It’s hard to see the funny side Liam

Sometimes it would seem footballers try their hardest to make the general public hate them. Their behaviour often makes the front pages of the newspapers for all the wrong reasons and it is no surprise that there is a general feeling of contempt towards such a large number of them.

Take West Bromich Albion defender Liam Ridgewell who was pictured recently in a daily tabloid newspaper wiping his ass with a stack of £20 notes. Apparently the picture was never meant for public display and was sent to a friend as a “joke”.

Now I’m not particularly outraged by the stunt, despite the newspapers stance which made Ridgewell out to be one of the worst human beings imaginable. If you haven’t read it the words “sickening” and “disgraceful” feature heavily.

I just think it’s a bit stupid. In the poor economic climate we live in at the moment people don’t want to be reminded that there are individuals out there that can trade in their Andrex for a fresh roll of £20 notes if the moods strikes.

Ridgewell has stressed that the photo doesn’t paint him in the most flattering light and that it was not meant for public circulation, in all honesty if that’s what he wants to do with his wages then good luck to him.

But with seemingly endless stories doing the rounds about fighting, gambling, infidelity and all the other stereotypical hobbies of the modern footballer snaps like this only seek to give those anti-football types more ammunition.

And don’t get me started on Rugby fans! Those in glass houses and all that…

Footballers do make it really hard to love them sometimes, especially when images like this are released and seized upon by the tabloid media like a rabid attack dog. They should let people make their own mind up.

But for me it was just a bit of, and I use the term very loosely, fun. We wouldn’t do it, we probably couldn’t do it! But when did the general public live in the same world as a Premier League footballer?

Now where are the keys to my Bentley? I’ve got a helicopter to catch.

Robert Lock

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