So then, now we know.
Missing a drugs test and elbowing an opponent in the face is not as serious as bedding a team-mate’s missus. At least in the view of England boss Fabio Capello.
I have to admit to a little disappointment that Capello opted for Rio Ferdinand after he had – correctly in my view – stripped John Terry of the England captaincy.
Ferdinand also has a chequered past including an eight-month ban for missing a drugs test, a year’s ban from driving after being convicted of drink-driving, and three other driving bans. He is, of course, currently serving a four-match suspension for elbowing an opponent in the face and I would regard him as no more suitable a role model than Terry.
He's also not the brightest, and will probably believe somebody's died when he's passed the armband.
The vice-captain now is Steven Gerrard, and, as we all know, he’s hardly a paragon of virtue.
England’s first-choice back-four makes interesting reading if you subscribe to the theory that international footballers have an obligation to set a decent example for youngsters.
Glen Johnson, convicted of theft; Terry and Ferdinand, see above; and Ashley Cole, a money-grabbing solipsist.
So there you have it. Potentially the top ‘role model’ in our defence is a self-aggrandising whinger who believed an offer of £55,000 per week from Arsenal was “taking the piss”.
A man who was booed and jeered by England fans for his attitude and performance in a home international against Kazakhstan.
It’s a sad state of affairs when an objectionable little Herbert like Cole is held up as some sort of footballing ideal. Bobby Moore and Jimmy Dickinson must be spinning in their graves.
So should we simply disregard the idea that footballers have a moral obligation to set an example to their young fans? I don’t think so.
Anybody in their position, be it in football, tennis, golf (are you listening Tiger?) or pop music has an obligation to behave in a decent manner, the same as the rest of us. Maybe even more so.
But if we don’t ignore their misdemeanours are we in danger of not having anybody left to wear the captain’s armband? What a mess the game is in.
Hmmm, so you plead for Tiger Woods to be left alone, but think John Terry deserved all he got?
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Vanessa Perroncel was not Wayne Bridge’s missus and never had been – they were never married and split up six months before Terry shagged her. Not defending Terry as a paragon of virtue, merely pointing out the facts that you’d never know by reading any of the nationals.
Also, Saint Bobby Moore also had numerous affairs behind his wife’s back (she says as much in her biography of him) and got arrested for jewellery theft in Mexico.
And I wouldn’t be surprised if Jimmy Dickinson wasn’t a Satan worshipper – footballers, wrong-uns the lot of ‘em!