Chris_R

Possibly because he wasn't?

Such chemistry. /S

We'll have Lascelles and Botman back soon after the window opens, our desperation from the summer has gone and Guehi has a lot less left on his contract. Can't imagine for one minute we go back in for him with any kind of big offer. Add in his deep in form too. If we do make an offer it'll be a hell of a lot less than the last one. Shoe's on the other foot this time.

Loved Rafa, nationality isn't relevant. He just got the club , the area, the people, and he was good at his job. And we took to him like he did to us. Likewise, loads of my favourite players have been foreign - Ginola, Ben Arfa, Robert, Nobby Solano, David Kelly, now Isak, loads of them over the years. It's like when people said we hated Pardew because he was a cockney, that was laughable. No, we hated him because he was inept, spineless and a toadying lackey for Ashley. His birthplace wasn't even under consideration. I don't think 95% of us care where a player or manager is from, even if that's Newcastle. We adored Shearer, but Steven Taylor was an idiot and quite often a liability. We admired Shola for who he was as a person, but hated seeing him play.

This. Someone breaking the cartel as a one-off is celebrated as a carrot to dangle in front of all of us. "Look, it IS possible under the existing rules!", it's the price the big boys have to pay to keep us believing. Last thing they want is for it to happen regularly though.

Yates one of those players who should basically be sent off every match but isn't. Decent ref would just book him for his first infringement so he's on a tightrope from then on and actually has to try to play football or else end up off.

Massively infuriating that we look so good at home, then play differently away and look mediocre at best. Why don't we just play the same way away too? We used to, and it worked. Why now is it low block all have which looks toothless and just invites pressure?

I did laugh at the Euros when we had Trippier at left back, I said out loud at the time that there were 4 English players just at Newcastle I'd have at left back for Newcastle ahead of Trippier (Hall, Targett, Burn and even Livramento who'd played well there), so it baffled me completely that there was nobody better in the rest of the country. Trippier's a great right back, but he's always looked pretty lost and ineffective on the other side where his relative lack of pace means he has to cut inside all the time and it completely nullifies him. Delighted for Hall, hope he plays and plays well.

That bolded bit is a load of bollocks like. All I've ever said is that it's unprofessional for any footballer to get drunk to the point they're chucking up in a toilet. That's my only argument. I have no idea what Trippier has or hasn't done, I don't even care. He gets a pass for me anyway even if he has (Again, I have no idea) because of all he's done in his time here and what's gone on in his personal life. Again, for clarity, my only point is that footballers chucking up in toilets due to excess alcohol consumption is't professional. If it wasn't clear already that I was making that point and only that point, hopefully it is now.

Literally nobody is disputing they're allowed to go out in public, that's not what this discussion is about and its disingenuous to suggest otherwise.

So do I. I could crack open a beer right now but I'm aware that I'm working so shouldn't. It's not about what people want to do, but about always trying to make the best choices. We'll all sometimes fail and that's fine, but it's still a bad choice and that should be acknowledged. There's probably a lot of things he's signed and agreed to which would suggest that's not the case. All contracts now for loads of jobs will include terms about behaviour in public, what you can say online etc, I know mine does so I'd be astonished if his doesn't given his profile, salary etc. I cannot imagine that any professional footballer is "perfectly entitled" to get drunk to the point they're chucking up in toilets. Can you imagine if a football manager pulled a player aside to ask them about that and they said "well boss, I'm perfectly entitled to!". I don't think most people are doing that. Most people are just debating generally whether getting smashed in public as a footballer is unprofessional or not. I think it is. You disagree. We have different expected standards of behaviour and that's fine, neither of us is wrong in our own personal expectations, but it's not about what we as individuals think. It's about the overall picture and about how it's likely to be perceived by the public as a whole, and about the impression it's likely to create. That bar is lower for the overall picture than it is for us as individuals because although many might not care, others do. For example (random numbers time) it doesn't matter if 70% of the fanbase don't care about a certain action, because 30% thinking you're out of line is still something you should try to avoid and that needs recognising. Anyway, speaking of unprofessional acts, I need to get back to work.

Night out to celebrate /= chucking up in the bogs I'd suggest that if someone on Strictly was photographed driving the porcelain bus at 2am it'd probably be on the front page of some gutter rag or other, so make of that what you will.

It's about getting drunk in front of the people who pay your wages though, wages which are for being the best athlete you possibly can be which scientifically you just cannot be doing if you're getting drunk. It's just never a good look. And in this day and age, it's not limited to being seen by the people in the room with you. Everyone has a camera. Everything will be seen by everyone. The rules and expectations have changed. Again, not a hanging offence. Have a quiet word with the offender, remind them of their responsibilities and get back to work. But if there's a box for "unprofessional act", then getting very drunk in public to the point of being sick in the toilets definitely qualifies.

My example, which you quoted, was literally about being sick in the toilets at a work function. And sorry but as a professional footballer then any time you're in public, you're the face of the company and have to act accordingly. I'm as sure as I can be that in this day and age all contracts will even state as much, that you're representing the company when in public and are expected to behave as such and not say or do anything which would damage the club's reputation. I know I have such standards expected of me, I've had to sign things about social media usage for example, about all kinds of other things. I got given 48 cans of Tuna (Random, I know) off a customer the other week and had to go declare them to my boss under our bribery policy ffs. When I was at Orange 2+ decades ago I had to sign something saying that if I was caught using a phone when driving I'd be sacked - was that "fair" when someone working at Tesco wouldn't get the same sanctions? No. But I was in a different industry and it was part of my job. Footballers are role models and club ambassadors at all times. They have to set a good example. It's harsh on young people with loads of money and time, but it's still true.