A little message to Fat Frank at this time
of great stress
Dear Frank,
This is just an open note to say that as football fans we all Feel your pain. How dare the club that has done so much for you only offer £29million for four
years' work in a job you profess to love? It's an insult. A slight on your professionalism, blight on the badge you kiss so theatrically and so often.
Where is the clubs loyalty to you when you need them at this difficult time?
I mean you are worth every penny aren't you?
And so what if a nurse would have to work for 324 years to earn your annual salary?
Who really cares that it would take a junior fireman 339 years to make what you do in a year?
We certainly won't waste our sympathy on the Prime Minister, who is paid 39 times less than you. Far better, surely, for you to listen to FIFA president
Sepp Blah-Blah and his chums in la-la land. They seethe with righteous indignation on your behalf.
In case you haven't noticed, Frank, our economy is in meltdown. The people who pay to watch you are dealing with soaring supermarket bills, unsustainable mortgages, cars that drink money. They resent someone who appears uncaring, self-obsessed - ps time to kiss the badge again -
So you need the money to secure your future eh regardless of the 20 odd million you have already taken out of the game. And yet, Frank, something bothers us. The quiet voice of our conscience wonders whether your search for a five-year deal "to secure my future" might be entirely wise. Has Cashley Cole put you up to this? After all, he needs someone to take over from him as public enemy number one.
Let's be clear. You're not making a football decision here. This is about how you will be perceived for the rest of your life. By taking Inter Milan's money - and camouflaging your self-interest by shifting the blame on to the Chelsea board - you are in danger of being the boy who tipped the beautiful game over the edge.
