So Yossi Benayoun has at last returned to the hallowed turf of the Boleyn. After 5 years of wandering between Merseyside and London town; he’s come back to his first home in English footy.
However are people still aggrieved with the way he left? I hope not.
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Yossi did leave us in the lurch a bit; after the year of the great escape the club were keen to tie Yossi up to a new deal and it appeared he was keen to commit his future. He even agreed to sign on the dotted line of a brand-spanking new four year contract.
However agreeing and signing are two very different things as we discovered, after Liverpool batted their eyelashes in his direction and soon after he completed a move to Anfield.
We were all gutted at the time; as not only was Yossi one of our best players but also because we the fans adored him… his name forever written into Hammers folk-lore after his winner in the lasagne-gate derby.
There will be cries amongst some of ‘he turned his back on us.’ And ‘he didn’t show any loyalty.’
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And whilst that may be true; just what loyalty remains in football anymore? How many examples are there of a Billy Bonds or a Sir Trevor Brooking who are with a club throughout their entire career; for better for worse, through thick and thin? There are the odd exceptions like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard but they’re already at clubs where they can fulfil their ambitions (perhaps with the exception of Gerrard who will never win a title with Liverpool in my humble opinion.)
The only loyal ones in footy are us the fans and its naive for us to expect the same kind of commitment from those who cross the white line; therefore I urge those of you who still harbour resentment towards our returning play-maker to let it go; for if no other reason than this: there is no loyalty in football anymore.
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It’s rare, but there is still some loyalty in football. First example has to be Carlton Cole, who could’ve jumped ship and handed in a transfer request when we were relegated (*COUGH* Jermain Defoe), yet he took a 50% wage cut to stay and help us back up.
Also, look at that fella who plays for Watford, Doyley I think it is, who’s spent his entire professional career with them and will probably never leave.
It will be more so in the lower leagues than the PL but Carlton Cole’s sacrifice should be an example to follow for all PL players. I know that earning £14k a week for a season instead of £28k hardly screams poverty, it is still a huge difference to the money-grabbing whores that are Adebayor and Nasri.
Noble and Tomkins have the potential to be all-time hammers greats as well. Noble gets better every year and if Tomkins can follow that pattern he’ll be an England regular – hopefully even captain – by the time he’s 30.