[Archived] Would you be a club player or career players?

[glen9mullan]

Hilarious how some have taken a very simple question and used it as an excuse to reel off their Sunday League Roll of Honour.

Thats because its a difficult question as none of us are pro -footballers, so to answer it, is near impossible unless you look at scenario you may have found yourself in. Different things make different people tick

[Batman.]

Thats because its a difficult question as none of us are pro -footballers, so to answer it, is near impossible unless you look at scenario you may have found yourself in. Different things make different people tick

So 'I was top scorer/ player of the year for my Sunday League team but I didn't want to leave cos my mates played for them' is really a scenario worth bringing up when trying to explain if you'd stay with Rovers or sign for Man Utd given the choice?

[Pedro]

I'd start off at the club I support and if I was good enough go to somewhere to compete at the best level. After that I'd see out my playing days in a warm and low taxation area where I'd build up my pension.

[glen9mullan]

So 'I was top scorer/ player of the year for my Sunday League team but I didn't want to leave cos my mates played for them' is really a scenario worth bringing up when trying to explain if you'd stay with Rovers or sign for Man Utd given the choice?

Rovers or Manchester United, I'd choose to stay at Rovers as I support them, but club players don't always play for the team they support

[dave birch]

IF

Lots of them........

[Andy]

Everyone is motivated by different things and none are 'right' or 'wrong'.

Personally, in my working career, ambition and success are more important to me than loyalty and to an extent, even money.

[Speedie Dived]

If as a lad I got picked up by Rovers, then I can gaurantee you that I would be a club player.....it would be my mission to get the club I supported as high as possible.

What would you do if you were on a 5 year contract and the new rovers manager player did not want to play you after the first year? You prepared to take fans hard earned money whilst not playing? Running your contract down? :-)

There are certain clubs i would not play for, i.e United. But to 99.9% of players it's a job, i can only think of Le Tissier who stayed at a small club his entire career, through choice. Your Terrys, Carraghers and Gerrards would not have stayed at the Saints.

Football is an insecure industry, the big thing for most players is playing.

[Pedro]

The thought of playing in a team that isn't going to achieve much more than simply stay in the division would fill me with boredom and dread. I'd rather play somewhere else for less and have a better chance of competing than play for my team for more money. I like the idea of winning things, travelling around the world and being a part of the best there is, not watching everyone else doing it.

Considering that, it's strange how I've been a Rovers season ticket holder for 25 years then

[McClarky]

To be realistic if Rovers had a player who was good enough to play for a top side we would be looking to sell him anyway whilst in public pretending they were desperate to keep him. If I played for Rovers under the current shambles I would be desperate to leave.

[Majiball]

You've got to love this, 'if I joined rovers as a boy and a fanatic, then I'd be a club player for years', do you not think that's exactly what the likes of Jones would have thought? I highly doubt many kids are plotting how they'll make their millions, how they'll jump at the first ship etc etc. The trouble is the older you get and the higher you rise, the more people surround themselves about you and whisper in your ear. Eventually you'll cave in, what 'ego orientated' child of today wouldn't?

[Daniel Louis Grabko (Dan)]

Who has turned down career moves to better placed clubs becauswe of their sympathies? Bull at Wolves is the standout answer. When was that? 20 years ago....? That's all I can think of in terms of players who could have definitely played for drastically better clubs but chose not too... Oh Le Tissier as well.. Most others loyalists are like Dunn - probably could make a small move up the table but not really good enough to hit the big time so stay where they are as it's comfortable and it's their club...

Not to get off topic, but IMHO, the only thing that ever kept Dunn from being truly world class is his natural fitness levels. He would have been a regular England player I think if not for this, and would easily be the Club captain if he could play 90 minutes on a consistent basis. His legs have let him down, especially in the last couple of years. That danged hamstring won't let him be.

Back on topic, it is very easy to be philosophical about this kind of question as a fan, or even as a player at a lower level. (I myself played at pretty high level as a youth player until my knee was ripped apart like so many blades of grass from a blind sided tackle in a German Youth Cup match in Hamburg) All I want to say is this - it is no coincidence at all that the club player has been virtually exterminated from the game with the rise of the Premier League, and the money it has brought with it. It is very convenient to say that a move is "for footballing reasons," especially when the teams that win trophies are also those that pay the highest wages by far.

If Rovers paid materially better than United, City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, or Tottenham - then we would have their best players on our payroll eventually, simple as that. And they would all claim it was for footballing reasons, because you know what? We'd be the ones winning trophies if we paid considerably higher wages. All the players would claim they "are excited about the direction the club is going in," etc...

Imagine if Abramovich had decided he wanted to build a club from the ground up in England, and decided to ressurect a dead club with some nice history, such as Wanderers or something, and built himself a nice stadium for £100m and then got a crack footballing backroom management team together and applied for acceptance into a level 5 league, because he could show his ambition for the club. Within less than ten years, he would have that Club in the Premiership challenging for honors, and would fill the stadium every home game, would have word class players and management. Players would flock to the club, for footballing reason, and even claim that they fell in love woth the club from the start because of such a wonderful story it was going up through the football period "against all odds" in such a short period of time, and it had never been done in history before, etc. in ad nauseum.

On the other hand, who do you give the insane amount of TV money to instead? The owners of the club? Then you have an even worse situation, I think. The Fifa Financial Fairplay initiative is a good idea, but too easy to get around. All you have to do is "sell" sponsorship space to a related party company for well over what would be market price, and you have your ownership cash injections continuing unabated.

Ok, I think I've throughly hijacked this thread enough, sorry for the ramblings...

I'd start off at the club I support and if I was good enough go to somewhere to compete at the best level. After that I'd see out my playing days in a warm and low taxation area where I'd build up my pension.

Beautiful honest reply. That's probably the exact career path I would choose as well...sounds very pleasant. Just would add that I would then come back and try to get involved in the back office somehow with my original club I supported

[Puffsan]

when you answer this type of question you have to automaticly assume you would have been a star player and the fans would actually miss you. You cant assume you would have had the skills of jason roberts because noone cares if jason roberts are a club player or not.

Very few modern football players are club players because there are so many factors. Rovers academy is a good example. the academy picks up players for all over uk and europe. For instance we have Zac Aley who claims to be a DIE HARD liverpool fan, and Filip Pivkovski who in an interview have said his dream is to play for real madrid. If these guys break through you cant really blame them if they leave because they are not true rovers fans.

thats why its so hard to accept the way Phil Jones left. Not because he left, but because of all the circumstances around his departure. He claims to still be a rovers fan, and says rovers have a big place in his heart. Yet he left after only playing 6 months regularly for us. He demanded a release clause, and when other clubs like liverpool and city showed their interests and started a bidding round surely a true fan would ensure that the club he loves would get as much as possible for him?

Gerrard almost left liverpool once but he stayed. he knew he could be good and highly regarded player playing for chelsea (if i remember correct) but he also knew that if he stayed in liverpool he would be a king.

Del piero and buffon are the only star players i can think of who have stayed after relegation. but the whole sitation was bizzarre. if you juventus had been relegated the regular way im not sure they would have stayed.

some players play so long for a team that they get emotionally attached and become club players or fans. Morten gamst pedersen is probably a club player by now (but no top 6 would ever want him anyway). i know hes been offered alot more money if he had signed for a turkish club, but he will probably stay until he's not picked regurly anymore.

A question that is alot harder to answer:

if you had played for rovers under the current regime, would you openly have critized Steve kean or venkys?

Personally although i think kean should have been sacked by now he's probably been misled alot from venkys aswell. i would probably have told him "listen, you can't say those things to the media, you're disrespecting the fans, you should be alot more humble."

if i would have critized kean for his managerial skills i would probably only do it towards venkys, not through the press.

Critizing venkys in the press would be even harder. As a principle i never critize my employer publicly, its just an unwritten code of conduct in my head. And maybe you dont want to add extra salt to the already big soup of chaos. but then as a fan you would want to support your fellow fans and supporters, and show them that they are not alone in their protests. its a difficult one

[Stuart]

when you answer this type of question you have to automaticly assume you would have been a star player and the fans would actually miss you. You cant assume you would have had the skills of jason roberts because noone cares if jason roberts are a club player or not.

Sorry mate, I couldn't read the rest. I couldn't see my computer screen through the tears of laughter streaming down my face!

I'll have to come back later.

[Mattyblue]

Totally hypothetical, but for me Rovers, then a move abroad, then back to the Blues.

Simple as that.

[MarkBRFC]

Totally hypothetical, but for me Rovers, then a move abroad, then back to the Blues.Simple as that.

Nobody really knows what they would do untill they were in that position, i'd like to think i'd do the same as matty just said though. Start at rovers, move to a big club (most likely abroad) in my prime, then back to rovers to finish my career off. Sort of how david dunn did.

[Batman.]

Start at rovers, move to a big club (most likely abroad) in my prime, then back to rovers to finish my career off. Sort of how david dunn did.

[chris]

Difficult question, I played semi pro until I was 20, and have played amateur ever since, but I have always been motivated by playing and love the underdog.

Last season I left the team at the top of the table as I was not enjoying the rotation policy, and joined a team who were Rock bottom and 2 divisions lower. When I broke my ankle earlier this season in a cup game the referee wanted to abandon the match whilst an ambulance was called. I refused the Ambulance as we was winning the match against top of the table and cheered the boys onto a win,

I returned just before Christmas with my Sunday team was now top of the table and I scored within 2 minutes of coming off the bench, however I felt the dynamics of the team had changed as had the politics in the time I was injured and have not played since.

So although I'm lucky enough to have won a few cups and leagues, whilst also being the player of the year and top scorer in the league, I have never been motivated by the best teams. The people and friends I have made at football is far more important to me.

So I guess I dont fall under either catergory as I just prefer to be playing, and as long as im playing I'm always happy

Obviously we are not allowed to talk about our own personal experiences at the risk of a Batman attack, sure Batman keeps his career achievements to himself, but I found that interesting.

I remember moving team from a mid div 2 team to top of the league div 1 team, and the ego's, personalities and talent of the other players was massive.

The next season we played my old team beat then 9-1 and we actually argued after the game about conceding to them.

Ok this is not the same as PL ofcourse, but I'm sure it what makes great footballers tick, winning and being part of something special, beats loyalty anyday of the week

And loyalty to who? Blackburn fans are just human beings that love you when your hot and careless when your not

The grass is too tempting on the other side if you think you are better then your team mates.

I also agree that it can be more uncomfortable the higher you go, there more tension and competition. If I'm being honest, I'd also rather just be happy playing, but the temptation of winning more and being in the better sides is aways there.

[Mattyblue]

It is not full of 'tension' at the top, these lads are paid absolute fortunes, get everything done for them and know they are going to fighting for domestic and European honours every season.

Tension is being in a relegation scrap, going for promotion, not knowing if your club is going to end up in administration, not knowing if you are going to get another pro contract.

[chris]

It is not full of 'tension' at the top, these lads are paid absolute fortunes, get everything done for them and know they are going to fighting for domestic and European honours every season.

Tension is being in a relegation scrap, going for promotion, not knowing if your club is going to end up in administration, not knowing if you are going to get another pro contract.

To be honest you not really read what I said properly, I was talking about the higher you progress from amatuar to semi pro to professional the more added pressures there are and demands put on you.

Hence unless you make it to the top you might want to do what Glen does and just be happy playing avoiding the politics and pressures.

I'm sure once you reach the top of the mountain to the PL it's very nice, 99% plus of footballers never get there.

[Jimmy612]

People are forgetting that players are fans, too. The vast majority of them all had boyhood clubs they supported (and played for), yet the best of them still find themselves wanting to join the big time, which is why I take posts like Hughesy's with a large grain of salt.

Correct, look at Jones.. Loves Rovers but he took the chance to enhance his career by joining one of the best teams in the world. I personally have no problem with him doing that, why would he want to stay at Ewood?

Wonder if Le Tissier amongst a few ever look back and ponder what might have been??

[Andy]

I'm pretty sure even Alan Shearer ponders over what he could have won in his career, had he opted to join Man U...

[Mattyblue]

I don't think Jones ever loved 'Blackburn'.

[Jimmy612]

Totally hypothetical, but for me Rovers, then a move abroad, then back to the Blues.

Simple as that.

I don't think I would want to go abroad! I love the Premier League, and English fans and the passion for the game. I'm not saying all of this does not exist outside of the PL, but I never get that feeling of excitement when Madrid vs Gijon are on or some other spanish/italian match.

I'd love to start at Rovers and then no doubt given the evidence of other players loyalties (Jones/Rooney) I would be off to a bigger club. For some reason out of the top 6 I think I would choose either Utd or Arsenal... I have no idea why because I used to hate United but now I prefer them to City and Chelsea.

It so difficult to say what you would do given the chance. Footballers are the luckiest people on the planet

[Mattyblue]

I don't think I would want to go abroad! I love the Premier League, and English fans and the passion for the game. I'm not saying all of this does not exist outside of the PL, but I never get that feeling of excitement when Madrid vs Gijon are on or some other spanish/italian match.

You get that for Man United V Wigan?

[koi]

Club or career is surely down to who you support. For those saying club always would they be saying that if they supported PNE or Accrington and had the ability to play at a much higher level? There's not many clubs I'd leave Rovers for but to someone like Man Utd would be hard to resist.