The 'saving Finnegan's sanity' Manor Solomon thread.

[Guest Bilo]

Any comments and thoughts unrelated to Manor Solomon's (frankly excellent) football ability and the potential for him to sign here? 

[bovril]

Would rather we didn't 

[Muzzy_no7]

Should play absolutely no part in it.

 

Hes an excellent footballer who would improve our starting 11.

 

We’ve had no problems with a Moroccan player, Turkish or even Nigerian with the ongoing problems there so I don’t see why we should start now. 

[The whole world smiles]

2 minutes ago, Muzzy_no7 said:

Should play absolutely no part in it.

 

Hes an excellent footballer who would improve our starting 11.

 

We’ve had no problems with a Moroccan player, Turkish or even Nigerian with the ongoing problems there so I don’t see why we should start now. 

Roughly how many people have the Moroccan, turkish and nigerian armies killed in the last 2 years?

[leicsmac]

Honestly, the objections are IMO legit but then if anyone expects to see ethical business behaviour in high level football as a whole then they might be waiting a bit. 

[The whole world smiles]

you can say "leave politics out of football" all you want but it was UEFA and FIFA that banned russian teams and players from playing. So it was footballs decision to bring politics in leaving them open to accusations of double standards here.

[RobHawk]

Has he said something in particular on the issue? 

 

Or is it just a case of people overreacting because of where he comes from? Just because he's Israeli doesn't automatically mean he supports what the government are doing in gaza. Unless he's said something to support it? 

[kenny]

7 minutes ago, The whole world smiles said:

you can say "leave politics out of football" all you want but it was UEFA and FIFA that banned russian teams and players from playing. So it was footballs decision to bring politics in leaving them open to accusations of double standards here.

Russians can play. Russian football teams and the national can not.

[bovril]

7 minutes ago, RobHawk said:

Has he said something in particular on the issue? 

 

Or is it just a case of people overreacting because of where he comes from? Just because he's Israeli doesn't automatically mean he supports what the government are doing in gaza. Unless he's said something to support it? 

He's posted quite a lot of stuff on social media in support of the Israeli government and army, I think. Which he's entitled to, just don't really want him playing here, though I know my personal opinion has no influence on the club's decision. 

[Guest Bilo]

32 minutes ago, The whole world smiles said:

Roughly how many people have the Moroccan, turkish and nigerian armies killed in the last 2 years?

Given that all three of them have encountered significant civil unrest, more than you'd think. 

[RobHawk]

Ah fair enough, that does make more sense. 

 

I'm a bit on the fence tbh. As much as I despise what the Israelis are doing, I can understand I may feel alot different if I was an Israeli. 

 

I'm probably more of the thinking that he is entitled to his opinion on the situation, and whilst I may strongly disagree with it, it shouldn't stop him playing football. I'd rather hear and debate arguments I agree with, than shut them down. 

[Muzzy_no7]

34 minutes ago, The whole world smiles said:

Roughly how many people have the Moroccan, turkish and nigerian armies killed in the last 2 years?

Have a look into the ongoing and historical issues between the Turkish and Kurds. 

The Moroccans in the Western Sahara. 
 

And the religious civil conflict in Nigeria. 
 

Azerbaijan and Armenia?

 

Ongoing Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus? 

Issues for Christians in countries like Syria, Egypt and Lebanon? 

[Clogger_]

Suggest anyone who complained about Hamza's flag is automatically disqualified from supporting this transfer

[Muzzy_no7]

1 minute ago, Clogger_ said:

Suggest anyone who complained about Hamza's flag is automatically disqualified from supporting this transfer

?

 

 

[MPH]

Funnily enough, he was at Shaktar Donetsk when the Russian bombing started and literally had to drop everything and leave..

[leicsmac]

It would be a PR shitstorm no matter how the club chose to approach it, rightly or wrongly. 

 

If the club thinks the bloke is a good enough player to justify that, then fair enough.

[slymunn]

27 minutes ago, RobHawk said:

Has he said something in particular on the issue? 

 

Or is it just a case of people overreacting because of where he comes from? Just because he's Israeli doesn't automatically mean he supports what the government are doing in gaza. Unless he's said something to support it? 

Solomon was enlisted for mandatory military service in December 2017, and has served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

[Muzzy_no7]

1 minute ago, MPH said:

Funnily enough, he was at Shaktar Donetsk when the Russian bombing started and literally had to drop everything and leave..

Why’s that funny?

 

These conflicts are very different. 

[Guest Bilo]

FWIW, I do think that his teammates would be professional if he joined. He's played with Muslims before and there's not much indication that he's vocally pro-Netanyahu or anti-Palestinian beyond social media posts that are a bit vanilla, frankly. He is Israeli and plays for their national team, after all.

 

But we cannot pretend that this would be the same as signing a Belgian because it isn't. British policy towards Gaza, never mind Israeli, was sufficiently emotive to unseat Jonathan Ashworth in favour of Shockat Adam in Leicester.

 

It's not as if the situation has improved much in Gaza either, and there would absolutely be fans who would consider the signing of an Israeli former IDF serviceman to be a red line. Yes, I know that service is compulsory, he most likely played a bit of a REMF role and conscientious objection is highly frowned upon in Israel, but there aren't many people taking a nuanced view here. There will be a lot of fans who will just see 'Israeli international signs for Leicester.'

 

I can almost imagine the TikToks, tweets and protest banners now.

 

Now that it isn't to say we shouldn't sign him for those reasons. He's an excellent player, clearly professional and I'm not a fan of letting mob rule win on this one any more than I would be if far-right types kicked up a stink because we were signing someone with views or a background that upset them. It's just something that need careful handling and possibly a bit of media savvy. 

[Muzzy_no7]

3 minutes ago, Bilo said:

FWIW, I do think that his teammates would be professional if he joined. He's played with Muslims before and there's not much indication that he's vocally pro-Netanyahu or anti-Palestinian beyond social media posts that are a bit vanilla, frankly. He is Israeli and plays for their national team, after all.

 

But we cannot pretend that this would be the same as signing a Belgian because it isn't. British policy towards Gaza, never mind Israeli, was sufficiently emotive to unseat Jonathan Ashworth in favour of Shockat Adam in Leicester.

 

It's not as if the situation has improved much in Gaza either, and there would absolutely be fans who would consider the signing of an Israeli former IDF serviceman to be a red line. Yes, I know that service is compulsory, he most likely played a bit of a REMF role and conscientious objection is highly frowned upon in Israel, but there aren't many people taking a nuanced view here. There will be a lot of fans who will just see 'Israeli international signs for Leicester.'

 

I can almost imagine the TikToks, tweets and protest banners now.

 

Now that it isn't to say we shouldn't sign him for those reasons. He's an excellent player, clearly professional and I'm not a fan of letting mob rule win on this one any more than I would be if far-right types kicked up a stink because we were signing someone with views or a background that upset them. It's just something that need careful handling and possibly a bit of media savvy. 

What’s sad is, regarding our footballing fanbase… there would probably be more protest about this signing than there was or will be at this board for putting us in this position in the first place. 

[leicsmac]

5 minutes ago, Muzzy_no7 said:

Why’s that funny?

 

These conflicts are very different. 

I think that depends on the beholder. 

 

People do keep demonstrating that perception is more important than fact these days, after all. 

[Guest Bilo]

Just now, Muzzy_no7 said:

What’s sad is, regarding our footballing fanbase… there would probably be more protest about this signing than there was or will be at this board for putting us in this position in the first place. 

Sadly think you're right.

[st albans fox]

13 minutes ago, slymunn said:

Solomon was enlisted for mandatory military service in December 2017, and has served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

Everyone has to serve

male and female 

I have no idea what his service entailed but as an international player I very much doubt he was ‘on the front line’

 

he played 68 games for his club in two half seasons in that period before transferring to Donetsk in Jan 2019.  If he was enlisted then doesn’t look like he was doing much away from training and playing! 

So not convinced his ‘service’ is relevant (though because it’s mandatory that shouldn’t really matter ??). 

 

Edited 29 August 2025 by st albans fox

[kenny]

7 minutes ago, bovril said:

He's posted quite a lot of stuff on social media in support of the Israeli government and army, I think. Which he's entitled to, just don't really want him playing here, though I know my personal opinion has no influence on the club's decision. 

I was interested and went and looked. The only thing he has posted about the IDF is “Killing their own people and blaming Israel” which was after the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital attack.

 

Otherwise, he seems to lament the suffering that is happening.

[leicsmac]

8 minutes ago, Bilo said:

FWIW, I do think that his teammates would be professional if he joined. He's played with Muslims before and there's not much indication that he's vocally pro-Netanyahu or anti-Palestinian beyond social media posts that are a bit vanilla, frankly. He is Israeli and plays for their national team, after all.

 

But we cannot pretend that this would be the same as signing a Belgian because it isn't. British policy towards Gaza, never mind Israeli, was sufficiently emotive to unseat Jonathan Ashworth in favour of Shockat Adam in Leicester.

 

It's not as if the situation has improved much in Gaza either, and there would absolutely be fans who would consider the signing of an Israeli former IDF serviceman to be a red line. Yes, I know that service is compulsory, he most likely played a bit of a REMF role and conscientious objection is highly frowned upon in Israel, but there aren't many people taking a nuanced view here. There will be a lot of fans who will just see 'Israeli international signs for Leicester.'

 

I can almost imagine the TikToks, tweets and protest banners now.

 

Now that it isn't to say we shouldn't sign him for those reasons. He's an excellent player, clearly professional and I'm not a fan of letting mob rule win on this one any more than I would be if far-right types kicked up a stink because we were signing someone with views or a background that upset them. It's just something that need careful handling and possibly a bit of media savvy. 

Superb post. 

 

Only thing I'll add is that as per above, I don't think there's any way to handle this carefully without it becoming a shitstorm.