FOOTBALL'S STILL A CHARTER FOR CHEATS
THE continuing outrage over David Ngog's dive last Monday leaves me cold.
Football is full to bursting with cheats. Who cares about another one?
Cheating has become as integral a part of football as the offside law, a pre-match pie and a pint, an England penalty shoot-out defeat, a Fergie rant, a gimmicky new strip, a nostalgic Newcastle fan (although not sure what there is to be nostalgic about), the Celtic-Rangers Premier League question, Motty's sheepskin, Alan Hansen's lament over defensive standards, the David Beckham debate, the demise of the FA Cup.
Cheats infest the game from top to bottom.
So what if a 20-year-old Frenchman has joined the legion of chisellers, charlatans and chancers that corrupt the soul of what should be a beautiful game?
He knows no better.
For absolution, he only had to listen to Robbie Savage 24 hours later, who admitted that he had 'used his experience' - translation: conned decent people - to get a naive 17-year-old Coventry City player sent off.
And confessed to an act that he saw as natural as tapping into an empty net from six yards out.
It almost made you retch. But we are now immune to the immoral standards by which football now operates.
From top to bottom, cheating rules.
Phil Gartside's Premier League Two proposals - presented to chairman on Thursday - were afforded debate they did not deserve. To have a hermetically-sealed elite is protectionism that flies in the face of what the game - or any game - should stand for.
It's cheating.
Cheating the supporters of clubs lower down in the food chain of the dream. To play - if only for a brief spell - alongside the elite.
Changing kits every season, an idea Manchester United refuse to rule out, is cheating.
Cheating working-class parents out of money that would be better spent on giving their children a better diet, a better lifestyle.
Stadium branding is cheating. Cheating loyal fans out of one of their few remaining loves. If some Premier League chairmen were in charge of the Church of England, they would rebrand Westminster Abbey. They have no shame.
Agents fees. Managers, club executives, have no qualms about paying fortunes to fly-by-nights who, for a six-figure commission, offer them South American non-entities. Someone has to pay. Someone has to pay two agents £1.5million for handling a couple of Portsmouth sales my mother could have seen through.
And it's you. It's you being cheated in order to pay these parasites.
And then there are managers. Well, some of them. The LMA is forever coming over all pious, bleating on about how badly their number are treated, scampering for a tribunal, compensation cap in hand. And all the time, they are plotting to take a colleague's job.
Cheating
When Gordon Strachan was interviewed for the Middlesbrough job weeks before it became vacant, did he call Gareth Southgate? Did he tell his managerial brother that the club was touting his job around? What do you think? It's called cheating your workmates.
Of course, we can do nothing but believe Darren Ferguson when he denies claims by Barry Fry that he already has a Premier League job lined up. But where do you think Ferguson Junior will next manage? I'd take a wild stab.
Cheating is not a problem in football. It's a way of life.
Feign injury, harangue referees, dupe the Premier League over the signing of two Argentinians, hassle fourth officials, use the punters' season ticket money to pay disloyal players.
Cheating, cheating, cheating, cheating, cheating.
Yet the irony is that the actual football has never been so vibrant.
The game itself - or the product as the suits like to call it - is so often a spell-binding spectacle.
We can only marvel at Sir Alex Ferguson's managerial magnificence, Frank Lampard's dedication, the striking masterclasses of Fernando Torres, Arsenal's beautiful game.
We can only applaud the application of David Moyes, the pragmatism of Fabio Capello, the thrills that spill from the Premier League on any given Saturday or Sunday.
But cheating has become part of that spectacle.
And cheating in any sport will only be tackled from within. Not by video evidence, not by compliance units, not by Swiss courts, not even by the Old Bill.
Diving can only be tackled by players themselves, bloated agents' fees by clubs refusing to pay them, managerial poaching by guys refusing to sneakily pursue someone else's job, rip-off commercialism by clubs acknowledging they have a duty to their community.
Idealistic? Yes. Unrealistic? Of course.
But until all those people involved in the game - players, managers, agents, self-important chief executives - regulate themselves, cheating will remain the foremost art.
And the howls of indignation that echo after an incident such as the one at Anfield last Monday will remain hollow, hypocritical tosh.
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This article has 4 comments
What gets me about the whole diving debate is the amount of column inches and airtime it gets. I don't think it's ever going to go away. It's as much a part of football now as fouling. Which, might I add, is just as much against the rules as diving if not more due to the risk of injury to the opponent. However nobody complains about a 'good foul' if it gives the defending team advantage, in fact it's often praised but what is the difference to the attacker diving to gain an advantage?
By Chris Stirling.. Posted November 15 2009 at 5:36 PM.
Cheating kills the game.
Sport used to be a way to teach young people the lesson of life - respect yourself and eachother. Be honest with yourself and others. No prize is worth bringing dishonour on yourself or your team.
Children must return to being taught the SPORTING ethos, at school before they even start on the technical aspects of any game - and especially at clubs' academies.
This is the only way to preserve sports useful function in society.
By Damien.. Posted November 15 2009 at 9:12 AM.
I agree with the article,but can i add one thought,Look at Blatter and Platini,neither want technology coming into football,so the top european club(money machines ) sides can get away with murder example penalties always awarded for but few against,split decisions for but few against,very few red cards,and a 2 match ban for fergie,i would like to have seen a lower club managers ban for the same comments,so is corruption and cheating not coming from the top of our F.A and world football.
By andy Burton.. Posted November 15 2009 at 8:56 AM.
Another great article, thanks.
However, not sure I'd throw 'Frank Lampard's dedication' in the same sentence as 'Sir Alex Ferguson's managerial magnificence' or 'Arsenal's beautiful game', as I recall him debating a jump over the pond to Inter not too long ago unless he was handed a staggering £150,000 per WEEK until the tender age of 35!
I can only assume the dedication your referring to is to line his own pockets with as much cash as possible?
By Allen.. Posted November 15 2009 at 3:18 AM.