Cut Terry Some Slack

[number11]

Journalists' private lives need to be put under the microscope if they continue to pontificate about footballers' private lives. They are open to the charge of hypocrisy. Footballers don't hold themselves out as some higher moral authority like many journalists do.

I'd be disappointed if John Terry was Archbishop of Canterbury, but he isn't.

The next man up for the England captaincy, would be Stevie G, someone of even dodgier moral fibres when it comes to diving for penalties or choosing the next track the DJ is going to play. Frankly the entire England team are chavs. They represent us as footballers, not as human beings.

No sorry, still don't get it. Dont see how journalists behavious has any relevence to how John Terry has behaved or who is the England captain. How someone lives their lives obviously does affect their career, and if a jounralist was unable to do their job because of his life style and extra curricular habits his employer will deal with it. There are also enough channels and forums to complain if you don't like what a journalist has written. (As Im sure Slip knows too well!).

Terry's actions are not in the best interests of the team given unrest it could cause and the reduction in respect it brings upon him personally and the team. I sincerely hope he is stripped of the captaincy.

 

[Slipperduke]

No offence Slip, but if only journalists private lives could come under the same kind of lies and scrutiny that our "beloved" redtops dish out eh?

But journalists aren't sending out press releases to corporations hawking themselves as potential brand ambassadors on the basis that they are the 'Dad of the Year 2008'.

I don't hold with the view that famous people have no right to a private life, but if you're trying to exploit the public's perception of you to make money, the public have a right to know if that perception is true or false.

 

[EastStandBlue]

I don't hold with the view that famous people have no right to a private life, but if you're trying to exploit the public's perception of you to make money, the public have a right to know if that perception is true or false.

Indeed.

When Beckham was alleged to have had an affair with the Pig Masturbator, he sought legal action on the grounds that the stories were false.

When Terry was alleged to have had an affair, he sought legal actions on the grounds it would cause him to lose sponsorship contracts.

 

[MisterStubbs]

Draft Ads Barrett in and give him the armband :D

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Unfortunately they probably do represent the majority of the English public. Only Graeme Le Saux represent(ed) people like you and me ;)

Le Saux didn't represent me.

No sorry, still don't get it. Dont see how journalists behavious has any relevence to how John Terry has behaved or who is the England captain. How someone lives their lives obviously does affect their career, and if a jounralist was unable to do their job because of his life style and extra curricular habits his employer will deal with it. There are also enough channels and forums to complain if you don't like what a journalist has written. (As Im sure Slip knows too well!).

Terry's actions are not in the best interests of the team given unrest it could cause and the reduction in respect it brings upon him personally and the team. I sincerely hope he is stripped of the captaincy.

If journalists are questioning Terry's suitability on moral reasons, that makes their own behaviour relevant because they are sitting in moral judgement of him.

If Terry is unable to perform on the pitch (for whatever reason) drop him. But that is dropping him for footballing reason not some moral crusade. There is however no evidence that his standard of football has dropped - he even scored the winner on Saturday to emphasise this.

All the talk about "best interest of the team" is bollocks. This happened 12 months ago. John Terry has been captaining the likes of Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole for the last 12 months with no adverse effect, indeed last time I looked Chelsea were top.

I'd pay for more attention to that, than three non-English players at Man City.

People are using this as an excuse to further their anti-John Terry agenda.

But journalists aren't sending out press releases to corporations hawking themselves as potential brand ambassadors on the basis that they are the 'Dad of the Year 2008'.

I don't hold with the view that famous people have no right to a private life, but if you're trying to exploit the public's perception of you to make money, the public have a right to know if that perception is true or false.

No worse than that journalists are sitting as moral arbiters. First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

 

[Slipperduke]

*checks eyes*

No planks here. There's a bit of sleep and a reddish blotch, but apart from that, it's all ok.

Surely the morality issue isn't up for debate? He's a married man who got the mother of his best mate's son pregnant. It really doesn't matter if he plays for Chelsea or The Old Dog & Testicle Second XI, that's still a ****** thing to do and if he's aggressively marketing himself on the basis that he's 'Dad of the Year', then the public should be told before they buy into it.

Granted, it has no bearing on his ability to play football and this certainly shouldn't cost him his place in the national team, but he can't wear the armband after this. Who in their right mind would trust him? Who would respect him?

 

[number11]

If journalists are questioning Terry's suitability on moral reasons, that makes their own behaviour relevant because they are sitting in moral judgement of him.

Sorry, but the fact that journalists' behaviour may be below the highest standards is a seperate issue and has no relevence to the behaviour of John Terry and should serve in no way to excuse him of his actions.

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

Journalists' private lives need to be put under the microscope if they continue to pontificate about footballers' private lives. They are open to the charge of hypocrisy. Footballers don't hold themselves out as some higher moral authority like many journalists do.

Point of order: don't have a go at the monkey, have a go at the organ grinder. It's not the journalists' lives that need to be put under scrutiny - unless the journalists are, in fact, "commentators" along the lines of Bushell / Gaunt / Littlejohn / Platell / Melanie Phillips. Those commentators do appear to consider themselves entitled to pontificate on right and wrong, and therefore should be under the same scrutiny themselves.

Most of all, however, it's the proprietors - Murdoch, Rothermere, Desmond - who set the tone. They're the ones who order the ordinary hacks to write the stories; so it's they, not the ordinary journalists, whose lives deserve to be under scrutiny.

Matt

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

*checks eyes*

No planks here. There's a bit of sleep and a reddish blotch, but apart from that, it's all ok.

How do we know that, unless we plaster your private life across the front pages of the tabloids?

Surely the morality issue isn't up for debate?

It might be an open and shut case, but it is still a moral judgement. Personally I think player's* private lives should remain just that and we should steer clear of making moral judgements.


*Corporate ambassadors might be a different kettle of fish, but I'm talking football not sponsorship here and if anyone thinks Terry doesn't suit their brand in light of these revelations then I don't have an issue with them dropping him. However England isn't a brand, it is a football team.

He's a married man who got the mother of his best mate's son pregnant. It really doesn't matter if he plays for Chelsea or The Old Dog & Testicle Second XI, that's still a ****** thing to do and if he's aggressively marketing himself on the basis that he's 'Dad of the Year', then the public should be told before they buy into it.

Granted, it has no bearing on his ability to play football and this certainly shouldn't cost him his place in the national team, but he can't wear the armband after this. Who in their right mind would trust him? Who would respect him?

Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole for starters. They all have done so for the last 12 months. Seemingly the rest of the England team as well including those 4 games where Bridge played alongside him for England.

Not trusting someone with your girlfriend is a completely different situation to not trusting someone on the pitch.

I was pretty certain that one of my old bosses was having an affair (I shared an office with him and he use to make two phone calls at about 4:30, the first was to tell his wife he'd be home late....) but that didn't mean that I'd question him when he asked me to do something. I might have thought less of him as a person, but I immensely respected his knowledge, experience and judgement in the work place. When he asked me to do some work, I didn't stop and think "actually this bloke is a bit of a *******, he appears to have two families on the go at once maybe his judgement in his professional capacity is similarly flawed and I should therefore ignore what he tells me to do."

 

[Slipperduke]

Wayne Bridge only found out last week, along with everyone else. And I was under the impression that this had all been happening in the last few months, especially as Bridge and his missus only announced their seperation in December 2009.

It's not the ****ing that's the problem, it's who he's ****ing. I'm sure you didn't care when your boss was having an affair, I'm sure that Chelsea's players didn't care when Terry was having his affairs, but I bet they care that it was one of their own who was being cuckolded. If someone I worked with was ****ing my mate's missus, I'd never trust him again.

As for my private life, it's private until such time when I use it to boost my own earnings in the public eye. If I wrote a book, for example, advising people how to have a happy marriage and then it transpired that I was bonking Natalie Sawyer, then it would be public property. As a journalist advocating the removal of the armband from John Terry, well, if it ever transpired that I was knobbing the mother of my best mate's child, then I'd deserve a media kicking. Unfortunately, I very much doubt that anyone would care.

If John Terry was like Paul Scholes and kept himself to himself, if he'd just been bonking Alicia Douvall or some other harlot from a Fulham nightclub, it wouldn't be a story. But as long as he whores himself out on the basis that he's an all-round good egg and as long as he plays a team-sport, he's vulnerable to a story like this.

At the end of the day, it's not the media's fault that he ****ed his mate's girlfriend.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Wayne Bridge only found out last week, along with everyone else. And I was under the impression that this had all been happening in the last few months, especially as Bridge and his missus only announced their seperation in December 2009.

Wasn't Wayne Bridge supposed to have demanded a move away from Chelsea because of it? He moved over 12 months ago, or was that more media bollocks. I suppose that is one of the problems trying to decide such issues when you don't know all the facts and none of us know all the facts. All the more reason to shy away from making judgements IMO.

It's not the ****ing that's the problem, it's who he's ****ing. I'm sure you didn't care when your boss was having an affair, I'm sure that Chelsea's players didn't care when Terry was having his affairs, but I bet they care that it was one of their own who was being cuckolded. If someone I worked with was ****ing my mate's missus, I'd never trust him again.

It would make no difference who my old boss was ****ing, I'd still value his judgement in the work-place. That's part of being a professional and the England team are all professionals.

Terry captained three England players on Saturday (including 2 of England's best and most important players) without any problems whatsoever.

As for my private life, it's private until such time when I use it to boost my own earnings in the public eye. If I wrote a book, for example, advising people how to have a happy marriage and then it transpired that I was bonking Natalie Sawyer, then it would be public property. As a journalist advocating the removal of the armband from John Terry, well, if it ever transpired that I was knobbing the mother of my best mate's child, then I'd deserve a media kicking. Unfortunately, I very much doubt that anyone would care.

You are using morality to boost your own earnings. You are writing about morality and being paid for it. Fortunately I don't care about your morality (other than the potential for hypocrisy) because in my eyes what you do and who John Terry does in your spare time is up to you as long as it is legal.

 

[Firestorm]

How do we know that, unless we plaster your private life across the front pages of the tabloids?



It might be an open and shut case, but it is still a moral judgement. Personally I think player's* private lives should remain just that and we should steer clear of making moral judgements.


*Corporate ambassadors might be a different kettle of fish, but I'm talking football not sponsorship here and if anyone thinks Terry doesn't suit their brand in light of these revelations then I don't have an issue with them dropping him. However England isn't a brand, it is a football team.



Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole for starters. They all have done so for the last 12 months. Seemingly the rest of the England team as well including those 4 games where Bridge played alongside him for England.

Not trusting someone with your girlfriend is a completely different situation to not trusting someone on the pitch.

I was pretty certain that one of my old bosses was having an affair (I shared an office with him and he use to make two phone calls at about 4:30, the first was to tell his wife he'd be home late....) but that didn't mean that I'd question him when he asked me to do something. I might have thought less of him as a person, but I immensely respected his knowledge, experience and judgement in the work place. When he asked me to do some work, I didn't stop and think "actually this bloke is a bit of a *******, he appears to have two families on the go at once maybe his judgement in his professional capacity is similarly flawed and I should therefore ignore what he tells me to do."

Matt,

I presume you have not been on the recieving end of an adultorous partner and a moral free **** who though chatting up then shagging someone elses wife was acceptable ?

Screwing someone elses partner is bad enough, If its your mates partner its doubly so.

I have lost complete respect for several (now ex) friends because they played away from home (and that was before my personal experience) and similarly Terry has plummetted in my estimation.

Ok, he may have not worried too much about his missus, but did he not consider the impact on his kids ?

 

[Firestorm]

Interesting thought, who of those backing JT on here, was on Richie Forans side a few years ago ?

 

[southend4ever]

JT is a ****.
Wayne Bridge his good mate. Got a stunning bird on his arm as it is. Earns enough money to have a different bird each night if he isn't going to be faithful. The bloke continues to let the public down. He is a thug and that will not change. If I was in the England squad i would not want him as my captain. That said I'd probably not want him in the team... Certainly not a back stabber leading my team.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Matt,

I presume you have not been on the recieving end of an adultorous partner and a moral free **** who though chatting up then shagging someone elses wife was acceptable ?

Screwing someone elses partner is bad enough, If its your mates partner its doubly so.

I have lost complete respect for several (now ex) friends because they played away from home (and that was before my personal experience) and similarly Terry has plummetted in my estimation.

Ok, he may have not worried too much about his missus, but did he not consider the impact on his kids ?

I haven't been on the receiving end and I'd like to think I wouldn't ever behave like that in his situation either. I do think less of him as a person because of it (not that I thought that much of him in the first place) BUT it doesn't make me think less of him as a footballer.

Capello has to pick a football team, not a friend and not a religious leader to guide people on morality.

You don't have to be a saint in order to play for or captain (or manage) England - which is probably a good job when the England team is full of people like Gerrard and Ashley Cole.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Interesting thought, who of those backing JT on here, was on Richie Forans side a few years ago ?

Interesting point. I backed the better player in both circumstances.

For me it is a footballing issue.

In both alleged cases you've got one integral player and one fringe player. If they can't work together I keep the integral player.

 

[Firestorm]

You don't have to be a saint in order to play for or captain (or manage) England - which is probably a good job when the England team is full of people like Gerrard and Ashley Cole.

True, but its about more than the football these days, Football has become far greater than a sport, it has become, for want of a phrase, a many headed beast, and one aspect is its influence on others Whilst footballers are not the guardians of the nations morality, than can sure give it a good old whack in the nuts if they choose to

 

[Slipperduke]

You are using morality to boost your own earnings. You are writing about morality and being paid for it. Fortunately I don't care about your morality (other than the potential for hypocrisy) because in my eyes what you do and who John Terry does in your spare time is up to you as long as it is legal.

But that's the whole point of my article. I haven't made it about morality (apart from questioning his decision to hang out the back of the appalling Duvall), I've made it a question of whether or not he helps or hinders the team as captain after this. Personally, I don't think it will help that every player will look at him and think, "You duplicitious ****." You disagree and that's fair enough. We shall agree to differ.

However, even though I haven't actually mentioned it in the column, in my eyes the behaviour of someone who sets himself up for profit as a role model is important. Obviously, I'm not going to start buying more hamburgers if John Terry tells me to, but depressingly there will be people out there who will.

It's the media's responsiblity to see through the ********. It was the same with the Tories back in the early 90s. Dressing Spanish actresses up in Chelsea kits wouldn't have been such an issue if they hadn't been telling us all to go 'back to basics' at the time.

 

[choggy]

Whatever people think about Terry on a personal level, the fact is that he is England's captain and in the eyes of millions of kids in this country who dream of playing and captaining the England football team is somebody to be looked up to, revered and admired.

I assume therefore that anybody who thinks that he should remain as England's captain condones sh*gging your team mate's missus as acceptable behaviour for such a role-model.

One thing that is beyong doubt though is Terry's altruistic view on sharing. Having won the 'Dad of the year award' he wanted to share it with as many different women as possible...

 

[Firestorm]

Interesting point. I backed the better player in both circumstances.

For me it is a footballing issue.

In both alleged cases you've got one integral player and one fringe player. If they can't work together I keep the integral player.

I think that is the difference, to me the morals override the football.

If sacking JT as England skipper makes people think more about the implications of their actions , then its worth the national side going out of the World cup quarter finals in 90 minutes as opposed to the enevitable last 8 exit on Penalties we can aspire to with JT in the team