain to see in his interview last week. And frankly who amongst us hasn't had them this season?

Welcome to the board AfriPie. What a great opening post that is.

[Freeman25]

Looks good on paper I'm not sure what it actually means.

Somehow this doesn't shock me

So if he calls a white player lazy it's ok.

Yes

But because the player is black he cant allude to him being lazy?

No, he can call people lazy all he likes, for the record he didn't even say Enzio was lazy, he said he moved like a 40 year old, which could just mean slow, that's not the point and you seem to keep missing it. It's the suggestion of him having a dodgy african passport that makes it racist. If he finished his sentence with "He looks like he's moving like a 40 year old" nobody bats an eylid.

Yes a wrong lazy analogy was used which can be interpreted as being rascist by some.

So you do get it? Whats the problem?

Like I said before would it have been ok to compare his mobility to that of captain tom..?

If he said "Enzio moves like an old man" I'm fairly sure everyone moves on pretty quickly from it. I can't imagine he'd have made many friends criticising the longest serving player currently at the club behind his back to his team mates though

Your bit about a stone and a brick sounds lovely but in reality is BS..
Of course there are different levels of abuse whether it be racial or otherwise.

My point is that any racism is wrong, all of it does damage and all of it should be gone from football and daily life in general, if you disagree with that I can't really help you...

I Still dont know why they couldn't sit down over a coffee (black or white) and sort it out. Seems so much simpler to do it that way and more constructive as the issue seems to be about race now and not whether Ross had a point about Enzios capabilities as a player?

Superb time for a black or white joke

Just a thought Freeman have you ever experienced racism or read about but in a book.
The reason I ask is simply because there are very different levels of racism from low level water of a duck's back, angst to outright fury.
So yes it does matter if it was a stone that was thrown or a brick ....
What a really stupid and ignorant analogy...infact world beating...
But I wouldn't want you removed from your job for using it,I would hope you could learn from it.

As explained earlier, you've completely missed the point I was making, which is unfortunate because I tried to make it as simple as possible... A stone would damage a window and a brick would damage it more, but either way it's broken and shouldn't be.

As for "wanting me removed from my job"... Maurice Ross was not removed, in his own words that have been quoted in this topic -

"I had to resign. I did it instantly."

Because he knew he was in the wrong and shouldn't have said it, he also said the club acted impeccably. Why are you still trying to defend someone that has literally admitted they were in the wrong? Do you think Maurice is just a bit confused or being told to give this statement against his will or something?


Questioning Enzio's character over this, who by the way, hasn't said a word about any of this publicly, shows a lot more about your own character than his by the way.

[Old_pie]

If he said "Enzio moves like an old man" I'm fairly sure everyone moves on pretty quickly from it.

That's ageism and I'm minded to press the Complain button.

[PedroTheFisherman66]

Somehow this doesn't shock me



Yes



No, he can call people lazy all he likes, for the record he didn't even say Enzio was lazy, he said he moved like a 40 year old, which could just mean slow, that's not the point and you seem to keep missing it. It's the suggestion of him having a dodgy african passport that makes it racist. If he finished his sentence with "He looks like he's moving like a 40 year old" nobody bats an eylid.




So you do get it? Whats the problem?



If he said "Enzio moves like an old man" I'm fairly sure everyone moves on pretty quickly from it. I can't imagine he'd have made many friends criticising the longest serving player currently at the club behind his back to his team mates though



My point is that any racism is wrong, all of it does damage and all of it should be gone from football and daily life in general, if you disagree with that I can't really help you...




Superb time for a black or white joke




As explained earlier, you've completely missed the point I was making, which is unfortunate because I tried to make it as simple as possible... A stone would damage a window and a brick would damage it more, but either way it's broken and shouldn't be.

As for "wanting me removed from my job"... Maurice Ross was not removed, in his own words that have been quoted in this topic -

"I had to resign. I did it instantly."

Because he knew he was in the wrong and shouldn't have said it, he also said the club acted impeccably. Why are you still trying to defend someone that has literally admitted they were in the wrong? Do you think Maurice is just a bit confused or being told to give this statement against his will or something?


Questioning Enzio's character over this, who by the way, hasn't said a word about any of this publicly, shows a lot more about your own character than his by the way.

Maybe he thought he had to because of people like you, those that have read a few books on the subject and now own it.
A warning from the club and an Apology from MR should have been more than enough to nullify this problem , no resignation was required.
Some one who compares a rock and a stone thrown to explain levels of abuse sums your whole philosophy up. No I didn't miss the point the point was ridiculous and still is no matter how you try to dress it up.
My questioning of Enzio's character was around his attitude around football.
I would want to have examined if he MR was right to say I was playing like an old man (as you seem to misunderstood the word lazy and use It in your argument ? pedantic at best). and if he was correct how would I go about improving my movement.
I notice that you didn't let me down around the coffee remark , totally anticipated such a response, I think you need to put down your racism in the community, equality and diversity books and get out into the real world.
if you were offended by the stolen passport old man remark believe me there are much much worse forms of verbal abuse going on outside your front door every day.
Nice quote out of context - wanting me removed from my job"... I was referring in my response to your inane comment ,it was about you not MR , so why you have chosen to highlight MR's comment and put it in bold print is beyond me.
In summary of course he was wrong because Enzio was offended , the fact that he chose to resign says a lot about his character , Should he have resigned is open to debate.

[Borg elite]

Can we agree Maurice Ross was at the least, stupid?

[PedroTheFisherman66]

Can we agree Maurice Ross was at the least, stupid?

1 million % agree

[nw6pie]

I’m a bit baffled that some people can’t see/won’t acknowledge that the statement was racist.

“Enzio is running like a 40-year-old man” - not racist

“Enzio is running like a 40-year-old man - has he got one of those African passports?” - racist, based purely on the fact that the player is Black.

The players took the right step to report the comment; the club made the right decision to say it was a sackable offence; and Mo Ross made the right decision to apologise and accept he’d made a serious mistake. End of story.

[magpie_mania]

I’m a bit baffled that some people can’t see/won’t acknowledge that the statement was racist.

“Enzio is running like a 40-year-old man” - not racist

“Enzio is running like a 40-year-old man - has he got one of those African passports?” - racist, based purely on the fact that the player is Black.

The players took the right step to report the comment; the club made the right decision to say it was a sackable offence; and Mo Ross made the right decision to apologise and accept he’d made a serious mistake. End of story.

So am I.

It's pretty clear to me. Your example is really clear.

[flukieireland]

100% a racist comment. As freeman, ulaggy and others have articulated.

[laddo]

Tbf a few of the posts on this thread fully deserve a condescending reply. As always I'm happy to deliver but no need this times as others have rightly stepped up.

I'm back in on this thread, certainly worth keeping an eye on.