Tom Pope suspension

[Joe B]

34 minutes ago, jimbo57 said:

How do you know 'HE'S BEEN SUSPENDED FOR REPEATEDLY SWEARING, ACTING UNPROFESSIONALLY WITH HIS ENGAGEMENT WITH FANS, AND NOT ACTING IN A WAY BEFITTING ANY PRO FOOTBALLER?' Do you work for the FA or are such a dedicated follower of his posts that you memorise every one of them?

Surely if you don't like what he says and risk being offended, then don't read his posts. I don't read  articles, newspapers or watch programmes on TV I don't enjoy, the choice is yours.

According to The Sentinel  he has been fined 'because of comments on Twitter.' No mention of what he said.

He doesn't offend me. He's acted unprofessionally on a consistent basis and has been warned, now reprimanded.

This isn't a free speech issue. Its a question of does Pope conduct himself professionally? The answer is no, despite advice and warnings.

He's made so many daft comments on Twitter, its simply stunning no one can ascertain what comment he's been banned for. Was it the peadophile jokes? Was it the language and obscenity? Was it the criminally poor banter with children who had school in the morning?

Pope hasn't been professional. As a professional, he's been reprimanded. This isn't time for Ricky Gervais fans to clamour for 'muh free speech and right to offend'.

Imagine if you had a young lad who came home and said 'Tom Pope came into school today, I want to go and watch him on Saturday'. You think, OK, I know nothing about football, lets see what this bloke is all about. Quick google. Ah, great, he has Twitter.

Nonce jokes. Swearing. Unprofessionalism.

Easy decision to make. Lets not shoot ourselves in the foot when we're trying to get more young fans through the gates.

[Wrex]

25 minutes ago, jimbo57 said:

How do you know 'HE'S BEEN SUSPENDED FOR REPEATEDLY SWEARING, ACTING UNPROFESSIONALLY WITH HIS ENGAGEMENT WITH FANS, AND NOT ACTING IN A WAY BEFITTING ANY PRO FOOTBALLER?' Do you work for the FA or are such a dedicated follower of his posts that you memorise every one of them?

Surely if you don't like what he says and risk being offended, then don't read his posts. I don't read  articles, newspapers or watch programmes on TV I don't enjoy, the choice is yours.

According to The Sentinel  he has been fined 'because of comments on Twitter.' No mention of what he said.

What kind of logic is that? Might as well defend that clown who walked out on the Crewe pitch in a Stoke top by saying spectators could choose not to get riled up by it.

It's not curtailing freedom of speech. He is being punished by the FA for literally making footballers look bad by posting <ovf censored> on public platforms. Once he's retired he can embarrass himself as much as he wants, but as long he's under contract as a professional or semi-professional footballer then he must abide to a certain professional standard with his public utterances or face sanctions.

[geosname]

I suspect, I don't know, that if it was for posts against protected groups (lgbt etc) it would have been far more serious and a heavier penalty..... possibly criminal.

As for free speech you can say what you want when you want but you are responsible for the consequences of what you say and/or where you say it.  

[For Us All]

18 hours ago, Davo666 said:

What an absolute moron, needs booting out of the club!!

Hey up,Mr.Negative's back.

Where've you been all season?

[Old fort]

Understandable why some people willingly defend offensive remarks and crass behaviour, when we see some of Burslems finest at away games. Fully agree with the point that this is not a free speech issue,  but certainly one of professional representation,  or lack of by the club captain. Tom is either unaware, or more worryingly,  unconcerned by the example he sees fit to set and appears to be out of kilter with the image that Carol and Kevin are keen to promote.  Clearly this unwanted event is damaging to the hard work gone in to building a more respectable  profile for PVFC.  What has happened cannot be undone,  but Tom surely has a responsibility to make a statement to acknowledge his error of judgement and to reassure people that he will learn from this. 

[Erniemossrules]

1 hour ago, For Us All said:

Hey up,Mr.Negative's back.

Where've you been all season?

Welcome back Martino.

[Doha]

wrong thread

[Jacko51]

12 hours ago, old sage said:

  I'm sure that Tom is very bothered about what people think about him but I guess he is a more than a little tired of the number of fans who have stopped patting him on the back and started to stick knives in it instead!

 For me if the man never scores another goal for us or plays another game, I will always treasure the many great memories that he has given me and how he has saved us almost single handedly at times from several relegation scrapes.

 Believe me everybody needs to be loved and Tom Pope is no different!

I will never underestimate what Tom Pope has done and is still doing for us on the pitch. He would be loved more than ever though if he stopped being a twit on Twitter and undermining the Shanahans’ attempt to make this a family club. He has been warned a number of times by a number of people and really needs to learn his lesson. 

[Erniemossrules]

Should have used Norman,s excuse that someone had hacked his account.

[Erniemossrules]

58 minutes ago, Jacko51 said:

I will never underestimate what Tom Pope has done and is still doing for us on the pitch. He would be loved more than ever though if he stopped being a twit on Twitter and undermining the Shanahans’ attempt to make this a family club. He has been warned a number of times by a number of people and really needs to learn his lesson. 

Give him lines Jean.

I should not go on Twitter x 200.

[Jacko51]

20 minutes ago, Erniemossrules said:

Give him lines Jean.

I should not go on Twitter x 200.

I'll give you the same

I will not bad mouth Ryan Lloyd again this season.

[whotobeakiller]

2 hours ago, Jacko51 said:

I will never underestimate what Tom Pope has done and is still doing for us on the pitch. He would be loved more than ever though if he stopped being a twit on Twitter and undermining the Shanahans’ attempt to make this a family club. He has been warned a number of times by a number of people and really needs to learn his lesson. 

The Shanahans should be making the club inclusive for all...not reflected in the pricing policies

[Jacko51]

7 minutes ago, whotobeakiller said:

The Shanahans should be making the club inclusive for all...not reflected in the pricing policies

The prices are on a par with most clubs in our league.  We are not a charity.

[whotobeakiller]

31 minutes ago, Jacko51 said:

The prices are on a par with most clubs in our league.  We are not a charity.

'We are not a charity'

What an inappropriate statement. Bringing down admission prices to reasonable levels which most of the local demographic can afford not just the select few doesn't mean the club is a 'charity'.

With snobbish attitudes like yours no wonder many people are turned off  from coming to watch a match. Who are you? A spokewoman for the club? Get real

[Joe B]

18 minutes ago, whotobeakiller said:

'We are not a charity'

What an inappropriate statement. Bringing down admission prices to reasonable levels which most of the local demographic can afford not just the select few doesn't mean the club is a 'charity'.

With snobbish attitudes like yours no wonder many people are turned off  from coming to watch a match. Who are you? A spokewoman for the club? Get real

Worst post I've seen on here in months. Really outdone yourself here matey.

So after vastly over-paying for the club and ground out of an altruistic desire to not see the club literally liquidate (I am not joking here, Norman was fully intending on admin and then as sole creditor he can choose to liquudate), overseeing a transformation of the club's relationship with fans, local businesses, other clubs, and law enforcement, seeing a team that narrowly avoided non-league oblivion twice in succession competing for a play off place, you want the Shanahans to drop prices to lower than the rest of the league, the lowest prices for professional football (bar bankrolled Salford), risking their entire business model they've utilised to make us self-sufficient for the first time in 7 years, in the hope some mythical Vale fans will appear out the woodwork because tickets are now a bit cheaper? Vale fans who haven't been in years, clamouring at the turnstiles because they can save a tenner to watch 4th tier football?

Put the beer down and go to bed, chief. Lowering the prices would risk the entire business if the walk ups don't turn up, which, after the last few years, there is a good chance they won't. Trust, bonds, and emotional attachment were irreversably damaged by Norman's tenure. A tenner off a ticket isn't going to solve anything, and puts the business at risk.

I also doubt people are put off by Jean's views. One, they ain't snobbish; Port Vale is a business which has come too close to going bump over the last few decades for comfort.  Two, she's a brilliant woman, but I doubt Barry in the Crown is scrolling through OVF before deciding "No, Jacko51 won't lower the prices, I can't sit with those snobs'. He hasn't come because we're a 4th division football club just coming out of the worst time in the club's history.

This club feels better and more united than it has done in about 20 years and you're sat here having little pops at people who blew their kids inheritance to ensure you've got something to do on a Saturday afternoon, unlike the poor folk in Bury. To re-use a Fergie aphorism, "Port Vale fans should be on their hands and knees and thank the Lord for the Shanahans".

One day you'll click that we came very, very close to going out of business in May 2019, and suddenly issues like ticket prices being average for the level we play at won't seem such a big deal.