This is pretty unfair.
Gradel has HUGE family problems, more than he should be able to deal with as a young kid, and he probably can't.
Sometimes, I get the feeling that real life may be more important than football.
Not very often, but right now is a case in point.
I hope his life sorts itself out. As I hope Weso's injuries sort themselves out, and Fryatt's return of the confidence problem ( one on one with the goalie and fear sets in?) sorts itself out.
If not, maybe help is needed.
It was needed and not forthcoming in the case of Stan Collymore, who talked to me at length, over a long time, about his issues, and there was little I could do.
Every club should have a sports' psychologist/counsellor. Many of these guys have been just playing football, and valued as that, all their lives, maybe from the age of six. Many of them haven't got a clue how to adjust to real life, or live real life. So they just booze or buy cars. Few have any natural social skills.
What happens to Weso, if he has brittle bones? What help do we give to a kid like Gradel who has lost his family? What do we do for a guy who hasn't got a clue how to adjust to a family life when all he knows is getting stoned and sleeping around?
And how do we hope to build a team out of these failures in real life, when they never had a real life?
The pressure we put on vulnerable kids, as fans, who ain't got a clue how to carve out a living, is intolerable. And yes, every football team has this to deal with. It's not just us.
Sorry. Sometimes I get sad for the game and for those who play it, and for the emotional baggage they carry. I got too close to Stan and his problems. They couldn't be solved.