Ben Moss: Player antics killing the game
22 September 2009 - 16:44
by Ben Moss
Listening to Graeme Souness on Sky Sports’ coverage of the Champions League last week, one couldn’t help but feel a great sense of empathy with the great Scot. A managerial CV boasting an FA and League Cup with Liverpool and Blackburn respectively would be the envy of many, but his reputation has since been tarnished by a disastrous reign with Newcastle, in addition to a number of high-profile confrontations with the likes of Craig Bellamy, Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole. Yet to hear a man who has held a deep association with British football for the best part of forty years, slam the current culture of player power deserves to be taken seriously.
An issue above and beyond team loyalty
Removing team allegiance, one week after Emmanuel Adebayor had shamelessly stamped on his former teammate Robin van Persie, Bellamy thought it wise to slap a supporter already under the shackles of three burley stewards. The FA is looking at the indiscretion, but news that his club will not be pursuing the incident, reeks of recklessness. Examples of similar distain can be used for almost any team in the country, so please forgive the highlighting of two incidents of imprudence by City; they are merely the most prevalent in recent times. Take Manchester United’s club captain Gary Neville after their recent derby win. A rabid performance if ever there was one, by a man who has previous, and who should undoubtedly know better.
Nailing your team’s colours to this argument is no longer prevalent, because all and sundry are guilty. The pithy culture of tribalism in this country needs to be put to one side for the greater good of English football.
Players must take responsibility for their actions
Their behaviour continues to set an incredulous example, infiltrating the innocence of jumpers for goalposts football seen around the country on a Sunday.
To dismiss the idiots who threw objects at Carlos Tevez on Sunday, or the disgusting hypocrisy of supporters who chant racist or homophobic abuse one minute, and then feel aggrieved to be greeted by the recipient of such vitriol celebrating a goal the next, would be plainly wrong, but one can’t help but feel the shocking example set by an increasing number of extortionately paid professionals on the pitch is spilling into the stands. That fight is for another day in the not too distant future, but the very essence of football, values and ethics coined on these shores no less, needs to be protected, and it must begin with the professionals themselves.
In how many professions can an employee openly question the merits and methods of his manager without fear of the repercussions? Or goad those that fund their ludicrous pay-packets, by taunting them from the privileged position of the pitch?
The FA and Clubs need to take the lead
A day after Sir Bobby Robson was remembered by the footballing world as a man of decent, honest, integrity, and therefore a character deeply synonymous with all that is good with English football; it seems a fitting time to address the evil that is corrupting a once beautiful game.
Clubs must make a stand against those they employ, by setting out a strict code of conduct on and off the field. Injudiciousness and misdemeanours can no longer be tolerated from this increasingly maligned highly paid profession because it damages the game. The FA must take a hard line and as this country’s football governing body, they actually need to govern.
Chelsea star Didier Drogba needs to be told in no uncertain terms, that his continued amateur theatrics will not be tolerated. Arsenal’s Emmanuel Eboue should be reminded that deliberately handling the ball is cheating, while Martin O’Neill correctly informed Nigel Reo-Coker that he remains the club’s custodian.
Players’ wages are a difficult issue to address because the demand will forever remain, but it is not too much to ask that these highly paid footballers set an example that their clubs and fans can be proud of.
Role models should not be few and far between
Again, without wanting to select individual teams, the likes of Ryan Giggs and Graham Alexander epitomise the values of their respective clubs and rarely, and in some cases never, are they caught with their proverbial pants down. Two seasoned professionals making headlines for all the right reasons, but how many others can you name in the Premier League? Not to detract away from the numerous charity projects Premier League clubs support, but it should be a prerequisite not a faint hope for players to be model citizens, particularly when in their specialist field, on the football pitch.
English football should be about winning but doing so within the realms of decency, and not at all costs. Players need to adhere to a game pioneered by gentlemen like Sir Stanley Matthews, Bobby Moore, Sir Bobby Charlton, and their predecessors. For the good of English football, a line of discipline needs to be drawn and players need to be put in their place by the necessary means.