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Sterling to miss Montenegro match

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  • ‘Shite players should get away with less??’

    possibly the strangest method of managing ive heard. You’re talking about setting precedents, that’s probably the worst one of the lot. A terrible message to send out. 

    Anyway, feel like I’m going round and round, we won’t agree on this.
  • ‘Shite players should get away with less??’

    possibly the strangest method of managing ive heard. You’re talking about setting precedents, that’s probably the worst one of the lot. A terrible message to send out. 

    Anyway, feel like I’m going round and round, we won’t agree on this.
    We won't. My position is simple really, look after your best players. If we are going to win a major tournament in the next few years, Sterling is going to be more of a factor than Southgate, however well he has done. 
  • edited November 2019
    I get what you say about Sterling turning his back on England - Got a feeling no player would want to risk it

    (1) They may miss out truly being part of something

    (2) Might not get into the squad again as we've suddenly got a good number of kids coming through

    (3) Imagine the PR / Media backlash they'll have to deal with - Could understand a player taking that stance if they were punished for nothing but Sterling WAS the offender in this case so cant have any complaints

    From what Southgate has said today I've got a feeling it was a decision all parties were happy with (Was discussed in a team meeting with Southgate / Gomez / Sterling all speaking) - Reckon had it been 100% down to the Manager then Raheem wouldnt be involved against Kosovo either
  • I can't help thinking that Southgate's actions has put extra  pressure on Gomez, at a time when he is struggling for form and confidence I imagine
  • I can't help thinking that Southgate's actions has put extra  pressure on Gomez, at a time when he is struggling for form and confidence I imagine
    Life at the top 
  • I can't help thinking that Southgate's actions has put extra  pressure on Gomez, at a time when he is struggling for form and confidence I imagine
    No, STERLING'S actions are what lead to the extra pressure. Southgate only had to make a decision because of what Sterling did - whether or not you think Southgate got it right he is only reacting to a preexisting situation not of his making.
  • If you're found to be the aggressor in this kind of situation in any other industry, you'd be in a lot of trouble and probably sacked off, so I think RS getting left out for one game is nothing
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  • If you're found to be the aggressor in this kind of situation in any other industry, you'd be in a lot of trouble and probably sacked off, so I think RS getting left out for one game is nothing
    Football isn't like other jobs though. Players have bust ups and and furious arguments in the dressing room and on the training ground all the time.
  • If you're found to be the aggressor in this kind of situation in any other industry, you'd be in a lot of trouble and probably sacked off, so I think RS getting left out for one game is nothing
    Football isn't like other jobs though. Players have bust ups and and furious arguments in the dressing room and on the training ground all the time.
    Same as building sites, between trades and the trading floors of the Stock Exchange / Metal Exchange etc, but if you leave someone with a whelp mark (assuming that was the result of the "words" they had), you'd probably be pumped down the road. If anything, being in the public eye as top sports men and women are, it warrants a stiffer outcome imo
  • The best teams are the ones containing the best players all pulling together. But if they are all pulling in different directions or not listening to the Manager then only one thing will happen. Look at what happened with Hazard under Mourinho.

    It is also naive to think this wouldn't get out or to think that a shake of the hands would resolve the situation. This did not happen, as it does, in the heat of a training session. It resulted from a player harbouring a grudge and Sterling's actions undermined the unity of the squad to the extent that, had Southgate not acted in such a public manner, we could have ended up with factions as we have had so many times in the past - it's no secret that under previous regimes players from different teams didn't even sit on the same tables!

    One thing that hasn't been touched on is the implications had say a white player been the one who was the aggressor and Sterling been on the receiving end - and Southgate then kept the situation under wraps and dealt with it internally. Whilst I certainly do not believe that Sterling would in any way use the race card, given particularly all that has happened to him, you can be absolutely certain that some would use this as an example of institutional racism - if Baroness Lawrence can accuse the Fire Service of racism then I'm sure it wouldn't take much for the Society of Black Lawyers to blow the situation out of all proportions.   

    The message has been delivered that Southgate expects that when players furn up on England duty they have to leave their club allegiances and what happens in club matches behind. Sterling will miss one game and hopefully he and any other players will have learnt from this episode.

    On a personal note I'm gutted because my eldest son (who travels home and away with the team) bought me and my youngest son tickets for the game and I was really looking forward to seeing Sterling for the first time playing in real life. But I would happily sacrifice that if it means that there is unity withing the squad.


  • Yes, and shite players should get away with less. They then have an incentive to try to be less shite. If Sterling decides to tell England to shove it one day, we will lose one of the World's best players. We don't have too many of those.

    Of course you deal with it. But you don't have to publicly suspend him for one game, there are more private ways. Even a nice long chat.
    So have rules on a tier system? Should we have the same for laws too? Let famous, or talented people get away with things the plebs cant?


  • Not sure i agree with this action from Southgate to be honest. Instead of pulling both players into your office to discuss it, sort it out and move on, you've thrown one of your best players under the bus and gone public with it. 

    The fact Sterling is staying with the squad to train every day and is available for the Kosovo match tells you it's really not that bad, so i'm sure this could've been swept under the carpet.

    As a result Sterling will probably be pissed off, the shit-stirring press will be on his back even more and the whole build up will now be focussed on this incident instead of the game.

    Admittedly Southgate says the entire squad agreed but i find that hard to believe. If Barca/Real players can put their differences aside for Spain and Pique/Ramos play alongside each other for over 10 years then i'm sure we could've got past this without going public.
    Tbf to Southgate he's said that it is common knowledge what happened so why deny it.
  • Yes, and shite players should get away with less. They then have an incentive to try to be less shite. If Sterling decides to tell England to shove it one day, we will lose one of the World's best players. We don't have too many of those.

    Of course you deal with it. But you don't have to publicly suspend him for one game, there are more private ways. Even a nice long chat.
    So have rules on a tier system? Should we have the same for laws too? Let famous, or talented people get away with things the plebs cant?
    Already happens... take Tom Lawrence and Mason Bennett for example
  • Was Joe at Liverpool when Sterling was there? Maybe some hangover from that time too?

    I can understand if it had happened during training, but this seems very over the top!
  • Charltons player disciplinary code and levels of punishment could be based on Charlton Lifes player match scores!
  • Just listened to Gary Neville’s assessment of the situation. 

    Nails it for me.
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  • Yes, and shite players should get away with less. They then have an incentive to try to be less shite. If Sterling decides to tell England to shove it one day, we will lose one of the World's best players. We don't have too many of those.

    Of course you deal with it. But you don't have to publicly suspend him for one game, there are more private ways. Even a nice long chat.
    So have rules on a tier system? Should we have the same for laws too? Let famous, or talented people get away with things the plebs cant?
    Already happens... take Tom Lawrence and Mason Bennett for example
    And we agree it's wrong, surely?
  • From the Athletic (I've paid so you don't have to...)

    Raheem Sterling’s confrontation with Joe Gomez lasted only 10 to 15 seconds according to those present, yet the fallout from it will run significantly longer for England, Gareth Southgate and the FA.

    The incident, which led to Sterling being dropped for the game against Montenegro on Thursday evening, took place at about 12.30pm on Monday at St George’s Park.

    Gomez was in the canteen shaking everyone’s hand and then reached Sterling, who was sitting down. Sterling snapped and responded, “So you think you’re the big man?”, stood up and tried to get Gomez in a headlock, knocking food over from the table. “It was a pretty full-on thing and food went everywhere,” said one source. “Sterling behaved like a bit of a child.”

    Another source said: “It was all out of the blue, ‘Woah, what the hell has happened here?’. Everyone was just a bit shocked.”

    The roots of Monday’s incident lie in Sunday’s Premier League game between Manchester City and Liverpool. Sterling was goaded by the Anfield crowd and subjected to chants of “one greedy bastard” about his 2015 transfer from Liverpool to City.

    Traditionally, Sterling has under-performed in that fixture and has been substituted early three out of four times before Sunday. But this time, Sterling was City’s best player in the 3-1 defeat, and was thought to have been devastated by the outcome. Sterling tussled with Gomez late on during the game and appeared to tread on Virgil van Dijk towards the end.

    Although Sterling and Gomez made up after the final whistle on Sunday, images of Gomez pushing Sterling widely circulated online on Sunday evening, giving rise to a feeling that Gomez had “embarrassed” Sterling. So it was an emotional Sterling who arrived at St George’s Park on Monday morning. Gomez was the first of the Liverpool players to arrive, before Trent Alexander-Arnold or Jordan Henderson.

    Gomez had initially thought Sterling was joking, and a handful of team-mates laughed at the City player’s initial comment. But when it became clear that Sterling was serious, Gomez moved backwards and the pair had to be separated by concerned team-mates.

    Gomez is thought to have been very upset by the incident. The softly-spoken defender does not like confrontation and did not think there would be any issue with Sterling following their embrace after Sunday’s match. But he decided, in the words of one source, to “take the moral high ground” in the interests of “what is best for the team”.

    Liverpool are also thought to be angry that Gomez has been put in this situation through no fault of his own. The 22-year-old was seen to have a scratch under his right eye when pictured at training on Tuesday morning.


    While Sterling’s behaviour has surprised some sources, there is also a view from those who know him well that he is more competitive and driven than many realise. And that defeats as important as Sunday night matter more to him than they might do to other players.

    It is also not the first time Sterling and Gomez have clashed on England duty. This is a story Southgate told after England played Kosovo in Southampton in September.

    “Raheem will give himself every chance, because he’s got the drive, he’s got the professionalism, he’s got the ability, he’s strong, he’s physically and mentally strong for such a small-statured lad,” Southgate said. “It was hysterical the other day, he and [Joe] Gomez had a shoulder-to-shoulder moment. And of course, they were bantering about it for the rest of the week.”

    Southgate was not amused by their latest confrontation and there is also frustration and disappointment among FA officials that the incident has overshadowed an incredible amount of hard work and planning that has gone into preparing for the celebrations of England’s 1,000th game.

    Sterling was initially sent home by Southgate on Monday night and it took an intervention from England’s senior players to change the manager’s mind, with him allowing Sterling back into the squad as long as he apologised to Gomez.

    Sterling was on the way out of St George’s Park when his car turned around and he went back, waiting for Southgate and the senior players to decide his fate. Sterling apologised to Gomez and Southgate convened an emergency team meeting at 9pm, when the manager confirmed Sterling’s suspension for Thursday night’s game with Montenegro.

    That decision, along with the public announcement at 11pm confirming Sterling’s dropping from the Montenegro game, has sparked anger from those who work closely with the player. There is a sense from one source who knows Sterling well that the FA has overreacted to the incident, and that rather than doing the right thing, it has prioritised being seen to do the right thing.

    “Back in the day, you were always having training ground bust-ups,” said one source close to the squad.

    “That was part and parcel of the culture. Some managers would step in, some managers would let it go. I’ve never known something happen for 10 to 15 seconds and one lad gets kicked out. It makes me think this is all about the PR for Southgate.”

    The former England defender Rio Ferdinand also said that the incident could have been “handled better” and that confrontations on international duty are more common than might be expected. Although one source pointed out that the Manchester United and Chelsea players managed to play for England days after the 2008 Champions League final without club rivalries spilling over into confrontation.

    After Southgate decided to send Sterling home, it took lobbying from the team’s leadership group, including Henderson, to change the manager’s mind, and decide that an apology accepted by Gomez would be enough for Sterling to rejoin the squad.

    “Raheem had to go calm down, then he realised what he had done was wrong, and he apologised profusely,” said one source. “Not straightway but pretty quickly. He grovelled all day. It’s done, finished. A line was drawn through it, to focus on the game on Thursday.”

    There was no immediate statement from the FA, not until 11pm on Monday night. But they knew how serious an issue it would be. The FA technical director Les Reed was with associates at Twickenham for the Leaders Sport Business Summit but he had to withdraw from a planned dinner, saying that his phone would be ringing the whole evening, so he should not come to the meal.

    But there is still a view that the FA’s suspension of Sterling, and the public announcement of it, has made this a bigger issue than it otherwise would have been. “It all seems overblown,” one Premier League sporting director told The Athletic.

    “I would expect my manager to sit them down, keep it in-house. Instead, Southgate has given a lot of oxygen to what sounds like a 10-second event.”

  • edited November 2019
    Good job RS didn't start shooting off his tattoo. Sounds like a dose of both plastic gangster and little man syndrome to me, and definitely the right decision by Southgate imo

    *Edited* Assuming that's true
  • Good job RS didn't start shooting off his tattoo. Sounds like a dose of both plastic gangster and little man syndrome to me, and definitely the right decision by Southgate imo

    *Edited* Assuming that's true
    You realise he got his tattoo partly as a reminder of how his father was gunned down to death, right? And he has vowed never to touch a gun in his life?

    (Or maybe your post is in jest and I've missed it.)
  • PaddyP17 said:
    Good job RS didn't start shooting off his tattoo. Sounds like a dose of both plastic gangster and little man syndrome to me, and definitely the right decision by Southgate imo

    *Edited* Assuming that's true
    You realise he got his tattoo partly as a reminder of how his father was gunned down to death, right? And he has vowed never to touch a gun in his life?

    (Or maybe your post is in jest and I've missed it.)
    Okay, whatever mate. Let's not go off subject
  • Yes, and shite players should get away with less. They then have an incentive to try to be less shite. If Sterling decides to tell England to shove it one day, we will lose one of the World's best players. We don't have too many of those.

    Of course you deal with it. But you don't have to publicly suspend him for one game, there are more private ways. Even a nice long chat.
    So have rules on a tier system? Should we have the same for laws too? Let famous, or talented people get away with things the plebs cant?
    Already happens... take Tom Lawrence and Mason Bennett for example
    And we agree it's wrong, surely?
    Oh of course its completely wrong!!... Its why like you I dont agree that there should be a tier system and how it shouldnt be like that for laws either

    Unfortunately though there does appear to be leeway for the famous and talent when there shouldnt be
  • I read this line in the paper today: "The players expected better protection from Southgate"

    It's like they're not grown men. Protection?! Jesus wept. 
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