Mo Gosfield
Well-known member
- Aug 11, 2010
- 6,364
The mistake that Dale Stephens made was to go onto a social media site and vent his frustration to all and sundry. However disappointed he felt at not achieving his desired move to a PL club, then and there was not the place to air his grievances. He is a contracted employee and has now let his employer know exactly how he feels. Even worse, he has let the fanbase of this club know exactly how he feels. This is a fanbase that pays a lot of money to support this club and they don't want to hear that a player feels he has been robbed of an opportunity elsewhere. The fans are proud to wear the club colours and they expect players, whilst they are at the club, to be proud of wearing the colours as well. Even if they do want to move away, the fans expect an element of dignity and silence. They don't want to listen to players saying that they are not in the right frame of mind to play and they don't want to listen to players complaining that the club that pays them a handsome salary is holding them back in life.
Should we be surprised that players now go public with their feelings. No. The whole world is a maelstrom of instant information. Very little is private anymore. People share their lives, their innermost thoughts on social media channels for all to see. Players post comments about games/other players pre match/post match whenever. The dichotemy now is that fans feel close to the players via social media but in reality there is little contact elsewhere. Not that long ago you could talk to players as they arrived at grounds. They would sign autographs, pose for pictures and mingle. Now, you never see them at home games and at away games, like every other set of players, they disembark, head-phones on, staring straight ahead and into the ground. No contact, nothing. Maybe footballers feel they don't have to bother anymore. As fewer and fewer hometown boys make it into their clubs, maybe the passion that ties one to a club and its fans is missing. Maybe for many of them now it is just a job of work and they will do anything it takes to keep climbing the ladder and earning more money. Maybe thats no different from the rest of the business world. Jobs for life just don't exist anymore. Here today, gone tomorrow for more bucks.
Its clear footballers from a very young age are now cossetted and pampered like never before. They barely have to lift a finger. Everything is done for them. No real responsibility, other than making sure the alarm clock is set for 9.30am. They are treated like high achievers when they are, in fact, novices. Lack of responsibilty sometimes breeds complacency and sometimes breeds arrogance. Not always but the likelihood is always there. It depends on advice. From parents, from the club and from agents who control their lives and set the agenda. Agents who have flooded into the game as soon as the big money arrived and will be the first ones out of it, if it ever crashes and burns. Most of these individuals are in it for personal gain. They purport to represent the interests of their clients but in reality, their well-being comes first.
Footballers and agents pull all the strings now and control the game. They know they can get a manager sacked by downing tools. They are protected. They don't carry the can for any failure, they just get dropped on full wages. Some are paid more in one day than millions of people in this country earn in a year. They are in a different league now and have lifestyles that don't truly represent what they contribute to society.
Dale Stephens is no different from many footballers today. A decent player but not hugely talented. Swept along on this tide of enthusiasm to reach the promised land, the Premier League. The holy grail. Where designer wives proliferate, where Bentleys are second cars and where agents tell their clients that they are world-beaters and should be playing elsewhere. Where contact with the fans is occasional and grudging. Where reality has flown out of the window.
Footballers should be seen and not heard.
Should we be surprised that players now go public with their feelings. No. The whole world is a maelstrom of instant information. Very little is private anymore. People share their lives, their innermost thoughts on social media channels for all to see. Players post comments about games/other players pre match/post match whenever. The dichotemy now is that fans feel close to the players via social media but in reality there is little contact elsewhere. Not that long ago you could talk to players as they arrived at grounds. They would sign autographs, pose for pictures and mingle. Now, you never see them at home games and at away games, like every other set of players, they disembark, head-phones on, staring straight ahead and into the ground. No contact, nothing. Maybe footballers feel they don't have to bother anymore. As fewer and fewer hometown boys make it into their clubs, maybe the passion that ties one to a club and its fans is missing. Maybe for many of them now it is just a job of work and they will do anything it takes to keep climbing the ladder and earning more money. Maybe thats no different from the rest of the business world. Jobs for life just don't exist anymore. Here today, gone tomorrow for more bucks.
Its clear footballers from a very young age are now cossetted and pampered like never before. They barely have to lift a finger. Everything is done for them. No real responsibility, other than making sure the alarm clock is set for 9.30am. They are treated like high achievers when they are, in fact, novices. Lack of responsibilty sometimes breeds complacency and sometimes breeds arrogance. Not always but the likelihood is always there. It depends on advice. From parents, from the club and from agents who control their lives and set the agenda. Agents who have flooded into the game as soon as the big money arrived and will be the first ones out of it, if it ever crashes and burns. Most of these individuals are in it for personal gain. They purport to represent the interests of their clients but in reality, their well-being comes first.
Footballers and agents pull all the strings now and control the game. They know they can get a manager sacked by downing tools. They are protected. They don't carry the can for any failure, they just get dropped on full wages. Some are paid more in one day than millions of people in this country earn in a year. They are in a different league now and have lifestyles that don't truly represent what they contribute to society.
Dale Stephens is no different from many footballers today. A decent player but not hugely talented. Swept along on this tide of enthusiasm to reach the promised land, the Premier League. The holy grail. Where designer wives proliferate, where Bentleys are second cars and where agents tell their clients that they are world-beaters and should be playing elsewhere. Where contact with the fans is occasional and grudging. Where reality has flown out of the window.
Footballers should be seen and not heard.
, stephens could have done himself a massive favour by just taking to the pitch and letting his game do the talking .....'sall old bollarks...!!
