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Opinion: Angela Epstein
March 01, 2010
It was a magnificent gesture by any standards. With a live TV audience, a battery of press photographers and the Stamford Bridge stadium crammed to capacity, it could only be described as heroic, principled and profoundly admirable.
No, not Wayne Bridge snubbing John Terry as the two filed passed each other for the pre-match handshake before Manchester City thrashed Chelsea on Saturday.
But the sight of the terminally humiliated Toni Poole, suppressing her private firestorm, to watch her sleaze-soaked husband do his day job.
Despite withstanding perpetual heartache and seedy revelations about her feckless spouse, she staged a magnificent show of support. Misguided loyalty perhaps. Indeed who would have blamed her had she seized the photo opportunity of her life, marched onto the pitch and belted Terry round the ears with her Fendi handbag just before kick off. But no, despite overwhelming justification to knee him in the groin in front of a panting world, Toni sat tight and preserved a dignity so haplessly shredded by the dolt she has married.
Compare this then to the action of Wayne Bridge, who grasped this opportunity to show himself to be weak and petulant by refusing to shake Terry’s hand.
Now, I don’t care what the rules of engagement are among the footballing elite about keeping your paws off a pal’s bird – even if she has flown the nest. In fact at first I thought Bridge was simply snubbing his opponent because he knew where his hands had been.
But no. For in the ridiculously primeval and pampered world of Premier League football, where players cook up their own skewed morality, this was not about personal hygiene.
Sure Bridge is smarting, as any arrogantly wired male would at the thought of his ex-girlfriend playing around with his mate. But in letting his territorial approach to an already shattered love life spill onto the pitch, he showcased an outrageous lack of professionalism. As an act of spitting out the dummy, it takes some beating.
What more does the City player want? He may be human, but he also has a job – an extravagantly well paid job – to do.
Every day armies of workers who have to weather far greater challenges to their personal life such as illness or bereavement struggle on in the face of overwhelming odds
I can think of countless brave souls I’ve interviewed who confront each day with dignity and spirit despite insurmountable challenges such as a child stricken with cancer or the sudden death of a loved one.
Look at our brave soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, risking their lives in far flung conflicts. When your boy comes back from serving his country in a flag draped coffin, then you have reason to pull the duvet over your head and hope it’s all been a bad dream.
Compare that to Bridge who cannot even serve his country on the football pitch, having already stated his position within the England squad is “untenable” . It doesn’t matter that Fabio Capello has told John Terry that the Chelsea player will never captain England again while he is in charge. Or that Bridge is still very much wanted by the manager for international duty.
Yesterday it was alleged Bridge decided to turn his back on the national team for the sake of his son, Jaydon, telling a friend: “In ten years’ time, how could I look him in the eye and say ‘Yes, that man tried to ruin our lives... but I still played in the same team as him’? I would rather be remembered as a good dad than somebody who played in a World Cup.”
Being a bigger man than the grubby lech who had it away with his son’s mother – after they split up – would have been a better message to give the boy. Duty and dignity come before petty backstage squabbles.
Our national sport has been reduced to a laughing stock thanks to a succession of players who seem incapable of keeping their pants on.
But whether Bridge was wronged or not, he needs to shake off this spineless self-pity and do what he does best. If Toni Poole can do it, then he can too.
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