Jimbo

A British teacher is facing 40 lashes in a Sudanese jail if convicted of insulting Islam's prophet by letting children name a teddy bear Mohammed. Locked up: Gillian GibbonsGillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, was arrested on suspicion of blasphemy on Sunday. Ms Gibbons allowed her class of seven-year-olds at the Unity High School in Khartoum to name a teddy bear Mohammed as part of a lesson about animals' habitats. Mohammed is sacred to Islamic philosophy and the penalty for blasphemy is 40 lashes, a large fine or a jail term. The British Embassy in Khartoum confirmed the arrest. A source close to the school said one teacher was angered by the naming of the teddy bear and complained to the headmistress. Ms Gibbons was a deputy headteacher at Liverpool's Dovecot Primary School from 2002 to this July when she left for Sudan. Her MP, Louise Ellman, told Sky News: "This is very worrying. I understand Ms Gibbons is a very respected person, she is held in the highest regard and is seen as a person of the highest integrity. "I'm in touch with the Foreign Office and it's right that they should be working hard to bring about a positive end." There is no specific, or explicit ban in the Koran on images of Allah or the Prophet Mohammed - be they carved, painted or drawn. School children named teddy bearHowever, chapter 42, verse 11 of the Koran does say: "[Allah is] the originator of the heavens and the earth... [there is] nothing like a likeness of Him." The fear is that images could give rise to idolatry but in this case the response in Sudan, which has been governed by strict Islamic Sharia law since 1983, has been unusually harsh, said Hassan Aberdeen, a researcher at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. "It seems that the parents made an issue of the teacher calling an animal Mohammed," he said. "Calling him a dog or a pig is insulting, but this is just a teddy bear." "This could be more to do with who is saying it than what is being said. It might not have been an issue if this was a Sudanese person. "The fact that this was a European teacher is highly likely to be one of the key causes."

I cringe when I think that we were the catalyst for him getting his first job in club management, if only we'd have had the foresight to have appointed him back then instead of Souness.

A deeply depressing read, though hard to argue with.

Are we as fickle with management appointments as some people make out ? I can only think of Dalglish as being a manager that wasn't given enough time. Keegan - Walked out Dalglish - Sacked arguably too soon Gullit - Walked out Robson - kept on for too long Souness - Sacked and should never have been given the job in the first place Roeder - See above I don't see that as a track record of getting shot of managers too soon, I see it as a track record of appointing the wrong man.

I think we can give support and stablility to the right manager, yes time and patience is needed to develop success, but thats fine if you've got the right man in charge, Allardyce is going from one mistake to the next and blaming everyone but himself, and is not filling anyone with confidence, if results were going against us but there was a hint of progession, learning and development than I'm sure we'd all be behind him, but there isn't. Bolton made the brave decision that they had made a mistake, and sacked Sammy Lee, and I believe we need to admit we have done the same. I can't see how blaming the fans has anything to do with this, the only factor in our position is that loon we've appointed as manager, we are going backwards fast, everyone can recognise the problems, there is a collective groan that goes around as soon as the team is announced on match days, the problems are that basic, team selection, formation, tactics, substitutions, its FAR more than just a bad run of results, its about getting it wrong from the very begining and showing no sign of learning from these mistakes. Wringing our hands about nasty people boo'ing in the stands is the least of our problems.

Agreed, and its a no brainer for all to see, why can't Allardyce see it too ?

big sam not wanting to admit he wasted £6m? He starts ahead of Barton and club captain Geremi in midfield though so it's not like Allardyce won't drop players he's signed. Smith starts every game though. this is what i don't understand about big sam so far. smith has consistently been our worst player this season and yet he is never dropped. i don't get it and i totally understand the crowd's reaction to the manager's decision to sub emre and n'zogbia ahead of smith and for him being chosen as sponsor's motm. i don't get what everyone rates about him. he's absolutely terrible. has contributed nowt this season. Thankfully due to his bookings he'll be up for another suspension soon. A very sorry state of affairs. How did it get so bad so quickly? its simple, we've appointed the wrong manager.

Quoted for truth !

big sam not wanting to admit he wasted £6m? He starts ahead of Barton and club captain Geremi in midfield though so it's not like Allardyce won't drop players he's signed. Smith starts every game though. this is what i don't understand about big sam so far. smith has consistently been our worst player this season and yet he is never dropped. i don't get it and i totally understand the crowd's reaction to the manager's decision to sub emre and n'zogbia ahead of smith and for him being chosen as sponsor's motm. i don't get what everyone rates about him. he's absolutely terrible. has contributed nowt this season. Thankfully due to his bookings he'll be up for another suspension soon.

I agree with the general sentiment, I do think Sam will improve things and that it will take time. Id settle for a top half finish now. At the moment though, Im not sure and like many Im loosing confidence in him fast. Largely due to his style and selections. I was impressed at the time how well he acted in the transfer market though. But as you say, I do think it is going to get worse first. I cant see us getting anything from our next two games. We need players to dig in at the moment. Only evidence of that Ive seen so far is Butt and Milner when he gets a chance. I think its dificult to ask much of an improvement from the players when the managerial decisions are making more of an influence on the disapointing results far more so than any short comings from the team, in my opinion.

I love it, I don't always find "laugh out loud" funny, but I do enjoy its madness.

I disagree, Ali never called anyone his "Prison Bitch" or anything as classless as Mayweather has said, when Ali went off on one it was with a twinkle in his eye, not the hatred filled shite that Mayweather comes out with.

That was the cover story, I think you'll find he had some rather serious personal problems at home.

Anyone, basically. McLeish btw? Fuck me sideways. Did I read the title of the thread wrong ?

Houlier McLeish lippi Copple Moyes Flores Ranieri Collins

OK I won't.

Where is it OTT ? As bad as anything in 28 years is OTT. Fair enough, I can't comment on that statement.

Deal should be completed on Wednesday

Where is it OTT ?

Hard to disagree with Anal this time.

I think Smith is getting a disproportionate amount of games in midfield.

When you watch clowns you have the right to boo in my opinion. I'm glad you pointed out Sammy Lee on your list, Bolton were brave enough to admit they had appointed the wrong man and acted before their season was at the point of no return, shame we aren't brave enough to do the same. Gary Megson though?? An improvement on Sammy Lee, who had also lost the dressing room in record time, once the dressing room is lost thats it, 13 matches or 13,000, How long before Sam loses the dressing room, if he hasn't already ? fair enough, perhaps you're right. Do you really think BS shouldnt be given the chance to turn things round though? I mean the lack of patience shwon by newcastle fans in recent years is making us look a laughing stock dont you think? I'd rather have folk laugh at us for changing manager yet again than laughing at us due to performances like we saw at the weekend, I'm not advocating Allardyce is sacked right now, but I do believe that we should admit that this bloke isn't the manager we all thought he was and start making careful and measured plans as to his replacement.

For everyone who quotes Citeh as an example of how things should be at this club i'm going to kill a kitten. They're quite simply a one off and could've so easily ended up in our position. coulda woulda shoulda things is they didnt, either because they've got a better manager or are a better run club. Either way there's no reason why we shouldnt compare our fortunes to there's this season. I'm not saying we "should" be in Man City's position, I'm arguing that the "keep them out for 10 matches" is cobblers. sorry Jimbo but I was commenting on Skol's comment tbh Doh

Well, that's the theory but it's a myth. He's ineffectual in anything other than a forward role and even then he won't get you many goals. He's a canny player imo but £6million was a lot a 4th choice forward / Viduka's back-up* for a club who had a net spend of about £10m in the summer. *How I see him rather than how Allardyce does. He had a canny game up front with Martins against Everton. I would like to see him played there more often like you say as Vidukas replacement. Agreed, the only position Alan Smith should play is striker, he's a poor midfielder.

For everyone who quotes Citeh as an example of how things should be at this club i'm going to kill a kitten. They're quite simply a one off and could've so easily ended up in our position. coulda woulda shoulda things is they didnt, either because they've got a better manager or are a better run club. Either way there's no reason why we shouldnt compare our fortunes to there's this season. I'm not saying we "should" be in Man City's position, I'm arguing that the "keep them out for 10 matches" is cobblers.