Threads like these remind me of why I don't look at facebook comments or check twitter anymore.

Too many have given up trying to write the complete works of Shakespeare

Rubbish argument. Its like saying lets go place bets and drink piss and swear at the playground etc. 

Was it offensive. Yes
Homophobic, not sure, but less relevant when you accept the above point.

The thing is, why has sydneys fans behaviour been ignored in all this? Why didn't Slater write about that on Monday?

I am curious.

So a football match is immune from the normal rules of society?  You can place bets, drink piss and swear in places where that is normal or acceptable.

Are you arguing that because it is a football match, a large cock sucking Graham Arnold is acceptable?

Sorry but that's just called a BBQ in the park.

We've got the RBB.  Just need some typewriters.

Nope, you're just having a massive PC sook about it :crazy:

Robbie Slater: RBB needs a change of leadership, Tony Popovic missed an opportunity on Monday

THE Red and Black Bloc needs to change its leadership if it thinks that Saturday night’s banner is acceptable, says former Socceroo Robbie Slater.

The Fox Sports football expert, who condemned the banner in a News Corp column, was criticised by the RBB in a retort on Monday night that suggested the supporters group had no contrition for the controversial homophobic banner from Saturday night.

Speaking on Fox Sports News on Tuesday, Slater also said he felt coach Tony Popovic missed an opportunity to set the tone and condemn the banner before the story continued to gain unwanted oxygen.

“He’s the head coach of the Western Sydney Wanderers, (the banner was about) someone he knows very well … he should have come out on two fronts,” Slater said.

PODCAST: ‘Can we please grow up’

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Adam Peacock, Simon Hill and Daniel Garb tackle all the big issues in the game - starting with matters on and off the field from the Sydney Derby.


“One, as the head coach of the Wanderers in support of any manager, any person in the game being depicted in that way. He should have said: that’s not us.

“In the lead up, Graham Arnold had been very nice to him ahead of the derby – whether that was mind games or whichever way you want to see it, he said, rightly so, Popovic was doing a great job.

“(Then,) nothing from Tony Popovic. I find that extraordinary.

“I find that very, very disappointing and he’s missed an opportunity there to make a statement as the head coach of the Wanderers.”

Slater admits “he’s taken a bit of a pounding on Twitter” since his hard hitting column in The Daily Telegraph but is aghast that instead of an apology, little remorse has been shown.

“The Wanderers need to have an investigation into the RBB.

Wanderers fans, known as the RBB celebrate.
Wanderers fans, known as the RBB celebrate.Source: AAP
“Their official line is there is nothing wrong with it.

“They need to change the leadership of the RBB. If they think that’s acceptable behaviour in today’s society – put sport aside – they need a change of leadership.

“As far as them justifying it on the FFA (because of their grievances over the roof body) … I don’t support the FFA in everything they do, and perhaps in other cases with the Wanderers, they have been wrong. That doesn’t justify this very personal banner … that spoilt a wonderful occasion.”

For those who took issue with his comment that “I won’t accept them as being part of my sport”, he clarified:

Brendon Santalab of the Wanderers celebrates victory
Brendon Santalab of the Wanderers celebrates victorySource: Getty Images
“Of course it’s not my sport. It’s not the FFA’s sport, the club’s sport, the fan’s sport – it’s everyone.

“They’re (the RBB are) saying the fans run the game. That’s wrong.

“They’re a very integral part of the sport but they don’t own the game.

“The Wanderers fans and RBB need to understand – they still don’t get it, they’re trying to justify their position and that horrible, lewd, homophobic , anti-social banner … it had no place in a mainstream sporting event.

“Out of order, they need to apologise.”

Slater says his relationship with Graham Arnold, a personal friend, has nothing to do with his position, and also condemned the Sydney FC supporters in The Cove who vandalised their end of the stadium and threw chairs.

“(Arnold) is my mate, it is true, but it didn’t matter if it was Graham Arnold, or Joe Blogs, or Kevin Muscat, Paul Okon, John Kosmina, Mark Bosnica, Craig Foster … there’s no place for it.

“For me it’s an evil banner … we love the banter, the humour, sometimes we take it right to the edge, but that’s gone beyond.

“It needs to be stamped out completely.”

Of The Sydney FC supporters who misbehaved, he added: “It’s not good enough. It’s a separate incident. It’s not of the vulgar nature of the banner.

“The Cove fans and Sydney FC have to deal internally with that – not the kind of behaviour we want to see at football games.

“Sydney FC have got to have an investigation with what’s happened with their fans … “

http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/a-league/robbie-slater-rbb-needs-a-change-of-leadership-tony-popovic-missed-an-opportunity-on-monday/news-story/201c0e99c150b001b448c7f3578a7153

Wait wait wait I can't keep up. So WSW CEO has to telephone Arnold and apologize, Poppa has to make a public apology.... (And rbb of course)

I guess the captain will be next

@tuco not only that though, the Sydney FC need to deal with their trouble makers internally?, it wasn't of a vulgar nature like the banner was?

Sorry Robbie but you need to narrow your standards abit. Defacing property is pretty vulgar if you ask me, yes in a different sense to the banner, but it's still pretty disgusting behaviour.

The noise about this is becoming more about Sydney FC deflecting off of their own troublesome lot me thinks.

This should put an end to the Seb Ryall jokes, now that we know Wanderers fans force porn upon children.

"Where's my apology?"

Why are so many other clubs' fans (and a fair few Wanderers' fans too) on here saying the same thing?

The conspiracy theory that it's a deliberate attempt to deflect criticism is stupid, but the behaviour of some fans was appalling and would've made media attention if the Wanderers didn't hog it with their own stupidity. The FFA only cares about negative press and hence SFC is saved.

Even if something was made of it would've only been a fine and possibly a suspended points the deduction at the absolute worst.

Nah i still follow it, i just cant stand watching it

Let me take a guess and say because you lost?!?

After Arnie talking shit about going undefeated all season.

It has got to hurt supporters to know you lost to your biggest rival and this little hissy fit is a handy excuse.

if you think that is porn that means you would fap to that? kinda disgusting it didnt turn me on but each to their own

btw that was NOT porn

Wait, what? I asked why Melbourne Victory, Adelaide, even Wanderers fans are largely calling the banner out for what it is? Most of them would have enjoyed seeing us lose on Saturday? 

If the FFA still dont do something, the FFA are either biased or they are a bunch of pussies.

i hope we do get fined and docked points. not like we're doing anything spectacular this season

RBB are giving SM more and more of a case for entering the league haha.

"At least we won't be as feral as those cock sucker fellas"

-PB

yeah thats true

I thought it was funny tbh, and I think a some of the people complaining about it initially would have had the same reaction. Everyone getting on the high horses about 'oh you can't use gay as a slur', if you are honestly saying you have never said the phrase 'oh that's so gay' or 'he's such a fag' then fair play (I mean in a non-homophobic context), but for 95% of you guys that is simply not the case and it is just people conforming to a public opinion because it is easier to agree. People hiding behind their computer screens and criticising others for doing what is really a common thing in society, obviously the tifo is uncommon but it is all part of the spirit of a derby IMO? Is it overstepping the line? Probably, but there is no need to kick up a song and dance about it and for the FFA to fine or ban anybody IMO.

My 2c:

Was it homophobic? No. The emphasis wasn't on Arnold being a man and attending to another male's sex organ; it was about him being subordinate to someone else - as others have already pointed out.

Was it offensive? Yeah der, that's the point.

Was it inappropriate? I'm going to say no.

There's a time and a place for most things, and the core supporters generally don't go to the football to sit down and clap politely.

I presume Fox Sports didn't broadcast it (didn't catch the game) because I've only seen grainy photos and one YouTube video, and that's sensible - it's not the sort of thing that should have been broadcast to the TV audience - and it might not have been a story at all if there was no footage.

However, sport is adversarial by nature; the niggle makes it fun. I don't sit at a desk for five days a week and act all corporate to then act like a church choir boy at the football on the weekend. The tifo(s) is the sort of thing that should be part of the fun for the crowd who should know and accept that it's not a completely sanitised experience, and these sorts of forums where the casuals don't go. What happens at the football stays at the football.

You really got this wrong. It was offensive, and it was not appropriate for a football match where there are thousands of kids and families. I suppose you think it would be great to have that sort of display at the local kindergarten, or at the local religious service, maybe during the board meeting at your office that you work 5 days a week at. 
The A league is supposed to be a place where all Australians can go to enjoy football. The RBB think that it's only for them and they are above everybody else and can do what they like. They really are pompous hypocrites. Then instead of apologising, they make it worse by not acknowledging their mistake and tying it in with the FFA's poor effort re the banning and appeals issue. RBB, if you want to be taken seriously, try acting like grown ups and not spoilt  self entitled arseholes who couldn't care less about football or the families that go to enjoy football.

THAT is the definition of porn?
You must "fap" over some fucked up shit then. 

Hahaha, seriously? A time and a place?

Yes, they don't go there to sit and clap politely. But to think that means that banner is appropriate is a ludicrous argument. Surely you can see that?

This sums up the issue of the RBB for me.  You (and they) think that the 'core supporters', by which I assume you mean the active support, are more important that the rest.  And therefore have a different set of rules and can do what they like, regardless of the impact on the rest of the fanbase.

I think you'll find that in every stadium around the country the active support is outnumbered by the rest by a significant margin.  And I'll call BS on your assertion of what supporters do at the football, because most of the people you see at the games are doing exactly that - sitting and enjoying the football politely.  Nothing wrong with that, and they don't deserve to have their experience tainted by 'core supporters' who think they're more important than the rest.

You do know that children attend these events?

I would wager that if the AFP got hold of this guys hard drive, we probably wouldn't hear from him for the next 8 to 10 years.

Anyone defending the banner in any way needs to be banned for life.

The banner is awfully offensive and the club needs to cop it for this. Maybe a few games with the RBB banned will pull them into line.