The Marlon King hysteria
WITH his imminent arrival it's time for those who've taken particular views on the matter to decide what they do next
I've written before on the subject and suggested its not a simple matter,but most fans are taking definite stands one way or the other. The blogs on banter have attracted particularly fierce comment
Those who feel they can't support a Coventry City with Marlon King in it will presumably not come to the Ricoh whilst he's here. That's a principled stand any one could understand
Those who've contended his private life is immaterial should ask themselves what sort of person they want to be a Coventry player, There's been a debate about whether Marlon King is a good player. It's also worth asking if he's a good person
As i said before I react strongly against any man striking a woman. But as a Christian I also believe in forgiveness and reconciliation
Though Marlon's misdemeanours have been many and varied its the sexual assault charge that particular sickens. However should his appeal against it be won that would surely strip away some of the moral outrage
Should it be lost it would perhaps intensify it. I was looking for some sort of apology from him to make me feel better about the situation
As he contends it didnt happen he was unable to provide that. It's hard to see what new evidence could turn the verdict,but we must wait and see
I for one am ready to give the benefit of the doubt to our new number nine. I believe it would be counter productive for fans to rip each other apart on the issue
My fellow blogger Kevin Halls attempted to put the matter in some perspective with his David Speedie comparison. Despite the attacks he took on that I believe he wasnt so far off the mark
I recall a big off field scandal regarding David's agressive behaviour towards a club Vice President that surely helped usher in his eventual departure
But the Marlon King affair has generated it's own type of hysteria. It would have been the easiest thing in the world for Aidy to not touch this with a bargepole.
But clearly he hopes a player who's behaviour was fine at Watford and who very much has a lot to prove will be an asset to the team
It remains to be seen if he's right but as ever Aidy has made a bold move
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For gods sake give the man a chance. He has vowed to clear his name and what about the old saying: There But For The Grace Of God. Are we not lucky that we have the manager and board that can bring such great players to our club. Marlon will be an asset to our club and help us back to the top flight. Let us all welcome him. Noel
he cant be innocent 13 times can he.anyone who supports/forgives him is condoning woman beating,no excuses.if he was joining villa/wolves etc you would all want him banned for life.the hypocrisy makes my skin cralw.i wouldnt mind but hes hardly pele.the dressing room will be a horrible place to be.
This sexual assault charge King received is apparently for grabbing the lady in questions bum, nothing more and nothing less. How many blokes AND women do this during a Friday and Saturday night.......PLENTY is the answer.
The Actual striking of the lady is unacceptable but again this occurs on a weekly basis between many people. The very Fact King is high profile has highlighted the issue.
I think he would be a very good financial asset to the club. If he does well during this season but we miss out on promotion, we could sell him and make pure profit....itâÂÂs called 'A no brainer'
Get real cov fans
What's being a Christian got to do with it?
Most reasonable people are willing to show a degree of forgiveness if there's a willingness to apologise and put things right from the other side. Do you see any hint of that from Marlon?
And it looks to me like all of this talk about an appeal is an absolute crock - he's had plenty of time to put that in motion whilst in prison. Why has it only come to light now, on the verge of him signing?
I can only think that it might help his cause slightly by muddying the water, but how does it make his victim feel? It's another example of not facing up to what he's done.
As an aside, if you're not convinced about what happened, then do some of your own research. The trial is a matter of public record. You can judge for yourself whether you think it's likely that he was a victim of mistaken identity - the court clearly didn't think so.
And don't forget this wasn't a one off. He was arrested for chasing two women through the streets in London with a belt wrapped round his hand. And again for spitting at a woman in front of a copper.
How you can compare this bloke to Speedie is completely beyond me. He might have had a row with a VP, but there presumably wasn't any element of sexual coercion involved, and it never came to the attention of the police, let alone ended up in a conviction.
Seems you're willing to give King the benefit of the doubt on the basis of an appeal that will probably never take place, whilst convicting Speedie for something that was never treated as a criminal matter.
So with respect, SkyblueKev, don't kid yourself. This isn't about rehabilitation or forgiveness, or even the thinnest shred of doubt that just this once King might not have been guilty.
If the only thing that matters is winning, then King is possibly a good signing. But if the club means more than that to you, as it does to me, then perhaps it isn't.
Aidy might have made a 'bold move' in terms of this move but personally speaking, the braver thing to do have done would be to leave well alone.
The argument for allowing King to play again should not be based on him having served his sentence, etc. Serving a sentence allows you back into the real world. It should not allow you to rejoin a "profession". We forget too easily that footballers are "professionals". A lawyer or an accountant would be disqualified from their professions if they committed a criminal offence. How is this any different?
If it were made clear that membership to the Professional Footballers Association was terminated on conviction for a criminal offence, the image of footballers may find itself back on a road to recovery.
Nobody should deny King, Hughes and Barton their places back in society. However, they have no place on a football field as professional footballers.
I called this the Marlon King Hysteria because that's what the whole issue seems to attract.In what i thought was a balanced blog listing pros and cons and asking as its a reality what comes next I appear to have got a bit of a kicking from some people.
John D by implication suggest I condone woman beating and make his flesh crawl. I'm very upset by his remarks and dont accept them at all
Duffer is more detailed. I mentioned my Christianity as something that guides me personally I obviously am not criticising anyone else who feels differently Christian or none. The blog acknowledges thier views. I said I saw an apology as key,but he hasnt given it because of the appeal. I understand he's came over well in general on various media interviews however. Im certainly not being conned by talk of an appeal. I mention my doubts about what new evidence could be availiable. I also say a failed appeal will make the moral outrage worse. I feel the rage about the Speedie comparison is overblown. Kevin Halls was only saying it's an example of another player with a bad off field attitude that the club was severly embarrased by,who became a hero on the pitch. Obviously its not a direct comparison were in Joey Barton territory here.
I feel that these two seem to discount the fact that a sentence has been served. We can choose to not offer him employment it would be easy to do that and not attract this sort of publicity. As Andrew Parsons implies if his behaviour is unacceptable as a Coventry City employee he can be shown the door directly.
George Peters views of the moral character of the "professions" are ones I don't really recognise.
The whole point of it was now its done can we all come together on this. Those who oppose the move can stay away if they want. They can raise protest campaigns I suppose but tearing ourselves apart seems counter productive
I await continued moral outrage to what I thought was a balanced blog however
C'mon skyblue Kev, it's not exactly a balanced blog if you start calling other people's opinions hysterical, is it?
And seriously, again, how can you compare David Speedie to Marlon King? Speedie, as far as I recall was never tried, let alone convicted, for any criminal offence before, after or whilst at the club. I don't recall any huge embarassment at his behaviour, even during the VP incident. It certainly didn't draw as much attention or reprobation as the King signing currently does. If you really wanted an example of a player with a past, pehaps Dennis Wise would have served you better.
Calling my criticism of your Speedo reference 'overblown rage' seems a bit harsh too. I think you're taking this all a bit personally mate. I'd describe it as a moderately irritated defence of an unfairly maligned former player, but I've a nice line in overblown rage if you really want me to fire it up. Shall we start with, say, Craig Bellamy? ;)
As far as the Christianity thing goes, there's no intent to criticise your religion here. I've been known to go to church myself from time-to-time, and I've done a fair bit of praying (especially towards the end of most seasons). But I don't think it's particularly relevant to the debate here, and I think there is a temptation to use it to try to claim the moral high ground.
Not that I'm saying you're doing that. But it seems to me that suddenly a lot of people who would normally be in the "hanging's too good for 'em" camp have conveniently moved to the "Father Forgive Them" side when it looks like there's the chance of signing a half-decent player on the cheap.
As for forgetting that he's served his sentence - I haven't. However it's a bit rich to come out on parole, which usually means accepting your guilt regarding the crime, to then immediately start making noises about appealing the conviction.
I'll say this right now. If Marlon King came out today with a simple acceptance and honest apology for what he's done, especially those crimes that he's committed against women, then I could probably accept that we should give him (yet) another chance. (But I could also see that there would be plenty that say that he's already had enough chances).
Until then however, I still think signing him is a terrible idea. It will divide us as fans in whether we can support him or not. It will give oppostion fans and the media a handy stick to beat us with. If he isn't an instant success, those fans that are now all in favour of him signing, will start to noisily remember all the bad things he's done. We will probably have to release a player or players that many of us quite like, to pay for his wages - or conversely not sign anyone else this season.
Mostly though - it's just wrong. The fact that Boothroyd has moved from the 'he's served his time' stance to the, 'it's about football not politics/omelette' quote suggests that even King's most ardent supporter can't sustain the argument from an ethical point of view.
Funnily enough, now that the club has declared its intention, it seems almost redundant whether he joins or not. We've already dragged ourselves through the mud with this. How embarassed will Ranson and Boothroyd be if King decides that he likes the love, but doesn't love the money?
Hi Duffer
Thanks for another reasoned contribution.I think we could debate this for ever but i tend to agree with Ian Palmer that we should get back to the football. You're willingness to respond to an apology does you credit. Only time will tell whether this will be a good move for the club or not. My concern is now it's happening we should attempt to keep together as Sky Blue fans rather than tear ourselves apart. Your opposition is clearly a reasoned one. I suspect we may have difficulty debating this amicably over a pint but I trust I don't make your flesh crawl
Heres to three points on Saturday
Since when has football had a moral code? Whether people say it should is neither here nor there, others choose to make them their heros, they don't ask for it. I'd imagine there's a reasonable number who attend the Ricoh who have a "tasty" charge sheet. Judging by some of the loons I see with Gnashing teeth and wide eyes there's probably quite a few that should be picked up as well.
Would you stop your kid from having a Beckham top because he cheated on his wife? Do you no longer watch Mel Gibson films? (probably none of any recent stuff as they're rubbish) If you are so principled I'd suggest football's probably not the right environment for you to expect others to toe your perception of what's right.
I find Kings actions reprehensible, but I'll support ANY player that pulls on the shirt, I can't see how you pick and choose, I'm not going to spout nonsense about what is a "real fan" but I support the club above all else, and by default the 11 on the pitch, in that order.
Wide eyes and gnashing teeth? I didn't realise you knew me!
Personally speaking, I think football's always had a moral code. This back from the days when Peter Shilton used to get the 'wife beater' jibes, to when those dodgy diving foreigners used to get stick, and right up til now with good old JT and Ashley Cole getting booed by England fans.
I didn't know Becks had (allegedly) cheated on his missus - but even if he did, that's a world apart from what King has definitely done. I wouldn't really want my kids wearing Beckham shirts, but that's more because I think it's a bit embarrassing fashion-wise than owt else. There definitely won't be any King shirts in their stocking this year though, I can tell you that, even if he knocks in twenty between now and Christmas!
Clearly we both find King's actions reprehensible, but the difference between us seems to be that I don't want him to pull on that shirt precisely because of that. I don't want to have to support him and if he comes, I won't support him. But clearly pulling on a City shirt is enough to redeem him in other people's eyes.
So, if you're truly happy to support the club in everything that they do without question, and you would support any player the club chose to sign regardless of what he'd done, then you are surely a better man than me in that regard. More forgiving, less judgemental, that's for sure - except perhaps when it comes to wide-eyed gnashing loons, but then that goes without saying. Maybe if I get good enough to play for City you'll be able to forgive me. :)
Sky bluekev - I'd happily debate this and all things City with you over a pint should we meet. Just cos we disagree on this doesn't mean that I don't still love you. ;)
Wide eyes and gnashing teeth? I didn't realise you knew me!
Personally speaking, I think football's always had a moral code. This back from the days when Peter Shilton used to get the 'wife beater' jibes, to when those dodgy diving foreigners used to get stick, and right up til now with good old JT and Ashley Cole getting booed by England fans.
I didn't know Becks had (allegedly) cheated on his missus - but even if he did, that's a world apart from what King has definitely done. I wouldn't really want my kids wearing Beckham shirts, but that's more because I think it's a bit embarrassing fashion-wise than owt else. There definitely won't be any King shirts in their stocking this year though, I can tell you that, even if he knocks in twenty between now and Christmas!
Clearly we both find King's actions reprehensible, but the difference between us seems to be that I don't want him to pull on that shirt precisely because of that. I don't want to have to support him and if he comes, I won't support him. But clearly pulling on a City shirt is enough to redeem him in other people's eyes.
So, if you're truly happy to support the club in everything that they do without question, and you would support any player the club chose to sign regardless of what he'd done, then you are surely a better man than me in that regard. More forgiving, less judgemental, that's for sure - except perhaps when it comes to wide-eyed gnashing loons, but then that goes without saying. Maybe if I get good enough to play for City you'll be able to forgive me. :)
Skyblue kev - I'd happily debate this and all things City with you over a pint should we meet. Just cos we disagree on this doesn't mean that I don't still love you. ;)