Velli

[Guest]

How disappointing that a club of your stature have stood by a cowardice thug who brings football into disrepute.

 

As a registered player of Slough FC he is a representative of your club and has severely let down your board, management and supporters.

 

Having been convicted of such an offence your club would be better to set a high standard to other clubs that players who earn good money from the game cannot be allowed to drag football back into the gutter.

 

Human Rights do not apply in this case. There are many jobs that you can not be employed in if you have a conviction. There are other jobs he could do!

 

Hoping that Slough FC see the light and show that they have standards that reflect their good name.

[Guest]

So I take it a transfer to Lewes is out of the Question.

[Guest]

Slough FC?!? You're worse than us - we always get opponents names wrong!! As for your opinion, you're entitled to it - but if you have a look through the threads on this forum you'll see that the vast majority of Rebels fans are standing by Velli. Not because we condone what he's done, but as Steve Browne says (and for once I do agree with him), that the lad needs something to look forward to upon his release to help him get back on his feet.

[Guest]

Ongoing community work with kids, perhaps incorporating his footballing skills would give him a purpose and sense of responsibility rather than him just going back onto your payroll. After a period of 'proving himself' then sure his services could be re-employed but that surety at this time is irresponsible.

Oh sorry to leave Town off your name.

 

By the way, cracking game the other week, could've gone either way. Good luck for the rest of the season.

[Guest]

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote roger rebel:</font><hr />

So I take it a transfer to Lewes is out of the Question.

 

<hr></blockquote>

OK We're missing Justin Harris(our Enforcer) at the moment thru injury and Velli's a cracking player, but we'll pass the offer up at the moment. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif" alt="" />

 

[Ian]

Veli admitted he made a serious error of judgement and got involved in something that he shouldn't. He has apologised repeatedly for letting people down and accepted the punishment he always knew he was going to get.

 

The message he posted on this forum the night before he knew he was going to prison speaks volumes about his true character and it is not the thug you portray him as.

 

The way he conducted himself after being found guilty both on the pitch as witnessed by Rebels fans and off, as referred to by Steve Browne, was a credit to him and a more accurate reflection of the real Veli rather than the views of the media or the misinformed.

 

Whilst I would never condone what he did I, like most Rebels fans, would welcome Veli back with open arms once he has served his debt for the mistake he freely admits he made.

 

[Paul Stephens]

Lewes rook,

 

The principal of British law is that you pay your dues, and you come out with a clean slate. OK it doesnt happen in a lot of cases, who wants to employ an ex - con. Well Velli made one mistake, has admitted it and is going to pay the price. Jail is not supposed to be abour retribution, rather rehabilitation. When he comes out the principal is that he starts fresh. Your attitude would have every criminal rejected by society.

 

Yes Velli's offence was serious, and i have some doubts about our continuing to play him once he was found guilty. But I have no doubt that giving him a future and a sense of belonging is the right thing to do once he has paid his price. Yes I agree community work or working with kids would be good, but that can be in parallel with his work as a joiner, and as a football player. Once the jail sentence is served why do you want to punish him further by stopping from working.

 

Finally you are wrong. Punishing him twice by sending him to jail and stopping him working IS a breach of his human rights.

[Guest]

Having spent two decades in the criminal justice system I am fully aware of the principles of British Law. Once people have served their sentence then they should be allowed to get on with their life in normal circumstances.

However, there is a wider picture in this case. Velli was employed as a carpenter you say and also as a footballer.

Upon his release he will be able to continue his trade as a carpenter, it is his Human Right after all.

As a footballer he was entrusted to set an example. He is no different to the likes of the Cardiff Pro who has been kicked out of the Pro ranks. I am not dumping Velli in the same barrel as the other guy as it is clear he is a 'career hooligan'. Indeed from your coments it seems he is setting hgimself to tread the right path.

I simply believe that once convicted the Club should have set higher principles. After a suitable period of rehabilation back into society when he has proved himself then he could take up where he left off. This would show far greater charachter than another offender who has been molly cuddled by liberal thinkers and handed things on a plate.

Would a fringe player have been treated in the same fashion?

If one of your supporters got convicted of a football related offence would he be welcomed into your ground? (Don't think I'm suggesting your fans are thugs, I am not)

I believe there was a similar case of an Exclusion Order on another Non league footballer a year or so ago. I believe he had to apply to the Courts for Special Dispensation in order to continue to play. All clubs are afflilliated to the FA or Football League and as such the ban would also include Ryman league grounds.

[Ian]

What higher principles are you suggesting the Club should have set? Handing out punishment before the Courts had done so? Steve Browne took the decision he did as it was clear that Veli accepted he had made a huge mistake. To stop him playing before the Courts had set any punishment would have been counterproductive to his rehabilitation. Allowing him to play and see what he was going to miss was a far more productive way of ensuring he is unlikely to do anything similar again.

 

Mentioning Veli in the same context, although you contradict yourself and say you are not, as Dai Thomas shows you do not understand the full context of him or what happened. Dai Thomas was a hooligan long before going to Cardiff. When he played for Watford Graham Taylor was quoted as saying he would have carried him back to Wales if it meant he could have got rid of him. Dai Thomas was a hooligan who could play a bit of football. Veli is a footballer who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and did something stupid. There's a big difference and I'm sure that difference played a part in the Club's decision to allow him to continue playing.

 

I hope for your sake you never find yourself in the position of having made a mistake.

[Guest]

Obviously we will agree on this entirely.

Yes I am saying once convicted (not sentenced) then he should have been stopped from playing. Your argument that it was to help him rehabilitate is a cope out so that you don't lose out on his unquestionable talent.

Yes I have made mistakes in the past. You take the consequences. Velli will have to do so with his incarceration and will hopefully come out of this episode a better, wiser person.

But wrong place at the wrong time. Give it a rest! Thats c**p. You walk away and don't get involved. Not to do so shows intent. Cowardice thugs riot because in a group they feel safe.

To play football is not a God given right and he would've learnt/rehabilitated as you put it a lot quicker missing out on being able to play when he was able to do so rather than when he can't because his liberty has been taken away. This is not about Velli as a person.

 

This is about standards of decency that Football Clubs should display.

 

Having been the victim of a players wrong doing a couple of years ago. His suspension from football for 3 months hurt him and taught him more lessons than any other punishment I could have dreamed up. Did it affect my relationship with the player in the long run? Well if it has then I wonder why he later came to me, shook my hand and apologised. The lad is currently back at the club having requested a transfer back!!!

 

I know you will not agree with the things I have said, but a take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Football can not be seen to tolerate thuggish behaviour. To do so brings the game into disrepute.

Is that the image you want for the 'beautiful game'?

[Burnham Lad]

As usual, Lewes Rook, when principle walks in through the door, common sense walks out of the window. There are a lot of stakeholders in this situation, the Police, Millwall and Birmingham FC's, The Court, Society, as well as Veli (please spell his name right!), his family, his club, and its management and fans.

 

We all have a different role to play in what must be the prime objectives, for Veli to be punished for committing a crime, to be rehabilitated, and hopefully re-admitted to society a better person.

 

All the stakeholders must take a different view of how they contribute to that process. If we took your argument to its logical conclusion, then his Mum and Dad would kick him out and never speak to him again and the rest of us would put him into isolation. What good will that do in meeting the objectives?

 

The role of representing the view of society has been carried out to the full by the Police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Judge, who left him and the rest of us in no doubt as to what Society thought and what it would mete out as punishment - and he is now in prison.

 

He did a very stupid and criminal thing - none of us would deny that. But he has also admitted his guilt, apologised repeatedly and from where many of us stand has shown the degree of remorse and acceptance of his punishment which cannot be ignored.

 

Those who care about him are entitled to take on the role of helping him back and to create a situation where he never offends again, and moralising from someone who neither knows nor cares about the guy does not help. You are entitled to your opinion and to express it, but those who have chosen to support Veli in the interests of seeing an offender back on the rails have just as much moral right to their view as to the best way to achieve that.

 

If you have all the involvement in the criminal justice system you claim, I would expect you to acknowledge that there are these different roles and as long as the offender is left in no doubt that we all hate the crime, it does not mean that we then have to stamp all over someone who is genuinely contrite in addition to the punishment society has exacted. That just pushes them into a no win situation and could lose them for ever. So take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Justice cannot be seen to condemn offenders to a situation where there is no way back for them. To do so brings society into disrepute. Is that the intolerant image you want for our society?

 

Don't doubt that Veli is very bruised and battered by his own stupidity and the consequences, and these will be with him for ever in a criminal record, but leave those who do care about him to get on with his rehabilitation without people like you telling them they are wrong to want to do so.

[Guest]

Seems we'll have to agree to disagree!

 

Please don't assume the 'logical conlusion' to my point of view, nor put words into my mouth.

You put a slant on it that makes it illogical. Ofcourse his parents should show some level of support. The normal course of events is that the mother will always stand by her son, fathers are not so predictable. With their support parents are the first line of help for any offspring that requires guidance.

 

By the emotional reponse of those who have replied and have pledged their support to the lad then I truely hope that their faith in him is not thrown back in their face at a later date.

I hope the remorse is genuine and long lasting and is not just because he got caught! Only time will tell.

 

But I still believe your club was too quick to forgive rather than test the charachter of him by strict discipline. But then that may be because they do not want to lose his talents on the field. Again I put the questions to you;

1. Would a fringe player who is not as talented have been kept onboard?

2. If a supporter of yours acted in the same fashion would he be forgiven?

 

Apologies for misspelling his name.

 

An interesting debate that we would never fully agree on. I look forward to seeing what the future holds.

 

Good Luck for the rest of the season.