The sentence is highly unlikely to be carried out.
A fair few death sentences are passed, most are commuted on appeal or by the payment of "blood money".
Do City leave you cold?
- Thread starter Pogue Mahone
- Start date
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
A fair few death sentences are passed, most are commuted on appeal or by the payment of "blood money".
The mistake I picked you up on was to whinge about a potential execution of an Israeli woman who (in all probability) knowingly flouted the laws of a country where drugs offences can carry a death sentence. She's not worthy of your convenient outrage.what a relief, my mistake. Assad was just on holidays.
I said nothing about Assad but as you raise the matter Mansour's association with him is appalling.
Reading through this thread
I want City to make me into an icicle this Sunday.
You don't think it's possible someone could holiday there without knowing this law? And that aside why defend inhumane laws like this?
Christ on a bike.
It's not as if their inhumane laws were only discovered yesterday. If you think they're that abhorrent, then don't holiday there - especially if you're doing activities such as taking cocaine!
There are loads of countries with the death sentence for drug offenses. Of all the things to get worked up about regarding the UAE, that ain't it imo.
I think it's safe to assume it's generally illegal to have cocaine in most countries.
Bloody hell.
@adexkola
This is exactly the sort of sports washing discussed before. Fans being weaponised online to defend indefensible behaviour by nation states. Prior to all of this, could you imagine any football fan ever wading into a football forum discussion to try and justify the death sentence for a young woman who was caught doing coke?
Its absolutely disgusting, while I'm a firm believer in harsher drug laws here in the west, the fecking death penalty is not the solution, its insanity. I get the "Their country, their laws" thing but in this case its ridiculous. She obviously knew coke was illegal and took the chance without maybe knowing the severity of the punishment but unless she had enough to start a cartel over there then the punishment is draconian and disgusting. You can't just murder someone for something like that.
Its indefensible really.
Its indefensible really.
Fair question but do you think this would be discussed outside of current events or get anywhere near the media coverage it has had they not bought City? For all the sport washing its attempting I'd say buying City has led to far more of the shocking HR stuff being exposed and spoken of far more frequently and in much bigger circles than it would had they not done so.
They want to raise their profile. That’s another big factor in the decision to buy City. Of course, as you say, with a boosted profile then they can expect more media coverage. Which is why buying a football club makes so much sense. Simultaneously raise your profile and buy an army of online apologists.
That maybe one of the worst takes I've seen in a while.
They're dominant and really good as a team. I don't really care for them, but I can accept the reality of the current situation. They're the top dawg and they took our spot and we haven't been able to get good enough to get it back.
Also, to OP, we've spent almost just as much as City in the last decade, But we have nothing to show for it and they do.
Also, to OP, we've spent almost just as much as City in the last decade, But we have nothing to show for it and they do.
Can't tell what this thread is about, but if it's about the football, I finally had a few free hours yesterday without the fam, right at CL kickoff. Obviously wasn't going to watch Pool thrash Benfica, so put on City. To say it left me cold is an understatment.
I think Pep is an enormous footballing coward. Or more generously control freak. He has coached players like Mahrez and Sterling to always do the safe thing. City must have had the ball in Madrid's final third for literally 15 minutes of the first half. Aside from two terrible pot-shots from Gundogan and Stones (I think) City didn't take a shot. 15 minutes of attacking football without shooting. Probe, probe, pass back to the CBs. Ultimate control, but is that so difficult?
If you got another talented team, pulled a striker so there's always an overload in midfield and told them to simply keep the ball without ever trying to score, would they be that much worse at it?
Football should be about emotion, and to this thread's title, the uber-pepball is emotionless I guess it's impressiev how well the players are all coached as to always enable an angle to get it back to the halfway line, but should that be impressive?
I think Pep is an enormous footballing coward. Or more generously control freak. He has coached players like Mahrez and Sterling to always do the safe thing. City must have had the ball in Madrid's final third for literally 15 minutes of the first half. Aside from two terrible pot-shots from Gundogan and Stones (I think) City didn't take a shot. 15 minutes of attacking football without shooting. Probe, probe, pass back to the CBs. Ultimate control, but is that so difficult?
If you got another talented team, pulled a striker so there's always an overload in midfield and told them to simply keep the ball without ever trying to score, would they be that much worse at it?
Football should be about emotion, and to this thread's title, the uber-pepball is emotionless I guess it's impressiev how well the players are all coached as to always enable an angle to get it back to the halfway line, but should that be impressive?
Spot on.
Sportswashing with football as a vehicle has succeeded, with City and now Newcastle leading the charge in England.
Its why we have a World Cup in Qatar.
Thats fair, its just a double edged sword. I'm sure the benefits outweigh the cons though or they wouldn't have done it. I just think some good might come out of highlighting it in the end. The truth is people now I think would be much more open to having them leave than say when the takeover happened.
No doubting City’s quality as a team but yeah they do leave me cold. It’s all so undeserved I feel.Next Sunday I may even root for the scousers, that’s how cold I feel towards them!
Unless their numpty fans are doing the poznan, then I fly into a rage!
Unless their numpty fans are doing the poznan, then I fly into a rage!
1) My views on the use of Narcotics and Capital Punishment are the same now as they were pre 2008. I'm 100% against Capital Punishment for any crime.
2) I cannot be weaponised online. I stated that Mansour's association with Assad is appalling. Show me where I've defend their moral code and penal system.
3) We both know that in reality she won't be executed. She did, however, almost certainly realise that she was taking that chance by snorting that shit up her nose.
Whinge?!!
99.9% certainly not. I believe that ignorance of the law is never an excuse.
Well said. They bore me to tears. Such a robotic way of playing football.
Thats probably the worst tactical take on City I've ever read and I've read some shockers on here.
While this City team is all about control the idea that they play safe is ridiculous.
City had 15 shots yesterday against one of the best defenses in the world football playing a back 10.
City players had according to Uefa 88 attacks to Atleticos 7 (don't ask me what Uefa consider an attack)
They also ran at their man alot which makes the Sterling and Mahrez thing weird.
To put that in perspective at the weekend Liverpool vs Burnley had 6 dribbles. City vs Burnley had 3 each. In an end to end game where neither team could defend United had 13 vs Leicester.
City had 13 vs Atletico last night, more than all bar United at the weekend.
So City shoot more, run at defenses more, have more touches in the opposition box than 95% of teams yet play safe because they don't run up blind alleys or Moyes it into the box every time they are in the oppositions half?
If it was so easy don't you think everyone would be doing it? Even City couldn't do it in Pep's first season without the right personnel
Makes one wonder why other teams aren't as effective as them at it if it's that easy, right?
Anyways basically every match against Atletico no matter the team is going to look boring especially in CL, though Simeone went overboard with his defensive tactics yesterday with his compact 5-5-0 formation in a very low block. You can't just keep shooting just for the sake of it, you have to have an opening to do that.
Only watched the first half because there was some wet paint calling my attention. But in that first half, I'd say UEFA would have given City something like 40 odd attacks. Of which, 2 led to attempts to score a goal. One from a corner, the other a presumably bored to tears CB having a potshot.
I'll never say it's not effective, or easy, but I also don't think it's fun. Pep has created a team in his image, has 2 elite players for each position and all of them are able to play exactly how he wants. But for me when your left winger consistently is one on one with a defender and every single time plays it backwards, it's just not what - as a neutral - I want to spend my time watching.
The wingers were never 1v1 though, that's the thing.
And they certainly don't have 2 elite players for each position (especially when you take into account that a lot of their players are often switching positions). The system is what makes a lot of their players look elite, the same thing with Liverpool.
I have to say I admire the way they take total control of a game. To do it for nearly 90 minutes you're bound to get large periods where it looks like they're just passing for the sake of passing. But that's not the case, there are TWO teams out there and if one can't be bothered to play then why should the other give them the ball for the sake of end to end entertainment?
I love(d) playing 5 a side with my old mates where we wouldn't let opposition teams touch the ball for long periods. The buzz was thrilling, a game for the purists.
I love(d) playing 5 a side with my old mates where we wouldn't let opposition teams touch the ball for long periods. The buzz was thrilling, a game for the purists.
This is exactly how I see it.
Assuming the City first eleven is
Ederson Walker Dias Laporte Cancelo- Rodri Gundogan KdB - Bernado Mahrez Foden.
Who are the elite 2nd eleven available to them this season. Would be nice if someone can list them out cos we keep seeing this narrative very often
First and foremost I want to state my opposition to the death penalty, because any mistake made is, well, irreversible. Plus it's applied disproportionately towards the poor, historically oppressed parts of society
So here's the issue I have with the term sportswashing, as applied towards Qatar and Abu Dhabi and the Saudis
1. The idea that a football club would be bought so their supporters would defend the owners in online debates. At face value that is still one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. And it literally has nil impact in the real world.
2. Buying positive exposure: in retrospect buying City and Chelsea and Newcastle has brought more negative attention on the buyers. I don't think Yemen would be mentioned outside of the Current Events forum apart from a stick used to (deservedly) bash the Sauds' takeover of Newcastle
3. Buying an entrance/acceptance into the UK: the UK government through relations with the Middle East and Russia has already legitimized these actors. The UK sells weapons to these countries, buys their oil, holidays in these countries, welcomes their citizens to shop in Harrods and buy flats in Kensington... Yet buying a sports club is supposed to legitimize these actors in a way the aforementioned stuff doesn't?
Defending the death penalty on a football forum: I've seen it done before for heinous offenses committed. The US alone loves it's executions and has a lot of backers. So while I disagree with the death penalty, I wouldn't put it's defense down to sportswashing.
One more point for the "sportswashing is a term too ambiguous to have any serious meaning", for years I've seen the US military flood sports events with advertising of it's cool toys and troops to recruit young men. Similarly the nauseating patriotic displays of the anthem and pledge before every game (see the reaction against Colin Kaepernick for kneeling)... If ever sportswashing could apply to a situation... I've never heard of the term applied here. It only seems to be applied towards Middle Eastern countries and Russian oligarchs. I'll stop on that train of thought before someone accuses me of whataboutery (another awesome term)...
This question has been asked for a few months and you won't see an answer for this question because bantz > facts
Re 1. The idea that positive PR (i.e. people defending your reputation on social media) would not be considered hugely valuable and/or not have any impact “in the real world” is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard! Tell that to the comms firms charging an absolute fortune to do a far less effective job of managing their clients reputation online. Obviously not the one and only reason to buy a football club but absolutely an important factor to be considered.
Re your final point. Yes, also sports washing. Although I couldn’t care less until it starts happening in the Premier League.
What City are at this stage reminds me of the sort of character most seven year olds would think up when asked to create their own superhero. They might tell you about an invincible man who is so strong he can lift up the Universe, can't be killed by anything, can teleport anywhere in one nanosecond and has no discernible weaknesses. He might well be the most effective superhero ever but the complete absence of jeopardy means there's no compelling story to be told about him.
You think about making a captivating TV series about the current City side. It'd be one Hell of a task. They've handed one of the best managers ever to grace the game at least two of the world's elite players in almost every position using the resources of an actual state and created a side that is so ruthlessly efficient, so endlessly precise in its ability to absolutely dominate matches that there's almost an air of inevitability surrounding their success. The only stain on the project thus far is that, although they have resoundingly controlled the domestic scene for the vast majority of Pep's time there, they haven't won the Champions League. When that is the only low-point of a team's five year reign, there's not a lot there to reel an audience in.
Honestly, that's why I'll be far more annoyed if Liverpool end the season as Premier League champions than City. Much as Liverpool's success winds me up, I have to give it to them that they are at least a team with personality. Liverpool players don't just feel like replaceable parts in a supercomputer built to win football matches. There are characters in their team that I love to hate, and if one of them gets injured there's a genuine sense that, although it'll probably all still be fine, it might also not be. City just don't have any of that. If they win the title it'll just feel like the supercomputer once again doing exactly what it was programmed to do.
Nike released an advert back in 2015 called "The Last Game", where a company built a team of perfect clones programmed to always make the optimal decision. They inspired total apathy in people because they'd control and win matches in an entirely risk-free manner. That is, in essence, how I feel about City right now.
You think about making a captivating TV series about the current City side. It'd be one Hell of a task. They've handed one of the best managers ever to grace the game at least two of the world's elite players in almost every position using the resources of an actual state and created a side that is so ruthlessly efficient, so endlessly precise in its ability to absolutely dominate matches that there's almost an air of inevitability surrounding their success. The only stain on the project thus far is that, although they have resoundingly controlled the domestic scene for the vast majority of Pep's time there, they haven't won the Champions League. When that is the only low-point of a team's five year reign, there's not a lot there to reel an audience in.
Honestly, that's why I'll be far more annoyed if Liverpool end the season as Premier League champions than City. Much as Liverpool's success winds me up, I have to give it to them that they are at least a team with personality. Liverpool players don't just feel like replaceable parts in a supercomputer built to win football matches. There are characters in their team that I love to hate, and if one of them gets injured there's a genuine sense that, although it'll probably all still be fine, it might also not be. City just don't have any of that. If they win the title it'll just feel like the supercomputer once again doing exactly what it was programmed to do.
Nike released an advert back in 2015 called "The Last Game", where a company built a team of perfect clones programmed to always make the optimal decision. They inspired total apathy in people because they'd control and win matches in an entirely risk-free manner. That is, in essence, how I feel about City right now.
City have one of the smaller squads of established players in the EPL.
Steffen
Ake
Stones
Zinchenko
Fernandinho
Sterling
Gabriel Jesus
are the other ones available to Pep.
Mendy is finished at the club and the rest are either kids who play only in early round Cup ties or under exceptional circumstances.
Dunno about their second best keeper in their squad but they’ve a keeper out on loan I’d happily have starting at United. Gavin Bazunu.
Defenders not in that XI:
Zinchenko, Mendy, Aké, Stones
Midfielders
Fernandinho, Silva
Attackers:
Grealish, Sterling, Jesus.
Throw in one of their best kids like Cole Palmer and that team would probably beat most teams in the league.
Now do a “take away their best eleven” team for any of City’s rivals. See how they bear up.
Poor Jack Grealish. Whitewashed from their squad already
I can't tell if you're actually being very serious.
Mendy is no longer a member of the team. Who's the RB hear? Maybe stones i guess, if so who's the 2nd CB ?
Fernandinho's legs are completely gone, there's a reason why he doesn't play.
Silva is a first team player, Gundogan will be the one in the 2nd team.
In the attack, you have 2 players there that barely can score goals and a 3rd one who's very wasteful.
Sorry but this team will do well to finish in the top 10 in the league.