Source: Telegraph
Ricardo Fuller shows a lack of respect
However, the aims of their campaign apply as much to this issue as anything else. Indeed, it could be argued that it is more important, for if respect is not shown by a player to his team-mates then what likelihood is there that he will be able to apply this to an opponent or an official? [LNB]Many people reading this will have played team sport. How many times have you felt like slapping your captain in the face while on the field? For my part the answer is never, because I respected his authority, even if I disliked him or disagreed with his decisions or deportment. How many times have you carried through your thoughts? I, and I strongly suspect nearly all of you, never came even close to assaulting a team-mate, never mind the captain. [LNB]This is not necessarily a football issue – though this week's incident comes from that sport – it is an essential concern within any team. [LNB]A captain in football has far less influence on a game and his team's performance in football than in cricket or rugby because of the fluid and relatively straightforward nature of the game. [LNB]Yet this makes Ricardo Fuller's slapping of the face of Stoke captain Andy Griffin a significant matter. Had Griffin made numerous tactical blunders and incorrect decisions, Fuller might have had the right to feel disaffected; though this would still not excuse his behaviour. [LNB]As it was, it seems Griffin's provocative act was to cede possession to an opponent who then scored. Furthermore, Fuller's decision to take issue with Griffin was not a spontaneous act, he initiated the confrontation after the ball was on the centre spot ready for play to resume. [LNB]Internal discipline has to be paramount. That players are ill-disciplined against opponents on the field is bad enough; once internal respect is lost there is no chance of true team spirit being maintained. [LNB]It is said Fuller and Griffin get on well off the field – really? This makes Fuller's actions more, not less, reprehensible; his disloyalty extends to matters personal as well as communal. [LNB]Whatever goes on in training, you do not show any division in public. You respect your peers and your club by sorting any gripes in private. If this sort of thing is tolerated it encourages further incidents from other players who previously may not have stepped out of line. [LNB]What now needs to happen at Stoke City is that one or two of the team's senior professionals and hard men need to explain things to Fuller in a darkened room. If that fails to halt his petulance, unprofessionalism and disrespect, he should be out of the door post haste.[LNB]
