Pure greed.

He's not the first westerner to chase a big salary in a politically dubious country, but he is one of the few to do so despite having already made enough money to last the average person three or four lifetimes.

As for the accusations of hypocracy, well, there is plainly a significant gap between Hendersons words and his actions. I for one am almost glad he's made this move though, perhaps it will help to remind a few people that virtue signalling isn't the same as actual commitment to principles, and that the two look very different.

In fairness, whilst it's more than possible that some professional footballers have a decent grasp of the complexity of social, political, environmental and economic issues, it's absolutely certain that the wider industry deals only in simplifications, hashtags and gesture politics. I can imagine the s***storm a footballer would bring down on themselves if they stray even slightly from the dumb, corporate, woke party line, and I'm sure Hendersons role with Liverpool and England probably put him in the crosshairs a bit on that front. Even so, he certainly was quick to voice an opinion, so he deserves the loss of reputation he will now receive.

Perhaps the Premier league and it's media partners will learn to stop asking footballers to support their various political posturings for fear of negative social media feedback now? Christ knows thats the main reason they wade so clumsily into such issues to begin with. If Hendersons move has that effect then some good will have come from it all.

He's still a c*** for doing it though.

Edited by TheBigToePunt (28 Jul 2023 12.49am)

This is a footballer FFS. A man bought up to exist in a world in which his entire value and meaning of life is around his ability to kick a football.

Outside of a tiny, tiny, few, the vast majority of them exist almost on the intellectual level of trained circus animals. They perform for an audience who pay money to watch.

Of course they are going to chase the money. That is the entire point of being a 'Professional' in their world.

Sure they make all the noises they are trained to do but you cannot actually hold them responsible for that.

And lets not forget, we watch them. We are the audience who make this possible. All the Saudi's are doing is paying more than we are capable of doing so.

We are part of the same hypocrisy.

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." - 1984 - George Orwell.

I think it's wonderful news.

The vulnerability was always to the usual suspect's singular playbook of attacking your character in these instances whereas now there is solid evidence to justify the calls of 'just shut up and play football' when these empty vessels are used to carry political messages.

Now Zaha's got a bit of green grass ahead of him here... and finds Ambrose... not a bad effort!!!!