Danny Hall Column: Sick Aaron Ramsey chants are a problem for society, not just Stoke and Arsenal

The first clue comes in the spelling.
Aaron Ramsey quietened the Stoke fans temporarily with this goal against them back in 2013Aaron Ramsey quietened the Stoke fans temporarily with this goal against them back in 2013
Aaron Ramsey quietened the Stoke fans temporarily with this goal against them back in 2013

'i agree, a 50/50 tackle which any player would of went for' says the poster, 'radoggair', on a bike forum.

Discussion then rages over three pages about Aaron Ramsey's horrific broken leg, suffered days earlier when Stoke faced Arsenal in February 2010.

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That YouTube footage of the tackle is titled simply 'Ryan Shawcross v Aaron Ramsey' speaks volumes.

This was more assault than tackle; Shawcross and Ramsey were opponents in an unfair fight, and the video still makes uncomfortable viewing five years on.

The Stoke skipper lunges in narrowly after Ramsey had poked the ball away; boot makes contact with an unsteady leg. Stoke's Glenn Whelan immediately tends to his stricken opponent, his leg an uncomfortable mangle of shinpad and tibia and fibula. Shawcross saw red; so did Sol Campbell, in a different kind of way, by gesticulating wildly at no-one in particular.

Shawcross left the ground in tears; Ramsey in an ambulance. He was out of the game for ten months; with mental scars taking longer to heal than physical ones.

Ryan Shawcross, right, has words with Arsenal's Olivier GiroudRyan Shawcross, right, has words with Arsenal's Olivier Giroud
Ryan Shawcross, right, has words with Arsenal's Olivier Giroud
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On his return to the Britannia Stadium, in May 2011, he shook the hand of Shawcross but was substituted at half-time.

In 2013, he admitted that he and Shawcross were not friends but added: "We are playing a game of football. I have just got on with it."

Ramsey and Arsenal returned to the Britannia again on Sunday. And Stoke fans had no intention of letting him get on with it.

First came the boos; after every mention of Ramsey's name, greeting his every touch of the ball.

Arsenal boss Arsene WengerArsenal boss Arsene Wenger
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger
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Then, the chants. Football singing is a notoriously complex issue - even ignoring World in Motion and endless versions of Three Lions - and when a fan of Millwall or 'Portsmouth City FC' insist their team is 'by far' the greatest team the world has ever seen, you suspect they believe it.

Chants are usually ridiculously misguided in support of their team, or at least vaguely humorous.

But 'Aaron Ramsey, he walks with a limp' was neither.

Even Peter Coates, Stoke's chairman, agreed.

Ryan Shawcross, right, has words with Arsenal's Olivier GiroudRyan Shawcross, right, has words with Arsenal's Olivier Giroud
Ryan Shawcross, right, has words with Arsenal's Olivier Giroud

“I don’t think it’s a minority of fans; I know it’s a minority," he said, by way of mitigation.

"People chant all sorts of awful things at all sorts of grounds, which I dislike. But do I approve of that sort of chanting? Of course I don’t."

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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who usually struggles with his eyes, shifted the problem to his ears this time. But the Frenchman maybe did find the head of the nail with his observations on British culture. For Stoke in 2016, see the London Riots of 2011; individuals see their responsibility diminish when part of a group. It's not quite as low as the 'it's just banter' level of excuse, but it's not far off.

"I shut my ears and I think that’s the best way to deal with it," Wenger said. "I don’t know what to do about it. I have no influence on it.

"When people get together sometimes they forget their individual responsibility and maybe when you go home and watch it on television you are less proud."

Sunday's goalless draw saw Stoke seventh in the Premier League. Of that, they should be proud. Coates and Mark Hughes should be proud of their progress over the last few seasons.

But stuff like this sticks easily in the memory. And if it were to overshadow the progress of both Stoke and Ramsey, that would be perhaps the biggest shame of all.