Overpaid Spoilt Kids

[Colin Zeal EFM]

Was gonna write a huge spiel this morning about those crying babies who aren't fit to wear the three lions on their chest, but my favourite newspaper have summed it up much better than I ever could, so I've copied and pasted instead...

 

WHO do these footballers think they are?

 

How dare they threaten not to board the plane to Turkey?

 

They are too big for their flashy boots. And this mad mutiny will drive fans to despair.

 

They’re already disgusted that the game they love has been dragged through the gutter.

 

The sight of the England squad holding the FA to ransom, knowing they will probably be kicked out of Euro 2004, is stomach churning.

 

There was a time not so long ago when playing for England was the highest honour in the game.

 

The pride of pulling on that famous shirt was what drove players to give their all.

 

Today self comes first and country a poor second.

 

Money — obscene amounts of it — has turned too many heads.

 

Some footballers now believe they are gods who are above the law both on and off the field.

 

It is sad to see David Beckham, who normally behaves impeccably, being sucked into the mire.

 

Backing a mate when he’s down is understandable. But however badly the FA may have handled the Rio Ferdinand situation, the fact remains that he broke an important rule. The FA cannot back down.

 

If they did they would be betraying every soccer fan in the land and the children who see top players as role models.

 

If the 24 rebels refuse to play on Saturday, the FA will have to find a new squad. We desperately hope it won’t come to that.

 

England expects every man to do his duty.

 

 

[Colin Zeal EFM]

This one makes good reading too - like the bit about EFM!!...

 

HIDDEN away in a corner of Sopwell House, 24 England players held a straw poll the other night on whether they were prepared to go on strike over Riogate.

 

Twenty-four hands shot up in agreement.

 

Had they been asked the following four questions, the result would have been the same.

 

Are you as reckless as you seem?

 

Do you realise you are alienating millions of England fans?

 

Are you part of a morally bankrupt profession whose members are viewed as over-paid prima donnas who believe they are above the law?

 

Have you actually NOT read the papers or watched the TV news in the last month?

 

That England players should have launched their strike threat in the home town of St Alban, the first English martyr, will — I hazard a guess — have escaped the attention of a group of men more noted for their pursuit of pound notes than knowledge.

 

Yet their statement last night slaughtering the FA and grandly announcing they would be available for selection in Istanbul clearly suggests they believe Rio Ferdinand IS a martyr, a man crucified by the FA after not even the courtesy of a hearing.

 

How wrong can you get? How could anyone misjudge the mood of a country so badly?

 

How could they be so gullible as not to realise that, while they have behaved like amateurs, Clive Woodward’s World Cup rugby squad are showing what the word “professional” means?

 

They claim they have been let down as much as Ferdinand and Sven Goran Eriksson. In fact, they have let THEMSELVES down.

 

They claim the FA failed them and Ferdinand was denied the confidentiality he was entitled to.

 

Yet they conveniently forget Ferdinand was the root cause of the dilemma that has made the players, FA and English football the laughing stock of the world.

 

Their loyalty to their team-mate has been totally misplaced. The sole reason they rallied round a player who “forgot” a dope test is because they are so accustomed to getting their own way they cannot even admit — or see — when they are in the wrong.

 

They are so used to being bailed out of tight situations by agents, managers or clubs that when the correct decision is arrived over Ferdinand they bleat about a “lack of protection”.

 

Their statement was a masterpiece in avoiding responsibility and blaming others. All the squad succeeded in doing by attempting to pull the wool over our eyes while swearing undivided loyalty to the cause is further infuriate a country scandalised by the behaviour of top footballers.

 

A group who have within them a vipers’ nest of morally bankrupt, uncouth and grossly over-indulged degenerates who find it impossible to avoid trouble.

 

There are many fans who believe this squad’s attempt to blackmail the FA into reinstating Ferdinand should have been rewarded by the selection of replacements who would have given blood for their country.

 

And will we actually miss the out-of-form Ferdinand?

 

Those that do support shop steward Gary Neville and his union lackeys claim the FA are wrong and should have delayed any action on Ferdinand until AFTER the Turkey game.

 

Can you imagine the charges of hypocrisy and cheating England would have faced within the footballing community? And remember one other thing in all this — Ferdinand’s name was leaked by one of his agents.

 

Think on all this, you England players who let down not only yourselves but the majority of decent fans by even considering going on strike.

 

And don’t listen to the weasel words of PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor. This one-time union agitator turned £650,000-a-year Champagne Socialist has affected many changes for the good at the PFA.

 

But he has a manic and one-eyed determination to defend his members even when the case in indefensible. Then, of course, there is Alex Ferguson, lurking in the background like Shakespeare’s scheming Iago.

 

He may have been talked out of withdrawing the United contingent from the squad but rest assured he has been pulling many of the strings behind the scenes.

 

These leading players in a drama that has English football in a vice-like grip should also remember one other thing — people in glass houses should not throw stones.

 

Remember, if you will, the Asian student kicked to a pulp in a Leeds street. The recent revolting events at the Grosvenor House Hotel, the appalling behaviour of Chelsea players on the night of 9/11, Newcastle players on the rampage in La Manga and holidaying footballers — including Ferdinand — filming each other having sex in Cyprus.

 

And it hasn’t got any better with Jody Morris now arrested in connection with an alleged rape in Leeds.

 

These incidents say all we need to know about the state of English football — and we haven’t mentioned the fact that English hooligans have made us the pariahs of the world.

 

How they must be laughing in Istanbul. Yesterday the Turkish FA held a barbecue for players and Press. Back home flames were threatening to engulf the very future of the game.

 

Now the Sopwell House 24, having made their point, have to attempt to pull Saturday’s game out of the fire.

 

They claim, believe it or not, to be fully focused on the game. What makes me think that, instead, they have provided themselves with a ready-made excuse for defeat?

 

 

[ESG]

where's the 2nd one from?

 

the sopwell house 24 LOL

[Colin Zeal EFM]

Now, if I had been the chairman of the FA, when that announcement was made at 4pm yesterday that the England players were planning to strike, I'd have said, "Fine. Fk Off. But don't EVER expect to wear that shirt again."

 

I can't get excited about Saturday now, and I shan't be watching. They're a bunch of crying babies. It's the Rugby World Cup for me now.

 

Christ, can you imagine if someone like Cloughie was boss instead of that wet Swede? He'd have gone, "fk you, then", and called up 11 Conference players.

 

And if we'd lost 0-10 with 11 conference players on Saturday, I would have more pride in my country than I will if we win 3-0 with this bunch of traitors.

 

 

[Colin Zeal EFM]

Both from the Sun, ESG. That last one's mine though!! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

 

 

[ESG]

spot on

no truth in the rumor after saturday slippery sven's off to Chelsea...

 

I feel a bit gutted now they haven't gone strike,

the ensuing weeks would have been superb they wouldnt have been able to breathe, let alone walk in this great country of ours...

 

 

As for the propa rugby world cup not for a couple of years I believe

[Colin Zeal EFM]

Yeah, have to admit last night I was hoping they'd stick to their guns and not play. They would've been outcasts, and spat at by fans in every game they ever played in England again.

 

 

[Big J R]

Well said you lot.

 

What more can I add ??

 

Over-paid, under-worked and think they're all Gods !

 

Stuff 'em, I say, and that includes the Cheski 4, if they originally voted for the playing ban !

[YELLOW]

I really couldn't give a stuff about the England match on Saturday.

Over the years I've become pissed off with passionless performances from prima donnas who are not fit to wear the shirt. We're a f..king laughing stock and quite frankly don't deserve to be at the Euro Championships.

 

I think I'll be supporting the Welsh cause on Saturday.

 

On Saturday I'll be down at Park Lane watching Canvey in the FA Cup but after that who knows?

I might watch the England game but if I have something better to do, I'll go ahead and do it.

 

I really can't get excited about this one especially with all that's happened this week.

 

[Colin Zeal EFM]

Same as that, YELLOW.

 

Well, apart from the bit about Park Lane!!