Justin Crozer:
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Hello everyone.
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I've been away and if you heard my last
segment, you know exactly why I stood
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here and told you that I was stepping
back because the club I loved felt like
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it was stopping loving its fans back.
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I talked about the surveillance, the
facial recognition, the pyro bands, and
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the feeling that we were being treated
like data points rather than supporters.
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And I meant every word of it.
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And to be clear, none of
those issues have gone away.
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But while I was sitting in the silence,
something else became very clear to me.
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I realized that while I might have
a massive problem with the club's
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decisions, I have an even bigger
commitment to you, the listeners.
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I've seen the messages in the discord.
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I've heard the speak pipes from the fans
who feel the same way I do isolated,
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frustrated, but still deeply connected
to the football and the players.
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I realized that by stepping away, I
wasn't just protesting the board, I
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was leaving a gap in the community.
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I was leaving the fans without a
voice that isn't afraid to call
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out the corporate side of things
while still celebrating the
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tactical brilliance on the pitch.
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Therefore, I'm announcing, I'm
returning to RBL talk today.
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Not because the club changed their mind,
but because I changed mine, I realized
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that if the club is going to become more
corporate and more sterile, then this
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show needs to be the exact opposite.
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We'll need that space.
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We need this space more than ever.
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So what does RBL talk look like now?
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We're still doing the deep dives.
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We're still using FB REF
data to look at the tactics.
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We're still doing Player Watch, but
we're also going to be loud, honest.
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And a safe space for all fans worldwide.
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I am going to continue being
vocal about the surveillance
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culture without overdoing it.
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I'm going to continue speaking
up for local fans in East Germany
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who feel ignored, including
international fans as well.
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We aren't going to just ignore
the bad stuff because we want
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to see a win on Friday night.
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We're going to talk about all of it.
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The beautiful football and the ugly
decisions because being a fan isn't
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about blind loyalty to a badge.
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It's about the people you stand
in the trenches with, or in
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our case, the digital terrace.
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I'm back in the chair, I'm back in the
discord, although I was never fully
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away, and I want to hear from you.
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Whether you are in Leipzig, or watching
from half a world away like me in
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Australia, how are you feeling about
the direction of the club right now?
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How are you feeling about the
direction RBL talk is back?
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Send in your speed pipes.
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Let's have the hard conversations.
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Let's keep this a community where
the fans actually come first, which
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is what, for me, it was always about
even if the club's board has other
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priorities, the tactics are back.
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The community is back.
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RBL talk is back.
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Thank you.
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Now let's get to work.
