sport news MARTIN SAMUEL: Taking the knee has served its purpose and outlived its ... trends now
The cause will never lose its power or meaning but the gesture? Well, the clue's in the noun.
Gesture politics, an empty gesture - we're never that happy with the concept of gestures and Premier League captains appear to have decided that this one, taking the knee as a condemnation of racism, has run its course.
It has not gone, because it is understood that some games - the biggest, most high-profile occasions - may still include the stance prior to kick-off.
This appears to be a very sensible compromise by players who have always thought more deeply about the issue than many believe. There were enough individual dissenters, such as Crystal Palace's Ivory Coast international Wilfried Zaha, and now team refuseniks - Bournemouth did not take the knee in the Championship last season and won't again in the Premier League - to merit a discussion, and this is the conclusion.
It makes sense. To abandon it altogether would be seen as defeat in the face of opposition, particularly at clubs like Millwall, Colchester and West Ham where the gesture has sometimes been met with a negative response.
To continue risks diluting the message. It becomes just another facet of the pre-match ritual, losing its impact and meaning.
So now the knee will be deployed, like a long ball over the top. Easily contained if done too frequently, but with real power if used appropriately. When and where is a matter for the captains and their teams. One imagines the games that will be seen - televised matches perhaps - or that attract attention and large followings will be marked by an anti-racist moment.
Erling Haaland (left) and Trent Alexander-Arnold took the knee ahead of the Community Shield
Wilfred Zaha was one of the few players who chose not to perform the gesture last campaign
Bournemouth players won't take the knee before kick-offs in the Premier League this season
West Ham versus champions Manchester City on the first Sunday might have the profile of a knee game, or the London derby between Chelsea and Tottenham the following weekend.
That is a fixture with a history of racist abuse - anti-Semitic usually - and a stance against prejudice would be imbued with wider meaning.
Problems? Maybe the players will tire of having to
