Transfer rumours !

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Boggersbelief wrote:

As hipster said, he turned us down thinking he was too good for us. He can get to fuck

I love it when I make something up and it becomes BWFC fact.

You didn't make it up, he turned us down for everton.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:

He actually did turn us down once though remember when he joined everton and we'd bid 8 million under BSA. 

the second time he failed a medical after Billy Davies turned us down for the second time in 4 months.

I don't remember the £8m bid, but the failed medical is definitely true. And Billy Davies.

Breadman wrote:Have we sunk low enough yet to consider signing this turd?

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I reckon he's on about three quid a week for sewing mailbags at the moment, so wages shouldn't be an issue.

He'd be cheap enough even for our "budget"?

Here's a controversial dilemma.

He was convicted on the basis that the woman was considered to be "too drunk to have been able to give consent" which is a fair enough basis for conviction. 

On the one hand it is argued that having been convicted of rape by the Court he is therefore a rapist. 

If the Court handed down a sentence and the guy served it, are the same people who say he shouldn't be re-employed arguing that Court's decision was wrong? After all the law states that when you've done your time you have paid your debt to society and the Court set the legal tariff which he served.

So was the conviction right or wrong?

If right, then they should let him get on with his life.
If wrong, then he isn't a rapist so they should let him get on with his life.

Seems like some people like to say a sentence is evidence of guilt, but then argue against the sentence - they want it both ways. If the petitioners don't like the law then they should get it changed. 

Evans was a stupid cocky kid when he committed the offence and he is a turd for taking advantage of a woman who was extremely drunk etc. but this petition is sending out another message: "You will never be forgiven for the mistakes you make. Ever."

Should we sign him? If society was mature enough to live within and respect it's own laws then I'd say he was worth looking at although I can't imagine what shape he's in after all that jailtime. 
But this society is riven with double standards and a general malevolence towards those that cross the line so I'm afraid any rehabilitation he has undertaken and any talent he may have will go to waste. Fans wouldn't have it.

lusty I'm sorry but one of my family was raped and I cannot let your comment about "sentence served" pass. The victims of this vile crime serve a LIFE sentence of their own and in my opinion any man who commits that abomination should serve the same damned sentence. 

Do you really think that he should be allowed to put it behind him simply because he's now out of his jail cell? I for one think not, his victim will NEVER truly get over it and the fact he has people like you saying "Look he did his time and has paid his debt" seriously fucking infuriates me. 

That BASTARD has no fucking business being allowed to breathe much less walk our streets and if he EVER plays in our shirt I'll NEVER attend another BWFC match. Scum like that give men a bad name and frankly I consider his very existence to be an insult to my gender. 

No forgiveness should EVER be possible and the BULLSHIT excuse that he was young and didn't really know what he was doing is utter fucking bollocks. If there was any possibility of him coming here I'd personally START the petition to make damned certain Gartside knew he's not welcome.

luckyPeterpiper wrote:lusty I'm sorry but one of my family was raped and I cannot let your comment about "sentence served" pass. The victims of this vile crime serve a LIFE sentence of their own and in my opinion any man who commits that abomination should serve the same damned sentence. 

Do you really think that he should be allowed to put it behind him simply because he's now out of his jail cell? I for one think not, his victim will NEVER truly get over it and the fact he has people like you saying "Look he did his time and has paid his debt" seriously fucking infuriates me. 

That BASTARD has no fucking business being allowed to breathe much less walk our streets and if he EVER plays in our shirt I'll NEVER attend another BWFC match. Scum like that give men a bad name and frankly I consider his very existence to be an insult to my gender. 

No forgiveness should EVER be possible and the BULLSHIT excuse that he was young and didn't really know what he was doing is utter fucking bollocks. If there was any possibility of him coming here I'd personally START the petition to make damned certain Gartside knew he's not welcome.

So you're saying the law is wrong then.
As it happens, I agree.

luckyPeterpiper wrote:Andy Johnson is an interesting idea but I feel we already have too many problems with injury prone players. If he's fit and can prove it a short term deal (eg January with an option to extend) might be worth a go but in our current financial circumstances the point about the wage he'd most likely want is well taken. I do rate his ability and he was never really about pace so his game shouldn't be affected much by loss of half a yard or so anyway. I don't know if our midfield could really give him the right sort of service but if they could he certainly knows how to finish. A risky one this but worth it under the right conditions otherwise swerve it.

That's the point. I mentioned AJ because he's an idea - the type of player we should be looking for rather than a big lump in the Juke mould IMO. With a few finishers on the pitch there'll always be the belief that we could score regardless of the situation - and that would give us hope.

Damn right the law's wrong. In fact the law is wrong on men who use any form of violence and abuse against women. Not only that but the way professional sports people seem able to shrug it off and get back into the game even after being convicted really sticks in my craw. Stan Collymore beat up his girlfriend yet still got back into the premier league. That was one that really hacked me off as well. 

Not to mention people like Geoff Boycott who abused his partner for years and yet remains a "respected" cricket commentator. It's always been there, the double standard that allows famous people to pull shit like that and then make a comeback while their victims are told to "forgive and forget." I hate it with a passion (as you might have guessed) and simply will NOT stand by in silence. 

I'm sorry about my language in my previous post but I wanted my position to be crystal clear and I think you're right about the double standard but for me it's the ones who want to give scum like Evans a second chance who are in the wrong. People like him don't deserve it and never will.

wanderlust wrote:

luckyPeterpiper wrote:Andy Johnson is an interesting idea but I feel we already have too many problems with injury prone players. If he's fit and can prove it a short term deal (eg January with an option to extend) might be worth a go but in our current financial circumstances the point about the wage he'd most likely want is well taken. I do rate his ability and he was never really about pace so his game shouldn't be affected much by loss of half a yard or so anyway. I don't know if our midfield could really give him the right sort of service but if they could he certainly knows how to finish. A risky one this but worth it under the right conditions otherwise swerve it.

That's the point. I mentioned AJ because he's an idea - the type of player we should be looking for rather than a big lump in the Juke mould IMO. With a few finishers on the pitch there'll always be the belief that we could score regardless of the situation - and that would give us hope.

Totally agree with you on this. In fact I think Johnson himself could do a good job for us and if we set up the right way to make the most of him we could be a very different side indeed even with the players we have now.

Wanderlust, would you employ a convicted rapist? Of course you wouldn't, and neither should a football club with roots in the local community.

Billy Sharp has signed for Leeds today for £250k and all the chocolate muffins he can eat.

We should have been in for him, he'd have scored 20 goals for us.

I mentioned AJ a few weeks ago on here, to test the waters more than anything else. If be amazed if we took a risk in a player with his injury record, and probably a little disappointed too. He can't last a full season anymore, it's not worth it.

Natasha Whittam wrote:Wanderlust, would you employ a convicted rapist? Of course you wouldn't, and neither should a football club with roots in the local community.

If you want to know my opinion about it here you go:

I think that the burden of proof should be a lot higher so that there's absolutely no way on earth anyone could get wrongly convicted of rape. 
If it then got to the point that there was absolutely no doubt and that there were no genuine extenuating circumstances such as mental illness I would have a minimum sentence of life imprisonment with the option for convicted rapists to choose euthanasia rather than burden the taxpayer.

In this case I thought the conviction was flaky as you can't always tell what really happened when vast quantities of alcohol are involved and there is the other variable of the accused being a celeb. having decided he was guilty I thought the sentence was pathetic and that was exacerbated by time off.

wanderlust wrote:

In this case I thought the conviction was flaky as you can't always tell what really happened when vast quantities of alcohol are involved and there is the other variable of the accused being a celeb. having decided he was guilty I thought the sentence was pathetic and that was exacerbated by time off.

If this was some random bloke with an average life I would agree. But we're talking about a professional footballer - we all know they think they're untouchable so I never thought for a minute he was innocent.

But being a cowardly ponce never stopped clubs falling over themselves to sign Lee Hughes so I doubt Evans will be without a club for long.

I don't agree on the burden of proof issue; it's already hard enough to get a conviction for rape and all too often the victims don't come forward at all because they fear they won't be believed. In the case of a celebrity that feeling is even stronger as the Saville, Hall and Harris cases should very easily prove. 

However, I do believe that the ACCUSED should have the same right to anonymity as the victims UNTIL and UNLESS a conviction has been secured because a malicious and false accusation can ruin a life even when no conviction is obtained, John Leslie is a case in point on this. He was fully exonerated but his career in TV never recovered. In some ways I find the women who make such accusations to be even more contemptible than real rapists because they make it even harder for those who've genuinely suffered the appalling crime and its aftermath to find the courage to report it. 

But once a conviction HAS been secured according to law then the CRIMINAL should have his face plastered on every website and front page in the country and should never see the outside of a prison again let alone be allowed to "rebuild his life" the way some people suggest he should. 

In Ched Evans case I think there can be no doubt HE knew what he was doing and simply didn't care. He probably assumed (in my opinion) that his victim wouldn't remember what he did or would keep it to herself when she sobered up. I can't begin to express my admiration for that woman, I know from personal experience what a horrific experience the victim of rape goes through even at the hands of the most well trained and well meaning of police officers and medical professionals in the immediate aftermath. There is no way the victim will EVER be the woman she was before and I see no reason why Evans should ever be allowed to "put it behind him" and no defensible excuse for his actions will ever be available. Frankly I think the fact Sheff Utd are reported to be even considering signing that piece of scum is reprehensible. 

For once I find myself in absolute agreement with Natasha, no football club has any business keeping or signing a convicted sex offender in any capacity. They have a duty to the community around them not just on a public relations level but on a moral and ethical one and that HAS to take precedence in a case like this. 

I realise my position is somewhat coloured by what happened to my relative but I held it before then and it's even stronger now. There can be no forgiveness or rehabilitation of people like Ched Evans in my book. They have crossed a line forever and should be ostracised for the same length of time. There is no place in a society that calls itself decent for such men other than in a small room with a locked door and bars on the windows.

Natasha Whittam wrote:Billy Sharp has signed for Leeds today for £250k and all the chocolate muffins he can eat.

We should have been in for him, he'd have scored 20 goals for us.

I read somewhere it was a million plus add ons?

Going off current transfer rates quoted, this seems more likely.........just saying

Barryjw wrote:
I read somewhere it was a million plus add ons?

Going off current transfer rates quoted, this seems more likely.........just saying

The muffins came to £750k.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Barryjw wrote:
I read somewhere it was a million plus add ons?

Going off current transfer rates quoted, this seems more likely.........just saying

The muffins came to £750k.

Indeed.........One million plus add ons - the add ons are £750k worth of muffins.  

I think Lee's swap to Norwich must be off!

Winger Anthony Pilkington will have a medical at Cardiff City on Thursday after a £1m deal was agreed with Championship rivals Norwich City.

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Anyone heard about N Lennon coming to Bolton? Doing the rounds.