13 May 2026 17:14:12
Anyone watched The Bus on Netflix? About the French fiasco in 2010 World Cup. It's a bit thin, and seems to be entirely based around the charismatic Evra's pov. But that French manager seems like a piece of work.
And, interesting, I think, that all the blowback from the French public fell upon the black players. Something we also saw in the UK after that failed penalty shoot-out.
I find that really depressing.
13 May 2026 17:47:30
Can't stand Evra, no thanks.
13 May 2026 18:21:41
With you, Chewy, I can't stand Evra.
13 May 2026 18:33:41
The fallout fell upon "the black players" because the players who were causing the problems in that particular case just happened to be black. Evra and Anelka have been pieces of work their whole careers. People don't single them out because they're black. They single them out because they're always pains in the backside.
{Ed001's Note - that is so unfair on Anelka, he was not a pain in the backside, he just asked questions about the tactics, trying to understand them. As a kid he had a few issues early on but he grew out of them. If he had been white, he would not have got the label of being a pain in the backside. He did nothing compared to Frank Lampard, for example, yet we are always told what a nice guy he is. It is clear Anelka is singled out for being black and you are just jumping on a bandwagon out of pure ignorance.}
13 May 2026 18:40:34
There is a good programme about how the French gave Qatar their vote for the World Cup, n they got in exchange a deal worth billions of fighter jets, n PSG got new rich owners.
13 May 2026 18:36:06
Evra is a right gimp. I'll give that one a miss
13 May 2026 19:38:48
Evra was a player we all wanted. We hate him because he chose Man U. I just think we are all guilty of assuming the worst of black players. I kind of think that is why Pele is now routinely discounted as the greatest player of all time, which he really was.
None of us mean it, but we view black players under a harsher microscope.
{Ed025's Note - speak for yourself MS, i certainly dont judge a player by the colour of his skin...you are insulting peoples intelligence if you think that..
13 May 2026 19:50:37
Well said edd1
13 May 2026 20:01:56
Can't agree there, Monster. Pele is rightly touted as the greatest player of all time by a massive majority of fans & ex players from that generation, and his colour doesn't come into it.
I only disagree on that because for me Maradona was the greatest of all time - just my opinion & colour is irrelevant.
13 May 2026 20:11:39
Spot on, Ed. @Babbity, please do not be fooled by media propaganda re: Anelka specifically. I lived that fiasco in real time and the then pathetic manager Raymond Domenech was such a pariah in the media even before the tournament, it was ridiculous.
Evra on the other hand? I agree. The less said the better.
The whole "Anelka was the problem" was something completely made up. And you know who did that? Domenech himself. He would later admit that years after and never apologized for how he dragged Anelka's name in the mud to protect his reprehensible conduct as the France manager during that WC in SA.
Sadly, nobody gave Anelka the benefit of the doubt because for years he had been tarnished as the "Enfant Terrible" of French football. I lived in France in the the Pà's into the 2000's and Anelka's image was destroyed from the day he decided to leave PSG for Arsenal at age 17.
Then, his move to RM was a shambles and he got the blame for all that happend to him there by that RM changing room that hated his guts. They blamed him for things he had nothing to do with. Later, the truth came out but of course, it was too late.
Know this: If the French media have a bee in their bonnet about you because you have the guts to speak up for yourself and not tow the line as "un bon garcon" (a good little boy) esp. if you are non white, you are done.Finished. Over. It is open season on you and they will never let up for years.
P/S: They did the same thing to Benzema and Nasri, as well. Now what do both and Anelka have in common? I'll let you figure that out.
13 May 2026 20:37:16
Monster, my dislike of Evra goes back a few years to when he was a pundit at one of the World Cups. I remember him being sat by a female pundit, and him basically saying, and I'm paraphrasing, "you know what you're talking about for a woman".
My dislike of Utd doesn't extend to everyone who's ever played for them, and it certainly doesn't extend to their skin tone.
13 May 2026 21:49:02
Rome, I now remember that and it was clearly what made me doubt his account of what happened in 2010. I thought I was just randomly disliking him, but I remember that moment - and thought yuk.
13 May 2026 23:42:57
"People don't single them out because they're black. They single them out because they're always pains in the backside".
so black people are always a pain in the backside? lol
If that's the default starting point then perhaps take a step back and have a breathe
lol
14 May 2026 06:31:21
Can I ask what Frank Lampard did?
I've never brought into the whole nice guy image with him. He comes across as being completely up himself, and from what I've read is a huge Tory.
{Ed001's Note - there is a huge list of them, the sex tapes, making fun of a group of Americans at a hotel on the day of 9/11 about what happened, and numerous other things. Lots were covered up about him and he was heavily disciplined repeatedly at West Ham and Chelsea.}
14 May 2026 17:28:47
@Faith, this is how you know the anti-black propaganda has worked.
Sadly, Babbity didn't even know he had posted the actual stereotype narrative used to dehumanize and silence black and non-white people in the society whenever said people dare to stand up and speak up for themselves.
Really sad.
15 May 2026 10:32:15
Anelka got sacked from West Brom at 34 for doing an anti-Semitic gesture. In my opinion, he didn't mature. I remember the media's number one target used to be Wayne Rooney. Why did he receive different treatment from Lampard? Wasn't Ferdinand also involved in Lampard's sex tape? Maybe Uncle Harry, covering for Lampard, was more pertinent than his race. Not everything is about race.
{Ed001's Note - ok mate. None of this is true. Anelka was not sacked, he left over the accusations, which he vehemently denied, but he was not sacked.
Rooney was never the media's number one target, ever, he was the biggest name in the sport at the time, but he never got crucified for constantly sleeping around on his missus at all. It was more of a haha look at him and what he is doing, rather than seriously going after him, like they did for say Sterling for having a tattoo.
Which of Lampard's sex tapes are you referring to? Only one had Ferdinand involved. Unsurprisingly that is the one everyone knows about though.}