Host of the EPL Roundtable podcast and US based Dutch enthusiast Kevin DeVries questions the very term that is disappearing from the modern age of the game. Loyalty. The EPL Roundtable is available online every Thursday and Monday.
Loyalty does not exist in football.
Every transfer window some group of fans come from the woodwork with protestations against their own club. This window it happened at Tottenham.
Already frustrated by the lack of incoming attacking players, the transfers of favourites Sandro and Holtby on deadline day pushed fans beyond tipping point. Where was Tottenham’s loyalty to these players who had fought so hard for the badge over the years?
This is of course in contrast to how fans treated the departures of players like Bale, Modric and even Sol ‘Judas‘ Campbell whom we accused of not being loyal to the club that helped make them who they are. Then you have players like Michael Dawson who, despite having captained Tottenham in the Champions League and being just one season away from testimonial, was being begged by fans to leave.
So to summarise, if the player leaving is performing …
- … near the level of our club, fans get angry at management for letting them leave
- … above the level of the club, fans get angry at the player for wanting to leave
- … below the level of the club, sell him
That sure does not sound like loyalty to me. While I realise that we, as supporters, are loyal to our respective teams that is as far as our loyalty goes. Can we be blamed though?
In an era where most, if not all, transfer and player decisions are made for financial reasons, it was only a matter of time before fans started seeing through that same lens. How can we be expected to have the same commitment to the club or players when the faces change with such regularity?
With Michael Dawson, Sandro, and Jake Livermore all leaving this window, Tottenham are left with just four players from the 2009-2010 Champions League qualifying team. For those keeping count, that is the same as Queens Park Rangers (Sandro, Steven Caulker, Jermaine Jenas, and Niko Krancjar) and just one more than Hull City (Michael Dawson, Tom Huddlestone, and Jake Livermore). Sounds crazy right?
Well let us look at the numbers in this weeks edition of … FACT TIME!
Out of the current twenty Premier League sides, since the 2009/10 season …
- Only 72 players are with the same club …
- … which translates to 13.3% of players
- Only Chelsea, Manchester United, Everton and Arsenal have more than five players remaining
- Leicester City, Queens Park Rangers, Hull City and Sunderland each have just one player left
Players come and go and the best thing we can do is to accept it. That is not to say to be any less passionate but to respect the choices of the professionals making these decisions. The best thing we can do is to support coaches and players who, in the grand scheme of things, only at a club for a short time, and your club is for life.
After all, if we as fans are not loyal then how can we expect anyone else to be?
