No Mark, I’ll keep being honest with my opinions if it’s all the same. Feel free to block me or to fuck off to a hammers forum but my comments have garnered enough comments/likes to say I’m not an outlier on this.
I’m well aware you’re another battling gambling addiction and I wish you well but I stand by what I said. He’s lost £7m for a rush, for the buzz he got from it. Like he managed with booze and cocaine. He’s not a victim, he did whatever he wanted because it made him feel good and he could afford to as he was being paid what you or I could only dream of.
You know what? I love gambling, I used to love a bit of sniff, I adore booze, but I was never fortunate enough to be paid enough to spend fortunes on it as I was aware how much money I had to ensure I had left over to pay for shit and I had to ensure I showed up to the office the next day. Both he and I know/knew at what point in any gambling session to log off/to walk away, but he refused “because [he] loved the feeling of gambling”. So I don’t see Merson as a victim, I see him as a fucking idiot. He knew exactly what he was doing last year when he lost his family’s house deposit. One thing the programme showed is that he’s not as thick as he portrays himself on Soccer Saturday. He’s been blessed with talent and a career most would kill for and managed to continue earning good money once his career had finished and still it’s not enough for him. I find it very difficult to have any sympathy with him when compared with people I know in everyday life that have been beset by problems, illness and tragedy through no fault of their own.