04/20/24
November 12, 2006
"She shouldn't be here. I know that sounds sexist but I am sexist. This is not park football, so what are women doing here?": Luton Town boss Mike Newell faces an FA investigation after a scathing verbal attack on female match officials.
Because we all know that male refs and officials *never* make mistakes right, obviously the use of women is responsible for all the troubles in the refereeing world at the moment.
posted by Fence at 12:02 PM on November 12, 2006
Idiot.
posted by tommybiden at 12:03 PM on November 12, 2006
My opinion of Newell went up quite a lot when he came out about bungs and agents in football, but it's back in the toilet now. What an idiotic thing to say. What an idiotic thing to think.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 12:36 PM on November 12, 2006
This is 2006, right? It boggles my mind that there are still people that are willing to say shit like that in public, let alone think it in private. I hope he gets a nice long suspension to think about how stupid he sounds.
posted by cabuki at 01:08 PM on November 12, 2006
I, for one, welcome our new female footballing overlords. Newell's a twat.
posted by Drood at 01:31 PM on November 12, 2006
Newell's clearly an idiot because he hinges his criticism on the idea that women are going to be inferior officials, which is probably untrue. That said, let me play Devil's Advocate for a minute. You could make an argument that, having by definition never played the game they are calling (Assuming the men's game is substantively different from the women's, which seems fair), they are not as qualified. On the other hand, there are enough bad officials out there that this seems a minor concern. Also, if they are there as tokens, then he's right, and they aren't qualified, but that seems not to be the case. As to the larger issue of women in men's sports, I think that is much more complicated. There's nothing wrong with having certain domains of life set aside for one sex or the other, and if they players and managers generally didn't want female officials, then I would have no problem with it. If this is not the case, as it seems not to be, then Newell should keep his mouth shut.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 03:00 PM on November 12, 2006
Bulgaroktonos: None of the FA referees have played the game at a professional level, regardless of their gender. Besides that, as far as I know the rules of women's soccer are identical to those in the men's game. The female officials have all passed the same refereeing exams that the men have, so how can it be tokenism if they're equally as qualified? I posted this because I had no idea people could still be so bigoted in the 21st century. You gotta wonder what Newell would have said if the assistant ref had been black instead of a woman. Like Mr Bismarck, I had a high opinion of him after he dished the dirt on bungs and backhanders, but now he's turned into a complete moron.
posted by afx237vi at 03:17 PM on November 12, 2006
Please, for your friends located on the west side of the pond, what is meant by bungs and backhanders. Those words, specifically bungs have a very different conotation in the States. Back on topic; Newell comes across as a total wanker. In the short time I have been watching football I've seen some absoluetly awful calls by male refs. Is this the case of a sport as a whole being officated poorly (think NHL 3 years ago or current MLB homeplate umps)
posted by HATER 187 at 04:26 PM on November 12, 2006
Ah, the enlightened Europeans.
posted by ctal1999 at 04:41 PM on November 12, 2006
Bungs and backhanders are essentially the same thing - illegal payments made to football managers. Essentially, a football agent will offer to give a manager an illegal payment if the manager buys the player he is representing. The manager then convinces the chairman or the board of directors to finance the transfer for an artificially high price, inflating the fees for the agents (and thus the manager's slice). So your club buys a crap footballer for 10 million quid and the boss gets a new Mercedes. Last year Newell gave an interview and said this kinda thing is widespread in the Premier League, but refused to name names.
posted by afx237vi at 04:43 PM on November 12, 2006
Like the others, I liked Newell and his honesty in the backhanders affair. However, now I think he needs to spend time inside the Celebrity Big Brother House with my compatriot Germaine Greer. That'll learn him.
posted by owlhouse at 04:53 PM on November 12, 2006
what an idiot this sort of thing leaves a bad taste in your mouth thats hard to wash away
posted by bronxbomber at 05:49 PM on November 12, 2006
what an idiot.*
posted by bronxbomber at 05:49 PM on November 12, 2006
afx237vi Thanks for the bung/backhand clarification. We have a something similar in major league baseball. It's called Scott Boras. ZING! HATER-1 Boras-0.
posted by HATER 187 at 08:18 PM on November 12, 2006
I know that sounds sexist, but I am sexist, so I am not going to be anything other than that. That sounds like a line right out of spinal tap.
posted by justgary at 04:13 AM on November 13, 2006
He should not of said what he said even if it was remotely true! Which is not of course! Prejudices in this world suck!
posted by The Tribster at 04:28 AM on November 13, 2006
Justgary: There's a joke about his knob going all the way to eleven there somewhere...
posted by Drood at 04:31 AM on November 13, 2006
We have a problem in this country with political correctness, and bringing women into the game is not the way to improve refereeing and officialdom. That's all true - we do have a problem with political correctness in Britain, and bringing women into the game of football isn't going to improve refereeing - but women haven't been "brought in" to satisfy a need for political correctness (if they had, then they'd be refereeing at a higher level and there would be more of them), and just because their introduction won't necessarily improve the standard of refereeing doesn't mean it will be detrimental to it. He's made hugely offensive comments and then tried to justify them with facts that don't have anything to do with his argument.
posted by JJ at 05:38 AM on November 13, 2006
posted by squealy at 08:25 AM on November 13, 2006
what a jerk
posted by locatorjg1 at 09:19 AM on November 13, 2006
Of course he's apologised. I'm sure his comments went fine when he tossed them off* to his three mates at the pub, but they sound way stupider when they're reprinted in every paper (and sports-themed blog) across the planet. I almost just wish he'd continue to stand defiant. If you're going to be a neanderthal, then fucking represent for neanderthals. *double-entendre totally intended
posted by chicobangs at 11:22 AM on November 13, 2006
Wow what An IDiOT
posted by msusportsguy at 12:27 PM on November 13, 2006
I wonder if he has an opinion about female sports agents?!
posted by niall at 03:55 PM on November 13, 2006
this guy is a neomaxizoomdweebie
posted by singlen8tivedude at 11:08 PM on November 13, 2006
It's okay for guys to make mistakes but not women? This guy is going to get beat up by a pack of women. I for one, thinks he deserves it.