Emmanuel Adebayor

[olaftab]

By all means feel free to disagree by providing reasons why you feel he isn't a good footballer, but suggesting we shouldn't sign him due to half-baked, biased and unsubstantiated media drivel like the article quoted seems thoroughly odd to me.

Not a good player is not the only reason for disagreeing. I reserve the right to judge him on his attitude and behaviour. The article was just an example.

[cdbearsfan]

A rubbish example! ;-)

[olaftab]

Thank you that's made me smile! Good night.

[cdbearsfan]

Goodnight, I'll leave you in peace!

[mr underhill]

I've completely changed my mind. He's not Dr Kananga, he can walk on water.

[Matt Collins]

And finally, the belief in voodoo. Well, if that's a reason to berate him, we really should be refusing to sign any non-Arab African player, given that belief in voodoo is so widespread that virtually every Sub-Saharan African team that every qualifies for a major tournament takes a witch doctor with them. I'm really struggling to see how religious belief can be used a stick to beat a player with.

That's hilarious.

"Why do you think this player is a risk?"
"Well, he's been on the record lately as saying that he thinks the reason things aren't working out for him is that his mother has cast a voodoo curse on him"
"Well, if you're writing off players believing in voodoo, you need to write off pretty much all sub Saharan African footballers."

You think his belief in Voodoo is a good reason not to sign him? I think it's a load of shite, I think all Theism is. If a player went through a bad spell of form then said he thought it was because he'd not been a good Christian, for instance, would you consider that to be a good reason not to sign him?

Yes, frankly.

Although there's a bit of a difference between "forgive me father, I have sinned" "say 100 hail marys and undergo a 20 match barren spell" and "I'm not scoring because my mother has put a voodoo curse on me".

Yeah some of that is really rational . .

[mr underhill]

Well, if he joins, I'm looking forward to a blast of Voodoo Child as he takes to the pitch.

[brian green]

I relate this true story to attempt to draw the sting of ridicule aimed at Adebayor for what he believes and what I sense is oblique ridicule of sub Saharan African people.
I know a young man, in his forties now who went to school with my son.  One of the cleverest boys of his generation who went into an academic research career which harnessed his great intellect but which paid, as is invariably the case, peanuts.   A year or two ago the young man jacked in his research work and went to work for the biggest sports betting organization in the country where he made fortunes for his employers and fortunes for himself as a football odds calculator.
He comes from a devout Jewish family and his mother was outraged at the abandonment of his academic work and his pursuit of money.   He tried in vain to point out that at forty years of age he had had no house, no car, no wife, no money but it all fell on deaf ears and on her deathbed she cursed him.  From that day he lost the use of his legs and became confined to a wheelchair.   He still fixes the football odds and has a wheelchair modified top of the range Mercedes he says Ballotelli paid for, but he still cannot walk.
A true story I relate only to illustrate that psychosomatic illness can and does strike at all people of all races, colours and creeds.

[LeeB]

Spot on Brian.

Curses can be extremely powerful to those that believe.

Indeed, the gypsies curse on Birmingham City not only made them fucking useless for evermore, but also in their past too.

[Vegas]

Voodoo is a fascinating subject, and (as you say Brian) dramatically demonstrates the power of psychosomatic effects. Of course the underpinning mechanics are nonsense, but the combination of cultural resonance and observed psychosomatic effects result in lots of cultures believing in it.

In my view it is absolutely no different to Christianity or any other religion in this way: bizarre, highly implausible world view largely contradictory to scientific fact, long cultural history, many people brought up in that environment continue to believe in it.

In this way Adebayor is no different to (say) a South American Catholic player.

[Tony Erdington]

Spot on Brian.

Curses can be extremely powerful to those that believe.

Indeed, the gypsies curse on Birmingham City not only made them fucking useless for evermore, but also in their past too.

LeeB You the Man, any one who can get a negative spin on that shit small heath, is top bloke.

and to do it in this thread,

Hats off to you.

[mr underhill]

on according to the Times today and according to someone on VT who knows 'someone' in the club shop ,who said they were busy printing up the no 10 shirt with Ade's name on it. So there you are.

[Ormy Droid]

Well, if he joins, I'm looking forward to a blast of Voodoo Child as he takes to the pitch.

Let's hope he's a Predator 2 - Fuckin' Voodoo Magic Man

[UK Redsox]

on according to the Times today and according to someone on VT who knows 'someone' in the club shop ,who said they were busy printing up the no 10 shirt with Ade's name on it. So there you are.

Edmondson ?

[john e]

Don't forget our own Yellow Dot is a bit voodooish

And that always works