VPjr Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 ^ if you feel the issue about the clubbing needs to be asked the only appropriate way to ask it is as follows: "I would like to know if you think it was appropriate to go nightclubbing after the loss to Honduras in Montreal because I do not." To attach the V's to that question is not appropriate. It is safe to say that some people here do care what he did after that game (you, Loyola and others), some couldn't care less (me and severla others) and a large chunk in between have attitudes that waver between curiosity and indifference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by VPjr ^ if you feel the issue about the clubbing needs to be asked the only appropriate way to ask it is as follows: "I would like to know if you think it was appropriate to go nightclubbing after the loss to Honduras in Montreal because I do not." To attach the V's to that question is not appropriate. It is safe to say that some people here do care what he did after that game (you, Loyola and others), some couldn't care less (me and severla others) and a large chunk in between have attitudes that waver between curiosity and indifference. I agree with this position, and would add that it is way to late to be asking him about it. Ask him about his play by all means, it is the only thing that is relevant. And what he commented about Mitchell and the whole campaign. I think going on about clubbing after a game is something that should be put down to an attempt to moralize, and it is entirely irrelevant to his play. I think it is embarrassing that you are harping on about it. He has never shown to have had a bad game because of not taking care of himself, he has openly come out in the middle of a ferocious criticism of the CSA saying he would never turn down a call. Meaning he is totally committed, he is the first person to come out and say he was taking the Gold Cup totally seriously, more so than a lot of fans on this board. What is exactly the problem? If you are teetotallers, local AA chapter leaders, hold outs from the Moral Majority, or, like my Mennonite friends, refuse to have sex standing up because it may lead to dancing, then I can understand your position: but it has nothing to do with the general sentiment of the Voyageurs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squizz1402635577 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly I respect your opinion but I strongly disagree with the comment, They are questions with some explanation as to why I think they need to be answered. JDG shares some though not all of the blame for what happened yet so far I have only heard him blame Mitchell and the CSA without any mention of personal responsibility (if you want to see a laundry list of complaints look at his comments). In fact, I think this attitude extended to a large number of our players and was as much a reason for our failure as Mitchell. Yes they are hard questions but they are not in any way disrespectful. It seems that a significant number of Voyageurs does not share my opinion so I will reword that section to take out any mention of the Voyageurs. Certainly, "It's Called Football" is also under no obligation to ask the questions either. However, if they choose not to do so I will probably send them directly to JDG myself. If you have suggestions about how the text should be altered post them on the thread. I will consider any alteration but the feel strongly that the essence of the questions needs to be asked. I stand by my original statement. Case in point: the first paragraph of your post contains four sentences, three of which are declarative statements, comprised largely of your personal opinion, and one of which is a double-barreled question. The second paragraph contains ten sentences. Nine of them are declarative statements, comprised largely of your personal opinion, and the tenth one states "I would be interested in your response." One question mark in 14 sentences. When it comes to altering the text, VPjr has it right: short, sweet and to-the-point. Wrapping a vague question up in hundreds of words of editorializing is the best way to elicit a bad answer from the interviewee. As another potential edit: "It's my understanding that you attended a party following the difficult loss in the World Cup qualifying match in Montreal. That sort of behaviour, to me as a supporter, comes across as unprofessional and reflects poorly upon those involved. What do you have to say about this?" But as previously mentioned by myself (and VPjr), I would hope you would keep the Voyageurs name clear of this particular line of questioning. As you say, ICF is under no obligation to ask your questions, and neither I nor any other person on this board have the ability to dictate what your opinions should be or in what manner you should express them. But my concern is that attaching any whiff of the Voyageurs' name to what are some pretty contentious statements could be, in my opinion, divisive and potentially damaging to us as a group. That's my only concern. EDIT: And for what it's worth, Grizzly, I fundamentally agree with your argument that a star player partying right after a devastating WCQ defeat (if this is in fact what took place) makes for some very bad optics; but I also agree with Jeffrey that if there was ever a time to take action on this particular issue, it has long since passed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Knight Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 Well, speaking as co-host of ICF, I have no intention of asking JDG about night-clubbing. Hey, I got herded out the back end of that stadium in Montreal that night, across a darkened park, away from the Metro, in a foul, black mood. If someone could have pointed me to an ecstatic party, I believe I might just have gone for it -- two hours sleep or no -- and no disrepect to Dino and the other guys I ended up munching dispirited cheesecake with on Rue St.C. in the middle of the night. Even if I had partied my BRAINS out that night, I'd still be plenty ticked about what happened on and around that field that night when the party was over. Clearly, it's the same with Julian. Grizzly, I respect your heart and passion. But there are more and better problems before us than the post-game private lives of our players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by VPjr ^ if you feel the issue about the clubbing needs to be asked the only appropriate way to ask it is as follows: "I would like to know if you think it was appropriate to go nightclubbing after the loss to Honduras in Montreal because I do not." To attach the V's to that question is not appropriate. It is safe to say that some people here do care what he did after that game (you, Loyola and others), some couldn't care less (me and severla others) and a large chunk in between have attitudes that waver between curiosity and indifference. Dude, it boggles me that this an issue with anybody. Anything and everything that creates or reinforces the connection between the Canadian players and the supporters is good by me. If that means pub'ing it with friends, family and acquaintances post match then all the better. Especially after a gut wrenching loss. Gawd bless them, every one. After all they're big boys who've make their living in the most competitive sports market on planet Earth I will trust them to know their limits. It's not like they was doing bong hits on YouTube or anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Cheeta Dude, it boggles me that this an issue with anybody. Anything and everything that creates or reinforces the connection between the Canadian players and the supporters is good by me. If that means pub'ing it with friends, family and acquaintances post match then all the better. Especially after a gut wrenching loss. Gawd bless them, every one. After all they're big boys who've make their living in the most competitive sports market on planet Earth I will trust them to know their limits. It's not like they was doing bong hits on YouTube or anything. The connection between us and the players should be the last of our concern. Our mission is to support the team not to become friend with the players. We are fans of the team and we want the best for the team. I don't like the idea of the Voyageurs acting like the players representative, and it too often looks like that when you read this board. Of course, we should always take the time to celebrate our players like what you guys did in Edmonton, that was nice, but I think we could approach CSA vs PLayers issue with an independant view. As for the clubbing, I think some of you don't realize that JDG is calling out the CSA for acting like amateurs in their handling of the MNT. If John Terry was caught in London coolest club the night after a crucial defeat to Croatia in a WCQ, 3 days prior to a must win game in Moscow, how do you think the most passionate England fans would react? Certainly not by invoquing the right to privacy of the players but that's what the Voyageurs are doing. That's what I meant when I was referring to us acting like players representatives...that's exactly the kind of answer a player agent would give you for that question about clubbing.... Anyways, if the question isn't ask I at least hope some hard questions about WCQ players performance will be asked. Also, asking JDG to elaborate on his CSA is acting like amateur rant would be nice. His comments about the CSA not chossing MTL as a home venue for the 3 home games should be clarify as well because it made no sense (logistically and with the crowd as well, does he really want to play in front of away support at home?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by VPjr You said it better than i could have. Against Jamaica, no matter how closely he was marked, he found a way to make space for himself. He showed a lot of skill in that match. I agree with YNWA that he pushed forward too much vs. Honduras and there was a massive amount of free space for Honduran forwards and mids to roam much of the 2nd half. However, was that game plan? That is the question I've never heard asked. I think we lacked a truly dedicated and effective defensive presence in the holding role. We gave up a significant number of goals off of quick counterattacks without midfield cover. Since Hutchinson provided precious little offensive impetus and seemed to be in a withdrawn role most of the time, perhaps questions should have been asked of his performance/duties? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 To add to what Loyola posted, there is no attempt to moralize here especially from me who am the last person to care about anyone's morality. I could care less about his personal life as long as it doesn't affect his play. This has to do with properly preparing for the next game and taking World Cup Qualifying seriously. It is my strong opinion that the Honduran team by not partying that night and training early the next morning showed the proper attitude towards WCQ and that influenced them making the Hex as much as them having superior coaching (though it could be argued that part of a coach's job is to instill his team with the right attitude). As far as whether it is too late to ask that question, I do not agree. First of all we did not have the chance to ask the question earlier. Second, DeGuzman's complaints against Mitchell and the CSA stem from the same time so if it is relevant for him to comment on their behaviour at this time (and I would argue it is) I think it is also relevant to ask him about his. Regarding Cheetah's comments, I think as fans what should be concerned about our team winning not partying and socializing with us. I think it was great for Lars and a few others to party with the Voyageurs after the last game in the Hex but it would have been wrong to do so in Montreal with an important game coming up. However, JDG was not partying with supporters as you claim, he was partying with his own friends (who then posted pictures of the party on Facebook). I have taken into consideration some of the critiques of my questions and have revised them. For the second one I have taken Squizz's formulation. I think we have differing evaluations of JDG's play in WCQ but I think everyone would agree it was not up to the level he displayed in the Gold Cup and the Brazil game (despite the back pass). I also wonder how some of the same players seemed far more motivated to play Brazil than they did in WCQ even though Mitchell was the coach in both cases. I will send in the questions tonight after reading any commentary on them. 1)You and several other players have made public criticisms of the CSA and national team head coach, Dale Mitchell, in effect blaming them for the poor performance of the team in World Cup Qualifying. Several other players have accepted personal responsibility for the result. Your own performance was not up to the high standard you set at the Gold Cup and the match against Brazil. How much personal responsibility do you take for the poor performance on the pitch and by extension how much personal responsibility should your teammates shoulder? 2)It's my understanding that you attended a party following the difficult loss in the World Cup qualifying match in Montreal. That sort of behaviour, to me as a supporter, comes across as unprofessional and reflects poorly upon those involved. What do you have to say about this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe MacCarthy Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 It makes me laugh how some here will call the CSA and DM everything but a child of God and hold them responsible for everything from 9-11 to the JFK assassination but will not lay any blame at the feet of the players. Please don't pretend to speak on my behalf (as an old time V) if you're going to be hypocritical and not call out the players (or even meekly question them) about what some of us see as unprofessional behaviour. Yeah, I could care less if he parties, it's his life, but it makes me question his mindset and priorities if he thinks it's appropriate to be out celebrating...after a LOSS. I saw Ben's little soliloquy about hounding the CSA and yet a little question like this causes trouble. Get Chantelle to ask, she might appreciate being able to say something without being interrupted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly 1)You and several other players have made public criticisms of the CSA and national team head coach, Dale Mitchell, in effect blaming them for the poor performance of the team in World Cup Qualifying. Several other players have accepted personal responsibility for the result. Your own performance was not up to the high standard you set at the Gold Cup and the match against Brazil. How much personal responsibility do you take for the poor performance on the pitch and by extension how much personal responsibility should your teammates shoulder? This is a pretty good and honest question but I'm afraid this will be the softball Ben Knight will ask JDG during the interview: "Julian, I poked you on facebook last week, why haven't you poked me back yet?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 No love for Ben here? Well I guess he if you are busy apologizing for Hargreaves playing for England, JDG partying after a Canada match is pretty small time. Hey Ben, did you ever find out if Obrian White has Canadian citizenship? Asking hard questions and getting your facts right, "It's Called Journalism!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe MacCarthy Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly No love for Ben here? Asking hard questions and getting your facts right, "It's Called Journalism!" Nothing personal, just tired of the hypocrisy. Speaking of journalism, this should be required viewing in Journalism 101. I love the comment about "I never understood what the hell he was saying." That's exactly the problem. We've now got morons preaching infotainment to morons. The dumbing down of society. Paraphrase... "To elucidate more than advocate" Brilliant! I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread. Back to you Lloyd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Let me just say Grizzly that if we were in the midst of the fight and anyone found out they went out clubbing, there might have been a case. Now it is way too late and just comes across as nitpicking. The question is way too late and is just plain stupid in journalistic terms. And it is stupid in soccer terms as well, since it actually means nothing, nothing at all. It is only muckracking insinuation that has no connection with team performance, at least not necessarily, and only for people who know nothing about the sport. The only relevant question would concern the rules set out by the technical staff for the players during the call up, when they were playing for Canada. And until you know what they were, the question is entirely irrelevant. If Julian did not break any rule, then he was within team limits and controls, and did not do anything wrong. Maybe the coaching staff decided they needed to loosen up, they were too tight, that a bit of fun would get their head back in place quicker. You do not know, none of us do. Or maybe Dale found out and he was fined, privately, or reprimanded. You don't know that either. You are just stirring up the sht, and you know you are. And you are proving you haven't a clue about either how the team should work, what good journalism is, or what really went on. And in February 2009 it means piss all anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe MacCarthy Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Huhhh? It's too late? Then it must be too late to discuss CSA preparation as well. It never ceases to amaze me the length some will go on here to kiss some of those prima donna asses. And if we are talking about journalism, what I saw on that show wasn't it. I love Don Cherry but he's not a journalist, the same with the diatribe I saw from one of the hosts. No attempt at balance, just biased anti-CSA commentary. You're saying we don't know if Dale found out etc. That's what we're trying to find out, the actual story and get some answers over what some of us view as unprofessional behaviour. If we're going to keep going on this merry-go-round, let's just call It's Called Football a CSA bitchfest and I for one will tune out. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, held the seminar. Obviously, commenting on underachieving players is verboten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S. Let me just say Grizzly that if we were in the midst of the fight and anyone found out they went out clubbing, there might have been a case. Now it is way too late and just comes across as nitpicking. The question is way too late and is just plain stupid in journalistic terms. And it is stupid in soccer terms as well, since it actually means nothing, nothing at all. It is only muckracking insinuation that has no connection with team performance, at least not necessarily, and only for people who know nothing about the sport. The only relevant question would concern the rules set out by the technical staff for the players during the call up, when they were playing for Canada. And until you know what they were, the question is entirely irrelevant. If Julian did not break any rule, then he was within team limits and controls, and did not do anything wrong. Maybe the coaching staff decided they needed to loosen up, they were too tight, that a bit of fun would get their head back in place quicker. You do not know, none of us do. Or maybe Dale found out and he was fined, privately, or reprimanded. You don't know that either. You are just stirring up the sht, and you know you are. And you are proving you haven't a clue about either how the team should work, what good journalism is, or what really went on. And in February 2009 it means piss all anyways. The behaviour and performance of the players in WCQ is a valid question for the same ammount of time as the behaviour and performance of the coaching staff and CSA is a valid question. We need to not make the same mistakes in the next WCQ as we did in this one. I think the valid time frame for asking questions about the coach, players and CSA performance is 4 years, until the next WCQ cycle comes around. You may think partying several days before an important match and the night of a long flight to the country where the match is played does not affect a team's performance. I think an awful lot of professional soccer coaches would disagree with you. One of those would be Reynaldo Rueda, the coach of Honduras who did not let his team party even after the victory and had them up early the next morning doing aerobics by the hotel pool (the same hotel pool where my father and my nephew had gone swimming and saw the team training). If Mitchell allowed the player's to party then we should know this, it would be one more x on his file. Regardless I want an explanation for this because I think we all know that the team didn't go partying in Montreal qualified for the Hex and the team that did go partying didn't. Was this the sole reason? No. Was it a contributing factor and/or an indication of some of the things wrong with this team. Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhat Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Why can't everybody just wait until Grizzly's question gets answered? Julian's response may be surprising, for all we know. What if he says: "We expected to win. And a few of my friends were planning a celebration for weeks. After the loss, I was absolutely gutted with our play and the result. But that dressing room was such a bad scene with our coach blaming everyone that in the end, I had to get out. I played my best and being marked well, I can't change the result. I thought, might as well not disappoint my friends who flew all the way to see me." Julian's a professional; he can answer it or provide no comment. Or he can surprise us with an honest, candid answer that's not very CSA-like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superbrad Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Ok I was trying to stay away from this one...however. If I flew all the way across the country to play for my country, had only a few days to meet with friends and family, I would go for a few pints. If I went the night before the game - you would have a point. We didn't lose because JDG went out with some friends. I don't know if you guys watched the lead up to George St-Pierre's fight on the weekend - but he goes out clubbing all the time. Does anyone question his commitment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I'll try this one last time. 1st. This weekend there will be played in England and Scotland about 30 matches in the EPL/SPL/CCC. Those matches will include nearly 500 players drawn from all four corners of planet Earth. All private club players, drawing private enterprise wages exceeding near a billion pounds annually. A billion pounds. That works out to roughly two billion Canadian dollars and change. I will bet a you a mortgage payment 100 of those players will be "unwinding" post-match (win, lose, or draw) at the pub or some dance hall. And for those who don't, for those who find some other way to unwind out of the public eye, so what? Going home and playing the Wii with the kids is somehow different than hanging with old friends at a dance hall? The exercise is meant to produced the same result. Re-lax. Re-charge. Start the process for mentally preparing for the next match in a fashion which suits you. If this practice is good enough for the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson or Benitez, or Arsene Wenger or Gord Strachan I find no reason to expect the practice shouldn't be good enough for such advanced a footballing culture as you'd expect to find in a place like Canada. You guys kill me. Agree or don't agree, it doesn't really matter. Fans line up on both sides of this issue in both Canada and abroad. It's a constant topic of concern and discussion in ALL the UEFA leagues. But rarely, very rarely do you find managers as a practice thinking they can get away with punishing players for on field results with post-match curfews. And certainly no successful ones. In the end that means a lot of very professional and very successful footballers along with their well paying employers find it within themselves to allow for this practice of allowing players to act like human beings after an emotionally contested match. Huh? What to make of that? Welcome to the 21st century. And 2nd. The disconnect which has existed between Canadian fans of football, Canadian football players and international football has for too long been a cancer in developing and promoting the Canadian portion of the game in this country. As far as I'm concerned, any time a Canadian footballer gets out and about in the public it's a good thing. If that means pub'ing with family & friends or giving gifts to cancer patients at a children's hospital it doesn't really matter. That interaction creates emotional connection and an emotional investment for those concerned and that is a very valuable asset for Canadian football. For the fans and the players. Don't discount that. That is important. So for what it's worth there is my long answer. As strongly as we feel I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ref Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 ^ The games you refer to are ordinary league games. Unwinding after World Cup Qualification games is different and in my opinion should not be tolerated. Players need to be concentrated and away from distraction during the duration. Responsibility for that rest with the national federation and coaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Some players seem to think that WCQ is a social event. Some Voyageurs seem to agree with them. This attitude was in my opinion one of the things that led to our abject failure in WCQ. I found this to be one of the most skilled teams we have ever fielded and one of the hardest to support. Unlike some of the Canadian teams in the past who weren't skilled but left everything on the pitch, this team did not leave everything on the pitch other than during the second game against Mexico when we were missing several of our better players. If they played their hearts out (which they should have done regardless of the coach) and lost I could live with that. With the exception of a few players they did not. Some of the examples given here continue to be so inaccurate as to be laughable. Cheetah, we are not talking about a typical EPL week when you play on Saturday and have a week off. This would be the equivalent of playing on Saturday and flying the next day to another city to play an important Champions League match on Tuesday or Wednesday. I think many coaches in such a situation will keep strict tabs on their players and rightly so and the media does likewise. If someone on my team in the German 4th division is partying and he or the team is playing poorly, I know all about that from Canada. I really doubt that players in the top divisions or on national teams have it easier in any serious league or country. I certainly think it is good if the national team meets fans and does charity events if they do not interfere with their preparations. However, their number 1 priority by far is to win and they must do everything possible to achieve this. GSP wins matches so that allows him to prepare however he wants to in my eyes. However, from what I have heard, he is not going to nightclubs when he is in training near to match time and is in fact is extremely focused. The last time he did party in the build up to a fight was his first fight against Serra and we know the result of that. Yes he hosts a post-fight party when he fights. He is also not going to fight again for several months afterwards. I just wonder what the reaction would be in Honduras if they had lost the match and their players went out to party afterwards with another important match a few days afterwards. I know in Germany there would be a huge negative reaction if their team did something similar and I doubt it would be much different in any serious soccer country. Seeing the attitudes here, it is no wonder Ossieck never managed to instill discipline and professionalism on our team. I think it was DeGuzman himself who said we needed to have a soccer culture in Canada for our team to succeed. A serious soccer culture requires its players to behave in a manner that will lead to success and to approach things like WCQ with the proper attitude and focus. Until at the very least our players do this we will never qualify for the World Cup and probably will not deserve to qualify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Joe MacCarthy Get Chantelle to ask, she might appreciate being able to say something without being interrupted. After having watched for the first time an installment of the program I would like to second this motion. From what I've seen she has the potential to be very persuasive. In fact I'd get her to demand answers and accountability from the CSA board while you're at it..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Hombre Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 quote:Originally posted by redhat Why can't everybody just wait until Grizzly's question gets answered? Julian's response may be surprising, for all we know. Because a similar question was already asked to JdG. I forget which blog it was (Leafdolfan's?) but he tried to bring this issue up and Julian responded professionally. However, the question wasn't up to Grizzly's or Loyola's standards so they want to ask him again about it. I don't know what more they expect to get out of this short of a personal apology. And really, I don't care one way or another whether Grizzly tries to pursue this. However, what I do take issue with is his implication that he is representing the Voyageurs' opinion. So long as that's not there and it's a personal question coming from one or two fans, then knock yourself out. Also, save the "this is what journalism's like in Europe crap". I can't stand that argument. Just because journalists hound soccer players in Europe, doesn't mean it's right. I must admit though, I never saw the pictures in question. Even then though they would have to show JdG dancing with a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and a pound of blow in the other for it to get a rise out of me. I once got trashed in a bar with Sean Burke after he got pasted for 6 or 7 goals against Ottawa. It was fun. I think it did him so good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I remember Craig Forrest alluding to a night out in London after an Ipswish Town league loss. He was there with a couple of teammates to celebrate a friend's birthday. Some Ipswish fans were present and they gave them a rough time. In the end they had to leave the bar because of this. I guess I'm saying that to illustrate that Cheetah and Jeffrey S. point about this being a normal practice in football countries is incorrect. JDG is criticizing the CSA with general and evasive comments, so he is opening himself to being question about his own behaviours as a player (like others have said, maybe we will find out Mitchell was OK with this, which would be one more thing against him IMO). All of those questions are legitimate because the question of preparation has been brought up by Julian who called it "amateurish". So it's fair to question him about partying in-between 2 crucials WCQ games because the time between the 2 is part of the prep IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Re Griz. Maybe the point I was trying to make is getting lost, or maybe we just disagree on the intensity and nature of club football. Don't know about that but I do know billionaire owners paying multi-millions to players & coaches to act unprofessionally in one of their signature business ventures isn't something which keeps billionaire owners billionaires and professional footballers professionals. There is no hiding from the fans and media in club football. No jetting back to Europe to escape the heat. Your kids can't escape the press rumors at school. These guys and their families are living under the microscope 24/7 so no I disagree. It isn't just a club game. Chelsea fans weren't going "Oh well. At least it wasn't a WC qualifier" Monday morning. Will agree I also thought there wasn't enough spirit on the pitch for too long a period in what seemed every match. But I don't connect that lack of intenstity (or whatever it was) to some sort of flawed attitude by players which is just further highlighted by their willingness to live a little after a match. Oh, and check out the EPL schedule. One match a week, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superbrad Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Originally posted by Grizzly GSP wins matches so that allows him to prepare however he wants to in my eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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