Bluelass
Player Valuation: £8m
I'll go for most of it except the bit I've highlighted
That is incorrect I'm afraid. Footballers serve their time just like any doctor, solicitor, or electrician.
First on the playing fields as kids . Then the school teams, town teams etc etc. Then if they get a scholarship ( do they still call it that ? ) they go through the academy , or they might move up through the leagues . Most aren't on enormous sums of money, untill they get into the professional leagues, and even then, they have to climb the ladder whilst constantly training, and being disciplined in both their job and their life style.
To say they are born with it, or don't serve an apprenticeship is a little wide of the goal posts.
In either case, this thing about short careers is bull I agree.
They can get a job like everybody else has too.
yes, I see your point but I still think that footballers or athletes at the sort of levels we are talking about, have to have some sort of genetic ability to do what they do, otherwise, if it was just about learning how to be a footballer or an athlete, wouldnt we all want to be one?
The other day we were discussing how a man can run 9.58? Yes he will have been coached and trained but he has a body that can actually do it.
I recall a certain Mark (spit) Hughes who went to my school, being nabbed for United at an early age and educated, trained etc. Michael Owen the same.
Players from the past ended up buying a milk round or working in a sports shop after they finished playing, just like the rest of us have to do if one job comes to an end.
Anyway, with every charitable bone I have in my (ample) body, I cannot wish the man good luck. I hope he gets the Felli treatment as soon as he makes a mistake - 'he's not worth the money' and all the fans will watch his every move waiting to pounce.
Yes, that bit of nastiness will do me.
