SELFISH STARS MUGGING FOOTY FANS
Modern-day footballers live in a bubble of self-obsession
THE BBC screened a feature last week that took us behind the scenes at Eastlands.
We learnt that each player's dressing-room space was adorned with his framed photograph - presumably to gaze at lovingly before trotting out - and that Shaun Wright-Phillips had 14 pairs of boots laid out ready for him by a lackey.
Emmanuel Adebayor had a mere nine.
He made use of two, stamping on Cesc Fabregas in powder blue and kicking Robin van Persie's face in pristine white.
And to think his mother had to sell second-hand clothes to buy him a cheap pair when he was a boy.
The half-time switch is presumably a ruse to cajole kids into pressurising their own hard-up mums to scrape together not £75 but £150 to buy their sons the latest footwear tat from a Far Eastern sweatshop.
A percentage of which goes into the heaving pockets of Adebayor.
That's what you have to love about these guys.
They never forget their impoverished roots. Or never lose touch with reality.
Just like the rest of us, they call up their employers and demand a handyman pop round to change a plug.
And what do they do if they prang the Ferrari? What we would all do, naturally. Climb out and make a quick call to summon another one to the scene.
A leading agent tells a story of securing a London-based player a move to a top club in the north. And everything's sorted, including a gardener to tend the grounds of a house hand-picked by his advisers.
The agent takes a call in his West End office.
"The gardener's here and I don't want him here today."
"OK, where is he?"
"Standing outside."
"Well, can't you walk the ten yards and tell . . . ."
Don't be ridiculous, of course he can't. Agent has to find gardener's number and tell him to leave the premises.
Modern-day footballers are fully entitled to their gargantuan salaries. But why they are pampered beyond belief is a mystery.
Is it any wonder they live in a bubble of self-obsession?
Is it any wonder that people such as Adebayor forget the values of their humble upbringings and behave so poorly?
Most right-minded people rail against the vile verbal abuse that seems to have become commonplace inside football stadia.
But when Adebayor - who, in his eight years as a professional, has helped his clubs win precisely nothing - obliquely demands a huge pay rise on the back of one decent season, or else he'll hop it, he is the one insulting fans.
It is their money - earned on the streets, in the factories, in the grim monotony of office life - he is demanding.
The fiver they pay for a pint in the Emirates, the four quid for a programme, the 40 notes for a replica shirt, the £60 Sky subscription.
But Adebayor and his type are too wrapped up in their own world of self-interest to realise this.
Just as Adebayor, for example, is so cocooned that he takes us for mugs by still insisting the kick on Van Persie was an accident.
And what is under threat here goes beyond ill-discipline on the pitch, beyond behaviour in the stands.
The relationship between supporters of the game and its players is being jeopardised.
And that relationship underpins this wonderful sport. In fact, it is the essence of it. Look at how the emotional suppport of fans helped Frank Lampard as he grieved the loss of his mother.
Or how, last weekend, 200 Stockport fans embraced their 26-year-old striker Carl Baker just days after his brother Mike had lost a battle with leukaemia.
Tomorrow, it will be standing room only inside Durham Cathedral for a very special memorial service.
Sir Bobby Robson would have fought cancer with remarkable bravery whatever walk of life he was in.
But did the wonderful warmth of football lovers the length and breadth of Europe inspire him? Yes.
They could have hired Wembley Stadium and there wouldn't be enough room for those who want to remember him.
Because he had a bond. A bond with players, a bond with fellow managers.
But most importantly, a bond with the common people.
Sir Bobby had the lavish trappings of success ... but he never acted or spoke as though he had the lavish trappings of success.
Because he knew that the game didn't belong to highly-paid professionals, or to Nike, or to Adidas, or to Sky, or to Barclays, or to the Premier League.
Or to him.
It's called humility.
And from Adebayor and every other player whose senses have been scrambled by uminaginable riches, just a touch of it is all we ask for.
- SEE MORE of Andy Dunn's views on sport in the News of the World, today and every Sunday.
This article has 10 comments
vote with your feet... to bring football back to being a sport not a business...I wouldn't cross the road to watch the obscene paid pansies.. It wont be long before all of the premier clubs are foreign owned
By susanah. Posted October 4 2009 at 2:10 PM.
It's a great article and one 99% of fans will agree with but as I've argued with my mates in the past it will only change if the supporters band together, If every supporter in the country said enough is enough next month I'm not going to watch the match, or watch highlights, or buy merchandise then the clubs would simply say to the players no money coming in so none goes out, the problem is the directors pay and pamper these players to keep the supporters happy whatever the cost.
By Luxfare. Posted September 20 2009 at 1:21 PM.
Interesting words from Rosicky this week about his comeback.
'I am nowhere near my best and I will have to work hard to get back to where I was'.
I saw 15 minutes of him yesterday and it convinced me that, had he stayed fit, Arsenal would likely have won the EPL and ECL in 2008. Pure class his work yesterday. It's not clear to me whether the standing ovation was for Eboue coming off or him coming on at home for the first time in 20 months....
Maybe it takes 2 years of hell, thinking you might have lost what you love forever, to be thankful for what you have got, eh?
By Rhys Jaggar. Posted September 20 2009 at 12:55 PM.
So far just over £150,000 has been rased to support
the Sir Bobby Roobson cancer fund,donated by the
same general public who pay the wages of these grossly overpaid prima donna's.Wouldn't it be a marvellous gesture if just one premiership player donated a weeks wages to the cause.Even those who have no intrest in footbal will remember Sir Bobby as a warm,affectionate,generous man.There are some things money can't buy.R.I.P. Sir Bobby.
By Tony Peters. Posted September 20 2009 at 12:49 PM.
Dunney,
You're right on the money with this one.
A few more Niall Quinns in terms of attitude and a few less Manny's would be welcome.
Its funny though, the fans are still coughing up the dough which is ruining the game, by corrupting attitudes.
What do clubs teach players in terms of ethics?
By Damien. Posted September 20 2009 at 11:36 AM.
I totally agree with Andy's comments.Most footballers today are total out of touch with the people who adore them week in and week out.Giving us their hard luck stories of why they are slaves and badly let down when they ask for an extra £5000 that gets turned down.Roy Keane was right when he once said that players who are average get payed a kings ransom and have never even finnished above mid table in the premier league.I believe in the future people will fall out of love with big leagues and will rather follow local football and follow heroes who are on the same planet and share the same day to day struggles.
By Jai Leach. Posted September 20 2009 at 11:21 AM.
a great article
By tony cini. Posted September 20 2009 at 10:21 AM.
A great article, as usual from Mr Dunn,. We all know football is tribal, it's what we all wait for every Friday night, the weekend cant come quick enough. No matter what inflated prices are set we will still fork out every Season for the pride and love of watching our team. Agents, players, clubs all take advantage of this and have no consideration in setting the prices. As for Mr Clean Adebayor, when he is interviewed on the TV he comes across as an arrogant self centered man. This was proven last week when he taunted fans from his former club, he didnt care, he was getting them back because they found him out. They realised late last year that this waster was in fact, a waster, a waster to their cause and they wanted him out. He showed them disloyalty, a classic example of a modern day Prima Donna. Their's a few of them knocking around.
By Paul. Posted September 20 2009 at 9:00 AM.
Harsh to make Ade the posterboy of modern selfish stars but i agree with the article. The common man and the game are slowly falling further away from eachother. And there are many selfish people involved, the players are almost a by-product of the world around them. i honestly think that prices need to drop, therefore wages need to drop, and the only way for that to happen is for UEFA to step in. Being a fan is a special thing, and it shouldn't depend on results or signings. We support because we belong. But now we are being told that we are customers, and customers expect a product for what they buy.
'Franchise football' is taking the love of the game away.
By cheese. Posted September 20 2009 at 8:12 AM.
what complete and utter nonsence. What has ades mother buying 2nd hand boots got to xo with anything.why are you still giving inches to a charge that has already been dished out?
To continually single out one player you must be bitter,Arsnal fan are we.
By alan jacobs. Posted September 20 2009 at 1:20 AM.