Page 2 Letter in Reporter

[Hirsty]

Surprised not to see any comments on the letter on page 2, unless I have missed them ?

 

Ok..I'll start the debate off...although we have already had a long thread on the subject.

 

My opinion is, and I mean no harm by this, are we not whipping the Gibbs thing into a smaller version of the Beckham World Cup scenario ?

Good grief....they'll be bringing back the Tyburn soon !!

 

Yes - Gibbs made a mistake...who hasn't ??...but steady on....we may have held out for a draw, or even won if he hadn't got sent off, but who knows ?? not me !

 

Is there any difference to him getting sent off as to the effect on the game as any of the other players ( for any team ) that have been sent off this season ?..for whatever reason, good decision or bad ?.....or is it that this game was high profile ??

 

So, just a few points for discussion. I am interested to hear other views.

 

oh, and by the way...I though Kudos was one of the dishes I had at the post match Curry....until I drank Smirnoff !!

 

Regards,

 

 

 

[Hirsty]

PS....still reckon that the ref should have given us the free kick in the first place !!!

 

..and...to quote the said letter in the paper..

 

"does he realise the true extent of the damage his petulance has done, not only to the club, but the fans and the world of soccer in general ?"

 

Club and fans I can understand...but "world of soccer in general ??"

Surely not ??!!!

 

...and, while I am in the flow...it's Football ! not soccer !!(IMO !)

 

Cheers,

 

 

[John@TheFleet]

I read it from a borrowed copy in the pub so I'm working from memory here. I thought it was well over the top, myself, and if Gibbs reads it he might consider throwing himself under a bus as it appears he has single-handedly burdened G&NFC with financial ruin and scarred world football for life. Or could it just be the rantings of an amateur hack who's desperately trying to further a career as a journalist by launching sensationalistic, scathing attacks on a player of a sport she (I believe it was a she) obviously knows nothing about ie. 'soccer'. No-one calls it 'soccer' except Americans, geeks and failed reporters. I bet she watched on telly as well.

[Stu B]

Couldn't agree more,felt like writing a letter back...but no doubt wont <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

[Graham S]

Also a total heap of nonsense re. rugby being the sport of perfectly adjusted gentlemen, who never resort to violence or are ignoble enough to retaliate. Was I dreaming or do I remember several high profile cases, involving top players, in this country & overseas, hitting the headlines for the noble arts of eye gouging, head stamping & face raking?

 

I'm not being sexist - I went to the match with my wife, daughter & mother - but I bet the stupid woman saw our game on telly (if she actually saw it at all) &, like many people, who usually show no interest in sport, currently feels it's the in thing to regard all rugby players as demi-gods.

 

To be fair, it was obviously put in to wind up comment - perhaps they'd seen the debate on here, where in my opinion a number of people had been ridiculously harsh in their judgements of a very useful player. They want comment & the email address is there, so it's down to us to let her know what we think. (Politely of course, don't want to re-enforce her view of football & its supporters.)

 

Graham S

[FleetFanatic]

Maybe I was a bit hasty in my words that night.

 

Fair play to Gibbs - he apologised to his team-mates and his words seem honest in the back pages of The Reporter.

 

The dozy cow who allegedly wrote the letter on page 2 has obviously only ever watched premiership football on the television.

[Vera]

Talk about drama! You would think that Paul Gibbs has committed the sin to beat all sins in FOOTBALL. Could the lady explain why we see so many rugby players bruised and bleeding,are all these injuries sustained by gentlemanly conduct? As for accusing him of losing us god knows what, very often when a player is sent off the team seem to pull out that little bit extra to more than compensate. How many times have we ourselves not been able to take advantage when the opposition have been depleted by a red card. I feel ashamed to think that I have even bothered to comment on such 'comment', but I feel better for it.

[behindthegoal]

I couldn't resist the urge and have written a letter in response to this blatent attempt at generating some controversy. It will be interesting to see what replies they get and publish...

 

[Stu M]

What an utterly pointless waste of words. Melody Ryall is the editor isn't she? Isn't it a bit of a shot in the foot given that the Reporter has loyally supported the club to needle us fans with a letter clearly written by someone who isn't a 'soccer' fan, and who has presumably picked up on the negative vibes on here about Gibbs and used it an excuse to write a load of ill-informed nonsense.

 

There are some classic lines in this 'Comment' as well:

'... when Gibbs decided to run after and shove the other player in protest was the moment he opened up a whole gamut of issues that must be addressed...'

 

'...does he realise the true extent of the damage his petulance has done to... the world of soccer in general'

 

'Think too of the directors... their depression must be at an all-time low'

 

'What Gibbs behaviour has done though is open up the question of football's code of practice...'

 

Ha ha, what dramatic rubbish, Melody. Go and write scripts for EastEnders or something, because this is over-the-top old cobblers. You'd swear Gibbs had scythed the other's guys head clean off and not, as in Melody's own words, merely 'shoved' him. Get a grip.

[Jessica]

I can only hope that Melody goes and supports Dartford from now on. We don't want her at the Fleet. What a load of stupid dribble.

 

Enough has been said about the Gibbs incident, and we certainly don't need her two-pennyworth.

 

Like so many of you the "soccer" bitreally got me.

 

Go get a life somwhere else Melody.

 

In plain language fox trot oscar.

 

[chris blanc]

Silly Mare (didn't really need to comment, but that pushed me to my 1000th post, Hooray!)

[Graham S]

Got round to emailing a response to The Reporter today. Quite difficult trying to deal with all the points, when there's no way they're going to print a long reply. Anyway, for what it's worth, this is what I sent.

 

"This season & last The Reporter’s coverage of the Fleet’s games has been superb. The back 3 pages reporting on the County game were no different. Indeed, your reporter went out of his way to print a lengthy interview with Paul Gibbs & specifically squashed rumours that he had petulantly stormed off. Then what do we find? A red bannered headline on the front page, urging us to read of 'Fleet player’s shame' on page 2. And what a heap of nonsense awaits us there.

 

"According to this, Paul Gibbs has: damaged 'the world of soccer in general' and cost 'the club hundreds of thousands of pounds' to the extent that it 'should consider ditching him altogether.' And this for an offence, which your own reporter described with the words, 'replays suggested that Gibbs could be unfortunate as he neither raised his studs or feet when making the challenge.'

 

"The ultimate insult (apart from calling football, 'soccer') is to hold rugby players up as paragons of virtue, perpetuating the old myth that rugby players are true sportsmen, unlike the hoi polloi, who play football. Now was I hallucinating, or do I remember half a dozen occasions, within the last 2 years, where high profile rugby players, from this country as well as overseas, have been front page news for all the wrong reasons? I take it that refusing to room with a team mate on racial grounds, deliberately raking an opponent’s face, when he is on the ground in a maul, or gouging his eyes in a scrum all qualify as acts of 'honour, gentlemanly tactics & skill?'

 

"Don’t make us laugh, Melody. Were you at the game by the way?"

 

Other people might wish to take up things I didn't focus on.

The address to use is: KTNeditorial@inuk.co.uk

 

Graham S