England stars warned: Fans hate you

14 April 2012

England's shell-shocked superstars have been warned that fans now view them with resentment and jealousy because of their flashy, high wage lifestyles.

Wigan manager Paul Jewell spoke candidly after witnessing the outpouring of hatred towards coach Steve McClaren following England's poor displays in the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel last Saturday and Andorra on Wednesday.

However, he believes such feelings are not solely directed at England as "it is happening at club level" where football has lost touch with the working man.

"The link between the common man and the player has gone," said Jewell. "It's almost become a them-and-us situation and I think that's sad.

"It's gone past passion — it's reached the point of hatred and it's sad, but that's the way football is going.

"A lot of people who support their team are jealous of the players. I saw the venom and hatred in the faces of the England fans.

Scroll down for more

Letting it all out: England fans vent their feelings

"It was almost pre-meditated. Supporters used to revere players and chant their names. Some players don't help themselves because they are a little bit flash, but there is a jealousy, with everyone's wages dragged through the Press.

"Even the praise you hear is always grudging. You hear people say a player may be good, but he should be because he earns £90,000 a week. The money is obscene, but it's not the players' fault. It's down to a club."

Watching the flak McClaren received has convinced Jewell that he is right not to dream of taking the England job.

He said: "The job has never appealed to me, there is too much politics going on. It's like a circus.

Scroll down for more

Fun and games: Lampard and Terry in training but the abuse England players received in Barcelona on Wednesday was no laughing matter

"It should be the pinnacle of any manager's career, but instead it's all about ridiculous stuff off the pitch — your family, your lifestyle and any skeletons around.

"The England job is a poisoned chalice, people will not want to take it."

Fulham manager Chris Coleman echoed Jewell's sentiments. He said: "Money is a big factor because all the top players get paid a massive amount of money and when they come up against a team of estate agents or whatever, people expect them to win 6-0, playing brilliantly.

"I have a bit of sympathy for players because everything they do is so scrutinised, but I don't think the fans can be blamed.

"We have a duty to them because they are passionate about their team. Players have to learn to live with the pressure. It comes with the territory."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in