Aman Verma [Signed - 11 Dec]

[Thracian]

"and what my grandad faced when he turned up to work in the mills is another book in itself."

I'll not utter a word in favour of anyone being ill-treated at work but at least your grandad got a job and, presumably, at a time when so many of our nation had not long previously lost sometimes significant numbers of their family to foreigners, namely the Germans.

But I know white people today who are begging for a job, any job. They include one genuinely articulate person with years of experience as a department head. And a young guy who's a workaholic, has stacks of skills, a newborn child and a young Mrs who is constantly poorly with arthritis. Wouldn't you think he could do with some help and support instead of having the daily prospect of having his house repossessed because there's not enough work to go round?

I've also spoken to three white lads in the last couple of years who were never offered a football trial until they applied under a false and foreign name so if you think my suggestion about anti-white descrimination is ridiculous it's because you refuse to acknowledge it or refuse to look.

As for your comment about being "one of the few asians in the city that follow Leicester and fork out money to watch them whenever I can," that is encouraging and commendable but what does that say about the rest?

While you might have enthusiastically supported Leicester City and everyone who played in the team for donkey's years you also seem to be suggesting that others in your community would only want to give their support if the team had Asian players.

And that exactly demonstrates the point of my concerns on the issue. I can see in future that the team will be picked, not on merit, but on geogaphical representation, partly to satisfy politicians and partly to generate maximum financial returns.

Yet how can it have been wrong, on the one hand, for native whites only to support a team full of native whites but right that your ethnic friends should only support a team that has Asian players in it? Surely you support the team not the ethnic composition of the side.

Me, I've never even considered the nationality of our players in almost all of my 51 years. But in recent seasons I've looked at a few players and wondered why they were given a contract, whether it was because of their ability or because of the need to satisfy the politicians. And too often it seemed to be the latter.

[Thracian]

Well looking at him, I imagine he can handle himself. Big lad.

Sapp'll get jealous if you start talking like that!

[Lineker's Left Foot]

Good luck to the lad.

However, this is a dig at The Mercury.

I look at the sports section yesterday & read that we've signed him etc. & this is what is put in front of me...

Why is his ethnic background so important? Really?

It is like when Paul Ince got the managers job at Blackburn, first Black British manager blah blah blah.

By saying things like that, it is talking like there isn't a level playing field with all ethnic groups etc, I might be overreacting, but it really pisses me off.

Ince was the first Black British Manager?? I thought it was Viv Anderson at Middlesbrough in the early 90s??

[samuel]

Asians don't play football as a rule because football isn't important in Asian family culture, education reigns supreme and always will do.

If an Asian is good enough to play for a team, then the management will recognise that and play him, regardless of the skin colour.

The fact there aren't many Asians playing pro football, says more about the commitment and ability, than the perceived discrimination purported by some on this board.

When I was at school, my mate Sunny was excellent at football, always the first name on the team sheet, when we reached 15, he decided he wanted to work in a bank and play cricket instead. Simple really, he no longer had the desire to play football and his career was his priority.

Simple rule of thumb is, if you are good enough and have the desire to succeed, you will, if you aren't and you don't, you won't.

Colour has nothing to do with it.

This lad may be an exception to the rule but that remains to be seen.

[Fez of Mahrez]

But I know white people today who are begging for a job, any job. They include one genuinely articulate person with years of experience as a department head. And a young guy who's a workaholic, has stacks of skills, a newborn child and a young Mrs who is constantly poorly with arthritis. Wouldn't you think he could do with some help and support instead of having the daily prospect of having his house repossessed because there's not enough work to go round?

Do you know any Black or Asian people begging for a job?

[Anish]

"and what my grandad faced when he turned up to work in the mills is another book in itself."

I'll not utter a word in favour of anyone being ill-treated at work but at least your grandad got a job and, presumably, at a time when so many of our nation had not long previously lost sometimes significant numbers of their family to foreigners, namely the Germans.

But I know white people today who are begging for a job, any job. They include one genuinely articulate person with years of experience as a department head. And a young guy who's a workaholic, has stacks of skills, a newborn child and a young Mrs who is constantly poorly with arthritis. Wouldn't you think he could do with some help and support instead of having the daily prospect of having his house repossessed because there's not enough work to go round?

I've also spoken to three white lads in the last couple of years who were never offered a football trial until they applied under a false and foreign name so if you think my suggestion about anti-white descrimination is ridiculous it's because you refuse to acknowledge it or refuse to look.

As for your comment about being "one of the few asians in the city that follow Leicester and fork out money to watch them whenever I can," that is encouraging and commendable but what does that say about the rest?

While you might have enthusiastically supported Leicester City and everyone who played in the team for donkey's years you also seem to be suggesting that others in your community would only want to give their support if the team had Asian players.

And that exactly demonstrates the point of my concerns on the issue. I can see in future that the team will be picked, not on merit, but on geogaphical representation, partly to satisfy politicians and partly to generate maximum financial returns.

Yet how can it have been wrong, on the one hand, for native whites only to support a team full of native whites but right that your ethnic friends should only support a team that has Asian players in it? Surely you support the team not the ethnic composition of the side.

Me, I've never even considered the nationality of our players in almost all of my 51 years. But in recent seasons I've looked at a few players and wondered why they were given a contract, whether it was because of their ability or because of the need to satisfy the politicians. And too often it seemed to be the latter.

I don't normally fall into the trap of replying to your ludicrous posts, but seriously you are talking nonsense.

You going off on one about how your poor white colleagues have been hard done by because of Asians/non-whites coming into this country is bordering on racism and definitely xenophobia. As the home secretary has said recently, there are 600,000 jobs in this country which are unfilled - surely if your contacts were that desperate they'd go out of their way and get one of them? Yes, the pay may be poor and the conditions terrible, but they are the jobs that a lot of Asian/Eastern European immigrants are doing. You don't see many first generation immigrants with little or no skills walking into this country and becoming managers/heads of departments etc - or taking the jobs that you seem to think they are taking.

All of my older relatives who came into this country 30 years ago started working in factories or setting up their own businesses etc - many of whom are still doing the same today. The fact is, there are jobs in this country and if you want them you have to get off your arse and do something about it. Nobody's just going to hand you a job like you seem to think people deserve, but of course some people don't want to get their hands dirty and would rather take benefits and hand outs from the government.

Anyway, this has got nothing to do with Aman Verma and as usual, your posts have gone well off topic.

For what it's worth, I couldn't give two sh its about Verma's ethnic origin. Yes it's great to have an Asian finally make the grade - but like everyone else, I'll judge him on his performances and his worth to the team. If his background encourages more Asians through the turnstiles, it's a by-product of his ability and not the reason to select him. But you suggesting that Asians will only support Leicester if we have Asians in the team is so far off mark that it's not even worth responding to.

Sorry moseeds - I was trying to quote Thracian, but it went wrong.

[Babylon]

I suggest this stays on topic now, otherwise it will be shifted or vanish completly. None of this has anything to do with Verma.

[moseeds]

I don't normally fall into the trap of replying to your ludicrous posts, but seriously you are talking nonsense.

You going off on one about how your poor white colleagues have been hard done by because of Asians/non-whites coming into this country is bordering on racism and definitely xenophobia. As the home secretary has said recently, there are 600,000 jobs in this country which are unfilled - surely if your contacts were that desperate they'd go out of their way and get one of them? Yes, the pay may be poor and the conditions terrible, but they are the jobs that a lot of Asian/Eastern European immigrants are doing. You don't see many first generation immigrants with little or no skills walking into this country and becoming managers/heads of departments etc - or taking the jobs that you seem to think they are taking.

All of my older relatives who came into this country 30 years ago started working in factories or setting up their own businesses etc - many of whom are still doing the same today. The fact is, there are jobs in this country and if you want them you have to get off your arse and do something about it. Nobody's just going to hand you a job like you seem to think people deserve, but of course some people don't want to get their hands dirty and would rather take benefits and hand outs from the government.

Anyway, this has got nothing to do with Aman Verma and as usual, your posts have gone well off topic.

For what it's worth, I couldn't give two sh its about Verma's ethnic origin. Yes it's great to have an Asian finally make the grade - but like everyone else, I'll judge him on his performances and his worth to the team. If his background encourages more Asians through the turnstiles, it's a by-product of his ability and not the reason to select him. But you suggesting that Asians will only support Leicester if we have Asians in the team is so far off mark that it's not even worth responding to.

Sorry moseeds - I was trying to quote Thracian, but it went wrong.

Spot on anish, Verma will be judged on his performances alone and that is fine. I too will get on his back like every other city fan when he makes one too many wayward passes! But until then I am happy that some things really have changed for the better.

As for your comment about being "one of the few asians in the city that follow Leicester and fork out money to watch them whenever I can," that is encouraging and commendable but what does that say about the rest?

While you might have enthusiastically supported Leicester City and everyone who played in the team for donkey's years you also seem to be suggesting that others in your community would only want to give their support if the team had Asian players.

You can ask that same question about white kids and black kids and chinese kids and every other coloured kid. Go down south and some of the biggest supported teams are Man Utd and Liverpool even though many of them couldn't pinpoint them on a map. For many of you on these boards you recall memories of going to your first game with your uncles or dads back in the 80's, 70's and 60's. You know as well as I do during those "hooligan" years anyone none-white in the terraces would not exactly be welcome and that perception existed until the 90's. Even as recent as 2000 my mum would give me a little warning about being beaten up at filbert street even though she was born and brought up in this country.

Kids of any colour follow teams with the most media exposure unless family tradition intervenes.

Anyway, good luck aman!

[Babylon]

Final Warning!!!

[Fez of Mahrez]

Final Warning!!!

So what do we all think of the EU?

[Thracian]

Do you know any Black or Asian people begging for a job?

I know an Anglo-Asian engineer who's recently been made redundant. He's been nagging at me to reduce the price of an item he wants because of it. I have to admit I've been weakening but at least now I can tell him to go get one of 600,000 jobs Anish pretends are available to him.

Okay, they are low paid but I can accept stage payments and I'm sure, as a qualified engineer, those jobs will be just what he's looking for even if he'll be joined by several more thousands who've newly climbed into the same boat in this week alone.

I was feeling quite sympathetic but, who knows, Anish's approach of telling him to "get off his arse and find a job" might just work better. I'll also try to remember to ask him how many jobs are available to him while I mention Anish's philosophy.

[Webbo]

It certainly used to be true that Asian parents used to discourage their boys from playing football. When I was growing up in Rushey Mead in the 70s/80s I knew a lad who used to play football in the tattiest trainers you could imagine because his dad wouldn't buy him any football boots but he had the finest cricket kit money could buy.

I don't know if that's the case now, I would imagine there's a different attitude with our generation of parents but it might explain why it's taken so long for the first Asian player to break through.

[Thracian]

I don't normally fall into the trap of replying to your ludicrous posts, but seriously you are talking nonsense.

You going off on one about how your poor white colleagues have been hard done by because of Asians/non-whites coming into this country is bordering on racism and definitely xenophobia. As the home secretary has said recently, there are 600,000 jobs in this country which are unfilled - surely if your contacts were that desperate they'd go out of their way and get one of them? Yes, the pay may be poor and the conditions terrible, but they are the jobs that a lot of Asian/Eastern European immigrants are doing. You don't see many first generation immigrants with little or no skills walking into this country and becoming managers/heads of departments etc - or taking the jobs that you seem to think they are taking.

All of my older relatives who came into this country 30 years ago started working in factories or setting up their own businesses etc - many of whom are still doing the same today. The fact is, there are jobs in this country and if you want them you have to get off your arse and do something about it. Nobody's just going to hand you a job like you seem to think people deserve, but of course some people don't want to get their hands dirty and would rather take benefits and hand outs from the government.

Anyway, this has got nothing to do with Aman Verma and as usual, your posts have gone well off topic.

For what it's worth, I couldn't give two sh its about Verma's ethnic origin. Yes it's great to have an Asian finally make the grade - but like everyone else, I'll judge him on his performances and his worth to the team. If his background encourages more Asians through the turnstiles, it's a by-product of his ability and not the reason to select him. But you suggesting that Asians will only support Leicester if we have Asians in the team is so far off mark that it's not even worth responding to.

Sorry moseeds - I was trying to quote Thracian, but it went wrong.

At least Moseeds earns my respect by arguing his point without smothering the debate in the ludicrous smokescreeen of perceived racism.

But as you're clearly so sensitive I'll not bother replying.

What you say barely warrants reply anyway so we'll neither of us be missing anything.

[Benji]

Firstly, Good Luck to Aman let's hope he has a run out before finding his career over in the conference.

As the home secretary has said recently, there are 600,000 jobs in this country which are unfilled

I know an Anglo-Asian engineer who's recently been made redundant. He's been nagging at me to reduce the price of an item he wants because of it. I have to admit I've been weakening but at least now I can tell him to go get one of 600,000 jobs Anish pretends are available to him.

I didn't realise you were the Home Secretary Anish???

So what do we all think of the EU?

[Thracian]

It certainly used to be true that Asian parents used to discourage their boys from playing football. When I was growing up in Rushey Mead in the 70s/80s I knew a lad who used to play football in the tattiest trainers you could imagine because his dad wouldn't buy him any football boots but he had the finest cricket kit money could buy.

I don't know if that's the case now, I would imagine there's a different attitude with our generation of parents but it might explain why it's taken so long for the first Asian player to break through.

Absolutely. Cricket and hockey teams were increasingly manned by Asian players from the 60s onwards and as soon some Asian youngsters starting turning to other sports they started to be recognised.

[Babylon]

IF you want to have this argument take it to general chat.