The Six Genres of Greenwood’s Avengers

​“You can’t outrun your demons”

You really can’t. Before you get lost in these words for however long your stomach permits, let me clarify something. Wrong is wrong. 

The internet is littered with all the pictures, recordings and transcriptions of what Greenwood did to the mother of his child. There’s the “You go explain tire; no evidence” meme. Apt. But what happens when even with all the evidence, you still tweets, comments, replies defending Greenwood.

The tweets are inhumane. What is even crazier is you can very loosely classify all the comments into 6 genres.

• I know what he did and I don’t care

• I don’t believe he did anything 

• I know what he did and he deserves a second chance

• Maybe he did it. Maybe he didnt. But who are you to judge

• He didn’t do it. Why? Because the courts said so.

• It’s really none of your business, or mine.

 Every single genre of Greenwood Avengers comments that boils my blood. 

In the first instance you’re blatantly denying the evidence that is staring you in the face. You’ve either intentionally manoeuvred your way around seeing the myriad of media that exist (which is the peak of evil) or you’ve seen it and just don’t care enough. Don’t care enough because you’ve put football above not just the law but basic morality and humanity.

In the second instance, you’re simply blinded by your wickedness. There’s really nothing to add. 

The third genre is disturbing. Disturbing because you consumed all the evidence, rationalised that it’s wrong and simply put your own judgement in the bin. And for what? A second chance? Don’t get me wrong. Everyone deserves a second chance. But second chances do not negate the need for punishment. You can’t say “He killed the old lady and I get it but let him off the hook. He’s suffered enough losing his job as a cashier” That’s exactly how they sound. But even worse, you don’t deserve a second chance if you haven’t shown an ounce of remorse for your actions. Greenwood hasn’t. There’s barely been an acknowledgement of all the evidence, let alone a genuine acknowledgment of what he did.

The fourth genre? It’s sad. It takes something special to look at all the evidence and decide to take the moral high ground stance. You can’t claim that no one has the moral authority to call out the cowardice, evil and ignorance surrounding the situation. First of all, everyone does not beat women for refusing sex. Moreover, it’s tone-deaf.

Once of the greatest lines I’ve ever seen written down is “Self-deceit leads to self-destruction.” This reeks of self-deceit. You don’t need to be a lawyer to understand the basic lexicon of this case. No court cleared Greenwood. No verdict was reached. Why? Because you can’t exactly present a case when your chief witness and victim is unwilling to cooperate. 

Which brings me to the next genre. The ones that claim his partner has forgiven him and so not just should the public follow suit, but the actions should be erased from the fabric of the cosmos. That’s not how the law works, that’s not how life works. Even if you somehow find it logical to subscribe to that mentality, shouldn’t your next question be; why did she forgive him? Then you can say “She really loves him.” “She did it for the baby.” “She just wants the money.” “She’s being threatened.” She this, she that. You’ve made her the common denominator and somehow shifted the bulk of this to the victim.

But somehow it’s really none of our business. It’s none of my business or yours what he did. Why should I care? Why should I care when it’s not me or my family? Family..let’s not even discuss the concept of men needing to view crimes against women through the lens of their family members to really understand. You might claim you understand but will they extend that same understanding to strangers when it’s not their sister, mother, wife, daughter or cousin. But somehow it’s nobody else’s business except the couple’s. It’s a cheap point scoring exercise for these people. 

The truly diabolical genres are beyond individuals. They’re establishments. Institutions.

Manchester United have handled this as bad as you can possibly fathom. From never really suspending him. To quietly adding him back to their website. There’s the whole drama of going to reintegrate him back this summer until all the pushback from the public. Somehow they finally did the right thing and said he won’t play for the club. And messed that up somehow by loaning him. LOANING?? That’s a slap on the face to everyone that is even remotely aware of what’s happening. Because it’s simply a way not to say “we’ll reaccess” but rather “Lol. we’ll see how much you remember of this if he does well then we’ll bring him back into the fold”

Then there’s Getafe. Parading Greenwood like a trophy. Draining every drop of this disaster for engagement. It’s bad enough they signed him on loan. It’s bad enough their director says that’s not a problem because he was cleared by a court (he wasn’t). But baiting with constant Greenwood media is a whole new level of diabolical. If the fans are tone-deaf, ignorant, dumb and even, pure evil then I can’t find the words to define an institution that is tethering their reputation to a man (not a boy) who has these allegations hanging over him.

And I don’t even think it’s possible to find those words. 

And even if I did. What would it matter?