Home Match Day Thread 15/03/25: Championship - OUFC v Watford FC

 
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Is it weird?
I have a colleague who is committed to Ramadan. He is certainly up against it right now and its definitely a physical and mental sacrifice that hits the body pretty hard. I would imagine as a pro sportsman, it would put you and your team at a disadvantage temporarily.
Its not a particularly big stretch to say that starting a football match some 9 hours after your last food or water is very likely to impede performance.

I have no idea (nor do I particularly care) how many Muslim players we / Watford have. I guess Watford are a more international club though, so probably have more Muslim first team players.
 
Is it weird?
I have a colleague who is committed to Ramadan. He is certainly up against it right now and its definitely a physical and mental sacrifice that hits the body pretty hard. I would imagine as a pro sportsman, it would put you and your team at a disadvantage temporarily.
I have wondered how the players cope if they are observant during Ramadan. But presumably it's not a new issue and there are procedures for dealing with it, also Watford aren't going to be the only club affected. I think we have two Muslim first teamers.
 
Similarly, when we crept into the playoffs 20/21 wasn't it mid table Accrington who helped us with a last day win at Pompey? The point I was making is that hoping teams are already 'on the beach' isn't as simple as that.
Pompey beating Lincoln last season when they were already champions is another example
 
Is it weird?
I have a colleague who is committed to Ramadan. He is certainly up against it right now and its definitely a physical and mental sacrifice that hits the body pretty hard. I would imagine as a pro sportsman, it would put you and your team at a disadvantage temporarily.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that their post isn't as innocent as it might seem at first glance. There appears to be a deeper, more concerning undertone. If you take a look through their Twitter feed, you'll notice a pattern of retweets that include Hitler speeches and posts that openly promote Islamophobia. This isn't just a one off incident - there's a clear trend that suggests a deeper ideology at play. I therefore stand by my original post in saying that this is a weird thing to post.
 
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I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that their post isn't as innocent as it might seem at first glance. There appears to be a deeper, more concerning undertone. If you take a look through their Twitter feed, you'll notice a pattern of retweets that include Hitler speeches and posts that openly promote Islamophobia. This isn't just a one off incident - there's a clear trend that suggests a deeper ideology at play. I therefore stand by my original post in saying that this is a weird thing to post.
Plus he's got an American flag on his profile, another bad sign. Who is he anyway, just a random lunatic?
 
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that their post isn't as innocent as it might seem at first glance. There appears to be a deeper, more concerning undertone. If you take a look through their Twitter feed, you'll notice a pattern of retweets that include Hitler speeches and posts that openly promote Islamophobia. This isn't just a one off incident - there's a clear trend that suggests a deeper ideology at play. I therefore stand by my original post in saying that this is a weird thing to post.
Well, if he has a history of promoting islamophobia and Hitler then of course its more concerning. I must admit, I didn't look through his Twitter.

His post as a separate statement is not concerning - as it would most certainly be a problem for professional sports teams. So in that case, I stand by my original post.
 
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that their post isn't as innocent as it might seem at first glance. There appears to be a deeper, more concerning undertone. If you take a look through their Twitter feed, you'll notice a pattern of retweets that include Hitler speeches and posts that openly promote Islamophobia. This isn't just a one off incident - there's a clear trend that suggests a deeper ideology at play. I therefore stand by my original post in saying that this is a weird thing to post.
Agreed - it's trying to put forward a logical basis for discrimination.

Also, it should say "fewer", not "less".
 
Damn you got me there. The conclusion is that they *can* be on the beach, but you can't rely on it. Probably best not to bring the kids out until after the game, anyway.
You’re probably more likely to be on the beach if you live close to one
 
The Cheltenham game a couple of seasons ago was the best example of an opponent being on the beach that I can remember. They were utterly useless and didn't offer us any resistance at all! Although supposedly it wasn't so much 'on the beach' as 'still suffering the effects of an almighty pissup after securing their League One status at the weekend'

But I think whilst the general point that you never know which way midtable sides will go once they've nothing to play for is fair, and depends on the character, professionalism and contract status of the players involved......

......I still look at the Sunderland game - which is one that, in normal circumstances, we would expect to lose (especially seeing as how they mullered us at their place earlier) - and think not so much that they're going to be on the beach, but that they're likely to be playing at 50% because they're going to have the critical games of their season coming up a couple of weeks later. Which means that suddenly this game comes back into consideration as a possible 3 points, when it likely wouldn't be based purely on the quality of the two squads.
 
Well, if he has a history of promoting islamophobia and Hitler then of course its more concerning. I must admit, I didn't look through his Twitter.

His post as a separate statement is not concerning - as it would most certainly be a problem for professional sports teams. So in that case, I stand by my original post.
You certainly have a point regarding fatigue from fasting.
I am Muslim and observe Ramadan - I remember a couple of years playing football with the kids while fasting, at midday. It was pretty tough and lack of hydration is a problem. But it didn’t make me a fundamentally worse footballer.

As others have said, it’s the undercurrent beneath the person’s comments, and the ignorance re. the timing of Ramadan, that’s the real problem here.
 
You certainly have a point regarding fatigue from fasting.
I am Muslim and observe Ramadan - I remember a couple of years playing football with the kids while fasting, at midday. It was pretty tough and lack of hydration is a problem. But it didn’t make me a fundamentally worse footballer.

As others have said, it’s the undercurrent beneath the person’s comments, and the ignorance re. the timing of Ramadan, that’s the real problem here.

Bit of difference between that and full pro game. From a point of view of optimum nutrition etc its an interesting subject, how much effect it has on peak performance.

Although he assumes they are all devout enough not to have an energy drink or something, which may or may not be the case and without knowing that its impossible to draw any conclusions.
 
Bit of difference between that and full pro game. From a point of view of optimum nutrition etc its an interesting subject, how much effect it has on peak performance.

Although he assumes they are all devout enough not to have an energy drink or something, which may or may not be the case and without knowing that its impossible to draw any conclusions.
Agree on both. I believe some fast every day of Ramadan (certainly Salah does), some don’t on game day as they see it as an exception.
 
Great result on Saturday, I thought we were much improved for the most part. I was speaking at half time about Dembele and how he needed to be replaced. Fair play though, a really well taken goal and a huge three points!

Without sidetracking too much, analysis has been done on the performance of fasting athletes. There are quite a few medical publications on it. I’m sure there are more but this is a short one on ‘soccer’

 
Great result on Saturday, I thought we were much improved for the most part. I was speaking at half time about Dembele and how he needed to be replaced. Fair play though, a really well taken goal and a huge three points!

Without sidetracking too much, analysis has been done on the performance of fasting athletes. There are quite a few medical publications on it. I’m sure there are more but this is a short one on ‘soccer’

Thanks for sharing; very interesting.
 
You think he's too hungry?
I think there is a real possibility that through his commendable commitment to Allah, his physical and mental performance has been impacted through the month of march.

I’m not saying that Liverpool should not support the player, because Islam obviously means the world to him, and whilst religion is a protected characteristic, protecting the welfare of Salah, his team mates and the results on the pitch is pretty paramount.

He is an elite athlete who expends an insane amount of energy both in training and on match days. His job is unusual to say the least and the consequences of Ramadan for him and Liverpool fc are big bigger than my colleague feeling unwell in an office.
 
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