DO I care if any players are gay? Answer, I couldn't give a toss. Just remind apprentices that if anyone drops the soap in the showers, don't attempt to pick it up for them. How is labelling anyone going to make them worse footballers?
You might not, quite rightly, care whether footballers are gay. You should however IMO care that only four footballers have come out suggesting footballers do not feel it's possible to be honest about their sexuality at their place of work which is shocking in this day and age.
Maybe my point was, does it really matter, what difference can it possibly make? As I said labelling won't change the reality of their capability to play the game of football, no more than labelling the particular hue of their skin.
Yep you're quite right I'm not disagreeing with you there. I was just saying why I think players coming out is newsworthy albeit it it's sad that it is still newsworthy. That wont change until players feel free to come out during their career, that wont happen until dressing room attitudes change. I wasn't really disagreeing with what you were saying just giving my opinion on the matter, anyway this has gone off topic now apologies.
Don, I think the bigger issue here is that it can affect their ability to fulfill their capability of being able to play. If you compare stats and ratios of the number of players who have said they are homosexual (the two latest being after retiring) to that of other people, it would suggest that there maybe more homosexual players and that they must feel they can not openly admit to this within the game. This suggests that it is because they feel it may cause them problems of some sort and thus there is a potential that it could hinder their careers or make it harder than normal. So, the 'labeling' of a player should not affect their ability, but it could.
Stigma will always create a concern, but in a liberated 21st Century it really shouldn't, only time will heal corrupted minds, if ever.
