Dele Alli at Everton

[NEVILLEB]

I think something needs to be done regarding the damage that fucking pointless puff piece of an amazon documentary did to the club and to the individuals involved. I think the sheer scale of what it cost us is fucking seismic, whoever organised that needs to take responsibility as they failed to give their staff the work environment they needed.

Ego project for top brass.

Thought they had made it.

 

[easley91]

The Athletic did an investigation 2 years ago into sleeping pills. Seems like it is a massive problem in the game. Makes me wonder what else is being hidden. Steroids? Class A drugs?

Football's addiction to sleeping pills - 'a disease spreading quietly across the game'

The Athletic talks to people in the game about the rise in addiction to sleeping pills and the dangers of it

theathletic.com

Here, The Athletic can reveal:

• Players across every level of the professional game are using lorazepam, temazepam and diazepam; prescription-based medications that are habit-forming and are associated with dementia
• Some players have ignored the advice of their club doctors and have proceeded to medicate unsupervised
• Some players feel pressurised into using them due to the relentless nature of football’s schedule
• They have been used to treat anxiety, as well as insomnia related to the increasing number of night games and long-distance travel
• Players are widely unaware of the dangers of sedatives due to a lack of education in relation to their perils
• At least one elite footballer at a top Premier League club has been left out of fixtures because of his dependency

I had no idea something like this was happening. Always felt it was a pro wrestling problem with pills/painkillers.

I have just watched it, wanted to avoid actual quotes throughout the day as much as I could so I could fully engage. Wow. That was an emotional watch. And he gets stick but Gary Neville was perfect for that. I think him knowing Dele from the England set-up really helped him feel at ease.

The "lazy" discussion was enlightening as well. Made me think of another Spurs player that gets that label. Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to judge footballers?

Hope that Dele now has that fire and drive back he can prove himself again. What a talent he was at his best for us. Those Poch years were special.

 

[SamR]

I know people that have threads on those gossip forums where their entire life is ripped to shreds by strangers. Every few pages, you'll have someone saying "they're posting about their struggles, maybe we should be kind" and then a few posts later it'll be the same old shit. And you want to ignore it but thanks to the internet, people that hate us can tell us everything they think is wrong with us whenever they like, and it goes straight to our phone for us to read. As we've seen through people like Musk and Trump, there's no amount of power or money that stops that from affecting you. And those two have at least done bad things - all Dele did was annoy people who then tore him and his life apart.

Social media is a disease. We shouldn't have to bare our souls to the world to be respected.

Exactly this - She has a thread and it’s difficult reading so we’ve blocked it out of minds. The platform doesn’t care, even if posts are triggering about our personal lives.

 

[Meercat]

Exactly this - She has a thread and it’s difficult reading so we’ve blocked it out of minds. The platform doesn’t care, even if posts are triggering about our personal lives.

I’m hardly famous, but can empathize, given several years back I was tagged to write the novelizations of Slaine and got dogs abuse on the 2000AD forums to the point they were threatening my wife, promising to turn up at my signing to slash my face with a knife, hacked my website to replace the side bar with Jimmy Savile images, went on an organized campaign to hide my books in the gay and lesbian section… I went weeks in trauma and stress, tried to pull out of the contract to write the books (I’d always loved Slaine and 2000AD growing up) and came close to giving up writing because threats to my wife’s safety were beyond anything reasonable. Back then we used to call this sort of fan ‘Talifan’s’ because of the emotional abuse they delivered with no care…

 

[arunspurs]

The Athletic did an investigation 2 years ago into sleeping pills. Seems like it is a massive problem in the game. Makes me wonder what else is being hidden. Steroids? Class A drugs?

Football's addiction to sleeping pills - 'a disease spreading quietly across the game'

The Athletic talks to people in the game about the rise in addiction to sleeping pills and the dangers of it

theathletic.com

Here, The Athletic can reveal:

• Players across every level of the professional game are using lorazepam, temazepam and diazepam; prescription-based medications that are habit-forming and are associated with dementia
• Some players have ignored the advice of their club doctors and have proceeded to medicate unsupervised
• Some players feel pressurised into using them due to the relentless nature of football’s schedule
• They have been used to treat anxiety, as well as insomnia related to the increasing number of night games and long-distance travel
• Players are widely unaware of the dangers of sedatives due to a lack of education in relation to their perils
• At least one elite footballer at a top Premier League club has been left out of fixtures because of his dependency

All this am sure is a direct consequence of shiftng more & more game from 3PM kick off to 8PM kick off

8 PM kick off and game finishes 10ish...Then whether you win or loss, you have your adrenaline still kicking in. If its a away game, its worse. You still have the ride back or plane back (if its Europe) in undue time

By the time, a pro footballer gets home & ready for sleep it could be well past midnight or worse

If they have 3 games in a week, then they are need to train and recovery isnt much

So, more TV companies move to 8PM kickoffs, more players will need sleeping pills

No wonder, we dont hear about it - TV companies dont want to move their late fixtures

 

[Jody]

Proud of the SC with the responses in here today. Gives hope.

 

[Harrier]

Ego project for top brass.

Thought they had made it.

I think that’s a bit harsh!

As fans we were all gagging for it, and who wouldn’t want to expand the THFC brand?!

It’s very important to recognise the potential personal damage clips could do though when edited up for dramatic licence.

The way Poch’s dismissal was handled was done with reasonable respect, and had Dele not hid his demons so well I should imagine those clips might never have made it.

 

[Locotoro]

It was so saddening watching that interview. You could feel the pain in him and even Neville was struggling at times.

I wish we had more examples of top professional athletes opening up and talking about human issues like this. Then maybe online morons wouldn't be so quick to stick the knife in. It's something that I worry about for my family member who has just started his professional career.

NOTE: Always remember that it's quite possible that what you are writing will be read by that person you're talking about. If you don't have to be abusive to make your point then don't do it.

 

[cjsimba]

Really feel for Dele and really proud he did that interview.

But at work today a lot of people have said they were really surprised with the revelation whereas to be honest I wasn’t surprised at all. Is that just because I’m a Spurs fan? For me there had to be an underlying reason for his form dropping off a cliff. And when he changed his name you knew something was up with his family.

So when the interview came out it just confirmed my suspicions that there were darker demons lurking for Dele. Did anyone else have the same reaction? (Sorry if it’s already been talked about today but haven’t had a chance to catch up on the thread).

That doesn’t in any way take away how much I feel for the lad or how proud I am that he’s started talking about it by the way.

 

[NEVILLEB]

I think that’s a bit harsh!

As fans we were all gagging for it, and who wouldn’t want to expand the THFC brand?!

It’s very important to recognise the potential personal damage clips could do though when edited up for dramatic licence.

The way Poch’s dismissal was handled was done with reasonable respect, and had Dele not hid his demons so well I should imagine those clips might never have made it.

It was a complete disaster.

 

[wrd]

Really feel for Dele and really proud he did that interview.

But at work today a lot of people have said they were really surprised with the revelation whereas to be honest I wasn’t surprised at all. Is that just because I’m a Spurs fan? For me there had to be an underlying reason for his form dropping off a cliff. And when he changed his name you knew something was up with his family.

So when the interview came out it just confirmed my suspicions that there were darker demons lurking for Dele. Did anyone else have the same reaction? (Sorry if it’s already been talked about today but haven’t had a chance to catch up on the thread).

That doesn’t in any way take away how much I feel for the lad or how proud I am that he’s started talking about it by the way.

Yeah I had the same reaction, might possibly be from us following so closely for years or just connecting the dots. He was dealing with far more than I anticipated though, I focused more on the relationships with managers as I think people don't realise there's a bit of a correlation between parental figures and how you perceive authority figures.

 

[nidge]

So I have been away from social media today and only briefly saw that Dele had given an interview to Neville.

I have finally watched and I feel like have run the full gamut of emotions. Dele deserve so much love and credit for speaking out. I feel massive credit to Dyche for supporting Dele the person to get the help he needs and not just treating him like a footballing asset.

 

[Harrier]

It was a complete disaster.

I’m not sure that’s the same viewpoint shared by the majority of Spurs fans.

 

[arunspurs]

I rewatched some bits of the interview again.

What he did between age 12 & 16 is just incredible - to go through what he did before 11 and to progress that fast in football to be playing pro in 16 is almost impossible. I would say impossible, but only he has gone ahead & done it

And a big shout out to his adopted family. This could not have happened if not for the stability & love they gave.

 

[Mr Pink]

That's the strongest interview I've ever heard/seen from a footballer.

Emotionally charged is an understatement.

Nothing but immense respect for Dele.

 

[NEVILLEB]

I’m not sure that’s the same viewpoint shared by the majority of Spurs fans.

 

[Spursmatty87]

Hope the lesson for football and life in general, is that we need better education so that people can work out what their demons are faster.

as for Dele I really hope he is going to continue with counselling because 6 weeks isn’t going to touch the sides he needs constant support so that he can understand why he’s feeling a certain way and what things triggers these.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

I’m not sure that’s the same viewpoint shared by the majority of Spurs fans.

I don’t think it was at the time, but in retrospect it was clearly a mistake.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

Mourinho was the worst possible manager for Dele at the time he was appointed. Conte no better.

 

[felmani26]

After now watching The Overlap, I can only echo the sentiments already shared countless times in this thread and how brave Dele has been in finally being candid about his struggles.

A tough watch indeed but I truly hope he can at least feel he's in control of his own destiny and not beholden to the demons.

Best days lay ahead for you Dele!