I am SOOOO annoyed by footballers , are you ?

[donnie]

Well, this is a topic close to my heart and I have been getting steamed up about it for a long time, so I thought I would vent my spleen and see if other people agree or think I'm bonkers: I cannot bear football and footballers. I have nothing against the game itself, in fact I think it's a pretty good game. However I cannot stand the way footballers are the new heroes of the day.They rake in piles of cash for doing something not very important and it seems to me that these days they are all involved in drug scandals, rape and assault allegations, drunken binges and so on....and taking total advantage of everyone else in society. They are an abysmal example to young people in every way and let's face it they are not exactly blessed with brains unless I have missed something !Plus we have football clubs run as huge corporate businesses and fleecing the 'fans'( mugs, more like IMO) for every penny.And then there is the crowd hooliganism. I could go on for hours.Now the England team members are threatening to boycott this weekend's match against Turkey unless Rio Ferdinand is allowed to play despite the fact he blatantly flouted FA rules in failing to attend a drugs test. I say- boycott away! let Turkey win!! am I a total reactionary or do any of you agree with my sentiments ?

Donnie, I so agree with you. I think the amount of cash these guys are payed (papers quoted Rios salary as £45,000 per WEEK) is beyond ridiculous.
And the argument that they only have x amount of years in football doesn't really wash anymore. With the amount they earn in sponsership & advertising deals their earnings are still ridiculously high even when averaged out over a working lifetime. All this for kicking a ball about for a couple of hours a week.
I am sure there are those who have normal morals and are nice family men, but we don't hear about them (well, apart of course from David Beckham - and I have heard enough about him to last me a lifetime). We only seem to hear about the ones who have less morals than an alley cat.

Footballers tend to be the first "real" people boys aspire to being. I have two boys and with the oldest being only 5 he doesn't yet read newspapers, but when he does what he will read about the "beautiful game" scares the hell out of me.

Agree.

hooray ! let's hope the boycott works....and that Turkey wins!

I agree he is good looking beetroot, but what annoys me is the way footballers have such elevated status and seem to do so little to deserve it. There is so much scandal and sordidness about the players these days, that's what worries me.

Couldn't agree more, donnie. They just seem to feel that they are above the law and generally accepted standards of behaviour. Perhaps they have too much too young. There is also an element of "all boys together" as there have been similar reported incidents within the Army etc.

I disagree. It's market forces. They are just in the right place at the right time cash-wise, they have a talent and people are prepared to pay for it. As for setting a bad example, these people are rich beyond our wildest dreams, often at the age of 18 - 20 and they have to try and deal with the attention, sycophancy etc that is involved.

Do you also object to musicians/rock stars, tv stars etc, all of whom are vastly overpaid and usually misbehave and set a bad example?

You must be a West Ham supporter or something
I disagree! Don't forget they also have short careers and the few you are talking about hardly represent the 100s of others who do lots of charity work and set a good example. How could you possibly want Turkey to win that way????????

I too agree and I hate the way new parents of a boy always comment on how much he kicks and what a great footballer he will be. There are other options for boys

I actually enjoy footie.I to also believe that they get paid ridiculous wages in the premiership while others get nothing in comparison for the same 'job'.As for all the stories about them doing disgraceful things are they in reality doing anything worse than most people their age?
As for the latest round of accusations by some 17 yr old of rape,has anyone else seen the little mention of her and her father consulting a PR agent over her claims.I don't in reality put much faith in her claims and know more women are coming out and accusing numerous footballers of the same type of crimes.My belief is that like a lot of very sick people in the past they just want cash.If she really had been raped in the manner stated I think she would have come forward sooner.The players she is apparently accusing are from numerous clubs and it would be very difficult to collect all of them in an enviroment where they had no witnesses to disprove her accusations.
The press know that if they print stories relating to footballers they will get readers.This I think is why they print such sensationalist photo's(although in the case of people like gazza it is well deserved.)The people like michael owen and robbie fowler who are apparently also excellent fathers and husbands/partners is ignored as the papers know this won't sell so many copies.If you really want to see such stories so that kids have good role models then the only way I can think of doing this would be to write to either newspapers or even womens mags to ask for them.

It is like anything - if you are in the public eye whatever you do will be hyped to the max. I think they earn a lot of money but then I guess they entertain and inspire a lot of people. I think that they should go ahead and boycott though as Rio has not had a fair hearing - if the FA want to punish him then they should give the hearing first, whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty. Anyway, he had a test 36 hours later and passed so what is the problem?

well said Donnie

I agree with Countess Dracula - its not fair to knock footballers for the salaries they earn; that's the market economy for you. There are plenty of other people earning big wads of cash for spurious reasons. I don't especially approve of the big business that football has become, but wouldn't blame the individual footballers for this.

I also don't think its fair to knock them all for bad behaviour - there are a few high profile examples of misdemeanour and rank stupidity, but the vast majority don't make the headlines for this sort of thing.

P.S. I do agree with you (partly) on the England v Turkey game, and I was rankled by the team's threat not to play for England. Also I support the FA in not selecting Rio F. However I wouldn't go so far as wanting Turkey to win!

Sorry not to agree with you completely - but thanks for sparking off a debate on my favourite subject!

Incidentally re the hooliganism - I was a season ticket holder for Southampton until I had my daughter (14 months old) and never once witnessed hooliganism at a game. It only affects one or two first division clubs i.e. Millwall, Sheffield Utd and Cardiff plus a few international games. The Premiership is trouble free.

Lilysmum I have been going to Arsenal for 15 years (even when heavily pregnant, and I certainly wouldn't have done that if I had any concerns at all) and have never witnessed any violence either. I did once feel like shoving a spurs fan under a train when they beat us in the FA cup but that's about the extent of it.

I dont like football but I agree with countess and the others
WHY worry about how much money they are on.If they have the talent it should be rewarded. Good on them.

About all these allegations on rapes etc, is it the same thing that happened to John Leslie (I am only using him as an example so please dont bash me for it)that everyone is jumping on the bandwagon to discredit.Until we all know the full story I will leave that one.

I agree with they act like they are "above the law" with the speeding and trafic offences etc but that is not because of the footballers only the brilliant barristers they can afford.

My old friend is married to a has-been high profile footballer. He is one of the ones that is a complete B. They are absolutley rolling in it and he is more famous for beating up women.

The good footballers deserve the money they get IMO.

I agree with doormat about the rape allegations. I hope these women arent making it up for publicity because its a very sick thing to do

I don't want to knock the footballers personally, but it bemuses/aggrevates (depending on state of mind - currently mild bemusement) that society has evolved in this way - a footballer can earn a fortune in a season but the nurses that I know have all had to find second incomes to survive. Nobodys fault I know, just wonder how we came to have put such different values on these skills.

When David Beckham held and hugged little Kirsty at the Manchester Games IMO he deserved every penny he made.
Lets face it, he didnt need the publicity as he has always had it and he didnt have to hug her but he did. He really seems a genuine caring man IMO.

Not just footballers either... comments stand for most celebs I guess, but I think that comes from being totally unimpressed with the hype that goes around pop/tv/sports stars these days, rather than their talent/contribution to society - agree with earlier comments that there are lots that do use their fame well... also lots that jump on the charity bandwagon - but thats pretty much the same as any group of people really.... going to cool off now.

Admit I've only been to two matches, but did go out for a night out with Dion Dublin once - in a group with about half a dozen friends, I hasten to add... he was nice but I had no idea who he was or what he did...everyone thought I was joking when I asked him, and he made some throwaway comment, so I truly didn't find out until a few days later.

As a teacher who struggles to get students to understand that deadlines are a serious issue, I could have kissed Rio Ferdinand. Now I can say to them "Look what happened to Rio when he missed a deadline!"

slug, LOL. Rio would be so happy to know some good has come of this

Slug

I simply think that the time has come for them to realise that talent, money etc - you have rules and you need to stick by them.. Even more importantly - you don't stick by them then stand up, be a man and take the punishment rather than whining and getting your mates to throw wobblers as well.

This extends to anyone - I am sick to death of there always being a reason - oh dear I was moving house so I forget - no one reminded me - for goodness sake - how old is he ?!?! I was drunk, I didn't know what I was doing and so on - same old lame excuses. Just say fair cop - and face the consequences.

What happened to it being an honour and a privilege to play for your country rather than a god given right.