To set out my position early, I won’t be booing or abusing
Scott Sinclair in any way following his announcement that he’ll not be signing
a new contract. It was more than noticeable at Loftus Road; in fact a vocal
minority stated exactly what they thought of his decision to leave Swansea.
Questions came to mind after Sinclair’s introduction, like,
are some right to have this opinion? Are we justified in feeling aggrieved at
his decision? Are those who voice their dissatisfaction right to do so?
Starting at the point that most players and pundits (well,
they’re just former players!) state, it’s a short career, they have to think of
themselves and that if you’re working at Asda and Tesco offer you £500 a week
more to go, do the same job and work there, then anyone would go. I think that
all but the most delusional supporters accept these points and agree that yes,
they would take the money.
But the stark truth is, whichever way you paint it, football
is not and has never been just a job.
It’s an emotional tie for the huge majority of those
involved in any way and it should be remembered as such. To take Sinclair’s
example, when he joined Swansea it should be noted that he’d had eight clubs by
the age of twenty and his career was frankly heading towards the scrapheap of
the talented young players who couldn’t ever realise that potential.
While Brendan Rodgers was his manager who rightly gets a lot
of credit, players are all too quick to ignore everyone else that put their
faith, hard work and effort in giving them the platform to play at their best.
There are so many who help these players, the supporters who put their money
into the club and actually support by going out of their way to make the new
player welcome and help him settle in, or the owner/directors who trusted the
manager to bring in a player who was frankly a gamble to mention just a few.
To return to the questions, are those who feel aggrieved justified
in feeling as such? In my opinion, yes. Whichever way it’s painted by current
and former players, it’s not a normal job or in fact a short career. These
players are doing a job that every single one of the paying spectators would
sacrifice almost anything for and at this level; they are paid at worst
hundreds of thousands of pounds a year, a hell of a lot more than I’ll earn in
a full working lifetime.
Let’s not forget it’s still even now the supporters who pay
the player’s wages. In whichever way it’s portrayed, if people stop paying to
watch then the pay stops. So when a player says that he’s not going to sign a
new contract at the club that gave him a chance to build a career, he insults
all those who made the effort to help him realise his potential, including the
supportive fans.
I don’t accept the argument that it’s just a job. I’ve heard
in Sinclair’s case that it’s his career and that we as fans should be grateful
for what he’s done for us in getting us to the Premier League in the first
place (the same could be said of Mr Rodgers and others).Again, this is
nonsense. I would argue that if it’s just a job, then those people paid by the
club and supported by the set up put in place by the club and supporters were
simply doing their job, Sinclair’s goals included.
So are supporters right to voice those opinions? I think my
point would be that they’re not wrong to do so but should perhaps realise that
it’s a little of cutting off your nose to spite your face. After being insulted
by the player who has simply used their club to further their career, I will
forever defend their right to feel that way, especially at a club like Swansea
which was saved and is essentially run by fans. The problem arises however that
that kind of atmosphere doesn’t provide the rest of the players with the
playing conditions that will bring out the best in them, meaning a potentially
poorer result. Like I said at the beginning, I won’t be directing my abuse at
Scott Sinclair. He’ll do what he thinks is right for him and we can’t change
his mind. I’ll just go on supporting the club and not individual footballers.
No one player is bigger than the club.
