Quote Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn View Post
True enough.

Ask the player if he'll take the average working wage plus a GUARANTEE he'll win something EVERY YEAR. Which comes first? Which is foremost? Football's a job, and a lucrative one at that. Le Tissier retired a long time ago. Why do the players keep going on about medals and cups? Because they know that's what the FANS want - not them, they are after the money but all this BS talk of trophies makes them sound respectable.
Not sure I agree with that. They're still professional and competitive sportsmen, if they didn't want to win they wouldn't be doing what they do and that goes for every sport. It's true that footballers are mercenaries but it's the nature of the sport itself that has turned them this way. I don't think it's a case of one or the other, more that both go hand in hand now.