British culture and the british footballers...
Discussion
I just wanted to get PH's thoughts on something
I work as a doorman in manchester and regularly have premiership footballers come into the venue. Aside from Mr Balotelli all of them represent a british national team.
The night usually ends with them quite drunk and stumbling out with their mates etc.
Its occurred to me that you never really see the non-british players do this. for all the youth the likes of hernandez, aguero so on and so forth never really go out on the lash like the brits do. One has become familiar with me on first name terms he's there so often.
does this culture affect the game for these players? how much does it hold them back if not impede them from reaching their potential?
I do want to put in the usual disclaimer that i'm not saying ALL british players are like this and the non-brits are teetotal - its just what i've observed and come across.
I work as a doorman in manchester and regularly have premiership footballers come into the venue. Aside from Mr Balotelli all of them represent a british national team.
The night usually ends with them quite drunk and stumbling out with their mates etc.
Its occurred to me that you never really see the non-british players do this. for all the youth the likes of hernandez, aguero so on and so forth never really go out on the lash like the brits do. One has become familiar with me on first name terms he's there so often.
does this culture affect the game for these players? how much does it hold them back if not impede them from reaching their potential?
I do want to put in the usual disclaimer that i'm not saying ALL british players are like this and the non-brits are teetotal - its just what i've observed and come across.
MadMullah said:
I just wanted to get PH's thoughts on something
I work as a doorman in manchester and regularly have premiership footballers come into the venue. Aside from Mr Balotelli all of them represent a british national team.
The night usually ends with them quite drunk and stumbling out with their mates etc.
Its occurred to me that you never really see the non-british players do this. for all the youth the likes of hernandez, aguero so on and so forth never really go out on the lash like the brits do. One has become familiar with me on first name terms he's there so often.
does this culture affect the game for these players? how much does it hold them back if not impede them from reaching their potential?
I do want to put in the usual disclaimer that i'm not saying ALL british players are like this and the non-brits are teetotal - its just what i've observed and come across.
DG or AJ ?I work as a doorman in manchester and regularly have premiership footballers come into the venue. Aside from Mr Balotelli all of them represent a british national team.
The night usually ends with them quite drunk and stumbling out with their mates etc.
Its occurred to me that you never really see the non-british players do this. for all the youth the likes of hernandez, aguero so on and so forth never really go out on the lash like the brits do. One has become familiar with me on first name terms he's there so often.
does this culture affect the game for these players? how much does it hold them back if not impede them from reaching their potential?
I do want to put in the usual disclaimer that i'm not saying ALL british players are like this and the non-brits are teetotal - its just what i've observed and come across.
I was at a school with a recently retired premier league player who is a household name & earned dozens of caps for England.
I've not seen him for a few years, but the last time I bumped into him in the pub, we got chatting & he told me a few things that are obvious & a few that may not be so much. The obvious ones are that a lot more drinking, smoking, gambling & whoring goes on than ever gets out. The vast majority are not the brightest spark in the tin, after all, whilst Poindexter was busy in chemistry working out the valency of Carbon, your average footballer was staring out the window waiting for lunchtime & a kickabout.
However, what he pointed out which is true, but perhaps not quite so obvious is the boredom levels these guys have. A lot of travel, a lot of hotel rooms, a lot of the day empty with nothing much to do & mix in a good chunk of testosterone & callow youth & you get smoking, gambling, drinking, whoring it up.
Sorry if this is stating the bleedin' obvious, but it was you know, direct from the horses mouth.
I've not seen him for a few years, but the last time I bumped into him in the pub, we got chatting & he told me a few things that are obvious & a few that may not be so much. The obvious ones are that a lot more drinking, smoking, gambling & whoring goes on than ever gets out. The vast majority are not the brightest spark in the tin, after all, whilst Poindexter was busy in chemistry working out the valency of Carbon, your average footballer was staring out the window waiting for lunchtime & a kickabout.
However, what he pointed out which is true, but perhaps not quite so obvious is the boredom levels these guys have. A lot of travel, a lot of hotel rooms, a lot of the day empty with nothing much to do & mix in a good chunk of testosterone & callow youth & you get smoking, gambling, drinking, whoring it up.
Sorry if this is stating the bleedin' obvious, but it was you know, direct from the horses mouth.
Drinking will affect athletic performance. Even a few pints midweek will affect the weekend performance - never mind getting 'wasted'. I know this to be fact having read various studies and from my own experience. Considering how much footballers are paid it really pisses me off that they can't/won't cut out alcohol during the season.
Dont get me wrong - i can understand the boredom factor and often thought about what could they do day in day out after training etc i understand the means is there to do this
what i'm asking is as 2seas says how much of an effect does it have on their on pitch performance.
i remember reading a book about gazza in italy whilst he was in italy and how strict they were on their diet and alcohol and how the clubs watched this - surely the british clubs monitor this too? and with the wages and prize money on offer they'd make more of an effort to control this?
i'm not questioning the personal aspect of this - i'd do the same no doubt - what i was curious about was the physical effects and the performance effects come the weekend.
if for example i was a manchester united footballer and i had no midweek game - so i went drinking heavily on a tuesday - how much of a difference would it make it on my performance come 3pm saturday?
what i'm asking is as 2seas says how much of an effect does it have on their on pitch performance.
i remember reading a book about gazza in italy whilst he was in italy and how strict they were on their diet and alcohol and how the clubs watched this - surely the british clubs monitor this too? and with the wages and prize money on offer they'd make more of an effort to control this?
i'm not questioning the personal aspect of this - i'd do the same no doubt - what i was curious about was the physical effects and the performance effects come the weekend.
if for example i was a manchester united footballer and i had no midweek game - so i went drinking heavily on a tuesday - how much of a difference would it make it on my performance come 3pm saturday?
I have never understood why people get thier knickers in a twist about 20 somthing year old lads who like drinking & sex?! Most people would do the same thing given fame & fortune!
The other phrase I hate is "overpaid". Sorry, but most clubs are a business now & pay their employees what they are worth to them as an employer.
Sadly a lot of it stems from petty jealousy & hatred, and the usual British thing of bringing others down is easier than improving yourself.
Players are the masters of their own destiny, if they booze it up & get unfit /put on poor performances, ultimatly it is them who loses out.
The other phrase I hate is "overpaid". Sorry, but most clubs are a business now & pay their employees what they are worth to them as an employer.
Sadly a lot of it stems from petty jealousy & hatred, and the usual British thing of bringing others down is easier than improving yourself.
Players are the masters of their own destiny, if they booze it up & get unfit /put on poor performances, ultimatly it is them who loses out.
FWIW I'm privileged enough to know a very well-known, prominent, ex-Premiership and ex-England capped player. I'm actually good mates with his brother first, so I concede he's not my 'close mate', but I know him well enough.
He's a well-educated, erudite and on-the-ball person (there, I was determined to get a pun in!)
As far as I know, he's never been involved in any scandals, media smears, photos of him stumbling out of clubs with randoms, or any of that. He treated (and still does - he trains teams in the US now) his career with respect and care, and had used a portion of his wealth from playing to invest in some clever, careful businesses and investments. He's a similar character to someone like Gary Lineker I would say - a decent man, a careful thinker, and definitely not a dick!
One of the chaps he associates with is a specalist in assisting footballers to invest in decent, safe ventures that bring good rewards. I've also been lucky enough to have spent time chatting to this man too - and he's another extremely shrewd, savvy geezer who can spot an opportunity a mile off.
Not all top footballers are feckless drinkers and wasters - despite what the media would have you think. I've been lucky enough to hear about and discuss some of the financial things some of the best known players get involved in to a high degree - and a lot of them are shrewd businessmen first, footballers second...using their window of opportunity to earn great money while they can, to get up the ladder of business behind the scenes.
So - I would say, don't tar all British players with the same brush...in my experience, the idiots are quite few and far between.
He's a well-educated, erudite and on-the-ball person (there, I was determined to get a pun in!)
As far as I know, he's never been involved in any scandals, media smears, photos of him stumbling out of clubs with randoms, or any of that. He treated (and still does - he trains teams in the US now) his career with respect and care, and had used a portion of his wealth from playing to invest in some clever, careful businesses and investments. He's a similar character to someone like Gary Lineker I would say - a decent man, a careful thinker, and definitely not a dick!
One of the chaps he associates with is a specalist in assisting footballers to invest in decent, safe ventures that bring good rewards. I've also been lucky enough to have spent time chatting to this man too - and he's another extremely shrewd, savvy geezer who can spot an opportunity a mile off.
Not all top footballers are feckless drinkers and wasters - despite what the media would have you think. I've been lucky enough to hear about and discuss some of the financial things some of the best known players get involved in to a high degree - and a lot of them are shrewd businessmen first, footballers second...using their window of opportunity to earn great money while they can, to get up the ladder of business behind the scenes.
So - I would say, don't tar all British players with the same brush...in my experience, the idiots are quite few and far between.
PD9 said:
Do you mind if I give you a shout if I'm ever down in Manchester for a night out? 
Edit: I'm not a footballer.
pop me a PMEdit: I'm not a footballer.
but once again people i'm not questioning the morality or their actions of being drunks. i'm not saying all english footballers and boozers and shaggers or that they shouldnt do such things as they are put on a pedestal
how much of a difference would their performances have if they were teetotal or if they were drinking it up mid-week?
I mean the only real example i can really say is when a footballer comes back from a summer of partying and is a few pounds over what he should be - as some are alleging mr rooney was - hence the bad performances show through.
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