Morality in professional football - Is there any left?

Apparently, we've offered a trial to former City "starlet" Courtney Meppen-Walter.

If (like me) you'd never heard of him before today, here's a link to a piece about him in the MEN which should give you a bit of insight into who he is and what he's all about:

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/family-fury-death-crash-former-manchester-6283805

Lovely chap, as I'm sure you'd agree.

We all know we're in a right mess financially and the days of going out and picking up a former World Cup winner or an ex-Real Madrid club captain are long gone, but have we really sunk to the point where we are seriously reduced to having to sign scum like this kid?

I never wanted Madine for similar reasons but this one is even worse in my view.

Comparing being banged up for killing two innocent people to being out injured for four months.......?

Seriously.......?

This is a step too far for me and as I said on the other thread, I'd rather see us play 11 kids from the academy and lose every week than see a Bolton team made up of morally bankrupt ex-cons representing the club I have supported for forty years.

But I fear that I may be in a minority because I get the feeling that if Jimmy Savile had had a decent left peg, there would be plenty of people who would've happily taken him because "it's all about what they do on the pitch, not in their personal lives" that counts nowadays.

Am I wrong?

Please tell me I am.

it's a tough one Breaders, on one hand we shouldn't touch him with a bargepole but on the other hand, as with Madine, Hughes and others who have served time in prison, if they have served their sentence then they are deemed to have paid the penalty and due a second chance.

From the article and the bits i've heard about him in the past he sounds like a typical young, arrogant footballer and i'm not sure he's shown any remorse. If that's the case its a no from me.

If he scores 20 its ok.

He will be one hell of a centreback if he scores 20

Barb Dwyer wrote:He will be one hell of a centreback if he scores 20

O right, i thought he would be striker that we need.

I think our striker may be on tag, we're fucked at night matches, he has to be home at 10pm.

Barton anyone?

Does he still play for Carlisle or was he released?

I think gartside has been watching the mean machine

Barb Dwyer wrote:Does he still play for Carlisle or was he released?

According to their website he still plays for them but he hasn't figured yet this season, not even as a sub.

So not only is he a cunt, he can't even secure a place on Carlisle's bench.

Epic.....!

I think we are a club really really in the shit.

Its a toughy. On the one hand, if someone has served their time I believe that they should be allowed to return to living some kind of productive life. I know that has been denied the victims in this case, but there is now nothing which can give them their lives back. Real remorse is what you would expect from someone who made such a huge error of judgement, and from what we have seen that doesn't seem forthcoming. If such a future is denied, then prison is purely for punishment, not any kind of rehabilitation, and recidivist rates much much higher if someone who is released can not rejoin society.
On t'other hand, football should imo be a positive force in the community, and a family friendly environment. How does that work if teams sign people who are as far from a decent role model as this gentleman appears to be?
I was offered a player, cheap rate, who was released from prison, but showed no awareness of his culpability in the death of a child, I wouldn't sign him. If he was truly sorry, would devote time to community work related to promoting road safety, would do whatever it took to try to pay back society far as he could, I might have made a different call. Guess thats my view, its case by case.

He can rejoin society, just not as a footballer if I had my way.

He should have to go and work in a factory for £6.50 an hour.

And every time he gets pissed off and yearns for his former lifestyle, he should remember that night he killed those two innocent people.

And then hopefully the enormity of what he's done may just start to dawn on him.

Because by stepping back into the well-paid, pampered life of a footballer, he's got away with it and it will probably never click with him just what he's done.

This was featured on a programme I watched ages ago! Showed the CCTV of it and everything, absolutely horrendous. 

Guy should be banned for life.

Don't touch him. Might have served something called a "Sentence" but his victims are dead. If we go for him we may as well have looked at Ched Evans.

The Muppet-Wanker situation had been confirmed in the BN today.

Seriously now, if he gets a contract at Bolton I'm off to Chorley with Nat.

I can no longer in good conscience continue to support an organisation that is so morally (and financially) bankrupt that it is prepared to entertain employing human detritus like him.

Signing Madine was bad enough for me but this latest barrel-scraping exercise has really hammered home just how low we have sunk as a club.

And as an aside from all the righteous indignation stuff, does this not also prove that there is absolutely no money left in the pot?

He can't even get on Carlisle's bench but he's good enough for us......?

The club is sinking fast and if players like him are our future, I want no part of it.

I've forgotten the exact name, but when the club tried to get into bed with one of the payday loan companies, fan power, and other sponsors reactions, made them change their mind. I have been persuaded by your arguments Breaders, this particular individual doesn't seem to be one who would add to the club in terms of integrity, or talent.

I was actually thinking about the QuickQuid thing when I was typing my last comment, Mand.

And it saddens me a bit that modern football fans appear perfectly capable of voicing disapproval over something like that but the potential signing of someone like CM-W appears to have slipped under the radar, with nary a comment.

That just doesn't seem right to me.

And commenting on the decision to drop the QuickQuid deal, Gartside told the BBC:

"We have worked for years to build trust and participation with the community through our Community Trust, education programmes, and other initiatives that are currently underway in partnership with local and national government.
"We don't want our commercial relationships to come between us and our community, and neither does QuickQuid."

Clearly he omitted to mention the following:
"However, when it comes to signing cheap players who no-one else will entertain because they are morally reprehensible pooh stains on the tapestry of life, we have no such reservations."