Thetownend.com

Following on from Steven "I'm a self-centered cunt" Irelands revellations ( http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Stephen-Ireland-exclusive-I-will-NEVER-play-for-arrogant-Trapattoni-even-if-Ireland-make-the-2010-World-Cup-article182069.html ), I came accross this article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/oct/07/belgium-world-cup-qualifying


What is going on in the heads of these cocks?

Can anyone briefly summarise?  I'm at work (in body, not in spirit) and all the sports pages are blocked.

here is just some of it.... 

....set-up so infected with ill-feeling that the entire medical staff resigned too, but not before offering a damning diagnosis of a generation of players that seems more blinged-up than golden. "I won't make any comment on the sporting performances since that is not my remit," said Marc Goossens, who had been the national team doctor for 26 years. "But the mentality of some of the players is deplorable ... we got fed up with the many intolerable things that made it impossible for us to do our jobs ... they are pseudo-stars ... with the sick attitude of childish snobs."



Throughout this campaign stories seeped out about players asking to be declared injured so they could skip training and go carousing instead; of players refusing to travel unless allowed to carry their gear in Gucci manbags; of a fight in a nightclub after the 5-0 defeat in Spain; of high jinks in a nightclub a few hours before the 2-1 defeat in Bosnia-Herzegovina; of substitutes refusing to play; and of an experienced player being dropped after turning up for a match without any boots. "The players don't know what the top level is," groaned Vercauteren after his resignation. "I tried to tell them what it means to be a professional but they don't want to listen. I picked them and they abandoned me."

Another of the country's full-backs, AZ Alkmaar's Sébastien Pocognoli, was chided by Vercauteren for storming home after being withdrawn from a training match because the manager wanted to practise playing with 10 men so that the team would not be perturbed by red cards. "I'm not a bad apple," complained Pocognoli after press criticism. "There are players with plenty of caps who are protected in Flanders and think they can get away with anything."

A friend of mine was once in a bar in Torquay when the Plymouth Argyle team turned up.

I can't remember what led to the comment but the the direct quote was "don't you know who I am? I'm Tony Capaldi." :)

If they were any good, they might have justiification in being complete and utter tossers, but they are playing for Belgium, who are shite, obviously like all the players attitudes.

Good post Tartan...lets be honest its been going on for a few years now...ime a big fan of Scholes but he stopped playing for England because in his words ive been played out of position....he wouldve got a shed load more caps...Bellamys been  messing about for years and Giggs to a degree.
Now i know these cases could be seen as prolonging there careers by not playing for the country but in my eyes it shows what calibre of player you are getting..............John Terry would play on one leg for England,thats who i want in my team...Sutton a few years back had a big sulk if i remember rightly.....International footy is pants now and i for one dont get a buzz like i used to when England plays.........i read alot of player Autobiographys and its not like they arnt payed good dosh....there on at least 12 Grande a match......the point being thats probably a tenth of Irelands weekly wages at Man City!
So in answer to your headline its a sad yes.......and it is sad because international football used to be what every player strived for.

Its a bit disappointing but not surprising.  The fact that its not surprising is actually the saddest thing of all.

Oh, and thanks for the summary, Tartan.

I think this is the worst one...

players refusing to travel unless allowed to carry their gear in Gucci manbags

I mean, ffs!

I don't know if I believe that Daily Mirror bollocks, Steven Ireland seems like a decent bloke to me (though I know nothing about him.) Did you know he only has one pair of football boots?

agree with of, ireland comes across well to me. hes not a robot and thinks that trapattoni should have more courteous and show a bit of respect. seems fair enough to me. hes a very different character to most footballers, but for me in a good way, i find him pretty refreshing

Maybe I missed something, but what have Belgium got to do with top level football?

They're shit aren't they?

Stephen Ireland is just as bad as the rest of those overpaid prima-donna's.

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/532998/Round-the-Bentley-Manchester-City-star-Stephen-Ireland-buys-girl-flash-motor.html

Ireland is 23. He's won nothing and done nothing in the game. Without his natural talents for football he'd be labouring, doing what he was told by his boss and being grateful for it.

Trappatoni is 70, played in the World Cup and won league titles in four different countries.

In any other walk of life, Trapattoni would tell Ireland what to do and he'd shut up and do it. In almost any other sport, top sportsman would take any indignity for the honour of representing their country.

If there's a lack of respect anywhere, it's from Ireland. Not only to Trapattoni, but to his countrymen, who look to talented men to give their best.

Great post Iffy.

The same Ireland who used the "my <insert relative> died" excuse to get out of playing, yeah, lovely chap.

because he didn't want his girlfriend's miscarriage to become public knowledge.

Talking of 'high jinks' an incident occurred a few years ago which led to my respect for footballers being slightly diminished. Even more shocking was the fact that it was quite close to home. Whilst working as a taxi driver, I picked up 2 girls (known prostitutes) from the Clayton Lodge Hotel, Newcastle-under-Lyme. It was about 5 o'clock on a Saturday morning. During supposed light-hearted conversation, the girls revealed they had 'been with Swindon Town'. Names were mentioned, both players and management. We were at Crewe Alex that day and I believe we lost 1-0. I rang BBC Radio Wiltshire to publicise the matter but they weren't interested, which I suppose was fair enough since I couldn't provide any concrete evidence. Despite being shocked by the moral and sporting implications I still find it irksome that Town scored several times and still lost the match.

but he didnt mind saying his nan died, then when he was confronted and told someone had just spoke to her and shes fine, he said it was his other nan! gypo cunt

What you doing picking up prostitutes you dirty dog

 
  Boys will be boys. Dogs will be dogs. Prostitutes will be.......anything you want if the money's right. Besides, they're a good source of gossip and information.

Stephen Ireland thinks the importance of International football will get less and less? Dont think so.

Good article about Belgium. But as the first poster says, the country as a whole has problems in terms of unity, so its no suprise that its reflected in the national football team.

I don't know that Stephen Ireland acted that much a bigger twat than Trapattoni, who rung Ireland at one point to arrange a meeting to discuss his return to the team. Except Trapattoni wanted the meeting in 4 months and asked Ireland if it was ok for him to tell the press he'd spoken to him about it - his only interest was covering his arse with the press. Well at least that is what Ireland reckons.

For one, this is Ireland's point of view. He has, on more than one occasion, been found out for being full of crap.

Second, even if what he said is entirely right, he should still suck it up and shut up.

Terrific post and I agree word for word.

top flight football went up its own arse a long time ago. Inflated wages, inflated ticket prices and players far removed from normal life, now it's streaming games online, clubs wanting to leave their league to join bigger leagues.

what a crock of shit.

I'll take Brentford away, players you've never heard of until they sign and knowing the people around you in the stand. That's proper football.

Hear,Hear Juddie.

Funnily enough, if the biggest clubs do eventually break away and spend the next few decades playing in a European cashfest, I can see the smaller, bread & butter clubs like ours doing all the better for it.  You will get a generation of fans who may 'follow' Chelsea or Liverpool, but will 'support' or actually pay to see Swindon, Coventry or Woking.

I think we're already a fair way down that route already.  The more the big clubs divorce themselves from the reality of people's lives, the less relevant they become.  I am sure they will remain very successful as money making machines, but I can't see that you're ever going to get fans worked in to a frenzy at the prospect of another league game vs Lyon.

Does this really surprise you?? Once footballers have 'made it' in any professional form, most of them turn into complete arrogant twats!

It's all going to end in tears one day. And it'll be when the foreign owners have had enough.

And hopefully when that happens and the dust has settled, Swindon Town FC will still be standing after being run properly by our owners rather than them throwing lots of money into a black hole!

Stephen Ireland drives a car with pink interior and pink wheels.

Not to be trusted.

Also, were the hookers fit?

I've said it before and I'll say it again, anyone who uses that phrase is a cunt.