The likes of Rio Ferdinand and Joe Cole don't even try to hide their club allegiance. Photo: Shutterstock/Dave Shopland
As Liverpool's frustration turned to fury in the second half at Old Trafford, the Sky Sports Premier League social network posted a photo of a jubilant, snarling Gary Neville — without warning — next to a dejected Mr. Jay Carragher is from this parish.
😶 pic.twitter.com/ae4RFxjuKj
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 7, 2024
A few days earlier, we saw the joyful celebration from TNT pundit Joe Cole, who was jumping up and down with the fans and looking for Rio Ferdinand, a supporter of the Manchester United team Cole's Chelsea beat Chelsea 4-3, to tease . The four men have 260 England caps and 17 Premier League winners' medals to their name. But judging by the clips and photos, it looks like they are fans just like us.
Some football fans find this interesting. Of course, TV and social media producers love it; just some harmless fun with flair. For former players or their people, developing a personal brand is a no-brainer: zero cost, high engagement, connection with fans, behind-the-scenes insight. A little further down the hierarchy of ex-pros, there could be a nice little payday if you're counted among the club's loyalists/celebrity superfans. Would Micah Richards, a fine Premier League player and by all accounts a top guy, have had the same post-playing career if he hadn't been something of a rare bird: a club die-hard Manchester City fan from the billions era?< /p>< p>It is strange, however, that they use experts in this way: after all, Ferdinand, say, will know more about playing as a Premier League defender than every current United fan. But there will be thousands of fans who will care about the club more, more, longer than he does. Of course, this does not mean that he does not have the right to support whoever he wants and in any way. I think his identification with United comes from the fact that it was where he worked in his best years, where he is respected and where he has many friends. Somehow it seems different to the long-suffering season ticket holder or the young man with the posters on his bedroom wall in Salford, Surrey or Singapore. Rio's heart sank for his no doubt exquisite leather hybrid trainers on Sunday when he saw Big Sam Allardyce gleefully handing over his new ownership in the shrimp sandwich seats?
Did Ferdinand's blood run cold when he raised for many United fans the prospect, however remote, of Sam's depraved body being shoehorned into the hot seat at Old Trafford? Did he really spend Sunday evening worrying that not even Sir Dave Brailsford's special one-percent pads would be able to sort out this complete defensive mess?
There was a time not so long ago when the idea that a commentator or pundit could be so shamelessly biased would have been frowned upon. Mount Rushmore sports journalists — the level of Richie Benaud — would never be caught celebrating the moment of «their» team's triumph. Moreover, some of them deliberately hid their allegiance so as not to be accused of bias. Maybe too good: Super Sunday, for example, used to be a regular forum for wild debates about which club Martin Tyler was a paid player/mortal enemy: Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, etc A Walking fan, as it turned out. National treasure Henry Blofeld told this writer what his producer told him before his very first BBC commentary: «The first day you call England 'we' will be the last day you work here.»
Another legend, Barry Davis, once remarked that “every generation gets the commentators it deserves.” Very true. Having become part of the drama and atmosphere, these former professionals want to insert themselves into the story as a participant rather than just an observer, in much the same way as they performatively throw away their seven-pound Boxpark lager or film themselves celebrating a goal. or even getting in the papers for being a complete toad with your vile chants ensures that you are not just consuming the spectacle, you are part of it, shaping it. You are this and this is you. Rio and his ilk have so much more to offer than just being a «sad fan» or a «happy fan.» They can leave it to us mere mortals.
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