Comments of the week - The good, the bad and the unexpected
A model professional with a model's looks...almost
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Thursday, 21, Dec 2006 09:55
A footballer breaks with tradition and, quite literally, takes it on the chin with dignity. A struggling team is forced into publicly apologising for its players - never a sign that things are going well. And a certain outspoken manager admits he has made a mistake.
Alistair Potter picks out the best comments from the world of football this week.
December 16th - Chris Morgan
It was so refreshing to hear a footballer talking like a professional sportsman for a change.
There is too much whinging and moaning and blaming of others in the game these days and I don't think I was alone in appreciating the comments made by Sheffield United captain Chris Morgan after he was viciously punched by Wigan's Lee McCulloch.
In the mould of a true sporting professional, instead of immediately shouting for life bans and criminal charges against his assailant, Morgan merely shrugged the incident off as "one of those things".
"He was man enough to come and apologise to me afterwards and I accept that," Morgan said, sporting a rather impressive swelling under his right eye.
"These things happen in professional sports and I consider the matter resolved. I hold no ill will towards him."
You'd think he would be more annoyed after taking a second battering in the space of a week - Morgan was the target of Aston Villa striker Juan Pablo Angel's pent-up frustration the week before as well.
December 20th - Charlton Athletic
You know things are bad when a club has to issue an official apology to its fans for a particular performance. And that is exactly what the bosses at Charlton Athletic believed was needed in response to a series of unsavoury chants from the terraces during the London club's 1-0 defeat to lowly Wycombe Wanderers in the Carling Cup this week.
Taking nothing away from the League One outfit, Charlton were appalling and the angry reaction of some supporters ("What a load of rubbish" and "You're not fit to wear the shirt" immediately spring to mind) pretty much summed up a dreadful season so far for the Addicks.
The unusual thing about the club's announcement was that it was the players on the pitch that were singled out for criticism, rather than newly-appointed Les Reed. One wonders if this is the board saving face over their appointment of Reed or if they truly believe the players are not up to the task this season.
Either way, something needs to change in January if they are to avoid the dreaded drop.
December 20th - Jose Mourinho
What's this I hear? Mourinho? Apologising?! Surely not.?
Maybe it was the threatened legal action ('you cynic', I hear you cry) or maybe the Special One has simply seen the error of his ways and been forced to acknowledge his mistake.
But either way, admitting his comments about Andrew Johnson being an "embarrassment" and "untrustworthy" were out of order is a watershed moment for the Portuguese, who has categorically refused to backtrack on any controversial comments he has made in the past.
Whatever the Chelsea manager's motivation for his actions, savour this moment. You won't hear the munching of humble pie coming out of Stamford Bridge any other time soon, I suspect.