Ravel Morrison should NOT play for England

This is a plea in the national interest to the senior England team NOT to choose Ravel Morrison until after the World Cup.

After that breathtaking trip to White Hart Lane, which now seems like a foggy dream after a rare international break of actual importance, the name on everyone’s lips is Ravel Morrison.

Suddenly, after being ditched in the depths of football’s bad boys and labelled a thuggish outcast, Morrison has been linked with a new contract, a glorious return to Manchester United, and a seat on the plane to Brazil.

Many people have been credited with the early stages of Morrison’s rehabilitation - Sir Alex Ferguson and his Manchester United set-up for having the foresight to let him go, Sam Allardyce for patiently working with him, Lee Clark for nurturing him during his loan spell at Birmingham City and, of course, Morrison himself.

One of the most positive elements of West Ham at the moment is what seems to be a strong and united dressing room. It is fair to say Kevin Nolan’s lack of mobility in midfield may earn him some criticism, but his leadership skills are evidently some of the best we’ve had for some time. The English domination of the dressing room must also create a greater sense of comradeship than other recent groups we’ve had.

This background atmosphere is highly likely to be a major reason why Morrison has begun to flourish. Suddenly he feels part of a team, whom he is equal with, who are relying on him to focus and work alongside them. It has been widely reported that Mark Noble in particular has built a protective bond with Morrison and made gestures such as inviting him into his home for dinner in an attempt to help him to integrate with the squad.

No longer is he the problem child, confined to a special support unit in what is a huge, unforgiving and assumedly overwhelming machine in the form of Manchester United. Morrison has been freed of that boarding school environment, which he so easily rebelled from, and is now affectionately ‘one of the lads’.

The faster Morrison’s reputation elevates, the faster this cosy set-up will disintegrate. The organic support system now surrounding Morrison will protect him from himself until his own ego transcends his perception of the club. Stars such as Rio Ferdinand tried and failed to tame Morrison’s wayward attitude, so Nolan and Noble deserve credit.

Both having had distinguished Premiership careers, these two players have yet to attain an England cap and it looks increasingly likely that neither will get the opportunity to represent their country. Particularly for Nolan, who has consistently scored a high volume of goals in the Premier League, an England cap has remained an illusive pinnacle of his career which, frustratingly for him, it seems he will never reach.

I would not like to suggest either Nolan or Noble would begrudge Morrison of a chance to play for England, but human nature would suggest an element of envy would certainly affect the relationship if Morrison was handed a call-up just a few good games into his career. In addition to this, Morrison’s past psychological problems suggest that he may then begin to see himself as superior to the pair who have taken him under their wing, and the relationship in its current form will thus be destroyed.

I have been personally surprised by Morrison. I don’t think it his quality which is surprising but his personality. I imagined him to be far more boisterous than he has been. It seems it may have been a little unfair, but the ‘gangster-wannabe’ stereotype has inevitably been associated with Morrison.

After a couple of goals, I’m sure I’m not the only one who expected him to bowl out of the changing room, snatch the bottle of champagne from Geoff Shreeves and declare himself on par with Lionel Messi in a rap-infected dialect. But whether it is due to good advice or his own judgement, Morrison has remained impressively quiet.

It is, finally, his football thrusting him in the limelight. He is undoubtedly a player of immense quality and his penetration in the attack is very special; his ability to glide past players and complete the move with a finish was shown against Spurs and repeated for the under-21s on Tuesday night.

But the FA are already drawing intense attention to Morrison. In his few days with the under-21 squad they released a video of his skills in slow motion, set against a dramatic, operatic soundtrack, and also leaked footage of him scoring an ‘outrageous chip’ in training. West Ham have also used Morrison’s image to promote today’s game.

2 goals for the under-21s will not help us quieten the Morrison hysteria - but a heated exchange with Manchester United’s Wilfried Zaha was a reminder that his maturing transition from hot-headed prospect to world-class is not yet complete.

I don’t wish to put a downer on the Morrison revelation. He is a player of immense quality and has been a breath of fresh air and much-needed creativity in our team. It would be great to keep him as part of our progress as a club into the Olympic Stadium, but if not, dependent on contract clauses, we could make a huge profit on him enabling us to propel the club upwards, much like how Tottenham have profited from Gareth Bale.

But Morrison is a complex issue. It may seem selfish from a West Ham perspective, but, at 20 years of age, I think at least a season focussing on domestic football, off of the international stage, would be beneficial for everyone. Undoubtedly Roy Hodgson and Allardyce will speak about Morrison, time will tell if they feel the same way.

Follow me on Twitter @RichMaher93

Scottish and Irish football could merge into 'Celtic League'

Today marks the first time the Republic of Ireland have faced England since the controversial riots in Dublin back in 1995. But the thirst for football in Ireland has never evaporated.

Similarly, Scotland are looking forward to a fixture at Wembley in August as the English FA clearly seem to be satisfying the demand for the English national team to battle its closest neighbours.

For English fans this kind of fixture adds a welcome pinch of spice to friendly games which are usually incredibly mundane and played against an experimental eleven of one of the world’s other elite nations. Irish and Scottish fans are likely to have a far greater interest in these matches.

The popularity of club football in England undoubtedly surpasses that of the national side at the present time. English football fans’ relationship with the club they support is far more intimate than the connection they have to their country, and crucially their club participate in many more enjoyable and meaningful games during the Premier League season and the Champions League.

Obviously a major tournament such as a World Cup will rekindle an Englishman’s affection for his national team but generally club comes first in the modern day. Unfortunately for Scottish and Irish fans, their league football is far inferior to that of England’s and thus they often have to rely on international games for big football occasions.

Celtic and Rangers are obviously the biggest clubs over the two nations and currently ply their trade in the Scottish football leagues. Rangers’ financial crisis has left them stuck in the lower depths of the Scottish leagues and thus Celtic have been left to steamroller domestic football. The 3-0 victory over Hibernian in the Scottish Cup Final epitomises how comfortably they were able to complete the domestic double this year.

By criticising the standard of Scottish I must point out that I am not criticising Celtic. I feel sorry for them. Celtic are a big club who are trying their best to outgrow the league they are in. They performed well in Europe this year but it is extremely unlikely they can push on from this with the inferior funding they get in comparison to England and other major football nations such as Spain, Italy and Germany.

The prospect of Celtic and Rangers joining the English Premiership has been mooted for some time now but the idea has never received enough momentum to be followed through. This is probably because, although the deal would benefit the Glasgow clubs, it would destroy Scottish domestic football whilst not transforming English football enough to justify such devastation.

The SPL is currently going through a transitional phase as a reform package was finally agreed this month to deliver a merged league body involving play-off games and better financial redistribution with regards to lower tier clubs. Hopefully this aids the improvement of Scottish football but perhaps the SFA could’ve looked at a more drastic plan to reinvent the league.

Whilst the SPL is comparatively weak to the rest of Europe, the leagues of Ireland and Northern Ireland are even poorer. Shamrock Rovers are the most successful team in domestic Irish football and have a stadium capacity of just 6,000. Compare that with Celtic Park’s 60,832 and of course the home of England’s most successful team, Manchester United’s Old Trafford which holds 75,765.

Irish football could certainly advantage from an affiliation with Scottish football, but perhaps the Scots could also benefit. The Scottish and Irish football associations clearly enjoy a decent relationship seen in their joint bid to host Euro 2008 and Euro 2020 (which involved Wales). Could something not have been arranged to plan a merge of the leagues?

The idea of a joint league has been put to FIFA before as the leagues of Belgium and Netherlands merging to create one division has been suggested. Interestingly this is already the case in women’s football which has the ‘BeNe League’ comprising of teams from both nations.

Belgium already has some relatively big clubs such as Anderlecht, Genk and Club Brugge. With FIFA ratification, merging these with teams in the Eredivise such as Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord could create a more competitive ‘Atlantic league’.

The Irish and Northern Irish leagues have no clubs of this stature and thus the merge could be even simpler. Club football in Ireland and Northern Ireland could be completely torn apart and rebuilt to have brand new teams representing cities such as Dublin, Ulster and Cork. These teams would undoubtedly have more appeal to the population of the area, tourists and football fans in general.

One has only to look over at football’s egg-shaped neighbours rugby, who created a ‘Celtic League’ for Irish, Scottish and Welsh teams in 2001. The competition, now known as ‘Pro 12’, has been extremely successful and more competitive, and has also now attracted Italian teams to compete in it.

I don’t want to blur the borders between domestic too much. Losing national leagues completely would be a travesty and a ‘European Super League’, which has been suggested before, would completely destroy the beauty of domestic football. Thus strict regulations and boundaries would have to be written by FIFA if a merged league was to be. But the idea of an Irish/Scottish league is an attractive one.

Television companies would be more interested, players would be more interested, and fans would be more interested. The money would increase dramatically and perhaps allow Scottish and Irish football fans to support a club which actually has the capacity to compete on Europe’s biggest stage.

Incorporating Welsh football clubs would be extremely unlikely as tempting the likes of Cardiff and Swansea from the glamour of English football would be impossible and thus there is little Wales could offer the league. Wales now occupies a tenth of the Premiership and so, although their domestic league is weak, they have club teams more than capable of satisfying supporter demand. Perhaps Welsh clubs could apply on a case-by-case basis to see if they could benefit the league.

Creating a ‘Celtic League’ in football would be a major job full of countless complications and hurdles to jump, but I have no doubt it would be a profitable venture. Scottish and Irish football both owe it to their own supporters to form a league which their population can finally be proud of.

Money talks in football, and who knows, someone with vision and big pockets could swoop in and make this happen. If Qatar can host the World Cup, anything can happen.

Follow me on Twitter @RichMaher93

Mourinho; Moyes; Allardyce

I have an embarrassing image in my mind of Jeremy Nicholas innocently cueing a rapturous round of applause for Sam Allardyce’s new contract this afternoon and instead being met with a disgruntled mixture of jeers, boos and of course, a number of justified cheers.

As Allardyce’s second term in charge reaches a climax, it is fair to say he still hasn’t won the support of everyone. That is despite an immediate return to the Premier League, a trip to Wembley and a mid-table finish in the top flight.

Much like you are probably bewilderedly wondering why Manchester City have dismissed Roberto Mancini just one season after he snatched the league title from the red half of Manchester, plenty of football fans will be scratching their heads for as to why any Hammer could legitimately oppose Allardyce’s reign.

Whilst I am not arguing Allardyce is an inflated, northern reincarnation of Pep Guardiola, I do think that to suggest his style of football is far different from plenty of other successful coaches is a myth.

Last Saturday we were beaten comprehensively. Allardyce himself admitted that the players looked distracted and has also stressed the need to improve away from home next year. Thus we should hold back on whining about away form and give Sam a chance to rectify it over the Summer. After all it was our home form which was criticised last year and our away form celebrated. Some people have short memories.

Apparently Saturday’s game was one of Everton’s best performances of the season, undoubtedly sparked by the emotional exit of David Moyes who will succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford.

Moyes’ eleven years at Everton are considered successful because they were stable. He has managed to operate on a tight budget and still wedge the club firmly in amongst the top seven. If Allardyce has already broke into the top ten in one year (assuming we hold on to that place today) then what makes you think he cannot replicate Moyes’ success?

It is also important to remember that Moyes has been criticised in the past for similar to reasons to why Allardyce has been. Brendan Rodgers, Steven Gerrard and even Ferguson himself, the man who recommended Moyes as his heir, have labelled Everton long-ball merchants.

With reference to Marouane Fellaini in Manchester United’s game against Everton this very season, Ferguson argued “it was just difficult to handle him when they were knocking these balls up to him. He is a handful, a big, tall, gangly lad, and they just lumped the ball forward to him, that's all they did”. Sound familiar?

Fortunately for Moyes, these jibes have been brushed off whereas for Allardyce, the label has stuck like fluff to Velcro. This is probably because Moyes has become somewhat of a media darling for the longevity of his time at Everton whereas Allardyce will always be 

Moyes' new 'image' at Man U

associated with an unfashionable Bolton Wanderers team.

When questioned about these criticisms back in November, Moyes was unfazed. He argued that “we are beginning to compete better against most of the top clubs now so that’s perhaps why these things are being said. I’d sooner get that, them having a dig, than people being nice about us because we’ve lost”.

Moyes makes a valid point. West Ham went through a stage of being continually praised under Gianfranco Zola, and whilst it was flattering, we were a far weaker and unstable outfit back then. You must first become hard to beat in the Premiership to earn the right to attack with fluidity.

Anyone who saw Everton against us last Saturday, or at their best during the season, must admit that they play an attractive style of football, and most importantly a successful brand of football. However they set up for games very similarly to us.

They have a solid back four, two deep-lying central midfielders, two wingers, one striker and a goal scorer sitting just behind him in the form of Fellaini (our Kevin Nolan). The only difference between us and Everton is that Moyes has had the time to acquire quality players and to have them play with each other regularly.

Allardyce is in a fantastic position to do the same. In Andy Carroll we already have a superior target-man to Victor Anichebe; if we can hold on to him we can work on improving our squad to a similar standard.

As useful as Joey O’Brien has been this season, Leighton Baines is obviously a better attacking force. Similarly a goal-scoring winger in the form of Kevin Mirallas was the difference between the sides on Saturday, he is far better than Ricardo Vaz Te.

Allardyce has admitted “we need better players” despite the fact that the squad is already strong. If we support him and give him time to upgrade the team in a similar manner to how Moyes has, we could be rewarded with a team regularly competing in the top-half of the league.

Allardyce is perhaps in a better situation than Moyes was as he has greater funding, the prospect of a large new stadium and the attraction of London which is likely to appeal to some transfer targets.

Another coach likely to be plying his trade amongst the Premiership’s elite next year is managerial superstar Jose Mourinho. Unlike Allardyce, when you think of Mourinho, you do not think of the long-ball, you think of trophies, a fashionable foreigner and ‘the special one’.

When compared to English coaches, Mourinho’s career has been rather fortunate. It was Mourinho’s short success at União de Leiria, a side now in the Portuguese third division, along with his charisma, which convinced Porto to appoint him.



The English equivalent of Porto would have undoubtedly looked abroad for their manager whereas Portugese coaches have a greater chance of managing the major clubs in their home nation. With just one year’s managerial experience Mourinho got the Porto job; Allardyce had four smaller jobs before his eight-year spell at Bolton but he was still inevitably leapfrogged by foreign coaches for the top jobs.

In reality it is the image of Mourinho which makes him so attractive to employers. He is charismatic, lovingly arrogant and above all a winner. In just two years at Porto, Mourinho was fortunate enough to inherit a good group of players and dominate the Champions League in a particularly weak year. Porto eventually overcame a distinctly average Monaco in the final and the rest is history.

I am not trying to criticise Mourinho. I am just pointing out the opportunities he has had in his career are because of his image and his nationality. If he was a somewhat overweight, Worcestershire-born bloke named Sam I suspect his career would’ve panned out extremely differently.

Mourinho is actually extremely similar to Allardyce in terms of tactics. He is a pragmatist and his teams are predominantly reactive rather than proactive, even when they do include the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo as opposed to Kevin Nolan.

His favoured 4-2-3-1 is similar to the way Allardyce lines up as it can smoothly transform into a 4-4-1-1, a 4-5-1 or a 4-2-1-3. These rapid transitions are the reason that 4-4-2 is rarer in modern football; it is simply too rigid to adjust quickly when a team wish to change the emphasis and speed of the game.

If Allardyce hadn’t been alienated from so many other coaches via his reputation, perhaps he would be better appreciated like Moyes. The fact is that Allardyce has become an iconic image within the game, but he represents everything which has become unfashionable.

Allardyce represents the antithesis of the stylish manager, but in reality he may not be so different. We should appreciate finishing the season in tenth position in the capable hands of Allardyce and I hope next season is another one of many stable, successful campaigns under his guidance.

 

Follow me on Twitter @RichMaher93

A Rivalry Steeped In History

The ship which sits proudly above the red devil on Manchester United’s crest often goes unnoticed, such is our familiarity with the global brand that the logo has become.

The ship represents the Manchester Ship Canal; it was completed in 1894 and meant goods were able to bypass Liverpool’s ports and be transported straight to Manchester, resulting in substantial job losses on Merseyside and great resentment from the Liverpudlian population.

This is popularly cited as the root of a bitter rivalry which exists between the two industrial cities; a rivalry which is always evident when Liverpool F.C. meet Manchester United F.C. and has led many experts to label it the biggest game of football in the world.

Liverpool dominated English football for the 20 years between 1970 and 1990, a period in which they won eleven league championships and four European cups. However, from that moment up until the current day, Manchester United have responded under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson.

They have now overtaken Liverpool’s famed 18 league titles and, although they are still two trophies behind them in terms of the Champions League, they remain England’s biggest football club despite surges of success from Arsenal, Chelsea and, most recently, another vicious rival in the form of Manchester City.

Manchester also retaliated culturally. Liverpool’s famous music scene, led by ‘The Beatles’ who took the world by storm in the 1960s, was replicated in Manchester with the emergence of ‘The Stone Roses’, ‘The Smiths’ and ‘Oasis’ to solidify their position as the leading city of the pair.

The rivalry has become so bitter that when the sides met last Sunday, there was a fear that Manchester United fans would disrupt Liverpool’s tributes to the 96 supporters who died in the infamous 1989 ‘Hillsborough disaster’.

The case relating to the scandal was finally closed this month when an independent panel concluded that multiple failures by emergency services should be held responsible for the deaths. Sunday’s game was the first time Liverpool had played at their home, Anfield, since the ‘justice for the 96’ campaign was granted its wish, allowing those who suffered to rest in peace.

It seems extraordinary that football would lead any fellow human beings to dishonour the practices which would take place in Liverpool on Sunday, but United boss Ferguson still felt the need to distribute letters to the travelling fans, encouraging them to respect the remembrance service.

Of course there were still an idiotic few who jeered as ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ was emotionally bellowed out by 40,000 sympathisers; the minds of some fans are so polluted by rivalry that their loyalty clouds their judgement of what is simply right and wrong.

Similarly in the past, a few Liverpool supporters have crudely taunted Mancunians about the Munich air disaster which killed 23 people, including much of the team nicknamed ‘The Busby Babes’ alongside journalists and supporters.

However, crucially, a memorial bouquet of flowers was placed outside the stadium, signed ‘The silent majority at M.U.F.C.’; it was certainly a humbling and truthful image which reflected the many who were able to lay their bitterness to one side in favour of humanity.

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez rightfully accepted the hand of United captain Patrice Evra before the game, despite allegations of racism between the pair.

The match didn’t continue as smoothly, it maintained the rivalry between the clubs by featuring a sending off and a late goal from Robin Van Persie which gave the visitors the victory and epitomised their ability to go one better than their rivals in recent years.

However, the rivalry on the pitch is something that no football fan wants to lose. The united front between the majority of both sets of fans as well as staff and players of the clubs was a truly proud moment for English football and both cities.

The feud will remain, but Sunday showed that, in the face of adversity, thousands are able to put the most intense of differences aside in order to respect justice.

Spurs consider a Green choice

It has emerged that Tottenham Hotspur are looking into the possibility of signing West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green as a replacement for the ageing Brad Friedel; and they could get him for free.

The experienced Friedel, who turns 41 in May, has had an impressive debut season at Spurs as the club have forced their way into title contention, but being eight years younger, Green could be a more viable option in the long-term. Tottenham are looking to solidify their position amongst the English elite and therefore want to add to a group of players who can mature together over the next few years.

This could prove to be an attractive option for Green who has seen his former Hammers team-mate, Scott Parker make the same move and become a Tottenham favourite. Parker has been highly-praised for his performances this season, which have helped to make Spurs strong contenders to qualify for the Champions League, a meteoric rise considering he was playing in England’s second tier at the start of the season.

Although Green’s track-record suggests a strong loyalty, having only played for Norwich City and the Hammers, he may wish to test himself at the highest level before retirement. Green, unlike Ben Foster and Paul Robinson, has also expressed a desire to remain involved on the international stage and a move to White Hart Lane could only strengthen his cause. Since his infamous error against the USA at the World Cup, Green’s credibility as England’s keeper has greatly eroded, but whilst he is highly unlikely to displace Joe Hart, he could be a worthy understudy.

If these reasons for a move away were not enough, West Ham are playing hardball over a contract extension to the one which expires in the Summer. Determined not to make the same mistakes as previous regimes, David Sullivan and David Gold are hoping to secure promotion to the Premier League before offering one of their highest-earners a new deal.

Although this seems sensible at first-glance, it could risk losing one of West Ham’s best and long-serving players who would be invaluable to surviving relegation if they were to be promoted next season. Reliable goalkeepers are notoriously hard to identify, even Manchester United have struggled, and Green has certainly proved to be one of the talented few, despite his high-profile mistake.

Contract laws are such that Green could freely speak to Tottenham in the summer, or be offered a move by a European club from now with relation to a free transfer in July. With Monaco also apparently interested in Green, this possibility could not be out of the question.

However, a move to Tottenham seems to be much more likely as it would require little adjustment or relocation and would give Green the opportunity to play at the highest level of European football. Hammers’ fans will be hoping their owners decide to tie him down quickly or they will risk losing yet another star to their bitter rivals.

Follow me @RichMaher93

Why football should employ a salary cap

As Premiership clubs are warned about their wage structures and recent statistics reveal that top flight clubs were spending around 1.3 billion on player wages even before Manchester City’s big-spending summer, we are yet again faced with the inevitable, yet predictable question; should football have a salary cap? The sport seems to have taken one step to far in recent times with irresponsible, uneducated footballers such as John Terry and Ashley Cole making publicly visible life errors and arguably, mediocre players such as Kieron Dyer and Michael Ballack remaining on astronomical wages. Unless you’re as deluded as the Chelsea left-back’s women judgement, the answer is a categorical yes.
Clubs such as West Ham, Crystal Palace and most notably Portsmouth have been placed in severe danger of ceasing to exist completely; an eventual state which would be a bloodcurdling disaster for staunch supporters. Fans will loose their love, which they have cherished throughout generations and the integrity of the sport will suffer a major dent if clubs with any form of history and heritage begin to disappear off of the face of the earth. The reason for this; astronomical wages which are financially crippling clubs with any kind of ambition. More and more foreign owners are breaking into the premiership toy shop, playing with a club, demanding instant success, handing out ridiculous contracts to playing staff; and if all goes wrong? They simply walk away, find something new to play with and leave the broken toy waiting for a saviour, reminiscent of David Gold and David Sullivan picking up the pieces at West Ham after the outlandish, unsustainable Icelandic era, fronted by Eggert Magnusson - and as debt increases, less of these heroic figures are going to be able to save the plight of doomed clubs.
The job of a footballer requires little responsibility - as doctors, nurses and soldiers struggle to stay out of the red, these uneducated fools are splashing out on Bentleys without a care in the world - how can this be logical? When these men and women fight for our country and save our lives, it seems staggering that a young man who kicks a ball around for 90 minutes on a weekend can get paid double in a week in comparison to what these high-profile professions earn in a whole year. A salary cap must be enforced.
As a casual fan of America’s NFL, it’s obvious this system has worked wonders in making their league one of the best domestic sport leagues in history to date. Every year holds an exciting race for the Superbowl title, with even games, competitive players and eventually an unpredictable champion. It’s a tried and tested method. It’s worked extremely effectively; so why not use it?
However; I must stress that I’m only in favour of the salary cap it it’s enforced on a global basis by FIFA. Players would simply request transfers abroad if nations such as Germany, Italy or Spain had no wage restrictions and this would degrade the quality of the league completely, turning the English premiership from what I believe is the greatest football league in the world to a mediocre campaign.
You may argue that if a club has money, why shouldn’t they be able to spend it? That’s why giving each club a unique salary cap based on their turnover is a rational option - this would mean large clubs such as Manchester United, who work hard on increasing their stature throughout the world and make colossal sums each year from selling their brand would have the ability to hand out bigger contracts than the likes of say, Wigan Athletic, who obviously don’t make anywhere near the same profit as United. As success breeds popularity, each club would strive to reach the top in order to make money and gain a lenient salary cap, meaning clubs would be unable the simply buy success and would have to gain stature naturally before being able to spend titanic sums of money in order to sustain their success.
Of course there is the argument that with foreign owners giving mammoth wages to English residents, the taxes are coming back into the country. But, with the economy in the dire state it is, these taxes obviously aren’t doing much good. The reality is, the government will always spend out of their means, no matter how much money is coming into the country. Footballers taxes appear relatively ineffectual at this current state, so why not change it? Football will provide it’s fair share of money for the country anyway if is able to win the 2018 world cup bid.
Yes; football gives an opportunity for the middle-class to earn big money and achieve a dream of being ‘rich’, but, in this respect, football is more of a distraction from education than a realistic, potential career. An extremely limited amount of hopefuls make it as a professional, so if gullible youngsters unrealistically believe they can be the next boy wonder, their education could suffer through lack of caring and a poor attitude under the belief they don’t need the qualifications. If wages were capped, perhaps these students would work harder on their studies rather than following the “£” signs provided by football. For the uneducated boys who actually do move into the game, role model status is instantly their, as idols to thousands, a huge number of kids aspire to be like these players because of the money they earn. If they didn’t receive such obscene amounts, perhaps more suitable role-models would be selected such as attainable jobs like doctors and lawyers.
Obviously I am in complete favour of a global salary cap for football, it will keep the clubs safe, the supporters happy and take the game back to what it originally was - a working man’s game and no longer a corporate monster which sucks all the fun out of a game which is, after all; entertainment.