What's Your Take on Footballers Smoking?

starbelgrade

It used to be the done thing back in the day.. along with hard drinking & womanising, though the last two, you could argue haven't changed much with the modern game.

So, what's your take on footballers who smoke? Does it make them any worse as players... when you think of the list of great footballers & ex-footballers who smoke, you could argue that it doesn't make much of a difference...

To support this argument, I would proffer the following giants of the game...




Zidane



Rooney



Maradonna



Cantona



Phil Babb

Fromvert

Doubt it would have much of an effect on their health as 20/30 year olds, who train at a high level daily.

Later in life it will but it wouldn't effect their ability to perform week in week out.

Let them smoke.

Turtyturd

Can't believe you left out Berbatov Starbelgrade.

amacachi

I'd be interested if there are studies done into the effects of smoking on people who are highly active and in excellent when they start smoking but remain highly active.

Pineapple stu

Shouldnt be allowed during the game .

tommyhaas

So long as they're fit enough to perform I don't see the problem, whether it's drinking or smoking. I know the job of a footballer can't really be compared to a normal job, but it's still a job at the end of the day, not a vocation

curry-muff

Berbatov looks cool as f*ck, smoking or otherwise

Helix

looks like a rollie too, thats extra cool points

Paully D

Steed Malbranque is a chain smoker.

Bodhisopha

It seems a bit foolish to me, personally.

tommyhaas

Johann Cruyff and Garrincha, two of the greatest players ever smoked too. Although Garrincha also lost his virginity to a goat so maybe best not to follow that particular example

Iang87

tommyhaas wrote: »

Johann Cruyff and Garrincha, two of the greatest players ever smoked too. Although Garrincha also lost his virginity to a goat so maybe best not to follow that particular example

is it though really that bad?


Generally i dont care if they smoke provided it doesn't affect their performance

TangyZizzle

Helix wrote: »

looks like a rollie too, thats extra cool points

Or a slim *cringe* as is the done thing on his side of Europe

How much of an effect is smoking gonna have on a fit 20 something? Not much.

If anything it shows that they don't care about the latter years of their career. Surely if you're enjoying your football you should leave out the nicotine buzz in the hopes of playing into your 30s.

eagle eye

Iang87 wrote: »

is it though really that bad?

Losing your virginity to a goat? I'd hope nobody on here can answer that.:eek:

grenache

John Robertson (Martin O'Neill's No. 2) used to smoke 20 a day in his Forest and Derby days. It didn't stop him from being the best winger in Europe between '77 and '82 while winning League Championships, European Cups and League Cups.

I say let them smoke if they want to. Their bodies have the ability to adjust.

themont85

tommyhaas wrote: »

Johann Cruyff and Garrincha, two of the greatest players ever smoked too. Although Garrincha also lost his virginity to a goat so maybe best not to follow that particular example

It cost Johan many years as a manager though.

Gerty

Doubt it has much effect until you've been smoking for quite some time.
But i'm sure if you are going to be a professional footballer, surely they can go without it as there is the possibility it could effect their performance eventually.

JerryHandbag

Who would've thought Phil Babb would become president of USA.

Degag

tommyhaas wrote: »

Johann Cruyff and Garrincha, two of the greatest players ever smoked too. Although Garrincha also lost his virginity to a goat so maybe best not to follow that particular example

WTF!!!

Dublin_Gunner

curry-muff wrote: »

Berbatov looks cool as f*ck, smoking or otherwise

He looks like a cross between Murdock and Face

But I reckon they only do it to look cool. They probably can't even inhale properly.

Boskowski

In the days of personal trainers, physios, dieticians and most importantly 100k per week wages for professional footballers relying heavily on aerobic fitness it seems a bit mental in my opinion.

If I was the one paying a smoking footballers wages I'd certainly impose fines/cut wages/tell to cop the fk on.

Dublin_Gunner

Boskowski wrote: »

In the days of personal trainers, physios, dieticians and most importantly 100k per week wages for professional footballers relying heavily on aerobic fitness it seems a bit mental in my opinion.

If I was the one paying a smoking footballers wages I'd certainly impose fines/cut wages/tell to cop the fk on.

Then Mr. Berbatov could move on and you could kiss your 25+ goals a season goodbye.

I'm pretty sure his abilities on the pitch far outweigh the annoyance of having a pro at the club smoke.

flahavaj

I hate seeing it, it strikes me as the height of unprofessionalism. Theres no way it can't have an effect IMO.

Boskowski

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

Then Mr. Berbatov could move on and you could kiss your 25+ goals a season goodbye.

I'm pretty sure his abilities on the pitch far outweigh the annoyance of having a pro at the club smoke.

Seems players/agents are far too powerful these days anyway.
I get your point but if I paid someone 100k a week to be in tiptop shape (amongst other things) I'd kick his ass for smoking cigarettes.

Dublin_Gunner

Boskowski wrote: »

Seems players/agents are far too powerful these days anyway.
I get your point but if I paid someone 100k a week to be in tiptop shape (amongst other things) I'd kick his ass for smoking cigarettes.

You don't pay the player to be fit, you pay him to do a job. Once the player is still doing that job well, you really can have no complaints.

Of course, a certain level of fitness is assumed, for which constant training is provided.

amacachi

Boskowski wrote: »

Seems players/agents are far too powerful these days anyway.
I get your point but if I paid someone 100k a week to be in tiptop shape (amongst other things) I'd kick his ass for smoking cigarettes.

As much as some fans may prefer the player who works hard rather than the one who gets results if a manager thought like that it'd be rather silly.

GavRedKing

I think their is a difference between your average Sunday League player, training 2 nights a week for an hour at a time compared to a professional footballer training all week.

Its not going to effect a pro player as much due to their strict diet and rigorus exercise and fitness regime. If it doesnt effect their performance then I couldnt care less TBH.

3hn2givr7mx1sc

Couldn't see it having a huge effect on someone like Berba, who does shag all running anyway and relies mainly on his fooking God-like first touch. But for someone like Park it'd be silly.

keano_afc

Legendary bit-part Arsenal full back of yesteryear Nelson Vivas loved to smoke if I remember correctly. Then he cost us the league in the second last game of the season. Coincidence??

McGrath5

It comes across to me that a footballer who is smoking really does not care about his profession.

Twin-go

baz2009 wrote: »

Couldn't see it having a huge effect on someone like Berba, who does shag all running anyway and relies mainly on his fooking God-like first touch. But for someone like Park it'd be silly.

Maybe that the reason he does shag all running.:rolleyes:

3hn2givr7mx1sc

Twin-go wrote: »

Maybe that the reason he does shag all running.:rolleyes:

Probably not.
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Neil3030

Surely there'd be enough data to do a study on this?

Even to retrospectively look at performance data on smokers of yore in a logistical regression.

Anyone wants to do this for a thesis, I'll gladly supervise (I'm sure a big tobacco company would fund it!)

Paparazzo

What about a footballer going to McDonald's? Scholes apparently went every day for 17 years

jmayo

tommyhaas wrote: »

Johann Cruyff and Garrincha, two of the greatest players ever smoked too. Although Garrincha also lost his virginity to a goat so maybe best not to follow that particular example

Ahhhh and I always thought Garrincha just had bandy legs and wonky back.

Often rated as second best Brazilian player to Pele whose endorsement of Viagra now doesn't look so bad.

curry-muff wrote: »

Berbatov looks cool as f*ck, smoking or otherwise

I thought we were only including pictures of good players in this thread ?

Paparazzo wrote: »

What about a footballer going to McDonald's? Scholes apparently went every day for 17 years

Maybe that was why he always had habit of mistiming his tackles ?
Then agin maybe they were his first 17 years ?

losthorizon

tommyhaas wrote: »

Johann Cruyff and Garrincha, two of the greatest players ever smoked too. Although Garrincha also lost his virginity to a goat so maybe best not to follow that particular example

RIP Garrincha you died from drink and smoking. A terrible death

3hn2givr7mx1sc

jmayo wrote: »

I thought we were only including pictures of good players in this thread ?

lolwut?

barone

the clubs have clauses in the contracts forbidding them to participate in anything that causes injury on a regular basis, skiing,snowboarding and the likes..

since smoking kills fairly regulary im amazed they allow players to smoke,its banned in a lot of places worldwide for health reasons :eek:

but the bigger connundrum is players know it isnt good for them, so how committed are they to the sport by doing it.,short career,smoke all ya like when ya stop playin

Turtyturd

Paparazzo wrote: »

What about a footballer going to McDonald's? Scholes apparently went every day for 17 years

He had a job on the side appearing as Ronald McDonald.

starbelgrade

Paparazzo wrote: »

What about a footballer going to McDonald's? Scholes apparently went every day for 17 years

Apparently Roy Keane used to go with him for a while, but stopped when he finally conceded that - no matter how often he asked for one - the staff at McDonalds were never going to serve him an Unhappy Meal.

Pro. F

Boskowski wrote: »

In the days of personal trainers, physios, dieticians and most importantly 100k per week wages for professional footballers relying heavily on aerobic fitness it seems a bit mental in my opinion.

If I was the one paying a smoking footballers wages I'd certainly impose fines/cut wages/tell to cop the fk on.

There are so many common things that footballers can do that would be bad for them: Not getting enough sleep; boozing; eating badly; smoking; messing up their home lives so they lose their focus, the list goes on and on. Managers have to use some discretion or the squad would never settle imo.

Also, footballers have to stay competing for so many months of the year that they really do have to live with whatever restrictions the manager enforces on them. It's not like boxers who can train like fúck for three months and then spend the next three months after the fight stuffing themselves with booze, women, burgers and cigarettes. Footballers have to stay on the regime for nine or ten months a year.

I would say that as long as the footballer in question is passing all his fitness tests then the mangers would be less concerned about smoking than, say, alcohol. With drink comes late nights out and scandals, smoking is relatively harmless to the professional footballer in comparison. Until later in life anyway, but that's then their own problem.

smokedeels

jmayo wrote: »

I thought we were only including pictures of good players in this thread ?

All I have to say to that is...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxJ9wdXXbwY

curry-muff

smokedeels wrote: »

All I have to say to that is...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxJ9wdXXbwY

I'll take that and raise you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5u0sOKar9I

Jimmy Iovine

curry-muff wrote: »

I'll take that and raise you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5u0sOKar9I

I'd prefer to hear that music in the background than having to listen to Gary and the two Alans on MOTD every week.

I can make more sense of it