Rebrov muses on race and class in modern Britain

In what will almost certainly be either quickly retracted or apologized for, some Russian Racist Rag got former Tottenham mega-super-star Sergei Rebrov to give Spuds new Russian signing Pavlyuchenko some choice words of advice:

I wouldn’t go for a walk on my own around White Hart Lane. A lot of dark skinned people live there. So naturally the crime rate is higher than anywhere else. It’s not nice to be a robbery victim. So I suggest that Roman doesn’t walk but drives around that area.

After some contemplation, I’ve decided that there is another way to look at this: Rebrov’s comments have been taken by some as racist, but as someone who has a “Liberal Studies” degree I can assure you that he was simply musing on the effects that societal racism has on class and therefore crime. Additionally, his statement could be seen as someone who genuinely cares for his fellow man: “it’s not nice to be a robbery victim” shows that he cares, about all robbery victims, not just the white, rich, Russian ones. I beleieve that if we really delve deep into Rebrov’s caring and kind words we’ll see a man who is pained by the juxtaposition of poverty and wealth around White Hart Lane. So pained that he could barely live with himself as he drove his expensive vehicle into his exclusive player only parking lot on game day, all the while shielding his eyes from the poverty and “darkness” around him. It was this “darkness” which put out the light inside Rebrov and explains why he, while one of Tottenham’s most successful players ever, was only ever available for a few games a year. Rebrov’s not a racist, he’s the boddhisatva of caring for the poor and “dark skinned.” He really just wants equality and safety in Britain for all people! The next stop on his “tour of compassion” is, no doubt, going to be Liverpool, where it’s also not nice to be a robbery victim.

But seriously, what the hell is going on over there? First there’s the Zenit St. Petersburg debacle where coach Dick Advocaat made it clear that he’s not allowed to hire any blacks because the fans are so insanely racist and now there’s an article in “Sovetski Sport” which is both a racist diatribe and a full assault on Arsenal. How is it that UEFA and FIFA are refusing to deal with this entrenched racism? This is a problem that’s at least as important as whether or not people have the correct passport when they play in Champions League matches, isn’t it?

Speaking of which, CaribKid (regular commenter) wondered in yesterday’s comments about UEFA’s ‘homegrown’ rule, so I did a little digging and this is what I found out. Introduced 2 years ago, the rule reached its full maturity this year and requires that a team have 8 ‘homegrown’ players in their Champions League squad. You don’t have to have them on the pitch, just in the CL squad. Originally, they wanted to do something like the 6+5 rule that Sepp Blatter keeps proposing but UEFA knew that wouldn’t fly due to the EU work rules that require something called “fairness,” which is unfair. So, UEFA worked with the EU and came up with a plan that basically states that you have to take kids (15-21 year olds, from anywhere in the world) and train them in your academy for three years, and then 8 of those kids must be named to your CL squad.

They wanted to prevent teams like Chelsea and Liverpool and Man U from simply hoarding fully developed players from around the world, which means that it has failed miserably. Only Arsenal, with their fully developed academy, produce the quality and quantity sufficient to challenge in the Champions League utilizing their former academy players like Cesc, Walcott, and Clichy. Two years in to the program and Liverpool have to drop key players like Hyypia off their starting XI because they cannot seem to develop anyone, or maybe Rafa Benitez just doesn’t understand the rule?

It was a really difficult decision, but we had to do it. With the rule saying that you need more or less eight British – or local – players in the squads, we needed to decide which three centre backs to have for the Champions League

Nope. He’s straight up wrong. You need 8 players from the academy and their passports don’t matter. Maybe, he could, you know, set up an academy, bring in some kids, train them up?

Christmas Eduardo

Dudu is “recovering faster than expected” and should be ready for first team action in December. Yay! I know I speak for all Arsenal fans when I say that we wish him a 100% recovery.

Appiah Watch ’08

Every club in Christendom, and even some in Italy (ha ha! I’m the boddhisatva of hating Italians!), is admitting that they are trying to sign Stephen Appiah. Arsene should sign the guy, because even if he spends the whole season on the bench injured signing Appiah will shut the whiners up for at least a brief period. Plus, if he doesn’t sit in the injury room all season and plays at a fraction of the level that everyone thinks he can, he will be a great addition to the squad. Sign sign sign sign!

Blah blah blah Internationals

If you have Setanta, you can watch England lose to Croatia today. If not, you cannot even see the “highlights” — like when half-arsed midfield elf, Luca Modric scores a triple hat trick on them.  This has English fans in an uproar, because it’s their birthright to watch horrible football on the tee vee or some such.

Also, there’s a story that Adebayor refused to fly with the Togo team because he heard that someone was going to shoot the team out of the sky. Uhhh… hm… well… I don’t know what to think, except that death would be a difficult injury to recover from.

Whelp, that’s it for today, I have a work retreat today, which is to say that I’m wasting taxpayers dollars for 8 hours today doing team-building exercises, so I can’t go down to the bar and watch England lose on live tee vee, which I think should be my birthright, as a Wallonian.

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