What footballers think about fans

[Holden McGroin 6785]

http://www.sabotagetimes.com/football-spor...ink-about-fans/

 

Every week we buy their shirts, sing their names and pay their humungous wages... and then they go and do a Rooney and treat us like dirt. So what do footballers really think about supporters?

 

After reading about that masked mob that went round to Wayne Rooney’s house last week I was reminded that some fans really are scum. There’s a line you don’t cross and they crossed it. They seemed to have forgotten that as important as football is, it’s a game; it’s all about entertainment.

 

Players have a right to leave a club. After all, there are plenty of situations when the clubs screw the players. Sometimes you’ll have a player who wants to stay but he’ll get kicked out. When I was playing at Tottenham, I’d settled in, had a place in Chigwell, everything was great. Then – bam! – manager changes and they want you to go just like that. So why shouldn’t players screw the clubs once in a while?

 

I think maybe Rooney stayed at Manchester United because they threatened his life. Otherwise he’d always have to watch his back. I would definitely have signed if people were outside my house because if you don’t you’re putting your family at risk. This is what happens when you become famous, you’re easy to get.

 

Of course I’m not Wayne Rooney but as a player I’ve feared for my life before because of fans. When I was at Wolves there was a guy who was one of their hooligan crew who worked in the phone shop and when I’d see him he’d say “Hey, you’ve got to get a result this weekend or the boys aren’t going to be happy.”

 

I remember when I was at Spurs, one fan shouted “Ricketts you’re fucking shit! I’m gonna get you after the game” and did that knife to the throat sign. So when I got outside there was a group of guys waiting from me and I had to get escorted to the coach.

 

“Players have a right to leave a club. There are plenty of situations when clubs screw the players. Sometimes you’ll have a player who wants to stay but he’ll get kicked out. Why shouldn’t players screw the clubs once in a while?”

 

When I was in Hungary, the team wasn’t doing well – they were bottom of the Hungarian league and having a nightmare. After one game, we lost at home and I was about to leave and the team was like “Where are you going!? You can’t leave! There are fans outside looking to kill the team!” These fans were a heavy mob and they wanted to fight the players because they weren’t happy with some of them. So in the end I just kept my arse in the stadium for about an hour.

 

Fans aren’t always threatening but sometimes their support can get a bit weird. At Spurs, there was a woman called Helen who got “Ricketts” tattoed on her arm. The thing is, I’m just a guy so I don’t want you to tattoo my name on your arm. Still, I’ll never forget her name. In fact, I hope she’ll read this and then I can get a picture of that tattoo.

 

Growing up I was a fan as well. I supported Manchester United and in fact I still look out for their results, but there’s so much nonsense that goes on in the game that it desensitises you. In fact, I know a lot of players in the Premier League who are no longer interested in football. They don’t care about the fans, they just want their money.

 

The truth is that being a player can ruin your love for football. There was this guy I knew at Arsenal who was extremely talented but because of his style of football, because it wasn’t the English style, he was shunned. He told me had lost the love of the game and was seriously thinking about becoming a carpenter.

 

The outside influences can ruin your love for the game. First you’re a talent, then you’re just a commodity, you get handled like a product. But it’s not just the clubs; the fans are guilty of not treating players like humans either.

 

These people going round to Wayne Rooney’s house have forgotten that he’s got personal and marital issues right now that are bigger than football. Of course it’s going to affect his form. He got 40 goals last year, he was the dog’s bollocks and this year people think he’s shit.

 

As a player I have had to take my share of abuse. When you hear them abuse you from the stands, sometimes you just think “You can’t even play football, your kid has probably got my picture up in his room and yet you’re telling me I’m shit”. You do want to turn around and say stuff but you can’t because you’re a ‘professional’. It’s a total double standard.

 

“Fans aren’t always threatening but sometimes their support can get a bit weird. At Spurs, there was a woman called Helen who got ‘Ricketts’ tattoed on her arm. I hope she’ll read this and then I can get a picture of that tattoo.”

 

These days it’s considered entertainment to judge people. They forget that you’re human as well. I mean, can you imagine the whole Man United team going into a fan’s office and saying “The balance isn’t right in the finance department, you’re shit!” Imagine a player saying to an air hostess “You’re garbage because you made a few mistakes on the flight.” Having to face this kind of abuse every week it’s no surprise that some players have a ‘fuck you’ attitude.

 

Of course, on the other hand, when your fans get behind you it’s the most exciting feeling possible. I remember the first time Tottenham fans sang my name. It was Anfield away, I went on a run, past Steven Gerrard and Danny Murphy and had a shot – then I heard “There’s only one Rohan Ricketts”. Even then I didn’t have many hairs on the back of my neck, but those that I did have stood on end. It’s so important that a player feels appreciated by his own fans – otherwise he has to fight against them as well as the other team and their supporters.

 

I appreciate the fans, because they pay our bills. No fans, no gate money, no football, end of story. It wasn’t so long ago that fans and players used to go drinking in the same pubs but nowadays players are so valuable to their clubs that they’re protected and soon start behaving like superstars. Players stop caring about what the fans think and as a result the fans get angry.

 

Right now, the opinion of Wayne Rooney has changed so much in the last six months that I think Twitter could help him. It allows players to explain direct to fans why they said things in the media and it allows the fans to get to know them a bit more. As well as myself, Rio Ferdinand is really good on it, as is Robbie Savage, Stan Collymore and Ryan Babel. It’s not for the faint-hearted: there’s some arsehole fans out there but there’s a lot of cool ones too. If Rooney really wants to patch it up with his fans, I reckon he should start tweeting now.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Holden McGroin

[The Fish 10972]

bell end

[manc-mag 1]

http://www.sabotagetimes.com/football-spor...ink-about-fans/

 

The truth is that being a player can ruin your love for football. There was this guy I knew at Arsenal who was extremely talented but because of his style of football, because it wasn't the English style, he was shunned. He told me had lost the love of the game and was seriously thinking about becoming a carpenter.

 

 

[peasepud 59]

Who is heee? who is he?

 

 

 

seriously though, who?

[Ayatollah Hermione 14066]

And the Pulitzer goes to Rohan Ricketts.

[Asprilla 96]

He's got a point IMO!

[acrossthepond 878]

Utter, utter patronising wanker.

[Monkeys Fist 43098]

Shocking.

[The Fish 10972]

Hew may do, but it's been lost under a pile of self pity and whiny nonsense.

 

"I appreciate the fans, because they pay our bills. No fans, no gate money, no football, end of story. It wasn’t so long ago that fans and players used to go drinking in the same pubs but nowadays players are so valuable to their clubs that they’re protected and soon start behaving like superstars. Players stop caring about what the fans think and as a result the fans get angry."

 

How about appreciating us because you're just borrowing something from us? That's our club you're playijng for, that's our shirt, you're nothing but a temporary occupant.

 

This guy is clearly motivated by money, not the love of the game, ask what Craig Bellamy,or Roy Keane, Lionel Messi think about fans and I think you'd hear a different tale. It wouldn't be a fawning lie, but they appreciate fans for what we really are, we're not just where the money comes from.

 

Players think they're superstars even when they're not valued by their club.

 

This guy just wants a whine and to promote his Twitter feed.

 

I say again

 

Bell end

[Holden McGroin 6785]

Bellamy, Keane and Messi probably never got shit off their own fans.

 

[The Fish 10972]

Bellamy, Keane and Messi probably never got shit off their own fans.

 

 

Bellamy definitely has, Keane Definitely has and no, Messi probably hasn't. However, my point was that they play(ed) for the love of the game. Messi is on a stack of cash, but when you see him celebrate a goal, he doesn't just punch the air because he'll be able to afford that new clunky watch he saw in the Gucci store, he's celebrating the same way we all did when we were kids; with a massive smile on his face, just beaming with joy.

 

To be honest, a lot of the players who make it through Barcelona's system seem to play like they love the game and not the trappings that come with it.

[Howay 12496]

So he pretty much expects adoration if he's good but us to just sit in silence when he's shite

That whole bit about the players walking into a fans office and saying he's shit is a load of shite I'd compare a shit performance to a brickie laying a wonky wall someone would sharp tell him he's a wanker and that it was shit and that brickie wont have a ferrari to go cry in neither!

I get his point but let's be honest you need thicker skin than what this bloke has to be a professional player these days and the death threats are a very small minority of muppets tbh it's not like you walk into stadiums and hear 40,000 threatening a players life, also he's totally delusional if he thinks the answer to bridging the gaping divide between players and fans is using fucking twitter!!! I'm sure Rooney talking about his 10k holiday to dubai would bring him closer to someone is moss side who can't get work.

[Mac-Toon 1]

What a load of pony.

 

I often tell Call Centre workers how shit they are at their jobs. Don't see them crying. Actually, now you mention it Rohan ....

[Nyff 0]

Messi does get some shit off some of the Argentina fans doesn't he?

 

On another point, can you imagine Rooney on twitter? I couldn't think of anything less entertaining.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Nyff

[Flair 0]

http://www.sabotagetimes.com/football-spor...ink-about-fans/

 

Every week we buy their shirts, sing their names and pay their humungous wages... and then they go and do a Rooney and treat us like dirt. So what do footballers really think about supporters?

 

After reading about that masked mob that went round to Wayne Rooney’s house last week I was reminded that some fans really are scum. There’s a line you don’t cross and they crossed it. They seemed to have forgotten that as important as football is, it’s a game; it’s all about entertainment.

 

Players have a right to leave a club. After all, there are plenty of situations when the clubs screw the players. Sometimes you’ll have a player who wants to stay but he’ll get kicked out. When I was playing at Tottenham, I’d settled in, had a place in Chigwell, everything was great. Then – bam! – manager changes and they want you to go just like that. So why shouldn’t players screw the clubs once in a while?

 

I think maybe Rooney stayed at Manchester United because they threatened his life. Otherwise he’d always have to watch his back. I would definitely have signed if people were outside my house because if you don’t you’re putting your family at risk. This is what happens when you become famous, you’re easy to get.

 

Of course I’m not Wayne Rooney but as a player I’ve feared for my life before because of fans. When I was at Wolves there was a guy who was one of their hooligan crew who worked in the phone shop and when I’d see him he’d say “Hey, you’ve got to get a result this weekend or the boys aren’t going to be happy.”

 

I remember when I was at Spurs, one fan shouted “Ricketts you’re fucking shit! I’m gonna get you after the game” and did that knife to the throat sign. So when I got outside there was a group of guys waiting from me and I had to get escorted to the coach.

 

“Players have a right to leave a club. There are plenty of situations when clubs screw the players. Sometimes you’ll have a player who wants to stay but he’ll get kicked out. Why shouldn’t players screw the clubs once in a while?”

 

When I was in Hungary, the team wasn’t doing well – they were bottom of the Hungarian league and having a nightmare. After one game, we lost at home and I was about to leave and the team was like “Where are you going!? You can’t leave! There are fans outside looking to kill the team!” These fans were a heavy mob and they wanted to fight the players because they weren’t happy with some of them. So in the end I just kept my arse in the stadium for about an hour.

 

Fans aren’t always threatening but sometimes their support can get a bit weird. At Spurs, there was a woman called Helen who got “Ricketts” tattoed on her arm. The thing is, I’m just a guy so I don’t want you to tattoo my name on your arm. Still, I’ll never forget her name. In fact, I hope she’ll read this and then I can get a picture of that tattoo.

 

Growing up I was a fan as well. I supported Manchester United and in fact I still look out for their results, but there’s so much nonsense that goes on in the game that it desensitises you. In fact, I know a lot of players in the Premier League who are no longer interested in football. They don’t care about the fans, they just want their money.

 

The truth is that being a player can ruin your love for football. There was this guy I knew at Arsenal who was extremely talented but because of his style of football, because it wasn’t the English style, he was shunned. He told me had lost the love of the game and was seriously thinking about becoming a carpenter.

 

The outside influences can ruin your love for the game. First you’re a talent, then you’re just a commodity, you get handled like a product. But it’s not just the clubs; the fans are guilty of not treating players like humans either.

 

These people going round to Wayne Rooney’s house have forgotten that he’s got personal and marital issues right now that are bigger than football. Of course it’s going to affect his form. He got 40 goals last year, he was the dog’s bollocks and this year people think he’s shit.

As a player I have had to take my share of abuse. When you hear them abuse you from the stands, sometimes you just think “You can’t even play football, your kid has probably got my picture up in his room and yet you’re telling me I’m shit”. You do want to turn around and say stuff but you can’t because you’re a ‘professional’. It’s a total double standard.

 

“Fans aren’t always threatening but sometimes their support can get a bit weird. At Spurs, there was a woman called Helen who got ‘Ricketts’ tattoed on her arm. I hope she’ll read this and then I can get a picture of that tattoo.”

 

These days it’s considered entertainment to judge people. They forget that you’re human as well. I mean, can you imagine the whole Man United team going into a fan’s office and saying “The balance isn’t right in the finance department, you’re shit!” Imagine a player saying to an air hostess “You’re garbage because you made a few mistakes on the flight.” Having to face this kind of abuse every week it’s no surprise that some players have a ‘fuck you’ attitude.

 

Of course, on the other hand, when your fans get behind you it’s the most exciting feeling possible. I remember the first time Tottenham fans sang my name. It was Anfield away, I went on a run, past Steven Gerrard and Danny Murphy and had a shot – then I heard “There’s only one Rohan Ricketts”. Even then I didn’t have many hairs on the back of my neck, but those that I did have stood on end. It’s so important that a player feels appreciated by his own fans – otherwise he has to fight against them as well as the other team and their supporters.

 

I appreciate the fans, because they pay our bills. No fans, no gate money, no football, end of story. It wasn’t so long ago that fans and players used to go drinking in the same pubs but nowadays players are so valuable to their clubs that they’re protected and soon start behaving like superstars. Players stop caring about what the fans think and as a result the fans get angry.

 

Right now, the opinion of Wayne Rooney has changed so much in the last six months that I think Twitter could help him. It allows players to explain direct to fans why they said things in the media and it allows the fans to get to know them a bit more. As well as myself, Rio Ferdinand is really good on it, as is Robbie Savage, Stan Collymore and Ryan Babel. It’s not for the faint-hearted: there’s some arsehole fans out there but there’s a lot of cool ones too. If Rooney really wants to patch it up with his fans, I reckon he should start tweeting now.

 

 

[dbsweeney 0]

This guy just wants a whine and to promote his Twitter feed.

 

Kinda off-topic, but I hear a lot of journalists, players and many, many nobodies all promoting their Twitter feeds.

 

Now I know naught about Twitter, but is there some sort of benefit that a person receives if they have more people following their feeds, or is it just all about building one's ego 'cause he/she can say 'Oh, look at all the people who follow my Twitterings!'

 

(Actually, I can kinda understand it for newspaper journos because I guess that if you follow one of their feeds, there's a greater chance you may eventually land on that newspaper's website ... which increases website hits ... which increases likelihood of receiving paid advertising etc.)

Edited October 27, 2010 by dbsweeney

[OTF 7496]

This guy just wants a whine and to promote his Twitter feed.

 

Kinda off-topic, but I hear a lot of journalists, players and many, many nobodies all promoting their Twitter feeds.

 

Now I know naught about Twitter, but is there some sort of benefit that a person receives if they have more people following their feeds, or is it just all about building one's ego 'cause he/she can say 'Oh, look at all the people who follow my Twitterings!'

 

(Actually, I can kinda understand it for newspaper journos because I guess that if you follow one of their feeds, there's a greater chance you may eventually land on that newspaper's website ... which increases website hits ... which increases likelihood of receiving paid advertising etc.)

 

Yep, and that's why the Chronicle and lee Ryder spam out every article. I don't mind it though

 

How else would I know that Andy Carroll is focused on the cup and the derby, that Steven Taylor is racing to be fit for the derby, that Gosling is back on the road to recovery, that Steve Watson wants a win in the Cup and against Sunderland, that Haris Vuckic wants to play against Arsenal TWICE in the space of a few hours!

[sammynb 3517]

The other side of the coin, without shitter we wouldn't have to know what is going on in Paris's pathetic life, that Kevin Smith has made a cunt of himself, that twat face Brittany is back with, oh no broken up with, back with...

I like the fact that Audrey Hepburn never felt the need to complain in print about the price of tampons, or how much rock, Rock use to get down the back alleys of LA. A little mystery goes a long way.

[Holden McGroin 6785]

I like the fact that Audrey Hepburn never felt the need to complain in print about the price of tampons, or how much rock, Rock use to get down the back alleys of LA.

 

How fucking old are you ?

[Guest alex]

I kept hoping there might be a point to that article at some point.

[Holden McGroin 6785]

Bellamy, Keane and Messi probably never got shit off their own fans.

 

 

Bellamy definitely has, Keane Definitely has and no, Messi probably hasn't. However, my point was that they play(ed) for the love of the game. Messi is on a stack of cash, but when you see him celebrate a goal, he doesn't just punch the air because he'll be able to afford that new clunky watch he saw in the Gucci store, he's celebrating the same way we all did when we were kids; with a massive smile on his face, just beaming with joy.

 

To be honest, a lot of the players who make it through Barcelona's system seem to play like they love the game and not the trappings that come with it.

 

 

I missed off "for being shit" from that post. Bellamy perhaps got a little at Coventry.

 

Anyway, back to Ricketts OP. I find a few points quite interesting.

 

For example, why should James Perch give a fuck. He has played 8 games for us. All 100% effort, seems like a nice lad yet is getting booed by his own fans.

 

I think they have to accept a bit of away fans banter and heckling but all this "they get paid enough money to verbally abused" doesn't cut it for me. They are still human beings and wont play better by getting booed.

[Guest alex]

Messi owes Barca a lot and seems to appreciate the fact.

[The Fish 10972]

Bellamy, Keane and Messi probably never got shit off their own fans.

 

 

Bellamy definitely has, Keane Definitely has and no, Messi probably hasn't. However, my point was that they play(ed) for the love of the game. Messi is on a stack of cash, but when you see him celebrate a goal, he doesn't just punch the air because he'll be able to afford that new clunky watch he saw in the Gucci store, he's celebrating the same way we all did when we were kids; with a massive smile on his face, just beaming with joy.

 

To be honest, a lot of the players who make it through Barcelona's system seem to play like they love the game and not the trappings that come with it.

 

 

I missed off "for being shit" from that post. Bellamy perhaps got a little at Coventry.

 

Anyway, back to Ricketts OP. I find a few points quite interesting.

 

For example, why should James Perch give a fuck. He has played 8 games for us. All 100% effort, seems like a nice lad yet is getting booed by his own fans.

 

I think they have to accept a bit of away fans banter and heckling but all this "they get paid enough money to verbally abused" doesn't cut it for me. They are still human beings and wont play better by getting booed.

 

Don't agree with that. I think Perch has played so that he can't be accused of being lazy, but I wouldn't say he's been busting his gut every game, I think he's playing like a man who knows he's out of his depth. Not sure if he should be booed, but I wouldn't say it's the majority of fans doing that anyway.

[Holden McGroin 6785]

Bellamy, Keane and Messi probably never got shit off their own fans.

 

 

Bellamy definitely has, Keane Definitely has and no, Messi probably hasn't. However, my point was that they play(ed) for the love of the game. Messi is on a stack of cash, but when you see him celebrate a goal, he doesn't just punch the air because he'll be able to afford that new clunky watch he saw in the Gucci store, he's celebrating the same way we all did when we were kids; with a massive smile on his face, just beaming with joy.

 

To be honest, a lot of the players who make it through Barcelona's system seem to play like they love the game and not the trappings that come with it.

 

 

I missed off "for being shit" from that post. Bellamy perhaps got a little at Coventry.

 

Anyway, back to Ricketts OP. I find a few points quite interesting.

 

For example, why should James Perch give a fuck. He has played 8 games for us. All 100% effort, seems like a nice lad yet is getting booed by his own fans.

 

I think they have to accept a bit of away fans banter and heckling but all this "they get paid enough money to verbally abused" doesn't cut it for me. They are still human beings and wont play better by getting booed.

 

Don't agree with that. I think Perch has played so that he can't be accused of being lazy, but I wouldn't say he's been busting his gut every game, I think he's playing like a man who knows he's out of his depth. Not sure if he should be booed, but I wouldn't say it's the majority of fans doing that anyway.

 

I think you get my point though. Ive heard Gary Speed and Warren Barton both be booed before. Both 100%'s.

[adios 717]

the fans are guilty of not treating players like humans either.

yep, plenty of responses in here prove it. he's talking about players' lives being threatened and that's not even worth a mention apparently.

 

I can't imagine appreciating the majority of fans if I was a football players. fickle wankers for the most part.

 

but people who already had a bit of sense like holden and asprilla will get it, while it'll fall on deaf ears for the rest. waste of time