50K is probably far more than he would have received through the courts though according to the Times. Money is an issue in this particular case because so far it's the only one where compensation is known to have been paid. It's perfectly reasonable to discuss what's 'fair' or otherwise without implying Gary Johnson is a money grabber. In my opinion the Club has tried to be fair but that's not how it's being presented in the media.

 

 

38 minutes ago, Andy North said:

Using your logic Jimmy Saville is innocent.

Don't be do stupid, what a pathetic statesman argument.

1 hour ago, Andy North said:

Using your logic Jimmy Saville is innocent.

f**king  hell.  

5 hours ago, Andy North said:

He's been sexually abused. And you lot are making him out to be money grabber. £50k for a lifetime of misery is nowhere near enough. He deserves all he can get.

Well he is...he is literally asking for more money. I am just questioning why he is asking now. Why not 3 years ago when he signed a contract. 

 

Out of general curiosity, what do people suggest the club do here? The only other options are a) refuse to pay any compensation and alllwung the police to handle matter. Pay him 50k and declare open season for anyone who wants to collect that Chelsea are willing to pay out over a years worth of salary to anyone with a story by not making him sign a confidentiality agreement? Its a damn if you do damn if you dont situation.

Suppose all they can really do is assist the best they can with any investigations.

1 hour ago, benjsross said:

Well he is...he is literally asking for more money. I am just questioning why he is asking now. Why not 3 years ago when he signed a contract. 

 

He may have had better advice. The sexual abuse story is in the news at the moment and it must have struck a chord with him. In fairness if what he is saying is true it can't be easy going on TV and talking the way he has. I think it's important that alleged victims like him do come out and publicize what has been happening. This whole subject was taboo for decades and this will change things hopefully. I know we should wait for the results of the investigation and maybe I'm a mug but I believe him and feel really sorry for him. There's no smoke without fire. He is alleging he was assaulted hundreds of times. Maybe he feels angry about the deal of 3 years ago. I don't think that type of pain goes away. He is probably permanently damaged. I know I should wait for the investigation but that's how I am. If it turns out that he has been lying or has been "fairly treated" then I will take my comments back.

8 hours ago, Zola said:

If he wasn't happy with the payout, why did he accept it?

Why didn't he kick up more of a fuss if this was all about the principle?

He seems happy to have his mug all over tv and the papers now, just comes off as a money grabber to me. 

 

well he said he felt pressured into accepting it. maybe he felt it was that or nothing. who knows what his financial circumstances are or were, and indeed how being abused as a child would have affected his ability to succeed in his professional life (never mind his personal life) and that abuse occurred when he was under the protection of chelsea football club.

in compensation for his life being profoundly changed for the worse he was given less than four years of the national minimum wage. I don't think it is unreasonable to suggest that isn't enough to compensate him for his distress. indeed no amount alone may be, but his description of it as "too little, too late" sounds far more accurate than any attempt to describe him as a money grabber.

indeed I am truly depressed to see that this is how you and a couple of others are describing him. something, I think it is empathy, tells me that he isn't "happy" to be publicly admitting that he was abused in his childhood.

32 minutes ago, Andy North said:

. I think it's important that alleged victims like him do come out and publicize what has been happening.

I agree. It's a shame the alleged victim in discussion isn't of the same opinion.

The simple facts are he had the choice between telling his story/seeking justice/ helping others and £50k.

He chose money.

That is an undeniable fact.

I have every sympathy for the terrible way he's suffered but his behaviour here leaves a lot to be desired.

 

He approaches the club for money (a compensation claim via his solicitors), he settles out of court thus getting more than he would otherwise get, and is asked to sign a gagging clause in return. He signs without raising any objection. Now however he appears to have objections, he tells us the gagging clause wasn't his idea and he felt he wouldn't get his money if he didn't agree, but he agreed presumably because he wanted the extra dosh. It strikes me going public wasn't on his list of wants when he approached Chelsea, rather money was, for now that he's allowed to speak he chooses to speak about money and wanting more. I'd understand if going public wasn't on his list of wants and I understand how so many footballers kept silent until Andy Woodward had the courage to go public, but now that he can speak publicly I think he should take responsibility for the fact he accepted the extra dosh, stop talking about money and start talking about the main issues.

 

Regarding the board, as I've said earlier in this thread I think heads should roll. When they were approached they could have just approached the FA with it (as the rules state they must) and thus avoided all this controversy, instead they chose to deal with it their way. Well their way was ill-judged, immoral depending on your stance and it has clearly backfired.

 

These people really are a bunch of buffoons.

4 hours ago, g3.7 said:

well he said he felt pressured into accepting it. maybe he felt it was that or nothing. who knows what his financial circumstances are or were, and indeed how being abused as a child would have affected his ability to succeed in his professional life (never mind his personal life) and that abuse occurred when he was under the protection of chelsea football club.

in compensation for his life being profoundly changed for the worse he was given less than four years of the national minimum wage. I don't think it is unreasonable to suggest that isn't enough to compensate him for his distress. indeed no amount alone may be, but his description of it as "too little, too late" sounds far more accurate than any attempt to describe him as a money grabber.

indeed I am truly depressed to see that this is how you and a couple of others are describing him. something, I think it is empathy, tells me that he isn't "happy" to be publicly admitting that he was abused in his childhood.

Out of curiosity do you think he should be getting more compensation due to the club now being a multimillion pound company and owned by a billionaire? as that should have no bearing on his compensation claim and by all accounts he received more than he would of through court, besides the club assisting all investigations I'm not sure what else they should be asked to do? surely the fa and police have some questions to be asked by fobbing him off before he came to the club.

 

If GJ is using this new found public image to bring these terrible incidents to the fore so people are held to account then good for him and its the right thing to be doing, if its just a play for more money then well I'm not sure what to say to that to be honest that doesnt make me sound an insensitive c**t having his cake and eating it is probably the nicest thing to say tbh, I have full sympathy for anyone who has suffered this type of abuse as I know somebody that this has happened to (not football related) and so know how it can affect a persons life.

14 minutes ago, strong centreback said:

Out of curiosity do you think he should be getting more compensation due to the club now being a multimillion pound company and owned by a billionaire?

no- that isn't what I'm saying.

I feel like I've given my perspective on this and I don't have the inclination to second guess the thoughts and mental processes of someone who was abused as a child. 

the way I'm reading this thread I think I'm going to do myself a favour and stop posting and probably stop reading too. no one needs to interpret that as a personal criticism- it is a sensitive issue after all.

1 hour ago, g3.7 said:

no- that isn't what I'm saying.

I feel like I've given my perspective on this and I don't have the inclination to second guess the thoughts and mental processes of someone who was abused as a child. 

the way I'm reading this thread I think I'm going to do myself a favour and stop posting and probably stop reading too. no one needs to interpret that as a personal criticism- it is a sensitive issue after all.

Just look at the numbers. How many players have gone public thus far about the alleged abuse they suffered? Roughly 10? Now how many are demanding to be financially compensated? As far as i'm aware, no others.

We can safely assume that the number of alleged victims choosing to remain anonymous or indeed stay silent completely is a very considerable multiple of those that have gone public. Common sense would lend to the vast majority of these not actively seeking financial compensation as a priority.

Now not only has Gary Johnson already been financially compensated (by a much bigger sum of money than a court would award), he is now returning for more.

It is not difficult to understand why he is being viewed in a different light to the other alleged victims. It is because he has and continues to paint himself in that light.

It is difficult to equate his motivations with the others.

I also want to add, and some people will choose to see this in a bad light but it is true - being abused, as hideous a thing as it is, does not come with a 100% guarantee of your life being a trainwreck. Some people have no major disturbances in their life yet are trainwrecks, some people suffer horrific situations yet manage to steer their life to a better place.

Its accelerating all the time. the press are going to have a field day with us.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-4020800/Chelsea-face-huge-damages-bill-Fears-generation-kids-six-come-forward-say-scout-abused-them.html

Its accelerating all the time. the press are going to have a field day with us.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-4020800/Chelsea-face-huge-damages-bill-Fears-generation-kids-six-come-forward-say-scout-abused-them.html

Poor us. Never mind the kids, if Chelsea FC get a hard time from the media over this then we are the real victims here.

PS It startedwithglenn's post is one of the stupidest things I've ever read on here, and that's not something I say lightly.

Football sex abuse scandal: Chelsea cleared over Gary Johnson claims handling

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38411955

Good to hear. Still a horrific story.

9 hours ago, coco said:

Football sex abuse scandal: Chelsea cleared over Gary Johnson claims handling

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38411955

Strange how this doesn't get the same headlines in the tabloids as the initial story. A shocking story all around,which should be accurately reported without the sensationalist accusations.

I sincerely hope all those affected get justice.

 

Just stumbled across this news on bleacher. Not even seen it mentioned on ssn all morning, you would think it would big news considering how widely it was reported....

Typical media bs, they don't care about victims, they only care about headlines. 

Well with the club being cleared they can't be demonised any more. Is it any wonder this isn't big news? As many have said now it's typical of the media, no more story for them so they've dropped it like a hot potato

1 hour ago, big blue said:

Just stumbled across this news on bleacher. Not even seen it mentioned on ssn all morning, you would think it would big news considering how widely it was reported....

Typical media bs, they don't care about victims, they only care about headlines. 

Of course they don't. The guardian and them lot with their "sympathetic" pieces urging action have all moved on to something else and the fans calling for points deduction have moved on as well. w**kers all of them.

Cleared by the PL. The FA can still rule against us and probably will (even if they have to add a few new retroactive regulations).

Just to clarify, we've been cleared of not breaking any FA rules by paying off Gary Johnson. It still happened though, and by buying his silence we may have prevented this issue becoming public sooner. There may be other clubs who have paid off victims in similar ways, we have no idea yet, but I don't think we have any right to play the victims.

7 minutes ago, bluedave said:

Just to clarify, we've been cleared of not breaking any FA rules by paying off Gary Johnson. It still happened though, and by buying his silence we may have prevented this issue becoming public sooner. There may be other clubs who have paid off victims in similar ways, we have no idea yet, but I don't think we have any right to play the victims.

It should be remembered that Gary Johnson first made his complaint to the MET. They decided for whatever reason that it didnt warrant further investigation and ushered him to the club. I'm not really sure what we were supposed to do from there, maybe we reported the matter to the FA, these are facts that none of us is privy to.

33 minutes ago, charierre said:

It should be remembered that Gary Johnson first made his complaint to the MET. They decided for whatever reason that it didnt warrant further investigation and ushered him to the club. I'm not really sure what we were supposed to do from there, maybe we reported the matter to the FA, these are facts that none of us is privy to.

So you think, because the MET brushed it off, that it was right to pay him the hush money? It took Adam Woodward to bite the bullet and to go to the Guardian, thereby encouraging others to come forward, before any of this was taken seriously. With that in mind, surely you can see why paying hush money is possibly the worst thing we could have done.