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It's not just the fact that he slept with an ex team mates ex girlfriend - it's the fact that he (allegedly) got her pregnant and then paid for an abortion then tried to hush it all up via the courts. All added on top of a man caught parking in a disabled bay and making jokes about 9/11 leads me to believe he is a genuine asshat of the highest order.

whatwhat wrote:The issue isn't that he's some role model for kids and all that rubbish. It's that in almost every other industry besides sport this behavior gets you a suspension without pay and a "sort your life out" bollocking.

Different standards apply to different industries, and different companies. This shouldn't be surprising at all, nor should it be considered outrageous. Really, the latter just seems like a symptom of jealousy.

whatwhat wrote:
It also astounds me how some people in this thread think a player sleeping with his team mates ex partner and mother of their child should have no effect on his position as captain whatsoever.

You only need to point at Roy Keane (who admitted that he deliberately broke another players leg and ending their career, and is still thrown up as a "football legend) to see how ridiculously far football fans take their support of a person based on the fact they are a good player.

I'm guessing you don't have a lot of experience with athletics. None of what you're describing is unusual, or particularly damning; especially at the professional level. In the case of the alleged pregnancy issues captaincy should be withheld if the players themselves have a problem with what happened (though captaincy is far less relevant when professional athletes are concerned), but if there is no issue nothing should be done.

dogma wrote:

whatwhat wrote:The issue isn't that he's some role model for kids and all that rubbish. It's that in almost every other industry besides sport this behavior gets you a suspension without pay and a "sort your life out" bollocking.

Different standards apply to different industries, and different companies. This shouldn't be surprising at all, nor should it be considered outrageous. Really, the latter just seems like a symptom of jealousy.

Which industry is it where you can sleep with the mother of your co workers child, have another child with her and make her have it aborted, and then see no consequences?

And btw I never said the issue was mutually exclusive to football.

Edit: just to show my workings here... e=mc2, x=y+z, ((guy who got suspended for having an affair with co workers partner, made her pregnant and paid for abortion, being outraged when Jon Terry does the same and gets off scott free) = jealosy) = logic fail x10000to the power of jesus smegging christ.

whatwhat wrote:
Which industry is it where you can sleep with the mother of your co workers child, have another child with her and make her have it aborted, and then see no consequences?

Just about any industry. Why would an employer fire you for malfeasance outside the office which had no necessary impact on your ability to do your job? If anything your co-worker would be likely to see consequences for any action he took against you in the work place.

whatwhat wrote:
And btw I never said the issue was mutually exclusive to football.

You did imply it with the "only in football" line. Though you clearly weren't being literal, and I never indicated that you were.

whatwhat wrote:
Edit: just to show my workings here... e=mc2, x=y+z, ((guy who got suspended for having an affair with co workers partner, made her pregnant and paid for abortion, being outraged when Jon Terry does the same and gets off scott free) = jealosy) = logic fail x10000to the power of jesus smegging christ.

That's not a logic failure, by your equation jealousy seems like a perfectly valid emotional reaction; at least in the sense that it is used as a synonym for envy. If I am to infer that you did something similar to what Terry is alleged to have done, then I'm not sure what I'm supposed to draw from this other than a sense of umbrage at the fortune of another.

John Terry obviously thought people would consider it shameful behaviour or he would not have tried to get the super-injunction to hush it up.

Clearly, I'm not claiming that his actions weren't shameful. I'm only claiming that they don't require that his employers punish him.

Albatross wrote:I really don't give a gak what he gets up to in his spare time. I also don't care what my favourite musicians do in their spare time. Or my favourite authors. Or Jervis Johnson.
The only thing I'm interested in as far as these people are concerned, is what they do as a day job. John Terry is good footballer, bad person. Roger Waters is a good musician, but a total tosser. Who cares?

Wayne Bridge probably isn't going to get another game for England, so it's not such a big deal in footballing terms.

I find myself agreeing with you more and more Alb...



On a side note. Across the pond anything short of video taping yourself hanging and electrocuting puppies is fair game... If the man wants to be a tool its his right, I don't have to watch him or support him in anyway.

I argue his actions require his employers to punish him for bringing the game into disrepute. That is part of why he wanted the super-injunction.

That is a line of reasoning that's often used in professional sports; in fact certain leagues (the NBA in particular) are infamous for it. It isn't something that I agree with (the Charles Barkley quote "I am not a role model" comes to mind), but it is certainly a legitimate position.

Fifty wrote:Actually, as someone who works in an inner-city school where almost every young boy's sole aspiration is to be a professional footballer, I would say that most of them read the Sun, most of them watch Match of the Day and/or matches on TV,

Nothing to do with footballers, everything to do with bad parenting. The Sun is a tabloid newspaper with tits in it, and Match of The Day is on at 10:30PM at night.

Fifty wrote:and MANY of them emulate the same sort of behaviour they see from these stars in the school playground, during PE lessons and on Hackney Marshes. I occasionally help out with managing the teams on a Saturday morning at Hackney Marshes, and you cannot even begin to tell me that they do not learn their behaviour from watching football on TV.

Fine, but John Terry did NOT shag Wayne Bridges missus on the pitch, or force her to have an abortion there. To put it bluntly. Of course kids who play the game copy the on-pitch antics of players they admire, and as such the players should be aware that their on-pitch actions will be copied, and act accordingly. But their private lives? No-ones business but their own.

Fifty wrote:As for comparing this argument to computer games, it is NOT the same. Even if you dismiss the view that computer games have some effect on children, this is different as it is REAL people, not virtual people. Many of the kids I teach are also from one-parent families. Their male role models in real life are often gang members and thugs, and the role models they aspite to are these footballers. When they act as thugs, they DO inspire young people to act the same way.

Well, I'm from a one parent family and come from one of the most deprived areas in the country - I'm not a thug. Personal choice has a part to play, after all. My point was that it's not just a simple case of 'kids see a footballer acting immorally and will copy him'. Such simplistic arguments are used by critics of violent computer games. What would make a kid want to emulate John Terry in this instance? I take your point about ON-PITCH behavior, but kids should not be aware of such concepts as 'having an affair' and 'abortion' at a young enough age that their sense of right and wrong is not fully developed. My 6 year old lad wouldn't have a clue what either term meant.

Keyasa wrote:Just want to know some other opinions on John Terry after the recent uproar/media frenzy/tabloid mayhem.

For those who don't know he is a Chelsea football player, England captain, and on something in the region of £170,000 per week (high even for a football player).

He has also got the girlfriend (now ex-girlfriend) of an ex-team mate pregnant during an affair and arranged for her to have an abortion, if the tabloids can be believed.

So- with the World Cup only just around the corner, is he still the man to lead England to glory? Or should he be stripped of the captaincy?

Several sports personalities today (mostly on the radio) still call him a great leader, a man of integrity, a role model on the field, and we shouldn't judge him for his off-field transgressions.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

doesn't matter, the Brasilian National Diving Team will win.

Down in Oz athletes, and particularly Aussie rules Footballers, are expected to be the moral paragons of society.

One of the captains was fined ten grand last year for getting drunk at the awards night, and he lost his spot on a sports discussion TV show.

A mate of mine was recently accepted into the professional league, and the Club phoned our old English teacher to check his moral character, particularly around girls.

Can't really blame the clubs though, they deliberately market themselves to kids with those footy cards so they have to set a good standard.

I always thought John Terry was a gakker, and reading details of this story as they have emerged just confirmed that hypothesis.

dogma wrote:
Just about any industry. Why would an employer fire you for malfeasance outside the office which had no necessary impact on your ability to do your job? If anything your co-worker would be likely to see consequences for any action he took against you in the work place.

Didn't Andy Chambers get fired for (allegedly) sleeping with another Studio member's wife?

Just saying it is best not to generalise - I think a lot of employers would look down very seriously at these sorts of shenanigans even if they are out of work time, they still affect workplace harmony and productivity.

True, though in my opinion they shouldn't.

But I'm a heartless SOB, so your mileage may vary.

Terry was loudly booed every time he got near the ball last night.

He also scored.

He did at the weekend - not last night tho, Drogba free kick

Keyasa wrote:Just want to know some other opinions on John Terry after the recent uproar/media frenzy/tabloid mayhem.

For those who don't know he is a Chelsea football player, England captain, and on something in the region of £170,000 per week (high even for a football player).

He has also got the girlfriend (now ex-girlfriend) of an ex-team mate pregnant during an affair and arranged for her to have an abortion, if the tabloids can be believed.

So- with the World Cup only just around the corner, is he still the man to lead England to glory? Or should he be stripped of the captaincy?

Several sports personalities today (mostly on the radio) still call him a great leader, a man of integrity, a role model on the field, and we shouldn't judge him for his off-field transgressions.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I say let the team decide. Obviously they would have just cause to not want to play with him. If they're still capable of playing as a team then all he has to worry about is being booed off the field. And if that's going to happen... then let it happen. By the sound of it, he deserves the humiliation.

Yes, bad call by Terry, but let's face it, there aren't many virtuous footballers to replace him as captain. Cheating on your WAG is practically a requirement for England selection.

filbert wrote:He did at the weekend - not last night tho, Drogba free kick

Aye, right you are - I didn't read the post properly, and thought he meant the other day.

Still though.....

I won't dispute the fact that Terry's behaviour was less-than-ideal, to say the least, but I'm going to stick my neck out and venture that he is, at heart, a nice guy (can't believe I just said that).

What you have to understand is that these guys get pampered and talked up so much that their egos can't help but blow through the roof. I'm guessing that when everyone fawns over you, it tends to make your morals go iffy because you start thinking of yourself as superhuman. This is also why short athletes are the worst c*@#s imaginable