I said two years ago with the stupid money in football we will get to the day when players start retiring under the age of 30, and here it is. Not injured, just had enough. Well, he is probably a multi millionaire already, so why bother anymore? I also said don't be shocked when players start quitting from the age of 26 to go and lie on a beach somewhere. The kind of money lads of 18 are earning in football and then when they sign their second contracts or are sold for big money is silly. Take our Academy stars Tom Taiwo and Martin Woods ... both went to Chelsea for £5m compensation when they were 16, and Taiwo was a star in the England U16 setup ... they were paid serious signing bonuses (I think it was £250k), house, etc and of course a nice weekly wage ... they ended up nowhere near the Chelsea first team and faded into obscurity. My theory is that the instant wealth took away their desire to compete and graft to become Premier League quality players ... the money made them soft, and they rode along on their Chelsea contracts until they got released ... during their prime development years they wavered, took their eyes off the prize and coasted, and by the time they found themselves on the scrap heap with hundreds of other free agents their footballing ability had stagnated, they'd lost their spark and drive, and England lost two young talents who should have atbleast progressed through to U21 level. All this talk about Academies and Development Leagues is fine, but for me the money ruins young players, takes away their desire and if they absolutely don't have the will and drive of a Rooney they disappear ... there is less pressure to crack it when potentially you can be a millionaire by 21 if you land the right contract ... the Prem and Sky's money is killing the game slowly, and I feel there should be a salary cap for 16 to 21 years old in your career, with the money being put aside as a fat bonus if your club keeps you on after 21 ... at least there's a better incentive and your feet are kept firmly on the ground as you take the bus to training "For the sake of Leeds United he would break himself in two"
I think a salary cap for footballers in general is a good idea, how some can be paid £250,000+ a week is crazy. It would be interesting to see how many younger players would move to bigger clubs if there was a salary cap imposed on their age bracket, though.
Further proof Billy is England supposedly, and probably has, the best league in the world. Yet the national team are eight in the betting for the world cup at 28/1. More proof young English talent is either not getting a fair crack of the whip or as you say, earning far too much and can't be arsed
Yep Eire ... for me England has the BEST PAID league in the world "For the sake of Leeds United he would break himself in two"
Ive no doubt, the great O'Leary team at Leeds unravelled as much to do with young players earning too much as anything else. Smith, Kewell, Woodgate, Johnson, Robinson were all great players when in their prime. I remember at pre match one day in car park, watching these guys as twenty odd year olds arriving in their Porsches and wondering would they handle the big money. They didn't and careers were all in free fall after leaving Leeds even though they should have been in their prime
Totally agree with the comments about overpaid prima donnas give me the lower league players who are hungry the likes of Matty Smith show us the way forward
Definitely. Problem in the modern game of course, once a player shows decent ability, agents tout them to the big pl clubs and they are then completely out of the reach of the likes of us. Say for example Smith banged in 25 goals next season, odds on he'd be gone after that.
Spot on 60 and Eire ... if Smith bags 25 goals next season he'll be off to a Stoke or WBA in a flash "For the sake of Leeds United he would break himself in two"
At least we will make some money out of it what will we make ouT of HUNT !that's why its important to invest in young players not has beens
Well said Billy your OP says it all, too much too young, no respect for anyone just all about making money and no grounding whatsoever. Unfortunately the day of working hard to make it are gone with the money involved and with 17/18 year olds getting bought for big money their egos are massive before they even actually earn a reputation on the field. Money is all that talks in todays game, I don't blame the players for taking as much as they can, i blame the governing bodies for allowing it to happen.
Completely agree that money in the Prem is the problem, and you see the results every time England play Prem clubs can collect the best talent because they pay so much, then they don't use it in their first teams, preferring older, proven, foreign players. Young players don't get the experience and develop too slowly If it was not for money, a lot would stay longer in lower leagues and get playing experience
Add to all this, the average life span of most managers is probably twelve months, fans require immediate success or sack the manager. No time to develop young players. If club has the money, spend it on tried and trusted players. It's all wrong but it won't change. Take our own situation now. Cellino a couple of months in the job, playing squad on holidays for most if not all that time yet some fans already whinging there's not enough happening
