Speaking from a personal standpoint - the chance to
earn a promotion in the workplace, and with it a large salary increase and
additional professional respect is something all us working people strive for,
and often crave on a daily basis. So why is it that when a footballer, when
given the chance to ply his trade at a world-renowned club, can be roundly
criticised from all corners as if it were a decision that warranted collective
pity? We wouldn’t condemn a sales assistant’s choice to take a manager’s
position? We wouldn’t look on with scorn if an actor earned his big break by
scoring a part in a Hollywood blockbuster; but football is an entirely
different arena.
Take Scott Sinclair for example. The 23-year-old
winger started life at league two outfit, Bristol Rovers, before moving to the
glitz of the Kings Road, Chelsea. After a series of mixed experiences on loan
from the London club, he ended up being taken on by Swansea City. At this
stage, Sinclair had gone from promising young firework, to a ‘nearly’ player
settling for a league that suited his ability. No doubt he was capable of real
dramatics, but these he showed all too rarely.
To his credit, Sinclair took up the challenge of
reinvigorating his dwindling career, and starred in the Welsh club’s rise to
the Premier League. Back on the big stage, he continued his fine efforts,
playing all 38 games that season, and scored eight times. Scott Sinclair had
arrived back on the scene it seemed, and he was out to prove his doubters
wrong. But, regardless of his heroics for the Swans, it was still clear in many
fans and pundits minds, that Sinclair had indeed found his level: over-performing
for an over-achieving side that were enjoying Premier League status and surprising
everyone with their continuing survival.
But then, in came Manchester City. Fresh from their
first league title for forty-four years, the champions were looking to
strengthen their already formidable squad. There were many who looked on in
surprise at City’s decision to go in for the winger last summer, considering
his non-existent international pedigree, and the brilliance of City’s existing
team. It wasn’t just Swansea fans that thought that Scott’s ‘promotion’ was a
dangerous, potentially career- threatening decision. And here we are, not four
months later, with Sinclair already not considered for top flight games for
City. How achingly predictable.
There have been many other examples over the years.
Chelsea are in fact chief culprits of signing players everyone could see would
not make the grade. Scott Parker, Steve Sidwell, Tal Ben Haim, and Shaun
Wright-Philips came and went, not before showing the world on the biggest stage
possible, that they were indeed not good enough to bounce with the big boys.
These players opt for a joyride on the billionaires’ crooked rainbow, all the
way down to the comforting pot of gold at the bottom.
Is it me, or are these types of signings so obviously wide of the mark, that they can be condemned even before the player has taken his seat for the first of many stints on the bench?
But can we blame the players for giving it a shot?
Maybe the agents for pushing their charges into firing line with contrived promises of grandeur?
Or is it the internal politics at ‘super-clubs’, which can see them enter bizarre summer dealings, and sign obscure ‘talent’ when points need to be made, examples set, and precedents changed?
Is it me, or are these types of signings so obviously wide of the mark, that they can be condemned even before the player has taken his seat for the first of many stints on the bench?
But can we blame the players for giving it a shot?
Maybe the agents for pushing their charges into firing line with contrived promises of grandeur?
Or is it the internal politics at ‘super-clubs’, which can see them enter bizarre summer dealings, and sign obscure ‘talent’ when points need to be made, examples set, and precedents changed?
Money talks, as we all know, but nothing is perfect.
