Messi was drinking a bottle of wine in our hotel in Milan the night before Barca played AC Milan a few years ago. Basing your argument on an assumption is all well and good until somebody proves you wrong.
That's against PFA rules. Two weeks is the maximum. I see nowt wrong with them going on the piss after the match - plenty of time to recover before the next game. As Quinny openly admits in his auto biography - he, Adams & Merson were total pissheads when they were all at Arsenal.
The question is how do you stop a drinking culture developing in a club situated in a notoriously drink oriented area of a notoriously drink oriented country? As gelders-pie pointed out, all the players involved except Sessegnon are from the British Isles (Billy - you are right about ROI, so please note 'Isles' ). Safc83 reckons there's nowt wrong with a few beers, and wey-hey, I agree with that. But 'a few beers' elsewhere isn't quite the same as 'a few beers' in Britain. Here, we drink to get p*ssed, and then go wild on the streets. That's the problem. And I don't think you'll ever stop it employing British and Irish players. I'm sorry to say it in a few cases - especially Bardsley, who I thought was a good servant of this club - but clear the lot out. I hope Dick does.
All true Billy, as I say a beer a glass of wine no worries. Getting legless is another matter as it actually takes your body a couple of days to recover and will effect a players ability to train. The calories will also effect a players ability to keep their weight down too.
Indeed, might teach him a lesson. Fine them a weeks wages everytime they go out on the piss. If they go out every week they get no wages.
I used to go out and get hammered on a Friday and/or Saturday night and could still feel the effects, although ever so slightly, at around Wednesday. So I would expect that a right skinful would effect a players ability to train during the week hence effecting their performances at a weekend. Cant stop footballers from drinking a glass or two, but the only time they sould allow themselves to get proper pissed is during pre season.
The Bayern Munich squad are always being photographed with massive steins of lager, and it doesn't seem to do them any harm. I don't have a problem with the players cutting loose every now and then, they are human after all. What matters is the quantity they drink, and the timing. What really pisses me off though is when you hear about them going out on the lash after a defeat. After a loss they should be analysing the game, looking at where they went wrong and how they can improve for the next game, not getting trollied.
I dont drink that much anymore marra. Few beers here and there, maybe some wine or whiskey. On my time off I can get **** faced if i want... but i can get called away at a moments notice, or called in for a drug test/alco test and have to go. On the rig a couple weeks ago we had a surprise drug test. Piss in a cup, they test it for temp, seal it, sign it, send it in for testing in the lab. Had like 3 tests this year alone! Just not worth it to get busted. Rather keep my job than have a drink. Had enough when i was a lad to drown a fish.. my liver thanks me now haha
1000000%. I don't touch alcohol for a few months when I have a specific fitness goal. I'm not a pro getting paid thousands a week, I'm just a bloke with a loose interest in fitness. If I was a pro footballer I'd have a drink the day I retired and not before. Basic dedication to something you supposedly love. I can understand players drinking if they aren't that into football......not all players genuinely love the game. Sess for example, never struck me as a guy who loved the game. He was just good at it and it was a chance to get out of dirt poor Benin and get paid. No fire in that man for all the talent. This is the problem with SAFC, 99% percent of the time we sign players with a compromise. They might be talented but the don't apply it with work ethic or fire (Sess, Johnson). They might be experienced but are over the hill (John FFS O'Shea, Brown, possibly Kaboul might be in define from next season). Good players with concerns about temperament either on or off the pitch (Catts, M'Vila). Johnson is the player that annoys me most. His talent is outrageous but he just doesn't seem to really be a good pro or apply himself. Hopefully if his name is cleared in this pending case he will realise just how close he came to losing it all and be shocked into taking his career seriously. No big club will ever touch him in the million years now, guilty or not, so we are as good as he will ever get. Will it light a fire in him? Who knows.
It's not the drink it's the behavior while drinking. While under contract at the club they're representing the club. Nowt wrong with a drink. But how much and behavior is where the line is drawn and if that's him he may well have crossed. Lets not forget bouncers can be ****ers. There's a large unhealthy proportion given that profession a very bad name. I'll back the clubs decision