Before you read the following article, might I add that it's not aimed at any one club or player in particular, it's just something I came across posed on WSC and I thought it may provide an interesting topic for discussion. Please read it objectively and refrain from trading insults.



Everyone knows that obscene amounts of money are circulating within the game now and it's no surprise therefore, that at some point, players have to consider money over loyalty. After all you may like your company and boss very much but if someone comes along with a lucrative offer, you'd have to consider your future. In the end we all have to look out for ourselves because as they say, "how can you take care of someone else if you can take care of yourself?". This is all the more true if you have a family to support.

Can we therefore blame footballers for putting loyalty aside then? I'm old school and I would like to believe that I'd be willing to turn down a better offer to stay with the club I grew up supporting for life but in reality, all of us have a price so the question is at what point, is it acceptable to move on? Like many of you I have seen players leave clubs that they either support, or clubs that 'raised' them from young. Is it however foolish for clubs to believe that these players will remain loyal to them? While I accept that because of ambition and money, players may opt to switch clubs and allegiances, I feel that they can leave amicably. Before signing for Chelsea, Michael Essien refused to train with Lyon unless they granted him a transfer to Chelsea. On the other hand, Fernando Torres explained to the fans that he had to leave because he wanted to achieve his ambitions and he vowed to return on day. Which do you think is most acceptable? I stress again that this isn't to take a potshot at anyone as I'm only citing examples I am familiar with.

Now I believe that the club comes before all else. I love my club and I'd like to think that all the players who say they are fans of the club after or before signing, are telling the truth. One can only lie for so long however as the truth will be revealed when we see how much effort they put in on and off the pitch. Can I fully support a player I know is a mercenary? I'd like to think not. I'd like to think that if the said player scored and I celebrate, it's because of the club and not him. Love should be permanent and knowing that he said player will leave one day, being a journeyman and all, I cannot relate to him. I had my doubts when Didi Hamann signed for us as he had a reputation of being a journeyman and to my surprise he stayed with the club for seven seasons, picking up a Scouse accent in the process. In the end players come and go and I've never felt a strong affinity towards a player like Harry Kewell because you just knew the money mattered to him. The story from Steve McMahon also comes to mind. El Hadji Diouf on the other hand was a player that never truly embraced the culture of the club. I could not learn to respect these players as people, only pawns on the pitch.

Can anyone truly support a mercenary or journeyman knowing he may turn his back on them or blackmail them at any time? They'll be around when the times are good but you just know that at some point, we all go through a bad patch.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Oct 7 2008, 04:08 PM

I for one don't really support such players, but as we all know, $$$ has become part of d game so as long as they're doin their jobs, i'm fine w that. I'll just enjoy d skills/goals, but not as a team player that can gain special place in my heart. in my case, ronaldo is one gud example.

I m not sure that I m acting exactly like u where u could not learn how to respect these players as people..But i tried to and still trying to learn how to respect them, to appreciate them for what they did to the club once...We have to bare with it...They need a living too but that doesnt mean i encourage them of being not loyal to the club...

Take kewell as example...I'm sure most of us know that he doesnt really love the club...and sometimes in my mind, i tot he joined us just for the sake of staying in premier league...Leeds get relegated and heck we saved his ass from being relegated too...We gave him confidence, the number 7 wore by lots of the club legend and he turned out to be injury prone, sidelined most of the time, wasting the club money and yet when RB still putting faith in him, giving him a pay cut contract extension, he just get his ass out of the club with a free transfer...Should I hate him? I dunno but i just try my best to respect him as what he was...what he contributed to the club...

I still remembered what Kewell said on when he joined the club...He said he snubbed the offer from Man U, Arsenal and others to join Liverpool because that's the club he supported when he was small...By the time he joined, Smicer even gave away the number 7 shirt to him which was previously wore by the likes of Ian Callaghan, Kevin Dalghish and Kevin Keegan.At that particular moment,I like the way he was.. He snubbed the likes of Barca, RM for a club that havent won the league title for 13 years.That particular time I truly believed that he loves the club and it doesnt seems to be that way now, does it?

He snubbed a pay-cut contract offer from rafa...tats the way he repay rafa's faith of playing him in CL 05 and CL 07(sub)...

Still, I appreciate what he did for the club...The 1st and only goal in 2 years against Spurs in Jan 06,the goal against Man City and Everton the same year...not to forget, the decent performance from him in Fa Cup semi final victory against chelsea...

I can go on a list on just the players from liverpool... From diouf to owen, but i guess not everyone want to listen to my grumbling...What I m trying to say is, we cant really expect the same loyalty from everyone...Try to look from a positive prospective... Appreciate for what they did...

That's why it's always been supporting the club first and foremost. Players come and go, even the more loyal ones will leave i.e. when they retire.

And to answer the question, learn to love mercenaries? My answer to that would be an emphatic NO, simply because no one is bigger than any one club, IMHO.

This post has been edited by aw13: Oct 7 2008, 04:53 PM

I'm pretty sure he may have been a supporter but quite possibly a casual one.

By the way, it's Kenny Dalglish though I'm sure it's only a typo

haha... din notice that... wrote it in a hurry...

Speaking of true loyalty, i think Totti tops my lists... He even took pay cut when the club was in crisis...

Loyalty - look no further than Buffon. Arguably the best keeper in the world at the time, would have walked into any team into the world but chose to stay with a club implicated in match fixing and relegated.

Back to the topic though, why isn't anyone lambasting Robinho? The twat goes as far as holding a 'want-away' press conference, and in the last minute chooses the $$ of Man City instead of the supposed appeal of Scolari. And then he goes and gives the guy a hug during their match. Class.

This post has been edited by madmoz: Oct 7 2008, 05:13 PM

I think it was Chrisky that cited the example of Damiano Tommasi.

Steve Bull, formerly of Wolves is another.

There obviously isnt a lot of them out there... Like Madmoz said, Buffon is another 1....Pavel Nedved is another 1



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Nedv%C4%9Bd

Del Piero is another. The difference is that although Juve were relegated, the players were still getting paid Serie A wages, were they not? I wonder how many would have stayed if they had to take a pay cut?

hmm a very tricky subject. on one hand we hate greedy buggers, but its hard not to cheer for them when they bang in goals for us.
can loyalty be bought nowadays? depending on the amount of moolah, i'd say yes.
so technically its not loyalty anymore cos they're there for the money. but after some time if you see them playing their hearts out for the team, staying out of trouble or even getting involved in charity work, u tend to forget that everyone was claiming this or that player only moved for the cash, and learn to accept him.
most people will try and say a player moved to their club for everything but the money. its in our blue/red/green? tinted specs.
however if someone relatively young and talented who gets regular football wants to leave for the sake of 'ambition' everyone will brand him a mercenary. having said that however, fans of the player's former club will say one thing, and fans of his new club will say another. so its a tough call. regarding players openly declaring their intention to leave, i'm not so sure i'll be any more upset if he goes on strike to secure a move. one thing's for certain though, i won't forget the player's contributions.
but if he resorts to condemning the club, players and manager to force a transfer, his status as a 100% villain will be cast in stone.

Can't blame Robinho. To him, it was "anywhere but Real Madrid." It was obvious he didn't want to stay. If I'm not mistaken, Real Madrid were put off by Chelsea when they reportedly had Robinho 7 kits being ready for order in their official website prior to the deal being completed. When negotiations between Chelsea and Madrid broke down, the Abu Dhabis came knocking in the last minute and Robinho had to take it or endure another 6 months minimum with the club. Not a shabby move though, I heard he's on 160,000 quids a week, putting him above Lampard.

re Duke Red, but Tomassi was on the verge of being left with no contract if i remember correctly no? As he had just sustained a serious injury. If thats the case, it is questionable whether he stayed on for "fairness" on just wanted to be paid even when he is not working. Again I am just guessing and citing from my poor memory.

When we talk about loyalty here, are we referring to the "one club player" only? Cos although most of the times it is a noble and rare feat, I do not think the definition of loyal should be so narrow. To me, being a professional, as long as you give your employers your full commitment and loyalty during the subsistence of your contract then you are one loyal lad. Lets not forget that sometimes matters are out of the player's control. Robbie Fowler was a childhood Evertonian fan, but can you call him disloyal to Everton when he played for Liverpool FC? Or call him disloyal to Liverpool when he left for Leeds when his career was at a stalemate? I would say no to both. As a professional, I think Robbie is a role model which players should emulate. He gave his all for his club during his tenure there, and even in his second stint back at the club, he never once whined to Rafa and gave his all whenever the opportunity came. And the fans can see and feel that in him.

I dont even want to start on Robinho In my humble opinion, his is the classic case of "no loyalty" to anyone in particular. I wont say he is treating RM badly, as it was the club themselves who had given up on him and wnted to offload him in the first place. I just pity the way everything was done, so comical. The stand-off between player and club was pathetic and shows the ugly side of the game.

The topic is about the attitude of the players, and how they leave the club, for money?

Just wanna stress that Robbie turned back at Everton for all the rumours the Everton fans made up. Even his father took it seriously, which is why he got so upset with the small blue side of Everton. As for him leaving Leeds Utd, he was pretty much forced by GH to go out.

And he even stated that he would play for free in Liverpool if Rafa Benitez wants him

This post has been edited by lilredridinghood: Oct 7 2008, 06:12 PM

yup the shirt 'debacle' sealed the deal for robinho. which meant him moving somewhere other than chelsea.
the best part is the ad was put up there by an external supplier and not chelsea fc themselves.
not a single shirt was sold, but obviously some of the site's administrators were sleeping on the job.
so in the end yes it was a case of anywhere but madrid for rob.
a lot of people including chelsea players have ridiculed the move but credit to the lad for keeping his head down and doing his talking on the pitch.
maybe one day he'll come out and explain what really transpired. until then its probably best for him to focus on his football instead.

when Tomassi signed the rookie contract, he's oledi recovered from the horrible injury that wrecked his career. its Tomassi himself who requested to be offered the minimum wage as the management unsure of extending his contract.

he could juz simply walked out to tons of other mid-table Serie A teams that hav no problem offering him a wage like 5-6k per WEEK, instead he signed a contract that is 1.5k per MONTH.

re Chrisky, Thanks for the info i stand corrected then.

From my point of views, some of them deserve to be loved and some of them don't......I'll love them if they respect their club and not making a big mess out of it if really wanted to leave the club.....

just like the case with c. ronaldo...when he come out in the newspaper making a big mess just to force his way out from the club don't deserved to be love.....he's just not respecting the club that brought him into who he is today.....

for some of the case which chcher mention like fowler, he still deserved to be loved since he only leave the club to revive his footballing career.....

so for me, if you have enough respect for the club, you deserved to be loved because without the club, you're nothing.

Lilred has just answered your question for me. One club players are almost non-existent these days and it's more about showing respect to your employer. Refusing to play, or stalling on a contract before leaving on a bosman (ala McManaman) are examples of how players show disrespect to their employers.

well u were wrong for questioning Tomassi's loyalty n intentions.