Is Ashley Cole indicative of all that's wrong with our society?

[Harty]

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt of the way he conducted himself over his transfer from Arsenal to Chelsea, but he makes solemn marriage vows to his wife, then, regardless of the fact that she is a stunner, cheats on her with what can best be described as a number of 'scrubbers'.
But his conduct at the Spurs game, ie the tackle and then his behaviour towards the ref afterwards, must have been a dagger in the heart to every youth football manager/coach in the country.
Allright he's allegedly apologised, but if he's 'one of our top English players' what kind of a role model is that to our youngsters?

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

I'd agree with that.

And, btw, Happy Birthday

Here we have just had a massive procession of marching bands, people in purple pointed hats a la KKK carrying statues through the narrow streets, I presume this is in honour of your birthday?

 

[Beach Hut]

No different from most other over paid players really.

We have lurid tales of "roasting" etc recorded on their mobiles, two recently were caught on CCTV thieving.

Goes to show you can't polish a turd at the end of the day.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

A terrible one.

I coached a junior team a few years back now. Under 8s to Under 10s. Lovely bunch of kids but they see their heroes behaving like that on the telebox and copy it.

Im sure I did when I was a kid.

These players are in a privileged position and should behave better but then perhaps it is not ALL their fault.

From a young age they exist in a bubble of football, often becoming millionnaires before they are out of their teens, and grow up into people for who there is often not HUGE concequences to their actions.

They will always have enough money, always have a string of women throwing themselves at them and, if they are good enough, will always have the adoration of thousands of fans.

What incentive is there NOT to just do what they want and act how they like?

 

[ali jenkins]

Its players like Cole, Terry, Lampard, Ferdinand etc that sums everything that is wrong with English football.

It used to be a honnor to play for your country, now its just an excuse for an agent to add an extra '0' to a players salary.

 

[Barrow Boy]

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt of the way he conducted himself over his transfer from Arsenal to Chelsea, but he makes solemn marriage vows to his wife, then, regardless of the fact that she is a stunner, cheats on her with what can best be described as a number of 'scrubbers'.
But his conduct at the Spurs game, ie the tackle and then his behaviour towards the ref afterwards, must have been a dagger in the heart to every youth football manager/coach in the country.
Allright he's allegedly apologised, but if he's 'one of our top English players' what kind of a role model is that to our youngsters?

Finger on the button Harty It gets worse every time I see the replay of the incident. And as for his "Corperate" and staged apology on Chelski's own tv channel, it was an utter joke. When you look at the possible career ending tackle, Coles petulent behaviour, Terry and co screaming at Mike Reilly, you want to hang your head in shame at the depths that Premier League football has sunk to. And when they put the subtitles up showing what was being said as Mike Reilly tried to calm him down then I can only state my complete admiration for the ref. The FA should make a statement congratulating Mike Reilly on his handling of the situation and announce that Cole was being banned for the rest of the season and Chelsea fined and have 10 points deducted for failing to control their players and bringing the game into disrepute.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

It would be interesting to trace back and find out how we ended up in a situation where referees at rugby get treated with gentlemanly respect while football referees are considered fair game for bullying and intimidation by players.

 

[dougdeep]

Is it any worse than in the days of George Best, Rodney Marsh etc?

 

[Marc]

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt of the way he conducted himself over his transfer from Arsenal to Chelsea, but he makes solemn marriage vows to his wife, then, regardless of the fact that she is a stunner, cheats on her with what can best be described as a number of 'scrubbers'.
But his conduct at the Spurs game, ie the tackle and then his behaviour towards the ref afterwards, must have been a dagger in the heart to every youth football manager/coach in the country.
Allright he's allegedly apologised, but if he's 'one of our top English players' what kind of a role model is that to our youngsters?

so to be part and parcel of an English Premier League Player you have to be Gary Lineker-esque, never get a Yellow card, never argue with the ref, be polite in defeat, never get pissed off when you're subbed....my god that game would be boring.
Of course I dont agree with his actions in the Spurs game but its just another one of those Heat of the moment type things, I've done it on a saturday up buckingham park...just the way football is these days!

 

[Barrow Boy]

so to be part and parcel of an English Premier League Player you have to be Gary Lineker-esque, never get a Yellow card, never argue with the ref, be polite in defeat, never get pissed off when you're subbed....my god that game would be boring.
Of course I dont agree with his actions in the Spurs game but its just another one of those Heat of the moment type things, I've done it on a saturday up buckingham park...just the way football is these days!

Well you've just proved the point that Harty was making.

 

[Since1982]

Is it any worse than in the days of George Best, Rodney Marsh etc?

Yes I think it is, not least because the antics of the current day overpaid yobs like Cole and the rest of them are beamed into millions of homes all day every day. Therefore there is a greater responsibility on them to behave like sportsmen rather than drunken chavs. Rugby players do it 99% of the time - why can't footballers.

I agree with the comments about banning Cole - but the FA has all the backbone of a jellyfish when it comes to dealing with the "big" clubs.

 

[Superphil]

Did i read that Frank Lampard went to a restaurant last week, in Esher, and parked in the Disabled Bay and just paid the £60 fine, rather than park a few more yards away from the place?

Sadly many of these guys are too dumb to cope with the money and fame thet have.

 

[Marc]

Well you've just proved the point that Harty was making.

society moves on and with that the human brain and all that goes on in the world, theres no point wishing we could be stuck in the clean & nice 1950s as we have to adapt to the ever changing world. 50 years from now the game of football will again be very different as it is today and there will be another Live Internet Commentator asking the same question, pointless...deal with it and move with it!

 

[Marc]

Sadly many of these guys are too dumb to cope with the money and fame thet have.

but are they really too dumb or did they just get it too quickly at an early age that they had no chance to learn much about Life beforehand? Imagine if you signed for your current job at 18 at be on £3500 a week, you now tell me your life would've been the same as it is now?
Its the same in the US, their American Football Pros get scholarships through football to get to Uni but their so engrossed in making it to the bigtime they forget the proper school work that needs to get done so they dont have that part of life sorted, hence why they get the same 'Rich & Dumb' treatment our best players do!

 

[Barrow Boy]

society moves on and with that the human brain and all that goes on in the world, theres no point wishing we could be stuck in the clean & nice 1950s as we have to adapt to the ever changing world. 50 years from now the game of football will again be very different as it is today and there will be another Live Internet Commentator asking the same question, pointless...deal with it and move with it!

So you reckon this demonstrates society moving on do you ? That's even sadder.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

To be honest I do think Marc has a point. The times they are a changing and the abuse refs get throughout the game - including from people who are too old to be heavily influenced by what the 'stars' do - is terrible.

That said the refs at a lower level are not helped by the vague laws of the game which invited arguments because a lot of people simply don't understand them.

That said, it does not mean the likes of Ashley Cole should not act more responsibly.

If I am playing Sunday league and there are kids nearby or watching I try not to swear. If a Sunday league player can try and introduced a bit of restraint then why can't premiership fancy dans?

 

[Marc]

So you reckon this demonstrates society moving on do you ? That's even sadder.

well it is, that blatantly obvious, you only have to go to your local park and watch football to realise its not just the Pros diving in two footed, not just the pros blagging about how they pulled some trout the night before even though their engaged to some ones, not just the pros that swear at the ref. Society today in general is nothing like it was 20years ago, so yes it has moved on....so whys that sad? open your eyes and take a look around...for your own sake!

 

[Gritt23]

The modern day (Premiership) footballer is living such a different life to the rest of the World that I've lost all interest in them .... respect for them, that went YEARS ago. Far too many of them act the way Ashley has, showing no respect to anyone outside of their little bubble.

Penalty shoots sum it up for me. Once upon a time I'd feel desperately sorry for players as they step up, as miss the crucal spot kick that sees their team crash out, or God forbid, their country and I'd feel their hurt, I'd be aware of how that moment could haunt them for years to come. But now I shug my shoulders and think "I'm sure they'll console themselves tomorrow by buying a new Bentley Continental .. they'll cope."

It's another World Harty, and I'm pretty tired of watching it.

 

[Marc]

To be honest I do think Marc has a point. The times they are a changing and the abuse refs get throughout the game - including from people who are too old to be heavily influenced by what the 'stars' do - is terrible.

That said the refs at a lower level are not helped by the vague laws of the game which invited arguments because a lot of people simply don't understand them.

That said, it does not mean the likes of Ashley Cole should not act more responsibly.

If I am playing Sunday league and there are kids nearby or watching I try not to swear. If a Sunday league player can try and introduced a bit of restraint then why can't premiership fancy dans?

Personally I dont see why they should have to act & behave (on and off the pitch) like a perfect Role Model, they wanted to play football (as we all do) but do they have to do what society tells them to do and be a Role Model? They worked hard in their youth to progress their game not live the life that others think they should live, every human is different so why do they need to be forced into being the same....does'nt sit right in my book.

 

[Seasider78]

For me there are 4 changes that need to be made since this latest incident

1) Only captain can talk to the ref
2) Teams who surround the ref get a 1 point deduction
3) Regardless if a yellow was issued at game can be upgraded to red later
4) Action taken against refs for poor decisions/performances