Posted something about this when this absolute gobs***e first opened his trap.
Just in case anybody is giving this gonk's views any air time here it is again.
Apparantly Negrito is rascist but calling somebody a coon or lazy nigger isn't.
[newsRon's no racist - McGrath]
Aston Villa legend Paul McGrath has revealed that Ron Atkinson called black players “coons” during training sessions.
The retired soccer star claimed Big Ron used the racist term while manager of the Premier-ship club in the 1990s.
Yet McGrath insisted that his former boss, who resigned from his ITV job last week for branding Chelsea player Marcel Desailly a “f***ing lazy big n****r” live on air, was an INSPIRATION to black players.
When we put the claims to Atkinson yesterday, he did not deny using the derogatory term ‘coon’, but said: “You should have heard what the players called me!”
Big Ron, from Barnt Green in Worcester-shire, resigned from his £200,000 job as a sports pundit after his outburst on Tuesday night following Chelsea’s Champions League defeat against Monaco.
He thought his comments about Desailly to fellow commentator Clive Tyldesley were offair - but they were being broadcast to audiences in the Middle East.
Some fans who heard the rant claim that he also called Blues boss Claudio Ranieri a “wop” and midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron “a lazy f***”.
After a storm erupted Atkinson, 65, apologised immediately and quit his TV post. He has since left his job as an expert analyst for The Guardian.
He has also been shown the red card by West Bromwich Building Society, who had planned touse himtopromotea newmortgageplanthis week.
Atkinson gave McGrath his big break in football when he signed him for Manchester United in 1982.
He was also the playerÂ’s manager at Aston Villa, where the defender arrived in 1989 after having been shown the Old Trafford door by Alex Ferguson for heavy drinking.
McGrath, 44, who now lives in Ireland, said he was shocked at the Atkinson outburst against Desailly.
“I heard what Ron said about Desailly and I thought it was a daft thing to say,” he said. “It was out of order. I was shocked because I had not heard Ron use that word before.”
But then he added: “I heard him call some black players a coon during training. It didn’t happen very often, it was occasional. But I’m not going to defend him to the hilt.
“I think Ron is probably one of the old school where language like this was probably more accepted.”
Although McGrath condemned Big Ron for using insultinglanguage,hesaid thathedidnot believe he was a racist.
“You only have to look at his record over the years,” he explained. “He was one of the few managers who helped black players in their careers and he treated everyone well.
“He was a great inspiration for me personally. He brought me to Manchester United and looked after me. He was at Villa as well. He treated me brilliantly.
“He would have been the first person to have befriended black people.”
But McGrath added that he was subjected to other racism during his career.
“Over the years I did experience racism,” he said. “There was a lot more of it about then.
“Ron is one of the most decent managers that I had, but I can’t condone what he said.” McGrath is no stranger to controversy himself. His drinking exploits have seen him hit the headlines for the wrong reasons.
Friends have spoken about their fears that booze binges could kill the soccer legend and have urged him to give up the bottle.
McGrath was in rehab for six weeks last November following an incident outside his ex-wifeÂ’s house in Manchester.
But he told the Sunday Mercury that he is now happy working as director of football for Irish team Waterford United.
“It’s great,” he said. “It’s wonderful working with the team and it’s been going fairly well
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