SydneySkyBlue
Member
A good little piece following on from last weekend's tragedy:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-Speed-tragedy-prompts-players-seek-help.html
It raises an interesting point. Should footballers be treated any differently to your average joe bloggs on the street?
The recurring debate on booing springs to mind and the age-old "They earn x amount so I'll give them as much stick as I like" theory that you always hear.
I can fully understand a supporter criticising a player's performance if it looks like they're not shifting their weight. What I'll never understand though is the personal vendetta many fans seem to have upon discovering a player's pay packet - almost as if acceptance of these wages is a crime in itself.
Granted the astronomical increase in footballers wages over the last decade hasn't helped at all.
Bringing the issue closer to home, the first example that springs to mind is the treatment of Kevin Kyle before he left City. Kyle was your stereotypical old fashioned centre forward - not the most gifted with his feet but give him good service and he would often win the header or get on the end of a cross (as proven by his successful spell at Sunderland).
IMO the problem KK had was that at City he had no such service - playing in a team that didn't have any natural wingers, often playing people out of position instead.
So the expensive signing started getting stick for not doing his job, despite not being given the tools.
Once his pay packet was revealed to the public though, it was all over for KK at City. He put his body on the line for the team so that nobody could doubt his commitment, getting sent off on 2 separate occasions in the process, followed by tears in the dressing room. But that wasn't enough and in the end he was ousted by what seemed more like a baying mob.
I may have strayed a little off topic and I don't expect many will agree with me re KK but I thought I'd throw in my two cents as it seemed relevant.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-Speed-tragedy-prompts-players-seek-help.html
It raises an interesting point. Should footballers be treated any differently to your average joe bloggs on the street?
The recurring debate on booing springs to mind and the age-old "They earn x amount so I'll give them as much stick as I like" theory that you always hear.
I can fully understand a supporter criticising a player's performance if it looks like they're not shifting their weight. What I'll never understand though is the personal vendetta many fans seem to have upon discovering a player's pay packet - almost as if acceptance of these wages is a crime in itself.
Granted the astronomical increase in footballers wages over the last decade hasn't helped at all.
Bringing the issue closer to home, the first example that springs to mind is the treatment of Kevin Kyle before he left City. Kyle was your stereotypical old fashioned centre forward - not the most gifted with his feet but give him good service and he would often win the header or get on the end of a cross (as proven by his successful spell at Sunderland).
IMO the problem KK had was that at City he had no such service - playing in a team that didn't have any natural wingers, often playing people out of position instead.
So the expensive signing started getting stick for not doing his job, despite not being given the tools.
Once his pay packet was revealed to the public though, it was all over for KK at City. He put his body on the line for the team so that nobody could doubt his commitment, getting sent off on 2 separate occasions in the process, followed by tears in the dressing room. But that wasn't enough and in the end he was ousted by what seemed more like a baying mob.
I may have strayed a little off topic and I don't expect many will agree with me re KK but I thought I'd throw in my two cents as it seemed relevant.
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