REDKNAPP CALLS FOR PLAYER STANDARDS

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp says that Premier League footballers must accept that they are role models and that those who don’t want the responsibility should get out of the game.

Although the Spurs boss didn’t specifically mention the current debate surrounding John Terry following revelations of his affair with Wayne Bridge’s ex girlfriend, Redknapp seemed keen to remind highly paid players have a responsibility to behave in an exemplary fashion on and off the field.

Redknapp said:

If they don’t want to be role models they shouldn’t be in football.

Kids look up to them and wear their shirts, they are in the public eye and they get very well paid to be in the public eye. When we were kids, we all idolised footballers and it’s no different now. There has to be standards. Footballers are young men, but they are role models – they have to set the right examples.

He also admitted that there is only so much a manager can do to control his players,a reference perhaps to the unauthorized Christmas party organized last year by some of his senior first teamers. And Redknapp also called on agents to take a more active role saying:

You can’t be with them 24 hours a day. They’ve all got agents now, who they pay fortunes to, who are supposed to be helping them. But most agents only turn up when their players are signing a new contract and they want their cut of the deal.