Exactly, Werthers, that's my point, they don't, and they shouldn't, but unfortunately in the real world people do get punished for getting injured, their pay is docked, and they find themselves being disciplined for being "in breach of company sickness standards" Even though it's no fault of their own.
In football, you can spend most of your career injured, through no fault of your own, but retire at 30 a millionaire, having spent your whole career being mollycoddled and pampered, and large parts of it, not even playing.
Whereas in the real world, if you keep taking time off for injuries or illness, through no fault of your own, your docked pay, disciplined, and eventually fired, and left skint, at 30, looking for another job.
Chromeyellow, players don't play as well when they have to play 3 games in 7 days? Imagine if they had to work 5 or 6 ten hour days in 7.
But they don't, they only have to play 90mins 2-3 times, in 7 days, if that, and they even whinge about that, and people fall for it!
Poor little footballers.
And it's nothing to do with having outdated ideas of masculinity, it's simply about highlighting how bloody good modern day footballers have actually got it, and you've got to be pretty bloody gullible to fall for any of their whinging about how hard it is for them!
Christ! I wish I was a superfit athlete, being pampered with all the physio and wellbeing treatments they could possibly wish for, and a super healthy diet all prepared for them at work, which is over by about 3pm every day, and paid obscenely well on top of all that, just for playing footy!
And if they get injured at all, they're pampered and mollycoddled within an inch of their lives, on full pay! What a bloody life!
I'll now offer a little perspective, in contrast:
I developed a nasty work related shoulder injury about 5 years ago, and spent months asking my bosses for help with my workload, due to the pain I was in, but they refused, saying they had nobody to do the work they'd have to take off me, so I would just have to suck it up and do it.
When I said I couldn't do it, they told me that by turning up for work, I was declaring myself fit for work, and therefore cannot expect any special treatment, and if I didn't fulfil my duties, there would be consequences.
Over the next 18 months, my shoulder deteriorated to the point that I couldn't move my arm away from my body, and I was signed off work for 5 weeks, on statutory sick pay. During this time I received physio that I had to pay for, and eventually an ultrasound guided injection (on the nhs)
I was told by doctors, on my return to work not to do any heavy lifting for at least a month, as the shoulder will have been weakened by the injection, and the lack of use for the previous 5 weeks that I'd been off work and inactive.
When I returned to work, they gave me a warning for being off sick, even though I'd had no time off sick for about 3 years prior to this, and refused to put me on light duties, on the technicality that I didn't have an official doctors note. I returned to full duties immediately, and within one week, my shoulder was knackered again.
I spent the next 6 months asking for help and support every day, and being refused again, like before. I then contacted our union, who then had me referred to occupational health, who then determined that I was unfit to work, and due to the fact I couldn't move my arm away from my side, was technically disabled.
I was then signed off for 6 months, again on statutory pay, during which time I was due to have surgery, but that was cancelled due to covid.
I ended up being off for 9 months in total, by which time, the time off alone had allowed the shoulder to heal, thus resulting in me no longer needing surgery once they were offering surgery again after the pandemic. I was able to have another guided ultrasound steroid injection instead, which finally fixed the problem.
When I returned to work, I was given another warning, but this time I had a doctors note, so they (reluctantly) put me on light duties, but were really unpleasant to me the entire time, as if it was me who had done something wrong by being injured.
This is pretty normal treatment for people in working class employment, they're expected to just turn up for work and get on with it, and if they don't, or can't, they get disciplined, or sacked. Unions are only so much use.
Then if you contrast that with how modern day footballers are treated, it's a complete different world, a different universe in fact!
They've got it so easy, are so mollycoddled and pampered, they're trained and supported to becoming superfit athletes, and have their super healthy meals prepared for them at work, and they're paid obscene amounts of money, and all they're asked for in return, is to play a game of footy once, maybe twice a week, and they still whinge and moan that it's too much. And there are people who are so gullible and soft minded that they agree with them!
Modern day footballers get signed up into academy's by the age of 10, and are mollycoddled from day one. By the time they're adults, they've completely lost touch with reality and how the real world works.
Honestly, one month in a real working class job, and they'd be gibbering wrecks!
I can't stand it when people who are living their dream lives, and have it so obscenely good, in every way, have the nerve to complain, when they have no idea what it's like in the real world, and just how bad it could really be for them.
And more and more nowadays, there are apologists, who actually agree with them!
As you can probably tell, it's a bit of a sore point for me!
I'm going for a lie down, because apparently I have a very angry, frowny look on my face as I'm typing, which Mrs MD is finding very amusing.
