I thought I'd got everything off my chest in my last English football article, but it appears that players and owners are just as bad as the fans.
I woke up to read Tal Ben Haim's amazing newspaper rant aimed at his current boss, Avram Grant.
The Chelsea center back claimed, "I knew that nothing good would come with Grant as Chelsea coach." He went on to lament his lack of opportunities under Grant, and basically said he's Mourinho's player!
So what? Shit happens Tal, and you're not contracted to a manager, but to Chelsea FC.
Have footballers also lost the plot?
In any normal profession such an outburst would undoubtedly get you the sack! What makes footballers so special?
I fully expect Ben Haim to pick up the maximum fine of two weeks wages for his outburst, and he 100 percent completely deserves it!
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It all comes back to the issue of respect amongst footballers. Apparently, they have none!
Not for each other, not for the referee, and not even for their managers!
Having said that how do we expect players to respect their managers, when even the chairman doesn't?
I was just as appalled to hear that Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra is refusing to publicly back Sven Goran Eriksson after City's recent run of results.
I'm quite honestly shocked and appalled by this!
He is reportedly lining up Portuguese boss Luiz Filipe Scolari as a replacement for Sven. What good is that ever going to do?
You can't just throw another high profile manager at the job every season when things don't go your way.
I believe Sven has done a fantastic job this season. His young squad held their own for a large part of the season near the top of the league, but sadly injuries and fatigue have led to a dip in form of late.
Everyone knows they will be a stronger side next season, with a few signings to boost the current squad. We are saying the same about Arsenal!
It's not rocket science!
It's funny how the clubs with foreign owners are the ones who seem to be constantly in the daily papers for the wrong reasons.
The beautiful game has been truly tainted!
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4 months ago
Player who isn't being picked in having a go at manager shocker! hardly a new phenomenon. Ben Haim has just got the hump, so sees the opportunity (helped no doubt by the Sun and his agent, who will be looking for a move) to have a go. It means very little in the grand scheme of things.
As for the Man City thing, I find it difficult to believe, but if they do sack Sven, and it still a big if, then City will be on the fast train to mid tablesville because clubs do not get success by spending fortunes on players only to change manager every 5 minutes and have to spend another fortune on players, as proved by Spurs and Newcastle.
Re the comment about Foreign owners being in the news, this is as much to do with our delightful press as it is the owners concerned. Our press, or at least The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Star and The Daily Express, are at worst racist and at best xenophobic, so it's inevitable that they regularly make up 'stories' targetting clubs owned by foreigners.
from 4 months ago
Considering all the bad press Grant has been recieving both from papers and their own fans, Chelsea are in a good position and don't need players and agents screwing with an already dodgy team spirit.
It lacks character I think and his attack on Grant while praising Mourinho was at best, childish.
As for Man City you just said what I said.
With my career heading towards the above papers you mentioned, I'll just say at best..I disagree with you.
from 4 months ago
Simon, I know how it all works, I was mearly saying I don't like it and don't see why footballers get away with being so unprofessional. I also thought this attack was more vicious than normal.
Thanks for the comments as always.
4 months ago
The Ben Haim issue came as a shock to me aswell but your title makes it sound worse than it actually is. This is by no means 'a scandal'. I just think he just talked himself out of the club - maybe that was the point. he probably knows things cant get any worse for him ...
Its funny how he thought he would be a regular starter at Chelsea..
from 4 months ago
Chelsea's players and fans really need to rally round if they are to get anything from this season. It is a scandal as he didn't just attack his lack of playing time but his manager personally.
You don't get more unprofessional! It was the last thing Chelsea needed.
from 4 months ago
Players attack managers all the time though Andrew, whether at the top or bottom. It all boils down to the fact that he is not getting picked. Sure Chelsea don't need it, but I doubt the Chelsea press office will be losing too much sleep over it.
You never hear a player being picked having a go at a manager, last week it was Jens Lehmann, this week its Ben Haim, and whats more, in the vast majority of cases it ends with the player leaving the club, not the manager. As Salomon said, I don't believe for one minute that Ben Haim actually thought he would be a regular at Chelsea. It is just good timing for the player, and his agent to remind everyone he exists and that he isn't happy at Chelsea, just in time for the summer spending rush. It is also good timing for the press as Chelsea are this weeks big story after not beating Wigan, and Avram Grant is their public enemy number one. Its all so neat and tidy, I bet Max Clifford or some other publicist crony like him had a big hand in the story.
from 4 months ago
Unprofessional it is, no doubt about that. I just think its coming from someone who knows he'll be offloaded it the summer.
Didnt anyone notice the fact that his rant was on the same day Chelsea announces a 'clearout' in the summer?
from 4 months ago
Well I think we can safely say Ben Haim is gone, no matter the manager. And if I was manager of Wigan or Birmingham I wouldn't touch him.
4 months ago
Uh oh...someone is going to get a flying cleat to the face in his next Chelsea game...
4 months ago
Brazilian coach Scolari at Chelsea.......where r u gettimg this crap from Andy?
Give me a link to a ligit source please...and I will hold my peace.
Unless he`s looking for some quick cash...can`t see it happening.
Talk about clash of cultures.
He`ll immediately start asking for player changes ...it will cause trouble.
...like he pulled in Brazilian Deco and booted Figo.
from 4 months ago
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11679_3430381,00.html
There you go!!!!
from 4 months ago
Thank you Andy....that was very nice of you to give me that link.
4 months ago
Just read it again....Scolari for ManC ...same difference.......don`t see it happening.
The EPL is like another dimention for Brazilians. Just too different in too many ways.
The Klingons.
4 months ago
there was an article i read about how ten analyst had their cameras set on grant while chelsea was playing. they said that according to them, the players are playing for the club not for the manager. which makes sense because chelsea has created such a wave in english football that now even the fans expect them to win! as far as tal is concerned, i dont understand what he's doing in chelsea anyways? agreed he's a good player but lets face it, alex was immense for psv, and everyone was talking about the terry & alex partnership start of the season! what happened well, mourinho definitely prefered tal over him, because carvalho was injured.
sven is sven! i mean come on! that man has got a huge CV and is proven manager and thaksin is kind of a nutcase anyways only bought the club because he needed somewhere to throw his black money. Not that it matters anymore, but yea, Thaksin has no experience and he's expecting way too much in one season. Give sven couple of seasons and i won't be surprised if they challenge for europe!
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