This week the back pages have been rammed with discussion of Alan Pardew’s now infamous decision to square up to and subsequently nut Hull’s David Meyler. It boils down to the fact that Pardew is simply not a nice piece of work. The sort of Billy-big-balls who you see down your local who you humour, but really can’t stand. It doesn’t matter if you’re the King of Spain or a milkman - we all know men like Pardew.
I would have thought that this was fairly obvious, so why is it that this week the general discourse surrounding the affair has been marred by the disgustingly ignorant comments made by the Telegraphs Luke Edwards? In his article he rightly voices his shock and disappointment at Pardew’s actions, but also says this:
“He is not the first player or manager to have risen from a working-class background to achieve fame and fortune in football, but he is perhaps one of the few who has been unable to adapt his behaviour accordingly.”
Sorry? What? According to Mr Edwards the working classes are just a depraved bunch of violent lunatics who roll around in their own shite with barely a shred of civilised influence it would seem. What about Sir Alex Ferguson, a working class man from Glasgow? What about Harry Redknapp, another successful working class man from London? Football is built on working class men like these. Without this group who are the subject matter of a sneering hack, Luke Edwards would not have a sport to write about.
What about my own Dad? A working class man from South East London, who has risen to become one of the country’s most successful head teachers? Like many men from his background he is passionate and driven; he has not had to be trained like some sort of performing circus animal as Luke Edwards implies in his article.
I personally can’t grasp how one man’s moronic act can be used as a means for smearing the working classes as a whole, simply because it shocked Edwards so much that he presumably choked on his caviar and had to wash it down with a further glass of Pinot Grigio. What about Tim Sherwood? What about Sam Allardyce? These are not men who are constantly on the edge of a head-butt fuelled spree of violence, shackled only by the frail constructs of civilised life. They are working class, intelligent and talented football managers.
OK so these guys are never going to have that continental air of sophistication that wafts into the room with AVB or Arsene Wenger, but surely it’s ludicrous to be tarring them with the Pardew brush simply because you’re perched so high on an ivory tower that its lodged in the crack of your arse.
You might expect it from another bloke like me who is simply a drop in the vast ocean of online football bloggers - but not from a respected journo writing for a national newspaper. Apologies are in order, not only for Luke Edwards’ ignorance - but for his complete lack of respect.
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Click to ClaimJack produces topical blogs for Howtobet4free tackling the key issues in the world of sport. Jack also publishes articles for a number of publications each week, and can be found on Twitter by following @JWinterr.
