Antonio Rüdiger

[synththfc]

Few reports out now, starting to pick up pace... starting to wet the bed a bit

 

[THFCSPURS19]

He would not be accepted by fans after branding us as racists and "poor people".

Stay away from our club you cretin.

Have to say I didn’t feel like he was accusing me of racism.

 

[SecretLemonadeDrinker]

This isn’t strictly transfer related but since there was never any chance of Spurs signing him, it’s worth posting anyway.

In the top right photo on the image below, you will see, just above and to the right of Harry Kane’s head, a devilishly handsome young man with his arm raised, pointing a finger at Rudiger. That man is me. I was in the second row from the front of the South stand. There can’t have been more than a dozen fans in the stadium who were closer than me to where everything unfolded:

All of which is to establish the credibility of what follows.

After Rudiger’s part in getting Son sent off, a large group of us in that area of the stand chanted “cheat, cheat, cheat....” in that very particular way that English football fans do. And it was at that very moment that Rudiger angrily turned around, gesturing to our area of the south stand before calling for Azpilacueta to summon the referee.

I could not be more convinced that it was our group to whom Rudiger was responding and that, as someone unfamiliar with English fan culture and not a native English speaker, he mistook the rapid and very particular chanting of “cheat, cheat, cheat...” for monkey noises. It would be an easy mistake to make. We were close enough for him to have heard us (but not understand what he was hearing); the timing of his reaction perfectly coincided with our chant; and his anger was targeted very much in our direction. Given all of which, I’d rate it as nigh on certain that what he reacted to was what we were chanting. There is no way that he could have identified a lone voice or couple of voices further back in the stand making monkey chants above the din of the moment.

In the aftermath, I copied a bunch of individuals and organisations in on a detailed email that contained the above photo and explained events as I experienced them - from closer than almost anyone else in the stands. The recipients included Donna Cullen, the Premier League, the FA, Chelsea, Kick It Out, the Met Police, Sky Sports, Oliver Holt and the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust. Probably more besides...I can’t remember.

Only two recipients had the courtesy to reply, thanking me for providing the information - Donna Cullen (within a few hours) and the Supporters Trust. Top marks to both of them. Shame on the rest of them. The truth is that the rest of them weren’t interested in the truth. They were only interested in parading their anti-racist credentials and had no time for any version of events that didn’t fit with the agenda.

I don’t blame Rudiger for thinking that what he heard was racism. But I do blame him and the rest for wholly failing to acknowledge the possibility that he was mistaken; that he had misheard. They are quite happy for the stain on Spurs’ reputation to linger - to be regurgitated again and again in the future whenever a similar occurrence at Spurs or elsewhere hits the headlines. As I said, shame on them.

 

[Deleted member 27995]

Few reports out now, starting to pick up pace... starting to wet the bed a bit

He would be a waste of money - if the goal is to improve the starting 11 he doesn't do that considering what we already have and I would be bitterly disappointed if we were to even consider wasting any cash on him whatsoever.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

 

[cookiemonster]

I am omly interested in his ability as a defender

He is shit

Stop pushing this thread to the top

Gives me the impression we are about to sign him

 

[Gspurs11]

This is such bollocks. Numerous ITK's confident Skriniar is all but done (pinch of salt and all that), press clearly being briefed - from what side depends.

 

[spursfan77]

I don’t think we are going to sign him, but I also don’t think he’s as bad as everyone makes out. I remember he was injured in the run up to a game against us last season and there was a lot of chat how much better we’d fair if he wasn’t playing.

Anyway, hopefully it’s bollocks.

 

[carpediem991]

I don't think Chelsea would ever deal with us if we are not willing to pay way over the odds. What we obviously will never do with Levy at the top.
So it is a no go from the start even if we would like the player.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

I don’t blame Rudiger for thinking that what he heard was racism. But I do blame him and the rest for wholly failing to acknowledge the possibility that he was mistaken; that he had misheard. They are quite happy for the stain on Spurs’ reputation to linger - to be regurgitated again and again in the future whenever a similar occurrence at Spurs or elsewhere hits the headlines. As I said, shame on them.

Thank you for this. Genuinely interesting.

I guess, to play devil's advocate, they could have taken your evidence into account - they just weren't polite enough to thank you for it.

We were, after all, cleared of any wrong doing weren't we? I think it's understandable, in an environment of sensitivity on the subject, on a human level that people were nervous about saying "there was nothing to it" straight away.

And again, from his perspective, he 'knows' what he thought he heard (even if he was wrong), it would take someone pretty magnanimous to say "I was wrong".

It was just (I believe) a highly unfortunate set of circumstances.

Still, thank you for your post, it was very well written

 

[SecretLemonadeDrinker]

Thank you for this. Genuinely interesting.

I guess, to play devil's advocate, they could have taken your evidence into account - they just weren't polite enough to thank you for it.

We were, after all, cleared of any wrong doing weren't we? I think it's understandable, in an environment of sensitivity on the subject, on a human level that people were nervous about saying "there was nothing to it" straight away.

And again, from his perspective, he 'knows' what he thought he heard (even if he was wrong), it would take someone pretty magnanimous to say "I was wrong".

It was just (I believe) a highly unfortunate set of circumstances.

Still, thank you for your post, it was very well written

Thank you!

Yes, I absolutely get what you’re saying. And you’re right.

But there should at least have been acknowledgement from all concerned of the possibility that Rudiger had misheard, or failed to understand what he had heard. That way, no one loses face; no one is offended; no one is left with the finger of suspicion hanging over them.

And Rudiger’s acknowledgement of that possibility would have stopped utter cockwombles like Holt from feeling at liberty to imply that the investigation was a cover up and that Spurs fans were definitely guilty.

 

[NYSpur]

It’s in our best interest to be linked with him even if we don’t want him. It puts pressure in Milan and may show their bluff.

 

[isaac94]

This isn’t strictly transfer related but since there was never any chance of Spurs signing him, it’s worth posting anyway.

In the top right photo on the image below, you will see, just above and to the right of Harry Kane’s head, a devilishly handsome young man with his arm raised, pointing a finger at Rudiger. That man is me. I was in the second row from the front of the South stand. There can’t have been more than a dozen fans in the stadium who were closer than me to where everything unfolded:


View attachment 75000


All of which is to establish the credibility of what follows.

After Rudiger’s part in getting Son sent off, a large group of us in that area of the stand chanted “cheat, cheat, cheat....” in that very particular way that English football fans do. And it was at that very moment that Rudiger angrily turned around, gesturing to our area of the south stand before calling for Azpilacueta to summon the referee.

I could not be more convinced that it was our group to whom Rudiger was responding and that, as someone unfamiliar with English fan culture and not a native English speaker, he mistook the rapid and very particular chanting of “cheat, cheat, cheat...” for monkey noises. It would be an easy mistake to make. We were close enough for him to have heard us (but not understand what he was hearing); the timing of his reaction perfectly coincided with our chant; and his anger was targeted very much in our direction. Given all of which, I’d rate it as nigh on certain that what he reacted to was what we were chanting. There is no way that he could have identified a lone voice or couple of voices further back in the stand making monkey chants above the din of the moment.

In the aftermath, I copied a bunch of individuals and organisations in on a detailed email that contained the above photo and explained events as I experienced them - from closer than almost anyone else in the stands. The recipients included Donna Cullen, the Premier League, the FA, Chelsea, Kick It Out, the Met Police, Sky Sports, Oliver Holt and the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust. Probably more besides...I can’t remember.

Only two recipients had the courtesy to reply, thanking me for providing the information - Donna Cullen (within a few hours) and the Supporters Trust. Top marks to both of them. Shame on the rest of them. The truth is that the rest of them weren’t interested in the truth. They were only interested in parading their anti-racist credentials and had no time for any version of events that didn’t fit with the agenda.

I don’t blame Rudiger for thinking that what he heard was racism. But I do blame him and the rest for wholly failing to acknowledge the possibility that he was mistaken; that he had misheard. They are quite happy for the stain on Spurs’ reputation to linger - to be regurgitated again and again in the future whenever a similar occurrence at Spurs or elsewhere hits the headlines. As I said, shame on them.

great post, doesn't Rudiger have previous of accusing fans of racism and it being dropped?

No punishment for Roma 'monkey chants'

Roma will not be charged for "monkey chants" made by their fans towards Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger, because of a lack of evidence.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[BigPlimpton]

(1) I won’t blame anyone for doing what Rudiger did and I don’t feel the need for him to apologize. (2) I know that Tottenham fans did not abuse him racially.
Those two sentences can both be true.

As far as talent, I’m surprised by these responses. The most consistent CH for the Chavs. Very athletic. Tough. Doesn’t seem to have the same issues tracking the flight of aerial balls that Dav has. A bit more comfortable in possession than Dav, though certainly not stellar. Would be really interesting paired with Dier in my view because he would add athleticism without the mental lapses and difficulty tracking long balls that we’ve had with Sanchez. Most of all he just seems reliable/consistent, which is what Jose seems to be short of.

 

[HedgieSpur]

After the investigation, he was quiet open stating that he disagreed with the result and stated that he’d been racially abused as matter of fact and that the racists had won. To my mind anyway, the below quote reads as though he is adamant that someone has got away with racially abusing him, though I’m happy to be corrected.

Chelsea's Antonio Rüdiger says racism won after abuse goes unpunished

Chelsea centre-back slams Spurs fans as ‘poor people’ after he is jeered

www.theguardian.com

“I’m very careful with this,” Rüdiger said. “I’m not in the investigations. I’m not a police officer. I just hope always people do their job right. But nothing happened and, to be honest, it was not a surprise. They always get away with it. Not always, sometimes they get punished but mostly they get away with it.”

Fair point mate...I clearly must have missed that. To say "racism won" was incredibly stupid and grossly unfair. It wasn't proven despite having cameras on every spectator in the ground. Unless he has evidence to the contrary then he needs to accept the result of the investigation or reject them with his own personal view rather than the ore broad "racism won" comment.

 

[HedgieSpur]

great post, doesn't Rudiger have previous of accusing fans of racism and it being dropped?

No punishment for Roma 'monkey chants'

Roma will not be charged for "monkey chants" made by their fans towards Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger, because of a lack of evidence.

www.bbc.co.uk

I have ZERO trust in the Italians investigating racism.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Fair point mate...I clearly must have missed that. To say "racism won" was incredibly stupid and grossly unfair. It wasn't proven despite having cameras on every spectator in the ground. Unless he has evidence to the contrary then he needs to accept the result of the investigation or reject them with his own personal view rather than the ore broad "racism won" comment.

Precisely my point and thanks for taking my post in the tone intended by it.

 

[Johnny J]

If Rudiger truly thinks he was racially abused he's entitled to think that. No one has any right to tell him he's wrong, because it can't be proven here. There certainly isn't any obligation on him to "admit" he may have misheard. That's up to him.

As for signing him, he's a good player but would prefer Skriniar.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

If Rudiger truly thinks he was racially abused he's entitled to think that. No one has any right to tell him he's wrong, because it can't be proven here. There certainly isn't any obligation on him to "admit" he may have misheard. That's up to him.

As for signing him, he's a good player but would prefer Skriniar.

I do agree there’s no obligation for him to admit he’s misheard, nor does anyone have the right to tell him he’s wrong, but equally once it’s been thoroughly investigated by the police who have huge amounts of visual and audio tech available, he is not entitled to stoke the flames further. He’s the one who has cast aspersions on our fan base, not the other way around.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

(1) I won’t blame anyone for doing what Rudiger did and I don’t feel the need for him to apologize. (2) I know that Tottenham fans did not abuse him racially.
Those two sentences can both be true.

As far as talent, I’m surprised by these responses. The most consistent CH for the Chavs. Very athletic. Tough. Doesn’t seem to have the same issues tracking the flight of aerial balls that Dav has. A bit more comfortable in possession than Dav, though certainly not stellar. Would be really interesting paired with Dier in my view because he would add athleticism without the mental lapses and difficulty tracking long balls that we’ve had with Sanchez. Most of all he just seems reliable/consistent, which is what Jose seems to be short of.

Yup. I'm with you