Excellent. Seems the media has decided it's going to pretend to be morally outraged

[Luis Anaconda]

Some **** is going to wheel out the one argument that really gets me wound up- that these people are role models and should act like it. What sort of example is this for our kids etc??

Utter nonsense.

I think Pokster already did that - are you calling him a ****?

Just seen the same argument re Delle Alli and the ban for using the finger. Now of course he was naughty and deserved a slap on the wrist but if people see him as a role model for their children they are ****s of the highest order

[Peter]

I think Pokster already did that - are you calling him a ****?

Just seen the same argument re Delle Alli and the ban for using the finger. Now of course he was naughty and deserved a slap on the wrist but if people see him as a role model for their children they are ****s of the highest order

Exactly. The problem with seeing these people as role models is quite obviously that they aren't. Or, at the very least, they are very, very bad ones. Who decided that if you want to be a professional footballer you also have to be a great role model for kids? What if you are a brilliant footballer but a right ****?

I was given good and bad examples as a kid and encouraged to identify the difference. Surely that isn't rocket science.

Just out of interest, the Willie Young tackle in the 1980 Cup Final. My dad lectured me for ages on how it wasnt the right thing to do and I simply wouldn't accept it. I was 16 by the time he admitted that of course it was the right thing to do but he didnt want to tell me that as a kid.

[Pokster]

I think Pokster already did that - are you calling him a ****?

Just seen the same argument re Delle Alli and the ban for using the finger. Now of course he was naughty and deserved a slap on the wrist but if people see him as a role model for their children they are ****s of the highest order

He's not a role model... just a dickhead

[redgunamo]

Exactly. The problem with seeing these people as role models is quite obviously that they aren't. Or, at the very least, they are very, very bad ones. Who decided that if you want to be a professional footballer you also have to be a great role model for kids? What if you are a brilliant footballer but a right ****?

I was given good and bad examples as a kid and encouraged to identify the difference. Surely that isn't rocket science.

Just out of interest, the Willie Young tackle in the 1980 Cup Final. My dad lectured me for ages on how it wasnt the right thing to do and I simply wouldn't accept it. I was 16 by the time he admitted that of course it was the right thing to do but he didnt want to tell me that as a kid.

Sure, your old man did the right thing. It didn't work though, did it.

[redgunamo]

He's not a role model... just a dickhead

Are you a role model, P?

[redgunamo]

I think Pokster already did that - are you calling him a ****?

Just seen the same argument re Delle Alli and the ban for using the finger. Now of course he was naughty and deserved a slap on the wrist but if people see him as a role model for their children they are ****s of the highest order

No, the trouble here is yous are all looking at the thing from the homo, women's lib angle. You know, "Who cares if he discovered a cure for cancer; last week, he didn't separate his rubbish into the correct containers as provided!"

He's got a job he loves and that he's very good at, and he makes millions. Nobody should want or need any more of a role model than that.

[Pokster]

Are you a role model, P?

Hopefully only to my kids

[eastgermanautos]

Exactly. The problem with seeing these people as role models is quite obviously that they aren't. Or, at the very least, they are very, very bad ones. Who decided that if you want to be a professional footballer you also have to be a great role model for kids? What if you are a brilliant footballer but a right ****?

I was given good and bad examples as a kid and encouraged to identify the difference. Surely that isn't rocket science.

Just out of interest, the Willie Young tackle in the 1980 Cup Final. My dad lectured me for ages on how it wasnt the right thing to do and I simply wouldn't accept it. I was 16 by the time he admitted that of course it was the right thing to do but he didnt want to tell me that as a kid.

Don't quite agree. First of all, they're only borderline adults. They're guys who are like 20-23. They're therefore in a position of being the big brother vis a vis kids. And because football is a game played in childhood, they represent the successful fulfillment of a childhood dream. Therefore, with all that being said, hold it together. They should acknowledge this role and be subject to fines if they act stupid. If you're just a guy of that age walking around London, fine, do what you want.

[Peter]

Hopefully only to my kids

Right. And that should be the only role model they need. You are almost certainly the only one they can rely on. Precisely as it should be.

[redgunamo]

Don't quite agree. First of all, they're only borderline adults. They're guys who are like 20-23. They're therefore in a position of being the big brother vis a vis kids. And because football is a game played in childhood, they represent the successful fulfillment of a childhood dream. Therefore, with all that being said, hold it together. They should acknowledge this role and be subject to fines if they act stupid. If you're just a guy of that age walking around London, fine, do what you want.

No, they only forfeit, or risk, future earnings, not their livelihoods. Same as anybody else.

Whether you anchor the batting for England or you're a transgender who wants to join the CAG, representing your country is a privilege, and not a right. Thousands of people are rejected or overlooked for their preferred role all the time, and for many different reasons.