Earlier this month somebody let a smoke grenade off at Chelsea’s training ground. The incident was widely reported in the press and the football club promised a “full and thorough” investigation into what had happened would take place.
Last week the results of that investigation was published and young midfielder Jacob Mellis was sacked after being identified as the man that committed the act. A fellow reserve, Billy Clifford, was fined for being the one that brought the grenade in.
I have absolutely no problem with either of these punishments. Quite frankly, if anyone let a smoke bomb off in their place of work they would be lucky to keep their jobs.
But then, you have to say that the same would apply if you shot a student with an air rifle too. So, you do have to wonder why Ashley Cole still plays for Chelsea if Mellis doesn’t and Clifford was disciplined.
The answer, of course, is that it’s far easier to sack a reserve teamer than it is an England International. Mellis, who is now on trial at Burnley, has previous experience of playing for Barnsley and Southampton has played for England at Under-16,17 and 19 levels, but he hasn’t played nearly 350 games in the Premier League and 93 times for his country like Cole has.
With all the off-field stuff that comes along with Cole, it is easy to forget that, whether you love him or hate him (and most people are in the latter group) Ashley Cole is a superb full back, perhaps one of England’s few genuine World Class players, but does this give him the right to behave in any way that he wants with no real consequences?
Maybe not, but if this particular turn of events is to be believed then it really does give that impression.
I mean, far be it from me to say that it is one rule for one and one for another, but it doesn’t half look like that. Perhaps its that culture that leads footballers like Cole, Mellis and Clifford to think they can behave in any way they choose, with no consequences.
I have no idea how much Mellis gets paid, but I will wager it’s a lot more than me, similarly Cifford signed a new four year deal last summer and although he remains in Chelsea’s reserve team you can bet he isn’t exactly poor either. As for Cole, this is the man who became public enemy number one in England (even in the days before he cheated on Cheryl Cole) for saying his £55,000 a week wages were an insult (if the bosses here would like to “insult” me with those types of pay packets they can feel free!)
The point I am making here is that we, the public, assume footballers are out of touch with reality. This is most probably grossly unfair, then something like this comes along and you think “no its not.”
Ashley Cole is probably thinking about letting a smoke bomb off right now, to see if he could get away with it – and I will bet you he would!
Last week the results of that investigation was published and young midfielder Jacob Mellis was sacked after being identified as the man that committed the act. A fellow reserve, Billy Clifford, was fined for being the one that brought the grenade in.
I have absolutely no problem with either of these punishments. Quite frankly, if anyone let a smoke bomb off in their place of work they would be lucky to keep their jobs.
But then, you have to say that the same would apply if you shot a student with an air rifle too. So, you do have to wonder why Ashley Cole still plays for Chelsea if Mellis doesn’t and Clifford was disciplined.
The answer, of course, is that it’s far easier to sack a reserve teamer than it is an England International. Mellis, who is now on trial at Burnley, has previous experience of playing for Barnsley and Southampton has played for England at Under-16,17 and 19 levels, but he hasn’t played nearly 350 games in the Premier League and 93 times for his country like Cole has.
With all the off-field stuff that comes along with Cole, it is easy to forget that, whether you love him or hate him (and most people are in the latter group) Ashley Cole is a superb full back, perhaps one of England’s few genuine World Class players, but does this give him the right to behave in any way that he wants with no real consequences?
Maybe not, but if this particular turn of events is to be believed then it really does give that impression.
I mean, far be it from me to say that it is one rule for one and one for another, but it doesn’t half look like that. Perhaps its that culture that leads footballers like Cole, Mellis and Clifford to think they can behave in any way they choose, with no consequences.
I have no idea how much Mellis gets paid, but I will wager it’s a lot more than me, similarly Cifford signed a new four year deal last summer and although he remains in Chelsea’s reserve team you can bet he isn’t exactly poor either. As for Cole, this is the man who became public enemy number one in England (even in the days before he cheated on Cheryl Cole) for saying his £55,000 a week wages were an insult (if the bosses here would like to “insult” me with those types of pay packets they can feel free!)
The point I am making here is that we, the public, assume footballers are out of touch with reality. This is most probably grossly unfair, then something like this comes along and you think “no its not.”
Ashley Cole is probably thinking about letting a smoke bomb off right now, to see if he could get away with it – and I will bet you he would!
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