WE’RE often told a picture is worth a thousand words and when it comes to those snaps of Raheem Sterling’s house they tell a story of how football has completely lost touch with reality.
And all this paid for by a 20-year-old who has played less than 100 senior League games of football!
For Liverpool fans in particular, the pictures must have stuck firmly in their throats.
If you’re a hard-working Scouser – or a football fan of any persuasion knocking your pan in so you can afford to take your kid to a game every couple of months, that gawp at Sterling’s lifestyle must have stung.
His way of life is so alien to most people, looking at those photos is like looking at pictures of a Martian’s house!
And I honestly believe this sort of thing is to the detriment of the game as a whole.
The relationship between players and fans is completely broken now and it’s not going to be mended any time soon.
The bubble simply isn’t going to burst. Not while BT and Sky are pumping BILLIONS into the game for TV rights.
Players will get richer younger, and the fans will rightly wonder what on earth is going on.
Inside Raheem Sterling’s houseSterling’s house is up for sale – it includes a barber’s salon..
The Michael Jackson-themed bar
Sterling’s home cinema.All that said, Sterling and I have something in common.
Like the Manchester City star, the most extravagant thing I bought as a player was you guessed it a house.
It was in 1979. I’d just been given a new contract by Bobby Robson at Ipswich Town for £300-a-week and I was over the moon.
That was a fortune in those days. And I thought I’d treat myself to a car.
I spent half of my signing-on bonus on a brand new Toyota Celica, and drove it round to our centre-half Russell Osman’s place to show off.
But my gas was at a peep and I was gutted in no time when he told me he had just bought a house.
Russell told me how much he’d put down and how much he’d borrowed for the rest and that was it. Within half-an-hour I’d sold the car back to the garage and gone and got myself a house.
I can assure you, it was nothing like Raheem’s place. But it was a great moment my first house. And all I’d put down was £6000!
A story like that seems ridiculous these days, when 20-year-olds earn £150,000-a-week and more, and spend millions on houses with full-scale gyms, cinemas and even a barber’s salon inside!
That’s what today’s players are choosing to spend their money on, and it stands as proof that all the money in the world can’t buy the one thing supporters would truly appreciate loyalty.Here’s how to handle showboating
IF you believe the hype, Nathan Oduwa will be a marked man against Hibs.
By showboating against Alloa, Rangers’loan star broke an unwritten rule you don’t take the mickey when you’re already cruising to victory.
That’s what Alloa’s Colin Hamilton implied. But I don’t buy it.
A wee bit of trickery is fantastic for fans, and as much as defenders don’t like it, they have to be smart about it.
Of course, nobody likes to be made a fool of, but you can’t issue warnings.
You have to bide your time, just wait patiently maybe even until the next game and then, when the chance comes along THEN you go in.
Hard, but fair.
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe