Guardian lies

[peasepud 59]

what a shite attempt to cover up lazy journalism, "nobody can remember the protests because they were inside the ground watching the game and the protests were outside"

 

imbecile.

[manc-mag 1]

The way I see it, they've got to stop short of a full apology because a full apology would be the equivalent of saying 'Sorry, we just made it up!' Which they clearly did.

 

Taylor has gone from witnessing the protests (the clear implication of the original remark), to 'hearing about them from other fans while inside the ground' (on limited retraction) to not even being at the match (according to the latest piece).

[Guest alex]

what a shite attempt to cover up lazy journalism, "nobody can remember the protests because they were inside the ground watching the game and the protests were outside"

 

imbecile.

Thing is like (and sorry to go on and on about it), it's not even that much of an issue to me whether there were protests (although there appears to be very little evidence for them). If they did take place they were obviously extremely small scale and probably just the work of agent provocateurs who had little or nothing to do with the club. No one is suggesting we haven't had racist fans and everyone knows we still do. The issue for me is that the implication was there was a widespread anti-Cole feeling amongst the fans, to the extent fans were protesting about him before his debut and it was only after his debut 'hattrick' that we started liking him. It's just insulting bollocks really.

[manc-mag 1]

what a shite attempt to cover up lazy journalism, "nobody can remember the protests because they were inside the ground watching the game and the protests were outside"

 

imbecile.

Thing is like (and sorry to go on and on about it), it's not even that much of an issue to me whether there were protests (although there appears to be very little evidence for them). If they did take place they were obviously extremely small scale and probably just the work of agent provocateurs who had little or nothing to do with the club. No one is suggesting we haven't had racist fans and everyone knows we still do. The issue for me is that the implication was there was a widespread anti-Cole feeling amongst the fans, to the extent fans were protesting about him before his debut and it was only after his debut 'hattrick' that we started liking him. It's just insulting bollocks really.

 

Aye, in a nutshell.

[peasepud 59]

Reply to NUST from Simon Taylor himself.

 

Dear NUST

 

Thank you for your email. I thought it may be helpful to explain that the comments you refer to are an out-of-context part of an interview in which I spoke generally about racism within the game, the lack of Asian players and how role models can help inspire and overcome prejudice.

 

I’m personally disappointed that my quote has come across in a negative way. What is missing from the piece is the fact that the groups I was referring to were explicitly not Newcastle supporters. The quote does not, nor would I ever, imply that Newcastle fans racially abused Andrew Cole. In fact the point I was making was in praise of Newcastle fans who shunned the minority who were attempting to stir up trouble at the time.

 

I would never say these people were Newcastle or indeed football fans, in fact I would suspect the opposite to be true. Having lived in the city for seven years and having been back to St James Park subsequently I have nothing but the utmost respect for Newcastle fans.

 

The wider point lost in the piece was how fans have been instrumental in overcoming racism within the game and how players and role models such as Andrew Cole, and in the case of Chelsea - Paul Canoville and Paul Elliott, deserve a great deal of credit in the fight against racism.

 

I do hope this email helps to explain the context of the quotes and I can only apologise if anyone has taken offence.

 

I have subsequently spoken to the Guardian newspaper and it has agreed to issue a clarification