Loyalty does it exist in Sport.

[SAred]

So with Messi jumping a sinking ship and Paul awaiting his nice fat payday does Loyalty exist or did it ever exist in Football?

 

[gorky_utd]

Don't know about old days. But the answer for present day is simple no.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Entities aren't eternally loyal to the people they employ so why should employees be ridiculously loyal to entities?

 

[Norris Cole]

I think it's a bit unfair to accuse Messi of jumping ship. He accepted a hefty pay cut according to reports.

 

[edcunited1878]

Loyalty exists in sport, of course it does. But when you have to factor in such insane and illogical financial outlays (i.e. Messi and Barcelona's wage spend), then it's much more than just "loyalty".

 

[ThierryHenry14]

Why players need to loyal to the club and vice versa? It is just a job. there are people can't even loyal to their partners.

 

[M Bison]

The Scholes quote of buying the club if they wanted him would say so historically and Vardy is probably the most recent example.

Grealish is a good example too tbf, I realise he’s moved clubs but he’s gone about it in a good way and will be fondly remembered for his attitudes and approach.

 

[RedRob]

The Scholes quote of buying the club if they wanted him would say so historically and Vardy is probably the most recent example.

Grealish is a good example too tbf, I realise he’s moved clubs but he’s gone about it in a good way and will be fondly remembered for his attitudes and approach.

Grealish switched national allegiances after representing Ireland at U21 level. He's a dreadful example of loyalty in football.

 

[RedDevil@84]

So with Messi jumping a sinking ship and Paul awaiting his nice fat payday does Loyalty exist or did it ever exist in Football?

No. It should not exist. At the end of the day, it is a job. The clubs would throw away the player when they are deemed not at the top anymore. And the fans can't wait for a player to have a dip in form, before they come with their daggers out. So it makes logical sense that players look after themselves and maximize their profits in the limited time that they have at the top.

 

[Oddboy]

Punctuation does it exist in thread titles.

 

[DannyDee]

Very rare cases such as Le Tissier. Paul Scholes is probably my favourite player of all time. But, do you think he, Gary Neville and Giggs are sticking around for 15-20 years if we are finishing between 4-10 most years and have the wages that represent that? Same with Terry at Chelsea. Elite players have the ambition to reach the pinnacle of their sport, on top of wanting compensations representative of their place in the game.

 

[OleBoiii]

These players ain't loyal.

Honestly, though: why should we expect loyalty? The clubs are equally ruthless.

 

[izec]

Messi got booted out by Barca, because they cant afford him, not the other way around.

It does exist, but it is rare nowadays, as money is bigger than loyalty.

 

[TheReligion]

Punctuation does it exist in thread titles.

Punctuation. Does it exist on RedCafe?

 

[Crustanoid]

Grealish switched national allegiances after representing Ireland at U21 level. He's a dreadful example of loyalty in football.

Probably the worst one of the modern era. Reports suggest he has a Maradona hand of God poster on his bedroom wall. Despicable

 

[Zen]

Messi got booted out by Barca, because they cant afford him, not the other way around.

It does exist, but it is rare nowadays, as money is bigger than loyalty.

Yes but loyalty is playing for a pittance y'know?

We're so unbelievably obsessed with winning that it must play a massive part in players mind, the days of Shearer/Le Tiss winning very little/nothing but getting the praise they deserve is over. Money too, all parties want a chunk of that massive wonga on the table.

Kane would be a Spurs lifer if he played in Shearer's era.... and Shearer and Le Tiss would both of moved in this era.

 

[Ish]

Entities aren't eternally loyal to the people they employ so why should employees be ridiculously loyal to entities?

This.

 

[EngimaMK]

Entities aren't eternally loyal to the people they employ so why should employees be ridiculously loyal to entities?

They aren't simple entities though are they? They are football clubs which have a lot more emotional attachment to them than the average brand.

Look at Alan Shearer and Newcastle. He stayed a legend there (and still a multi millionaire) because of his loyalty

 

[pascell]

Players moving as free agents will become the norm. It means more money for them, rather than the club.

 

[RedDevilzFox]

Goes both ways and clubs are plenty ruthless when it suits them.

 

[acolyte]

It's just a job, even for the ones who came through their club's academy. I'm loyal to my employer because they've been good to me and it's a comfortable job for reasonable pay. If any of those things were to change, you bet I'd be looking around and making some calls. Why should it be different for footballers? If one was promised a title winning project and instead got a few years of rebuilding with no trophies in sight, or another deserves to be highly paid but the club won't offer him what he's worth, why should the footballer stick around? It's all about achieving professional and personal goals isn't it?

This doesn't even touch on the imbalance in how clubs treat players. At most top clubs, if you don't make the cut they'll dump you without a second thought (not our club though, our charity cases have a job for life). Just look at that City youth player who took his own life if you want to see the toll this has on players.

To boil it down to just "loyalty" is so simplistic, it's embarrassing.

 

[JPRouve]

As a rule? No.

Player rarely play for the club they actually support and they rarely play for only one club in their career. Clubs don't stick with their players, most academy players aren't offered professional contracts, clubs are perfectly happy to puch underperforming players out and they are also perfectly happy to upgrade a position and get rid of the current players even if they are performing at a decent level.
There are examples of loyalty were a player doesn't move despite the fact that he could win or earn more somewhere else but it's rare. I don't really know an example of a club sticking with a player for loyalty reasons.

 

[Grylte]

Of course it does, just look at Phil Jones

 

[Ralph1386]

Messi got booted out by Barca, because they cant afford him, not the other way around.

He didn’t get booted out by Barca, they were in perfect agreement. The problem is with LaLiga.

 

[DoneDaDa]

Nope, as mentioned in this thread players already hardly play for clubs they supported plenty of examples out there. Its also clubs and fans aren’t loyal to players either we only support them because they deliver for us, for example if Messi was an average player would the club and people support him as much? No. There are cases of players being loyal, but it’s not the norm and shouldn’t be looked down by people.

 

[Andycoleno9]

No. And it should not exist. Because....it is a job/career for players.

 

[Tom Cato]

So with Messi jumping a sinking ship and Paul awaiting his nice fat payday does Loyalty exist or did it ever exist in Football?

Marcus Rashford seems like a loyal lad. Scott McTominay, Mason Greenwood, both classic future career-Manchester United players.

Leo Messi HAVE to leave Barcelona, they can't afford to sign him even if he slashes his wages 80% due to Barcelona not being compliant with FFP with Messi on the books. Honestly, he's been plenty loyal and only expressed a desire to move on when he got shafted by Bartomeu.

Giorgio Chiellini of Juventus has been at the club for 16 years.

I could go on but you get the idea. There is plenty of extremely loyal players in football. They are of course not the majority, but the only players that can even be afforded the luxury of being loyal players, are players that are either: Managing to be so good for so long they are integral and absolutely indespensible for the club, or... no, actually just that. Everyone else are very much for sale for the right money.

 

[Hansi Fick]

Is this a serious thread? Surely not.

If it is, the answer is: yes. Loyalty exists in sport. Just as everything else exists in sports that exists everywhere else.

 

[Martial'sEmergingSmile]

All the posts of 'just a job' or pointing out the employer/employee relationship are ignoring the whole reason for football's popularity: the inherent tribal nature of the sport.

None of us would be on a United forum if we truly felt that a football club is just a business with employees - even if, logically, that's ultimately what it is. If supporters didn't put an unreasonable amount of emotion, passion and loyalty into 'Our Club', the sport wouldn't be a multi-billion pound industry.

It's kayfabe. Football is as important as you believe it is...hence why we almost all gravitate to players who make it feel real. The ones who leave everything on the pitch, who look like they're genuinely hurting when we lose and are overjoyed when we win. Players like Keane, Rafael, Rooney. Bruno and Cavani in the current squad.

I do think football has lost some of that kayfabe the more they try to gloss it up for the social media era. It's become notably more manufactured and sterile in recent years. I don't think modern football will ever again see things like Ali Dia, Odemwingie in his car, Phil Brown sitting his Hull team down on the Emirates pitch, Delia Smith drunkenly screaming at supporters. We barely even see real rivalries anymore. The 'product' is way too polished for that. We don't even get 'shut up u egg, i'll put u to sleep in 5 seconds' Twitter posts...there's maybe three players in our entire squad who manage their own accounts.

With the loss of kayfabe, I think it's natural that we're seeing less loyalty in players. If they don't have belief in football tribalism - that the team they're playing for is Their Team - then what reason is there to be loyal? Just go to whatever club is paying you the most, winning the most, or has the nicest weather depending on your priorities.

tl;dr It's still real to me damnit...but not so much for a big chunk of players

 

[Kevin]

Others have said it but clubs treat players like kettle, 99.99 percent of the times when the player is not up to it they get rid. The majority of the supporters will completely rewrite history or turn on a player once his form dips for a prolonged period of time and anything will be painted in a negative light to suit that narrative of getting rid of the player. These same people feel ENTITLED to loyalty of actual useful and good players and sit on their high horses once said player wants away. Don’t act like you haven’t seen it happen (for example on here) before. There is a huge lack of self awareness on earth unfortunately.

If players find that the club is not up to their own ambitions anymore then players get rid of the club. Fair.

 

[EngimaMK]

Look at someone like Rafael or Evra... They never grew up supporting United but if we hit the skids when they were here, they're the kind of guys that would do what it took to help United. Loyalty does exist, it's just becoming rarer.

Messi could easily have dropped down to a reasonable 300k per week to help his club and still be happily rich enough. I've always suspected that despite his nice guy image, he was a money hungry little fecker. This just proves it.

 

[ThierryHenry14]

Look at someone like Rafael or Evra... They never grew up supporting United but if we hit the skids when they were here, they're the kind of guys that would do what it took to help United. Loyalty does exist, it's just becoming rarer.

Messi could easily have dropped down to a reasonable 300k per week to help his club and still be happily rich enough. I've always suspected that despite his nice guy image, he was a money hungry little fecker. This just proves it.

Even Messi's salary is $1 Barca still can't register him.

 

[RedDevilzFox]

Look at someone like Rafael or Evra... They never grew up supporting United but if we hit the skids when they were here, they're the kind of guys that would do what it took to help United. Loyalty does exist, it's just becoming rarer.

Messi could easily have dropped down to a reasonable 300k per week to help his club and still be happily rich enough. I've always suspected that despite his nice guy image, he was a money hungry little fecker. This just proves it.

That's incredibly naive.

10 years ago, I know I was debating people who were swearing up and down that Messi would never leave Barcelona and would finish his career there. And here we are.

 

[Lay]

Look at someone like Rafael or Evra... They never grew up supporting United but if we hit the skids when they were here, they're the kind of guys that would do what it took to help United. Loyalty does exist, it's just becoming rarer.

Messi could easily have dropped down to a reasonable 300k per week to help his club and still be happily rich enough. I've always suspected that despite his nice guy image, he was a money hungry little fecker. This just proves it.

You can be money hungry and still be a nice guy, no?

 

[SmashedHombre]

Footballers have far too much power, and it's only going to get worse.

 

[Lj82]

Players changing clubs does not always equate to lack of loyalty. It is strange to demand that players remain "loyal" to the club when fans are more than willing to ditch players after a patch of poor performances. I rather judge players on how professional they are

 

[littleman]

I think ultimately on this board and on most football forums, loyalty is really about transfers or a lack of it.

It doesn't matter if a player is performing to their best, prioritizing football over their personal lives/indulgence, justifying their pay etc. Those don't get considered when thinking about loyalty. Would you think about Jones as loyal or disloyal when he hasn't played much? What about Rooney for declining quickly and not taking care of his body? Or what about Martial being lazy on the field?

When it all boils down to transfers, the question really comes down to whether a player stays with the club despite (a) having better choices elsewhere (b) the club wanting to keep him. Of course, there are great players who clubs are excited to sell to make a profit.

In football when talking about "loyalty", it all boils down to whether a player stays despite being able to move elsewhere on better terms. We also often discount the club's role in the perception of loyalty. If Bruno is paid 150k GBP and Bayern wants him for 250k GBP, and MUFC can but does not want to pay him that money, we start screaming disloyalty.

That is, in football, we virtually care only about one-way loyalty. No matter how much a club disrespects a player behind the scenes by underpaying him, not matching the player with the right teammates or anything like that.. we the fans often don't care and it just boils down to are they staying or not.

To be honest, I don't give much of a shit about this dumb concept of loyalty. It's a fairly free market with some regulations, and in the major markets everyone enters into contracts willingly.

There's some outright mercenaries out there like Anelka or Di Maria, but otherwise everyone's just making a living and doing what's best for themselves -- clubs included.

 

[acolyte]

Footballers have far too much power, and it's only going to get worse.

I'd rather footballers have the power than the Glazers, Kroenkes, Henrys, or Russian/Qatari/Emirati oligarchs who own the clubs. Footballers aren't prisoners or slaves. They're regular people with their own lives, and they have to do what's best for them.

 

[SmashedHombre]

I'd rather footballers have the power than the Glazers, Kroenkes, Henrys, or Russian/Qatari/Emirati oligarchs who own the clubs. Footballers aren't prisoners or slaves. They're regular people with their own lives, and they have to do what's best for them.

No, they're doing what's best for people like Mendes and Raiola instead. More and more star footballers are going to leave on free transfers so agents can pocket massive signing fees and football clubs will be the ones getting fecked over. Super agents will consolidate more and more power while dictating players' career paths and holding clubs to ransom.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

They aren't simple entities though are they? They are football clubs which have a lot more emotional attachment to them than the average brand.

Look at Alan Shearer and Newcastle. He stayed a legend there (and still a multi millionaire) because of his loyalty

I'd argue you're applying the fan's perspective of clubs to the employer employee relationship.

There's no question that loyalty forms an integral part of the fan-to-club relationship and is an endearing element of the experience but it's not required for players, who should naturally act in their own best interests.