Do players care anymore?

[theyellowdinosaur]

Having had several conversations about players not caring I believed that it was true but then my mate who is matt sparrows brother told me about how after either coventry or reading craig mackail smith was crying on the coach back because he felt he had let the fans down.

What are your views

 

[Pantani]

Some care loads, and play their hearts out every week, some just see it as a job, most fall somewhere in the middle. Same as it always has been I'd wager, certainly for as long as I have been watching football, 25 years.

 

[GoldWithFalmer]

I went to school with an ex Albion player,good mates back then and see him time to time......he did not care any more for any of his clubs than most of any of us would in our jobs.

He went to the Goldstone on rare occasions(still he was playing i suppose) and could claim to be a life long fan,funny thing was,before we had Falmer and before he played for us,he thought we were a bit of a joke.....hmmm JCL!!!

 

[Ali_rrr]

I suppose it depends on who the player is and the club, some players will only play to their best for the teams they love, others just play their best anyway. But money talks.

 

[raz_18]

CMS did look like he was about too cry after the Reading game, never seen a player look so down or upset after one game (that wasn't say a cup we'd lost etc)

 

[Lush]

Players aren't identical. Some care more than others. Some show they care more than others. El-Abd and CMS in particular wear their hearts on their sleeves.

 

[El Presidente]

Players aren't identical. Some care more than others. Some show they care more than others. El-Abd and CMS in particular wear their hearts on their sleeves.

It's the same with pornstars.

 

[GoldWithFalmer]

It's the same with pornstars.

Usually ones that care have smaller icks...just an observation like..

 

[NMH]

It's the same with pornstars.

I suspect they wear something on their (wizard's) sleeves!

But theriouthly folkth, it's got to be down to the individual.
Rooney is or was an Everton fan, and his bedroom window was adorned with their colours, scarfs, and etc. Yesterday he declared his allegiance to Manchester United. One can assume that he has, by osmosis, become a dedicated worker for his employers. He didn't have to say he will be at the club for a long time, but his workrate suggests he cares a lot more than previous United legend George Best (for instance).

I've worked for three clubs - and an affinity for each one is cultivated by representing them. The least of these affinities is certainly that for the one I worked the shortest amount of time, and of course The Albion is my team over and above any other, regardless.
Thinking about it, it would be easier to play against one of the clubs - in the name of the sport - than to actually cheer against one of them.
Thus I can understand Rooney for example, trying to score against Everton - in the name of the sport. I guess he would be sorely tested if put in the same position as Denis Law, with the prospect of committing them to relegation by putting the ball in their net.

Some players act like they don't care about any particular team though. Robinho is one who comes to mind.
Leon Knight would have probably stayed loyal to BHA, if MaGOO had not been a lardy jocko clown, his team-mates bloody-minded in sending impossible passes forward, and then the crowd of idiots getting on his back. It was self-fulfilling in the end, that he would become indifferent and even disdainful towards a club that he'd done well for. I believe Brighton and Hove Albion knocked the love for the game out of him to a large respect.

I recall watching Tony 'Tiger' Towner and hearing the jibes from the East Terrace and wondering how he could love playing for those idiots, and more recently Andy Whing taking all kinds of stick from someone in the Withdean North Stand (I had to ask him to shut him up, because of his awful and loud bad language, totally ott and unnecessary).
It must be hard not to snap at people like that when trying to direct your passion into your game.