Dollars and Sense*

One of your humble blogger's greatest bugbears is players who move to clubs either purely for money or with an unrealistic sense of their own abilities -- in other words, not considering the footballing side of things.

So this column from The Times's Matt Dickinson is pretty sweet reading:

Scott Parker may want to consider as much as he weighs up whether to agitate to join [Wayne] Bridge at the City of Manchester Stadium.
snip
At Stamford Bridge, he ended up on the bench, or sat in the stands, when the club signed bigger names and better players. With City aspiring to the Champions League, and to star recruits such as Kaká and, in Parker’s position, a European Championship winner in Marcos Senna, can he not see history being repeated? If Parker moves to City, he will be able to afford a bigger house and a faster car, but will he be fulfilled when he finds himself left behind by the club’s ambitions?

One would think that of all footballers not named Steve Sidwell, Parker would be most alert to the dangers of joining a hugely ambitious club flush with cash. Time will tell.

--Smoods

*Yes, we know that Premiership footballers are most likely paid in pounds. However, a good pun always trumps accuracy in our book (blog).