Graeme Le Saux has spoke out about the gay slurs he received during his career

if i had a family and children and knew full well i wasnt gay then no.

Jesus Christ the lad wants to grow in a secondary school in Glasgow then realise what bullying and piss taking is really like

 

i think you know you would but as you have been very vocal in this thread you feel like you must say otherwise.

just because bullying and piss taking happens doesn't make it right.

 

I am saying what i feel . I have no reason to lie to anyone

i honestly believe he his trying to sell a story.

That's my opinion right or wrong.

And yes your right bullying isnt right but come on he didn't help himself.

He was happy to pick up is wage every week and only decided to release the story after finishing playing mmmmmm

I dont want you to agree with me i am just saying what i believe is correct

 

Ah so his torment is completely negated by the fact it's in a book and that he didn't say anything at the time for (maybe) the fear of making it worse?

 

Thats your opinion and and you may well be right.

I am just stating my opinion.

I think the guy is looking for attention now he his no longer a footballer

14 years he played football for. And your telling me it was that bad he managed to get through 14 years of so called bullying (********)

 

Clearly you have an intimate knowledge of Mr Le Saux's feelings, private life and economic circumstances.

 

How much do you know about his personal life - Im talking facts - not what you have read anywhere

Im thinking not very much

As i say we are both going on what we read , it just so happens we have totally different opinions

 

He talked about it 7 years ago, in a book - which many successful footballers write after their career finishes. As he says in the article it happened for a period of time during that 14 years (not all of it!), and then died away. It was part of his life. I'd be more surprised if he didnt write about it given it was a relatively well known amongst football fans that he got a lot of stick from the terraces about the subject of his sexuality.


Yet you chose (or maybe want to believe) that he's just made his torment up in order to sell a book. Of course that's possible, but given his detailed explanation of what went on, I doubt it very much.

 

It is horrible and the sooner it is eradicated the better. It is bullying of the worst kind.

Times have changed though. I remember when Deane and Agana played for Utd in 1990 fa cup. Agana scored with a penalty and the whole of the ponty went up in monkey chants. Now I'm not suggesting that racism has been stamped out but such overt displays of racism thankfully have. Back in the day that was viewed as banter on the terraces now it is quite rightly viewed as abhorrent by the vast majority of football fans.

Let's hope that eventually someones sexuality becomes a non-issue as well.

 

No. My opinion is based on the facts of what happened at the time. That he was abused by the terraces and other players is beyond dispute (I remember it well at the time) - and that he spoke to Keegan, referees and the FA, who all stood by and didn't act.


You claim that this didn't effect him at all and he's just saying it for money. That's an opinion without any foundation.


There's the difference.

 

Neither was Pat Nevin the stereotypical footballer. He was into art and culture.

 

I remember being called gay and a puff at school. Not often, just the same as any one else, but it stung like a b'stard. Not because I thought I was gay, I didn't, I spent my time chasing after lasses, but because I thought my peers weren't viewing me as a proper bloke and like most teenagers I was pretty insecure despite the bravado. It wasn't that, it was just kids pillocking each other like they always do, but that's how it felt.

I wouldn't give a monkeys now. For a few reasons: I don't think there's owt wrong with being gay, I don't care if I'm effeminate or not and I don't give a **** what anyone else thinks of me. But that's not how I thought back then. I don't know when my attitudes changed, but I would imagine they were still in the process of changing at the age when Le Saux first started getting the abuse. I don't know how I would have coped with a whole stadium of football fans chanting that I take it up the arse, but I would imagine not well.

 

Out of interest do you ever shout abuse at a referee

 

When I was much younger, yes.

 

I don't think so, depends what you consider abuse. I don't call refs names.

"Shocking decision ref"
"******* hell referee"
"Jesus Christ referee, what kind of ******* decision was that?"
"Are you blind ref? ******* hell!

All that kind of nonsense from the irate, biased football fan, but not personal abuse I don't think. To be honest, I probably don't even swear as much as that as there are a couple of kids near us, so I tend to use the words chuffing and bloody rather than *******, but ******* is what I want to say.

 

The thing is Dave, when racism was rife the apologists argued at the time it was just banter and the black footballers were simply being over sensitive. Yet again, it was the victim taking the blame and the ignorant bully absolving themselves & other like minded individuals of all responsibility. I see no difference with homophobia.

 

Yes, that kind of stuff. Maybe even "You useless ****". But that was Gary Willard, and he was useless that day.

 

I don't disagree in the slightest with you. I'm just trying to say that things can change if the will is there and I'm using attitudes to racism as an example.

 

I'm agreeing with you, Dave. We got on top of racism (albeit without totally eradicating it) and I believe one day we'll do the same with homophobia. I'm just trying to point out, and obviously not making a particularly good job of it, the homophobic apologists use exactly the same excuses as the racists.