Players Only Loyalty is to the Game

Loyalty does not exist in football.

And nor should it.

Yet the topic of players and disloyalty rears it’s ugly head in the transfer window as frequently as players move club.

The problem with loyalty is simple.

The subject matter is always broached from a supporters point of view.

But supporters aren’t in football.

They are always only the support that allows football to live.

Football supporters can be the embodiment of loyalty.

Some will tell you they haven’t missed a games in 30 years.

Others have tattoos of crests twice the size of their heart.

But it is because of this almost blind loyalty that supporters believe their players will feel the same way about their club.

After all, these players are getting to live the dream of so many of these supporters.

They must love the club to do so.

They must therefore be loyal.

After all, every supporter would be - if given the chance to play for their club.

Or so some supporters would believe.

Wayne Rooney grew up joining his boyhood heros Everton.

They gave him Premier League football.

Yet Wayne wanted more.

As loyal as he was to the blue half of Merseyside, he wanted to win major honours.

He joined Manchester United.

He won major honours.

Jamie Carragher has now spent his entire career at Liverpool.

The biggest rival to Everton, whom like Wayne, he also supported.

Jamie would never have won the Champions League with the Toffees.

‘Loyal’ to the reds.

Yet I use the word loyal loosely.

True, Jamie and also Steven Gerard have stayed at the one club their entire careers.

Through thick an thin, supporters might argue.

But the reality is, they both stayed because they were getting something in return.

Their careers were benefitting from playing for a club who regularly qualified for the Champions League.

Who won the Champions league.

Along with numerous other cups.

But even after capturing the biggest club prize of all, Steven’s head was being turned by another team.

Liverpool supporters will say he was loyal in the end when he opted against the switch.

But if winning the Champions League was almost not enough to keep the player who joined them at the age of 10 - imagine what finishing mid-table would have done?

Or getting relegated?

Like the Leeds United team of 2003.

A great team that had taken a gamble on Champions League glory and when success on the pitch wasn’t achieved - the wheels came off rapidly.

A player exodus commenced.

Amongst them was a young Alan Smith.

A Leeds man through and through.

Made up of equal measures of love for his club and hatred for his rivals.

No bigger rival to his team of course was Manchester United.

The team he joined 3 weeks after Leeds left the Premier League.

No championship for Alan.

No, straight to the Champions League for this loyal supporters favourite.

Even those who stayed with the sunken ship cannot claim loyalty.

Gary Kelly hung around for 3 more seasons in the Championship.

Unlikely he could have found another big club at his age.

And he was the third highest paid full back in England after all.

Manchester United have their loyal bunch too.

Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs to name a few.

All loyal one club men.

All achieving every ambition imaginable in the game at one of the biggest clubs in the world.

No sign of the championship for them.

There are of course players who remain ‘loyal’ to their smaller clubs.

Matt Le Tissier perhaps the most overt.

Regularly coveted by larger, more successful clubs.

It would have been easy for him to move on.

But he was the star man at Southampton.

The center of everything.

And he was guaranteed Premier league football.

Finishing his career at Southampton was great to see.

Loyal to the team that gave him his break.

Yet Matt grew up in Guernsey - hardly a haven for Southampton supporters.

Supporters adorn some of the aforementioned players.

They see them as ‘loyal’ servants to the cause as they have remained at their beloved club.

The truth is, the ‘loyal’ ones always made sure it suited them to stay.

This was their career after all.

They don’t support their clubs.

Their clubs support them.

‘There’s no loyalty in the game anymore’ is heard up and down every terrace come transfer window season.

Could it just be that is heard during the period since the Bosman ruling came to fruition?

No longer could the clubs decide where and when the player would go.

Instead the player inherited the power.

The power to remain loyal.

Loyal to the club.

Or loyal to their career...

Mind the Games

So Patrick Vieira has chosen this week as the week to kick off the end of season mind games.

Every season come ‘squeaky bum’ time, the clubs going for the title all look for any little advantage they can get over each other.

What a surprise then that Patrick should open his mouth this week without the care to actually think about what he was saying.

Especially considering the fact that he is a student of a former master of the art - Arsene Wenger.

He should know better.

Arsene usually did.

So used to doing his talking on the pitch, Patrick has opened his mouth to the press and played straight into the hands of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Kevin had ‘Love it’.

Rafa had ‘Facts’.

And if Manchester City capitulate over the coming weeks, don’t be surprised to find numerous mentions of Patrick and ‘Tevez’.

Manchester United were going about their business in their own way and keeping shut - knowing full well that they had the Carlos Tevez card to play at any stage if needed.

Roberto Mancini knew this.

David Platt knew this.

Yet somehow, inexplicably, Patrick judged the situation entirely different to everyone else at the club.

If you are going to fire the first shot of the mind game season - then make sure you have a good defence.

Patrick attacks Sir Alex’s decision to bring back ‘the greatest British midfielder of the last 20 years’ on a free.

A complete legend at the club.

One of the nicest guys in football.

And 9 league games later, having amalgamated 25 points from a possible 27 in the games Paul played, Patrick decides to call it a sign of weakness on United’s part.

In the same period, Manchester City also brought back a player of their own.

A player who refused to go on to the pitch during a key game this season.

A player we were told would never play for the club again.

He goes on a five month holiday in his homeland and is pretty much been condemned from every corner of the footballing world for being the kind of player who personifies everything that is wrong with the beautiful game today.

His return coincides with his team dropping a lead at the top of the table that at one stage was 8 points.

Yet Patrick believes bringing back Paul was the sign a weakness?

A disgusting situation that wouldn’t go away in January despite City’s best attempts to off load their Argentinian has once again reared it’s ugly head thanks in no small part to Patrick’s attempt at mind games.

The last thing Roberto would have wanted is any more press surrounding Carlos Tevez.

He knows himself that by bringing back the player he said would never play for him again - he has invited scrutiny upon his title charge.

Carlos has become a spotlight for weakness.

A spotlight for desperation.

A spotlight that could potentially derail his clubs title challenge.

And it was his own clubs ‘football development executive’ who turned it on.

Patrick has once again demonstrated just how effective a talker he is.

It’s just a pity that Patrick can no longer do his talking on the pitch...

Age is not on Redknapp’s side

If I was Harry Redknapp, I would think long and hard about taking this England job he is being linked with so heavily.

The positives of staying at Tottenham are obvious.

No longer considered a selling club.

Looking good for a Champions League place for next season.

And perhaps most importantly - a squad that has age on it’s side.

Something you definitely could not say about the current English team.

Harry should look closely at the age profile of England’s best as their golden generation start to dissipate from centre stage.

Only last week Steven Gerard said he would consider his international future after the European Championships this summer.

He was certainly one of the world class players from the golden generation.

He’ll be 34 come the next world cup.

John Terry - England captain and leader, has marshalled the defence for almost a decade now.

He’ll turn 33 for the tournament in Brazil.

His partner in defence may not even make it that far.

With injuries adding up, Rio Ferdinand’s career has been nothing short of stop start over the past few seasons and if he’s still playing will be 35.

It wasn’t so long ago that England could choose between Terry, Ferdinand, Sol Campbell and Jamie Carragher.

They were the main force at the back of the big four clubs as well.

Not any more.

Then there’s Ashley Cole.

He’ll be 33.

Frank Lampard 36.

Paul Scholes 39.

All of these players have gone through World Class stages throughout their career.

But if Harry is thinking beyond the summer in Poland and Ukraine, he won’t be able to think about any of these players playing a central role for him.

He will still be able to pick from numerous great players - just not world class players.

World class players that the future of England look to potentially have.

Those who qualified for the U21 tournament last summer are either at big clubs or have demanded huge transfers to big clubs.

Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Micah Richards, Jordan Henderson, Tom Cleverly, Jack Wilshere and Andy Carroll to name but a few.

Plus at just 24 - Joe Hart can consider himself in the same bracket considering the reality of goalkeepers not hitting their peaks until much later.

They come with huge promise and potential but of course, are players for the future, not the present.

It’s the present that should worry Harry the most.

With the exception of Wayne Rooney, not a single player in his prime in the England set-up can live in the world class bracket.

Not one.

Sure there’s good players.

Great players even.

But Wayne is the only one who can live with the 7 or 8 from the golden generation who are on their way out.

Perhaps in 5 years time some of last summers young stars will have laid claim to being in the same league as Gerard or Lampard.

But not for 5 years will they be performing to such a level.

Performing in their prime.

Harry must be looking at this and thinking to himself - I wish I’d had this opportunity 5 years ago.

Whether he would have made a bigger difference than Fabio Capello is a different debate - but he certainly won’t be starting from as good a platform.

If the golden generation could manage no further than a quarter final - then Harry must be questioning how far he can take this silver crop.

At 65, he doesn’t have many moves left in him.

He no longer has age on his side.

Nor it appears, do this England team...

The grass is always greener on the football pitch.

Exactly two months have passed since Gary Speed took his own life.

It’s amazing how quickly the only story being talked about in the footballing world can dissipate from the mainstream.

Football ‘is’ more important than life or death.

Not in the sense of it being more important to an individual than his or her’s own life.

But in that even when we do lose one life, football will continue on - long after they are gone.

The Gary Speed story has made me realise just how important football can be to society.

It has a power that no one man can match.

No one team.

No one country.

It has the power to move people.

All types of people.

From all walks of life.

It has given a lot to many people.

It gave a lot to Gary too.

And from the outside looking in, Gary had it all.

But maybe having it all is not what it’s made out to be.

Maybe the profession that is football, is not the holy grail after all.

The grass never looks more green than when cast upon the pitches of football.

And Gary was a master of these pitches.

Great talent as a footballer coupled with great longevity in his career.

Outside looking in, suggestions he had it all.

And then he took his own life.

Presumptions were wrong.

Most of us dreamt of being a professional footballer, unbeknownst that life’s problems were part and parcel of that dream.

Just ask Ryan Giggs.

If any ‘normal’ person was dealing with the problems associated with having an affair, the whole country wouldn’t be reading about it on the front pages of the newspapers.

Paul Merson, Tony Adams, Paul Gascoigne to name a few, all had their private lives dissected by the punters on the terrace.

Each of them had it all.

We build footballers up to be these demigods yet are so quick to bring them back down once they’re finished.

Packed stadiums screaming their names the world over every weekend.

Yet pick up an injury for a long period of time and even the tabloids aren’t interested in where you buy your milk anymore.

Week 36 of your cruciate ligament recovery may be important to you.

But it won’t sell newspapers.

That’s not the arena that fans demand.

The arena that Gary didn’t experience much of his life outside of.

Broke into the Leeds team at an young age and when he bowed out 20 years later, Gary had virtually spent his entire life adorned by thousands of fans week in week out.

How tough it must be to lose that in an instant.

He can now go a week round Cheshire and not get ‘hassled’ once for an autograph.

What Gary made me realise through this was that we all have problems, no matter what we do.

Even inside the bubble we all look upon so enviously.

Footballers seem to have it all.

But having it all includes problems.

With the transition out of the game seeming a bigger problem than most.

Paul Scholes another who is testament to this.

Retiring at 36 years of age after 17 seasons at the top and winning almost everything there was to win in the game.

Yet he still found, just five months into the season, that he missed it too much.

Dean Windass came out last week and admitted to feeling depressed since he left the sport.

He carried on until he was 40.

Much longer than the average player at his level.

There are options to stay in the game of course.

But 80,000 people don’t greet Gary Neville when he arrives at Sky for work.

The coaches at Everton don’t get asked for their autograph.

And managing your own country doesn’t appear to be a big enough fix either.

It may have looked liked Gary had it all.

Quite clearly he didn’t.

No doubt the grass he walked on seemed greener to most.

It’s just a shame, that like a bad pun intended to sell just another newspaper in our arena - it all faded too fast for Gary Speed.

Thank you Gary for everything.

The grass just seems a little less green since you’re gone...

The Villans have a new Hero

Robbie Keane returned to the Premier League with great impact this weekend.

Two goals against Wolverhampton Wanderers showing he has lost none of his quality since making the move to Major League Soccer last summer.

In only his first start for his new club, Robbie managed to score both the equaliser and the subsequent winner, with two strikes of the highest order from outside the box.

In a team struggling since Alex McLeish took over, Robbie might just well be the difference between an Aston Villa relegation battle and an Aston Villa push for Europe.

For a team that have found goals hard to come by this season, the signing of Robbie couldn’t have come at a better time.

Lose to Wolves on Saturday and they remain in the bottom six, dangerously close to the relegation zone.

Win at Molineux and suddenly the Villans lie just outside the top half on goal difference.

A shrewd piece of business by Alex to supplement his strikeforce of Darren Bent, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey with the type of quality vision that Robbie possesses.

The only thing that surprised me about the transfer was that one of the bigger teams didn’t come in for him.

A team like Liverpool, Newcastle or higher, might have been a better move for the Republic of Ireland captain.

With Luis Suarez suspended for 8 games, Robbie could potentially have been an astute short term solution for Kenny Dalglish.

While not having a very successful period under Rafa Benitez, his time spent there would have made it all the easier to settle in fast, knowing he would only have two months to make an impact.

With their season starting to derail over the last six games or so, Robbie might have been the man to reignite their push for a Champions League place by filling the void left by Luis.

Newcastle of course have just lost their seasons star man - Demba Ba.

15 goals in the league already, he will be sorely missed for the next month.

The addition of Robbie to fill this void for the next few games would surely have helped Alan Pardew retain their push for that last lucrative Champions League spot.

With just his wages to consider, a loan deal for either of these clubs would represent good value for money.

Robbie, of course, is not the only senior player making a return to the Premier League during this transfer window.

Arsenal have taken a chance on bringing back Thierry Henry in a bid to help his team secure fourth place.

Everton as well, have taken back Landon Donovan, having previously enjoyed a loan spell on Merseyside.
 

Manchester United have resigned Paul Scholes, having just retired last summer.

While some seem riskier than others, particularly with Thierry and Paul’s age, Robbie looks the best business of all.

Sir Alex Ferguson has opted to treat the problem of Paul’s absence from the game as the equivalent to him having an injury over the last few months.

Arsene Wenger does not seem too worried about Thierry’s game not having that devastating pace anymore, instead hoping his presence in the dressing room can have the desired effect.

Whereas Robbie has no such concerns at the age of 31.

He has been playing regularly since he departed England at the end of last season.

Not to mention captaining the Republic of Ireland to qualification for the European Championships.

Bringing in experienced campaigners during the January transfer window has proved quite popular in the Premier League.

In particular this season.

Each manager hoping these players will give their side a timely boost going into the business end of the season.

While Thierry, Landon and Paul all returned to clubs for second spells, it was the fact that Robbie didn’t return to one of his that proved the most surprising.

What may prove to be Liverpool’s loss, or indeed any of the sides fighting for European places - is most definitely Alex’s gain.

The Villans have gotten themselves a new hero, if only for a short time.

But as Robbie has shown already - he only needs a few games to make all the difference...

A look back on the glorious international career of Kevin Prince Boateng (2010-2011)

Alan Shearer.

29.

Retires from International football.

Jamie Carragher.

29 the first time he retired.

Paul Scholes.

29 as well.

Each a great loss to their country.

Each bowing out just a little too early.

However, if any country can cope with the loss of one player, then a country with a pool the size of Englands to choose from can.

I’ve never really had a problem with players retiring from the larger nations, even if the above bowed out prematurely.

There is usually a couple of great young players just behind them bursting to take their place.

Think Michael Owen after Alan with Wayne Rooney not too far behind.

Or else quality established stars that are keeping them out of the first team anyway.

Think John Terry and Rio Ferdinand when Jamie went.

But when a player is retiring from a smaller nation such as Ireland, South Korea or Ghana, it is invariably going to leave a massive hole.

The depth of talent that these lesser nations produce, means they could easily go 10 years without producing a left back that’s better than Championship level.

We have seen such countries produce 4 great strikers and not a centre midfielder in sight.

3 left wingers and no right.

That is why it is paramount that when they do produce a player of quality, the player makes it his prerogative to play as long as he can for his country.

When Paul left England, they brought in Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.

When Roy Keane left Ireland, it was Steven Reid with Kevin Kilbane.

Cut to this weekends news of Kevin Prince Boateng.

A player who had represented Germany 41 times as a youth team player.

Yet never quite good enough for the senior squad.

And in 2009, things weren’t going well for him at club level either.

He was heading for the Championship with Portsmouth.

However, he also qualified to play for Ghana.

A Ghana side that had reached the upcoming World Cup.

One switch of allegiance later and despite not playing a single World Cup qualifier, he was on the plane to South Africa in 2010.

Making his debut less than a week before the tournament started.

He used Ghana to get into the World Cup shop window and thus secured a move to AC Milan.

Fast forward one year - and only three games outside that month of June - Kevin announces his retirement from international football.

At the age of 24.

Alan had at least amassed 63 caps before he left England prematurely.

Paul had 66.

Ji-Sung Park had 100 caps when he retired from South Korea at the age of 29.

Yet here was Kevin Prince Boateng, not good enough for Germany, giving the chance to play in a World Cup by Ghana, repaying them by retiring after a whole 9 appearances.

A small nation loses one of their stars just short of their participation in the African Nations Cup.

A 6 week disruption he can do without in his Serie ‘A’ career with AC Milan no doubt.

But no hint of loyalty to the country that helped get him to Serie ‘A’ in the first place.

Had done so much for a young 23 year old struggling in a relegation battle to make sure he could represent their country.

And without the depth of pool that an England has to choose from.

Has it really gone so far that players can now ‘use’ countries as well as clubs.

Kevin used an entire nation as a stepping stone.

And didn’t even hang around long enough to say thanks.

Whatever else Alan ‘might’ have achieved on the international stage was unfortunately lost to his early retirement.

But at least he gave a massive amount to his country in the 9 years he did play.

Sadly though, that’s 1 year for every game Kevin had...