Two steps forward, three steps back...

[kris90210]

Good post. Totally agree. It's worth remembering that I'm sure there are plenty of Utd fans who feel the same about the cunts who support them. A mate of mine supports them and has basically stopped watching football because of all the bile involved

[James P]

If you're talking about Fredo, I'm in.

I don't think it was three steps back, just two. No progress to last beyond this match, except that Man United have spun the media, particularly the BBC, so they avoid the backlash that would have followed too overt a display of provocation.

On the plus side hostilities were muted for this game and the tribute survived more or less intact.

But the Halsey stuff, to me, constitutes that third step back. Totally unnecessary, abhorrent in its tone and content, and completely out of keeping with the current mood.

[Shaggy]

That sort of thing (the sick Halsey tweets) has been around forever, only beforehand people said that sort of thing in pubs or wherever. Twitter has given scumbags a voice. Instead of being ignored as it was before, people are getting reported to the police for it (I'm not sure I think that's a good thing either - what does Halsey want to happen to the idiots?) and it's all over the media.

I can't deny it doesn't depress me though and these absolute morons give us all a bad name.

One thing though - people have made idiotic and sick posts on the internet for years now. On forums, YouTube etc. Why is that different to posting the same kind of bile on Twitter? Genuinely curious.

[Buzzo]

That sort of thing (the sick Halsey tweets) has been around forever, only beforehand people said that sort of thing in pubs or wherever. Twitter has given scumbags a voice. Instead of being ignored as it was before, people are getting reported to the police for it (I'm not sure I think that's a good thing either - what does Halsey want to happen to the idiots?) and it's all over the media.

I can't deny it doesn't depress me though and these absolute morons give us all a bad name.

One thing though - people have made idiotic and sick posts on the internet for years now. On forums, YouTube etc. Why is that different to posting the same kind of bile on Twitter? Genuinely curious.

I guess it is the format of Twitter and the fact that loads of Journos have there own accounts. But you are right, they would only have to look at the comments below clips on youtube to get a feel for content that the scumbag element post anonymously on the net.

[Gibbo]

Aye I agree with Shaggy, and I know it isn't really fair but Halsey himself has to understand that given his job role he will be pissing off more than a few hundered thousand people a week, there are always going to be few idiots that are going to play the cunt over the internet. Thats the human race im afraid.

As for the fans, while I agree with JP's post in theory every football club has their idiots, you could argue that everyone who sings the "you know what you are" song at Suarez, and not Terry (from what I've heard anyway) could be classed as racist themselves, do they get the lfetime bans too?

Is every United fan that stayed behind at anfield going to get a life ban? Its easy to say in practice but I dont think it will happen tbh.

[darkstar]

http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/kickoff/120924/liverpool-fan-charlie-munich-air-disaster-181704

This is the most sense I have heard in a long time!

[Neil Young]

But the Halsey stuff, to me, constitutes that third step back. Totally unnecessary, abhorrent in its tone and content, and completely out of keeping with the current mood.

I can see the logic but I don't agree. It's not the first time Twitter has been used in this way and it won't be the last. As Shaggy says, brand new technology, same old ****.

And the trouble with moods is they change faster than the weather. This weekend was a chance to use the mood to initiate a change in culture, which is much longer-lasting. It doesn't look to me like anything lasting will come of it, which is a real shame, but maybe there are changes going on behind the scenes. Ultimately it comes down to the clubs to police. They could show it now by banning those who engaged in provocation. But if they don't it doesn't necessarily mean they're doing nothing, they could be working on it together. Time will tell but my hopes aren't high.

[Trippendicular]

That sort of thing (the sick Halsey tweets) has been around forever, only beforehand people said that sort of thing in pubs or wherever. Twitter has given scumbags a voice. Instead of being ignored as it was before, people are getting reported to the police for it (I'm not sure I think that's a good thing either - what does Halsey want to happen to the idiots?) and it's all over the media.

I can't deny it doesn't depress me though and these absolute morons give us all a bad name.

One thing though - people have made idiotic and sick posts on the internet for years now. On forums, YouTube etc. Why is that different to posting the same kind of bile on Twitter? Genuinely curious.

Twitter removes the middle man between what people are saying and the media representatives. No journalist is going to trawl forums or youtube for tasteless quotes, but twitter posts it ready-made for a sensationalist article.

[yamiedo]

Agree with the poster. However, unfortunately its like world peace. Its never going to happen and there is only so much you can do to try to change it. Even if you did ban all the degenerates and morons, there would be a new generation of degenerates and morons coming through.

Anyway, hopefully the majority of people who read that a section of Liverpool and Man Utd fans sang distasteful songs about the death of human lives are not stupid enough to judge a whole group of fans on this episode. We all have mates who are Man Utd fans and Everton fans, doesn't mean we go about lumping them in with the crowd who sang evil songs though.

[Shaggy]

Twitter removes the middle man between what people are saying and the media representatives. No journalist is going to trawl forums or youtube for tasteless quotes, but twitter posts it ready-made for a sensationalist article.

But they don't need to trawl, say, YouTube. All journos watch stuff on YouTube, they've all seen the vile comments like everyone else. So what's stopping all those people being reported? I don't get it.

[James P]

One thing though - people have made idiotic and sick posts on the internet for years now. On forums, YouTube etc. Why is that different to posting the same kind of bile on Twitter? Genuinely curious.

I suppose it's two things for me - firstly the immediacy and reach of Twitter versus YouTube which takes some time and commitment, and forums which are generally both membership only and much more limited in their audience. The second thing is the YouTube and forums are generally, to a greater or lesser extent, moderated and policed, whereas Twitter seems to be an instant outlet for all of the tedium, ****e, bile and bitterness, and is entirely self-regulated.

That said, I've always hated the fact that the Internet gives a voice to the scumbags, bigots, and tedious ****wits, regardless of how they are able to express themselves. It's why I don't use Twitter, deleted my Facebook account, live in a cave, and shoot strangers on sight when they are on my land.

[Neil Young]

That said, I've always hated the fact that the Internet gives a voice to the scumbags, bigots, and tedious ****wits, regardless of how they are able to express themselves.

I refer you to my previous comment.

If you're talking about Fredo, I'm in.

[baitman]

I suppose it's two things for me - firstly the immediacy and reach of Twitter versus YouTube which takes some time and commitment, and forums which are generally both membership only and much more limited in their audience. The second thing is the YouTube and forums are generally, to a greater or lesser extent, moderated and policed, whereas Twitter seems to be an instant outlet for all of the tedium, ****e, bile and bitterness, and is entirely self-regulated.

That said, I've always hated the fact that the Internet gives a voice to the scumbags, bigots, and tedious ****wits, regardless of how they are able to express themselves. It's why I don't use Twitter, deleted my Facebook account, live in a cave, and shoot strangers on sight when they are on my land.

[danperkins]

Don't worry, this isn't another post about the progression of the team under Rodgers. It's actually about the way that a minority of the fans seem intent on keeping us in the headlights of the tabloids for all the wrong reasons.

Let's face it, in recent years Liverpool and its fans have become increasingly unpopular, with episodes like the Suarez incident reflecting badly on club and fans alike. The universal shock at the findings of the Hillsborough Inquiry made much of that irrelevant, and made the world at large realise that it wasn't a situation where we we 'acting the victim', but was in fact one of the most heinous and endemic cover ups in memory. The tidal wave of goodwill towards the club and its fans was pretty overwhelming (even if it was way too late).

And so to Sunday's match, which I really hoped would be an opportunity to show that fans could act as rational, sensible adults, and could commemorate a tragic event in a peaceful and dignified way. If the United fans were dicks, so be it - the press would pick up on it and they would be vilified for it. Ferguson's open letter to United fans wasn't just because he sympathised with the situation (which I think that he did - no one who genuinely loves the game could fail to be moved), but also because he could see a PR cluster**** of epic proportions on the horizon.

The opening to the match was incredibly moving, and the Liverpool fans at least were exemplary. The game itself has already been dicussed at length, so no need to rehash that. And so to the aftermath, which to be frank has left me wondering why I still follow football at all.

Firstly, the idiots who did the Munich gestures at the end of the game should be banned for at least the rest of the season. How stupid, how tribal, and how selfish to do that on a day that was supposed to be about showing the world that we were better than that, that we were dignified in our grief, and that the loss of 96 lives was far more important than any stupid rivalry. If the United fans want to make a show of themselves, let them - they'd have come out of it looking ridiculous. Instead of that the actions of a handful of ****wits make us look like hypocrites.

And as for the Mark Halsey abuse on Twitter. It's a game of ****ing football, and he's just a bloke who happens to referee for a living. Yes, he made bad decisions, but **** happens, and next time it might be us who benefits from a bad decision. To make death threats, to say that you wish he'd died from cancer, that almost defies belief. Who are these ****ing idiots? How dare they purport to represent the rest of us and our club? And really, when as a club we are grieving for the senseless loss of so many lives, who goes on a social media platform and wishes suffering and death on a person because he might have made an error of judgement? Jesus, words fail me.

Anyway, rant over.

great post