FA Cup - Paper Round: QPR players may snub Terry
The ugly side of the beautiful game rears up in the papers this morning as the two race rows that have rocked English football come to a head.
A quirk of the FA Cup fourth round draw means Anton Ferdinand will meet John Terry when QPR take on Chelsea and Manchester United's Patrice Evra will run the gauntlet of hate at Liverpool as Luis Suarez continues to serve his ban.
The papers are full of it - and not just the back pages due to the latest rather unfortunate news that Ferdinand was sent a spent bullet and a death threat in the post in the build-up to the big game at Loftus Road.
Andre Villas-Boas has pleaded for Ferdinand to bury the hatchet for the good of football but one report in the Daily Mirror claims that the entire QPR team are considering a snub to Terry by all refusing to shake his hand.
The report says: "The squad are understood to have spoken among themselves and will take a final decision today as to whether to go forward with the gesture of support for Ferdinand, following the race-row clash between the pair in October."
Another white-hot atmosphere is expected up at Anfield when Evra takes to the field after his accusations of racial abuse led to an eight-game ban for Suarez.
Suarez is determined not to let another such 'misunderstanding' happen again, so the Uruguayan is taking extra English lessons, just in case there are any more words out there he doesn't understand to be offensive outside his home country.
The Daily Mail reports: "Suarez picked up some of the basics of English in his first few months in Liverpool but struggled and, after advice from friends, has been working on improving his command of the language during his suspension."
Meanwhile at United, Darren Fletcher has taken on Paul Scholes's coaching duties with the reserve team as he continues to recovery from a bowel condition.
Fletcher will not play again this season, but the Daily Mail claims he will assist serve-team manager Warren Joyce to keep him involved at the club.
The paper says - much like Scholes, who ended his retirement earlier this month - Fletcher is struggling to come to terms with complete break from the game.
To transfer news, and Chelsea hope to sign Brazilian wonderkid Lucas Moura before Tuesday's transfer deadline, according to The Sun.
Chelsea are in talks with the 19-year-old midfielder and are confident of beating other interested parties Internazionale and Liverpool to his signature, which will be worth around £8.5 million.
The Times reports that even if Villas-Boas cannot capture the youngster, the Blues boss will still attempt to take Milos Krasic from Juventus on loan for the rest of the season.
The Serbia winger, who is deemed surplus to requirements in Turin, has been offered to Tottenham and Liverpool, but turned down a move to either.
Chelsea defender Jose Bosingwa could be on his way out of Stamford Bridge to follow Alex to Paris St Germain.
The Daily Mail reports that the Chelsea are willing to let the Portuguese go for a cut-price fee of £4m as he is out of contract in the summer.
There is plenty of movement at PSG this month and one player who may leave the French club is Guillaume Hoarau, with the Guardian reporting that Everton have made an enquiry about the France international.
Toffees boss David Moyes is keen on taking the 27-year-old on loan, even though he has struggled with injury and only started one Ligue 1 game this season.
Djibril Cisse may be on his way back to the Premier League, with The Sun claiming a swap deal with QPR midfielder Adel Taarabt is on the horizon.
The former Liverpool striker is struggling with the tactics - and for goals - at Serie A club Lazio and would relish a return to English football with Rangers.
And finally, Alan Smith is set to revive his career at League One promotion chasers MK Dons, according to The Sun.
The Newcastle midfielder has six months left on his £60,000-a-week contract at St James' Park but if he moves the Magpies will continue to pay him £57,500 a week, with his new club paying the remainder.
Comment 25 - 44 of 44
sadly this is what you xpect rrom association football, once such a wondeful game
, now populated by idiots
Spirit of the Game (a Young Adults Novel) This novel by Geoff Francis foreshadows the current controversies dominating the news. The parallels are truly uncanny.
Racism & football: "the racism inherent in our society has always been a cause of much consternation to me," says Geoff. "It is a cancer which needs exorcising from the heart of our culture, which we have to recognise was built on hundreds of years of exploitation of other races. What particularly concerns me are the role models which footballers can provide. It is a problem that has been highlighted by the Headmasters' Conference and organisations like Kick It Out and Red Card and so many more. "
About ten years ago, Geoff started to write a film script dealing with heroes, hooliganism and racism as it manifests itself in the life of one young football fan. Two years ago, this was turned into a novel. In the light of recent events, such as today's news story, the publisher, Bonobo TV, has decided to re-release a newly illustrated version of the book in pocketbook format. The central role model in the book is Sir Stanley Matthews, who is 'The Spirit of the Game' of the title.
Spirit of the Game can be bought as a discounted package from Bonobo TV with Black Man with a White Face, the story of Sir Stanley Matthews' and how he used football in the townships to challenge apartheid in South Africa.
Now Terry has revived racism in football, hope he is enjoying his self and hope he pass on the trait to his kids.
there no men left in football they are all cry babies
when some @#$% team can wear racist person name on t-shirt then why dont they support and snub with terry
"Another WHITE-hot atmosphere is expected up at Anfield". Great choice of words for an article on racism.
Are these grown men, or are they back at school in the playground. Shake hands and get on with it, life is to short for their petty squabbles.
@36, Mo. I agree wt u, i think dats 4d best or beta stil lets do it ds way. - Let JT b d 1st man in d line up 2b shake hands with and if any qpr player snub JT's hand, then let other chelsea players also snub each and evry1 of dem, Thats fair play, - U DONT SHAKE MY TEAMATE (JT), THEN I DONT SHAKE YOURS
Why on Earth would QPR choose to snub Terry? All that will do is breed hate between the men and the clubs even further. I'm pretty sure that the FA is trying to get rid of the hate, not make more of it.
interesting,the most thumbs up on rasist comments.now you know what people support. its sick !!
SIMPLE The managers befor the game need to sort out if this no shaking hands is likley to happen. If it is so, then the teams should just skip the shaking hands befor the game. This avoids stiring up more bad blood.
I thought Ferdinand came from the Hood in Peckham??? he cant be that tough if he cries over name calling...
Whats all this pantomine of shaking hands before the match and then you have 22 "cheats" diving, pretending to be seriously injured and trying to get each other sent off. Wait till after the match and if you feel like shaking hands, do it then. Simple!
There isn't doubt that clip showed JT saying a racist term (they maybe doubt of the context and what was said before and after the clip).
What I don't like about the whole thing (apart from the racism) is how the media is stirring this all up to sell their papers. They are breading hate and contempt, that's is where they excel and that's how they make their money.
I hope Ferdinand shakes JT's hand, doesn't mean he agrees or excepts what happen, but show he is the bigger man.
well,well,rasists are all over the uk. but if you are a rasist, stand up and say so,not finding excuses for what you say and do!! then take the fire you may face. you will learn.
just wait for the european cup 2012 . the euro football body says,oh no there won't be any racial incidents !!
they must live in a different world. eastern europeans are rasists!!!! remember my comments!! speak just to some
black people,who work or study in polen,you will get the picture.
but anyhow,enjoy your holidays in POLEN ,you CAR is already there!!!!!!!!!!!!?????
no one had even heard of Anton ferdinand before all this self publicity of his
If QPR are going to snub JT, then please explain how this is going to be a fair game. This is going to spiral out of control as the players will be against him, the ref will be under the cosh from, players, fans, FA alike.
JT should not play and perhaps the game postponed until after a verdict has been reached.
Dont really see how the player can be doing this anyway they were england team mates, shows what being famous and money can do, So much for loyalty to your mates.
Andy my lad! I`m right with you!
The FA are turning football into a soap lately. I hope the top players decide to leave the premier league because they are getting banned and fined for nothing. If this carries on I guarantee the premier league will be about as good as the bundesliga in 5 years time!
why are they saying bullet when in fact it was a shotgun cartridge?. I think all this press speculation and hyping everything up is making the situation worse and why did AVB open his gob to stir things up, I think it will work against hom.
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