A Summer of Discontent: Tabloid Fluff and the World Cup

A few months ago, ahead of a match between Chelsea and Manchester City, the nation’s press was not concerned with tactics or form, but with a handshake. The cameras were trained, waiting for the pre-match ritual between John Terry and Wayne Bridge. It was a spectacle born of a tawdry affair and it has cast a long, ugly shadow that now stretches all the way to South Africa.

Bridge, of course, chose to withdraw from the England squad. It was his decision, and his alone, after the revelations concerning his ex-partner and the then-England captain. His absence created a problem, particularly with Ashley Cole’s own injury concerns in the run-up to the tournament, and while Stephen Warnock has been a capable performer for Aston Villa, the squad felt unsettled before a ball was even kicked.

The Whispering Campaign

While Bridge maintained a dignified silence, the response from the Terry camp was less edifying. Reports surfaced in The Guardian that “friends of Terry” were suggesting Bridge had long been considered a “bottler” in the dressing room. This is the coded language of modern football, where “friends of” is often a thin veil for the player’s agent, their PR people, or the man himself.

For such a briefing to emerge was wretched, though perhaps not surprising. This is, after all, a player whose concentration cost Chelsea an early goal against Internazionale in the Champions League, and one who missed the penalty that would have won his club that very trophy. For his anonymous friends to label anyone else a “bottler” seemed a spectacular case of the pot calling the kettle black. Fabio Capello must have wondered then, and must surely be wondering now, if the defender is worth the persistent hassle.

Red Tops and Rotten Cores

The entire episode has been a triumph for the red top press, which will stoop to any depth for a story. They will happily sabotage England’s chances for a soaraway exclusive, all while honking their devotion to the flag and demanding the rest of us do the same. Trying to pick a side in a moral argument between John Terry and the tabloid press is a deeply unappealing prospect.

The focus on the soap opera feels emblematic of a wider sickness within the English game. That handshake drama took place on the same day that FC United of Manchester held a ‘Beyond Debt’ rally in Bury. That event felt like it was about something real, something more important than the personal lives of millionaire footballers.

Now, with England’s World Cup campaign stuttering, it feels as if the only way to retain sanity is to sit in a darkened room until it’s all over. The off-field noise has been deafening, and things feel like they might get worse before they get any better.