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Brands: JLINGZ, JJO, Fierce, AM9, JM8, Paul Pogba Collection

Ronaldo's ego

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Perform on the pitch, nobody cares what you do off it. Play like shite and everything you do in life is magnified. Hence all the questioning of these players’ personal life choices and goings on. This is part of playing for a huge club like Manchester United, they all know it.

The problem I have here is some of them don’t seem embarrassed by their performances and shamelessly use the exposure they get at United for personal gain
 

Isotope

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Players can do whatever the feck they want to do with their time and money (even banging hookers). But as a fan, I have the right to moan if they don't perform or the team is in a mess (and they're part of it).
 

McGrathsipan

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They dont care about United.
If they put in As muxh effort on the pitch then maybe things would be better
 

hungrywing

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It’s like Conor McGregor shit. Their personal managers/agents sign deals with 3rd parties to use their name.

I don’t mind players doing things on the side as the wages and time on the field isn’t guaranteed - but they get advised by their marketing team to post at certain times to their targeted market - and build their reputation. These people don’t give a feck about the footballing side, so ill timed tweets/posts always come.

But the club is your day job and number 1. There has to be a balance and respect there - even an agreement to not do sponsored or self publishing posts during a period of games. It’s becoming a farce.

The worst one in history though was Phil Jones branded “PJ5” post on the anniversary of the Munich air disaster. Prick should have been fecked out of the club there and then.
Bolded part answers OP's question about why/how this happens at all. BTW the agent/agency also gets a cut of the sales.
 

hungrywing

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Getting your face on the FIFA cover and starting your own clothing company are two very different ventures.
Only in size/scale not in principle. Obviously the stature of the athlete in question matters.

Kind of sort of pretty sure that's what's going on seeing as how it's sort of standard practice. The agents/agencies offer to help 'cross-pollinate' and 'cultivate your brandscape' and to 'synergize revenue streams' etc. And as you pointed out, some players aren't big enough to really make it viable (it's still offered/left on the table for the future), others opt out, etc.

If Lingard started his clothing line himself without any outside input at all then who knows.
 

Ibrahimorich

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My opinion is if you are someone who has proven to be a quality player and achieved plenty like Zlatan, Ronaldo, Beckham, etc. Then go for it because you've earned a brand and your football is well on track as you are established.

The likes of Lingard, Lukaku, Pogba, etc. They aren't established great players (maybe Pogba)- even good players in Lingards case, achieve on the pitch first for feck sake.

Pogba has achieved but I still think it's too early for him.
Yea, I can agree with that. Prove yourself as a world-level athlete/footballer first. That's what you're paid for.
 

MackRobinson

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No, as I've already said, it doesn't really bother me that they have outside interests. I think I would probably have an outside venture if I were a professional footballer because there's no reason why I wouldn't want to experience another work environment and have a productive escape. However, what I don't understand is the business sense it makes to do something like a clothing line. Let's break it down for a second and look at the details:

Target audience:

I support Manchester United and I support Jesse Lingard when he plays for United. Would I buy a United shirt? Depends on the design. Would I get Lingard's name on the back? No way. Would I buy a JLINGZ hoody? Feck no.

I'm obviously not the target demographic but who is? I don't know any United fan (with the exception of one and if he wasn't family I wouldn't speak to him) who would even get Lingard's name on the back of their United shirt.

So what about rival fans? Just because I wouldn't wear a WALCOTTZ hoody doesn't mean someone else who isn't an Everton fan wouldn't but would you? I mean, even if they had great 'bantz' on social media I still would give it a miss.

No one but their mothers are shelling out for this merch. Which begs the question, who are they doing this for? Their ego? Self indulgence? It's undoubtedly costing them money to own a clothing company. Zlatan's closed last summer due to massive losses, and he's Zlatan.

Price point:

JLINGZ sell mens hoodies at £45 per hoody and kids at £35 per hoody. At that price they're at the high end of the market, completely alienating the average person who works for minimum wage.

To reiterate my previous point, who is going to pay Jesse Lingard, a footballing millionaire who moonwalks at the Emirates £45 to wear one of his hoodies?

Image:

Because Lingard has made himself the face of this clothing brand, its success is largely dependant on how well he does on the football field. He would have had much more success if he didn't plaster his face and name all over everything, at least then you would have a larger target audience. What happens if United sell him in the next couple of seasons? Will people still want JLINGZ clothing while he's playing at newly promoted Stoke?

It's all this that baffles me in all honesty. He's either incredibly naive and has been ill advised by some very deceptive people who are taking him for a spin or his ego is literally out of control to think he could go where no footballer has ever gone before and cross that divide between rivalries with some over priced, brightly coloured hoodies because he gets likes on Instagram. I'm picking on Jesse Lingard here but a lot of this applies to all of them also.

I feel sorry for him if it's the first one because it must be difficult being young, rich and famous, but if it's the second one I want them out of my club, today.
You have no idea about running a apparel business.
You have no idea about the balance sheet of Lingard's clothing line.
You have no idea about what type of contracts his brand has negotiated.
You have no idea about the long term vision of his brand.

You wrote 9 paragraphs about something you have absolutely no knowledge about. Congrats.
 

MackRobinson

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There is rarely a case where celebrity branding, especially those with deep allegiances to a particular club or organisation are successful in these things. I would say it's ill advised ego inflating ventures.
Tbh I wasn’t fully aware of these before now, and it’s embarrassing and wrong. I fully agree with what Keane says. You’re a professional footballer getting millions every year, get your head down and focus on the game for the 12 odd years you’re at it and then afterwards you can do your business ventures.
It’s totally wrong, and these lads are underperforming players in a team that comes 6th in the league.
So much wrong with the modern game.
If I was ole, I would be binning all these lads and getting in serious competitors.
The Sanchez one, oh my god.
To me it's ridiculous. Their only focus in life should be being the best footballer they can be. Frankly I'd be embarrassed to be doing any of this "extra-curricular" activity given the shit performances this lot have been putting in, week-in week-out. Just goes to show the size of their egos and how detached from reality they are.
For me it tells me a couple of things;

A) These players think they are/want to be celebrities

B) These players believe they have made it to the point where sticking their name on a piece of tat will see it fly off the shelves

As per, the usual posters who totally miss the point have popped up defending them
I mean this in the most respectful way: You all and others in this thread who share your views can eat shite as far as I'm concerned.

You have young men who have worked hard to be in the position they are in now, in a career that is much shorter and fleeting than most, trying to invest their money in ventures outside of football and you have dim-witted, low-life fans slating them for doing such. What world we live in.

It's one thing to wish they would put their money into more sound investments (ie. real estate) but it's another thing, and frankly absurd, to suggest they shouldn't do this unless they are good enough.

Moan all you want about what I am about to say next, but of course the critiques are primarily targeting young men of color. A lot these men were raised in less than ideal situations and here they are trying better themselves and their families outside of the pitch and build something sustainable yet you have uninformed, basement-dwelling muppets thinking they should have to "wait until they are good enough" or accuse them "of using United" as if United doesn't make gobs of money from selling their names on the back of the shirts.

You guys remind me of the clowns who criticized Lebron James for firing his agent to hire his high school friend and starting his own marketing company. Imagine if he would have listened to those know-nothings...

With that said, I'm glad most people in the thread realize this isn't an issue.
 

TMDaines

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Moan all you want about what I am about to say next, but of course the critiques are primarily targeting young men of color. A lot these men were raised in less than ideal situations and here they are trying better themselves and their families outside of the pitch and build something sustainable yet you have uninformed, basement-dwelling muppets thinking they should have to "wait until they are good enough" or accuse them "of using United" as if United doesn't make gobs of money from selling their names on the back of the shirts.
I'm glad you said it. I've deleted the couple of posts I drafted for this thread about the negative comments in this thread being a majority of white posters wanting to knock down people of colour.
 

yumtum

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Only took 7 pages for it to become racist to start this thread. 2019.
 

GifLord

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I mean this in the most respectful way: You all and others in this thread who share your views can eat shite as far as I'm concerned.

You have young men who have worked hard to be in the position they are in now, in a career that is much shorter and fleeting than most, trying to invest their money in ventures outside of football and you have dim-witted, low-life fans slating them for doing such. What world we live in.

It's one thing to wish they would put their money into more sound investments (ie. real estate) but it's another thing, and frankly absurd, to suggest they shouldn't do this unless they are good enough.

Moan all you want about what I am about to say next, but of course the critiques are primarily targeting young men of color. A lot these men were raised in less than ideal situations and here they are trying better themselves and their families outside of the pitch and build something sustainable yet you have uninformed, basement-dwelling muppets thinking they should have to "wait until they are good enough" or accuse them "of using United" as if United doesn't make gobs of money from selling their names on the back of the shirts.

You guys remind me of the clowns who criticized Lebron James for firing his agent to hire his high school friend and starting his own marketing company.
Imagine if he would have listened to those know-nothings...

With that said, I'm glad most people in the thread realize this isn't an issue.
Lebron James is a world superstar. What is Jessie Lingard? A footballer playing for Man Utd. Is he a world renowned footballer? What is he good at? World class at running and positional play > Thats RAWK level coming from Red Cafe.
 

Reddy Rederson

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I'm glad you said it. I've deleted the couple of posts I drafted for this thread about the negative comments in this thread being a majority of white posters wanting to knock down people of colour.
Perhaps the reason you didnt post it, is because you know its bullshit. Jesse lingard is a fecking idiot, who looks and dresses like a fecking idiot. The fact hes black has feck all to do with it. Hes 27 years old and acts like hes a world class footballer thats got nothing else to prove. In what fecking universe is that shit not going to get called out???

Anyone who says this is a race issue, is a straight up, hardcore wum.
 

0le

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You have no idea about running a apparel business.
You have no idea about the balance sheet of Lingard's clothing line.
You have no idea about what type of contracts his brand has negotiated.
You have no idea about the long term vision of his brand.

You wrote 9 paragraphs about something you have absolutely no knowledge about. Congrats.
You have no idea what goes on behind the scenes at United. You have no idea about how to run a football club. Yet I can bet a substantial amout of money that the majority of your 9000 posts are therefore about a subject you have absolutely no knowledge about. "Congrats". Just because we don't know precisely the details behind the scenes, does not mean someone cannot form an opinion. And yes, it can still be an informed opinion by using publically available data and observation - just as fans watch games. If this were not the case, redcafe would not exist and personally I dunno what the feck I would do ;)
 

Keeps It tidy

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Lebron James is a world superstar. What is Jessie Lingard? A footballer playing for Man Utd. Is he a world renowned footballer? What is he good at? World class at running and positional play > Thats RAWK level coming from Red Cafe.
Jesse Lingard plays for arguably the biggest club around the World and one of the biggest national teams. He is a global figure.
 

MackRobinson

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You have no idea what goes on behind the scenes at United. You have no idea about how to run a football club. Yet I can bet a substantial amout of money that the majority of your 9000 posts are therefore about a subject you have absolutely no knowledge about. "Congrats". Just because we don't know precisely the details behind the scenes, does not mean someone cannot form an opinion. And yes, it can still be an informed opinion by using publically available data and observation - just as fans watch games. If this were not the case, redcafe would not exist and personally I dunno what the feck I would do ;)
Where did the rest of my 8300+ posts go?

Why would you want to form an opinion based on the personal life of player? I find that strange.
 

MackRobinson

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Lebron James is a world superstar. What is Jessie Lingard? A footballer playing for Man Utd. Is he a world renowned footballer? What is he good at? World class at running and positional play > Thats RAWK level coming from Red Cafe.
Why does a player need to be great to diversify his income streams or have different interests?
 

mu4c_20le

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As someone said, none of this would matter if we were winning or if they are scoring goals, and I doubt they are taking time out of their training to manage their brands. Most of them let their PR people run their accounts anyways.
 

Nordskog

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I don't see the problem with players having businesses outside of football. I think it should be celebrated that they're investing their attention outside of football into something healthy. I would find it more of a concern if a player's thinking about football 24/7 and not freeing their mind of it outside their duties. Now, it's a different matter if a player's training standards are not up to par because their outside business is interfering with the football side of things, but we have no evidence of that. I can't imagine that Lingard is missing easy shots on goal because he's thinking about next year's fashion line for JLingz, it's probably because he's not very good.
 

normalone

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Perform on the pitch, nobody cares what you do off it. Play like shite and everything you do in life is magnified. Hence all the questioning of these players’ personal life choices and goings on. This is part of playing for a huge club like Manchester United, they all know it.

The problem I have here is some of them don’t seem embarrassed by their performances and shamelessly use the exposure they get at United for personal gain
couldn't have said it better myself
 

shamans

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Don't care. It's not our job to babysit players. If you can do it on the pitch you can do whatever you want off it.

I wouldn't be criticizing these players less if they didn't have brands. If you're crap you're crap.
 

Loublaze

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Perform on the pitch, nobody cares what you do off it. Play like shite and everything you do in life is magnified. Hence all the questioning of these players’ personal life choices and goings on. This is part of playing for a huge club like Manchester United, they all know it.

The problem I have here is some of them don’t seem embarrassed by their performances and shamelessly use the exposure they get at United for personal gain
They've earned the right to use that exposure for anything within the realm of legality. Should they cease to pursue other interests just because the club is going through a bad time?
 

GifLord

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They've earned the right to use that exposure for anything within the realm of legality. Should they cease to pursue other interests just because the club is going through a bad time?
What have they earned? They should be lucky they're anywhere near a first team at Utd yet they have the decency to create a fecking brand. Imagine fecking Lucas Vazquez creating his own brand while Real win shit all for years to come.
We are a laughing stock yet some fans here think there's nothing wrong if these wannabe posers have their own brands while their football level suffers. The last time Jesse Lingard was relevant for Utd was in January when he scored against Arsenal in a cup tie. He's such an amazing players that fecking Adam Johnson who's been in prison for 3 years still has more assists in the last 6 years than Lingard. And this is the mediocrity we reward with 130k per week. I'm seriously done with these pricks because they're the reason why were so shiit.
 

redcafe_reader

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Moan all you want about what I am about to say next, but of course the critiques are primarily targeting young men of color.
I'm glad you said it. I've deleted the couple of posts I drafted for this thread about the negative comments in this thread being a majority of white posters wanting to knock down people of colour.
I am sorry but what the hell are these? I will be the first to blame McTominay if he start his own clothing line. Our first team are mostly non white, and they are playing like shit. Do I have to wait until we sign a couple of white player (which also have a clothing line) to start talking about this topic? When Garry Neville and Roy Keane talk about how Lingard should not getting distracted by his clothing line ahead of the match again Liverpool, they are also "white people" that want to knock down "people of colour"?

Let say Andy Carroll start his clothing line after failing at Liverpool, do you think people will not make fun about that?

And I am an Asian live in a third world country, not sure why I have to state that but may be just so you can't use the "white poster" to disregard my whole post.

There are racisms in football, but this is not it.
 
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purgethefallen

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I'm glad you said it. I've deleted the couple of posts I drafted for this thread about the negative comments in this thread being a majority of white posters wanting to knock down people of colour.
Why is everything with you about race?

Is it because that's the only argument you can come up with?
 

calodo2003

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Looking at Marcus there I am not sure Jesse is such a good influence on him. Marcus always seemed a sensible level headed lad, now he looks an arrogant prat.
Agreed. Can’t stand people who wear fake eyeglasses as a statement of erudition.
 

Alabaster Codify7

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Our 'Club' is the laughing stock of world football. And things like this add to it. A bunch of midtable calibre footballers releasing bling bling clothing lines while earning 100s of K a week to finish 5th/6th almost every season.

And yeah,we are the laughing stock of world football. Im in South America and in Brazil and even Paraguay,right now, locals laugh&joke when I tell them I'm a United fan.

The world literally cannot believe whats happened to us
 

ayushreddevil9

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They've earned the right to use that exposure for anything within the realm of legality. Should they cease to pursue other interests just because the club is going through a bad time?
Don't you think it's because of their shitty performances week-in week-out the club is going through a bad time? They are famous because of the club and its their responsibility to put it back on top!

Look, I am not against them starting their clothing line or whatever. Do whatever you want off the pitch but show improvement on on-pitch performances. I am unable to see that for like 2-3 seasons now so someone has to take blame. Also I don't like them promoting their shite on the eve of most important games(Lingard) or after big defeats(Sanchez). These guys haven't achieved anything worthy of note for the club but it appears as if they have made it in life. People cite Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar as examples but look how much they strive for excellence. You can't compare them to players like Rashford and Lingard.
 

Ibi Dreams

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I wonder if other big teams have as many players with their own brands as we do.

I think my main issue with it is that their brands are shit and they're only able to do it because they are multi-millionaires. I am quite sure that none of them have any talent or expertise regarding their products, which they are presumably selling at ludicrous mark ups. Just self indulgent consumerism
 

crossy1686

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You have no idea about running a apparel business.
You have no idea about the balance sheet of Lingard's clothing line.
You have no idea about what type of contracts his brand has negotiated.
You have no idea about the long term vision of his brand.

You wrote 9 paragraphs about something you have absolutely no knowledge about. Congrats.
:lol: State of this.

Come on then expert, what experience do you have?

I mean this in the most respectful way: You all and others in this thread who share your views can eat shite as far as I'm concerned.

You have young men who have worked hard to be in the position they are in now, in a career that is much shorter and fleeting than most, trying to invest their money in ventures outside of football and you have dim-witted, low-life fans slating them for doing such. What world we live in.

It's one thing to wish they would put their money into more sound investments (ie. real estate) but it's another thing, and frankly absurd, to suggest they shouldn't do this unless they are good enough.

Moan all you want about what I am about to say next, but of course the critiques are primarily targeting young men of color. A lot these men were raised in less than ideal situations and here they are trying better themselves and their families outside of the pitch and build something sustainable yet you have uninformed, basement-dwelling muppets thinking they should have to "wait until they are good enough" or accuse them "of using United" as if United doesn't make gobs of money from selling their names on the back of the shirts.

You guys remind me of the clowns who criticized Lebron James for firing his agent to hire his high school friend and starting his own marketing company. Imagine if he would have listened to those know-nothings...

With that said, I'm glad most people in the thread realize this isn't an issue.
Personally, as I've said before, I have no issue with anyone having an outside business venture, not an issue for me at all.

I'm simply asking what business sense it makes to start a clothing line when you're a squad player for Manchester United. Let's take Zlatan as an example, here, have a read of this: https://news.sky.com/story/zlatan-ibrahimovics-a-z-clothing-line-closes-after-18m-loss-11479708

Now come back and tell me why you think JLINGZ will be successful. As a United fan, are you going to buy any of his clothing? We've already established that most people in here wouldn't touch it, so who is?

The bolded part is absolute bollocks of the highest order but nothing more than I would expect from a North American who's culture focuses on race and see's everything as a race issue. In fact, I didn't even realise that most of our brand owners were coloured lads until you pointed it out, probably the same for most in here. However, how do you explain Tom Cleverly's brand TC23? We were obviously all happy for him, being a privileged middle class white lad and all...

Also, literally no one cares about Lebron James or what he does but at least he didn't start a clothing line...
 
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crossy1686

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I'm glad you said it. I've deleted the couple of posts I drafted for this thread about the negative comments in this thread being a majority of white posters wanting to knock down people of colour.
Yeah you nailed it, we all love Tom Cleverly's brand TC23 and we all bought his stuff. So empowering to see middle class privileged white lads becoming independent business owners...

You can tell when the American's wake up and log on, the post quality takes a massive downturn. Must be difficult to get through life being obsessed with race...
 

kouroux

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None of us would give a shit if they played for a successful football team. And plenty of players that play for successful football teams have similar business ventures. So yeah, this is a complete non-issue.
I agree with this. We can only attest to what we see on the pitch and hear from media outlets but the idea of this thread is a bit disturbing to me.
What they do off the pitch, as long as it doesn't impact United negatively, I couldn't care less. Yes they're not performing well and it's frustrating but they have the freedom to do what they want.
 

horsechoker

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To be honest, will anyone buy their stuff if they're considered mediocre footballers?


Would anyone buy Jordan merchandise if he was just an average basketball player?
 

Jeppers7

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Im actually surprised how little Pogba does outside of football. You’d think he had his own clothing line, cologne and music company the way he gets portrayed in the media. In truth he does little outside of Adidas, he doesn’t even post on Instagram that often.