An Open Letter to Ryan Babel

Dear @ryanbabel,

I’ve followed you on twitter for a long time now and have witnessed your twitter tantrums. Well here’s mine. I’m sure you’ll be heading for the ‘block’ button as quickly as possible.

Sometimes things happen in life when the timing of two occurrences make you say ‘you see what I mean’. Yesterday was one of those days. In the morning I had posted an entry to my blog, where I suggested that football players are paid too much money. Within the hour you entered the twitterverse to let us all know you were selling your bentley. I assume it comes with full service history and low mileage, given you are looking for £100,000 for it?

You then decided that you’d play the ‘nice guy’ by offering it in a competition. Not a free competition of course, but one where fans put in £5,000 each. Win a bentley for £5,000 – such a steal! Of course you seem to forget that anyone who can afford to lose £5,000 on a one in twenty chance can probably afford a bentley anyway.

There are two things you need to realise very, very quickly.

(1) The club which pays your wages has only recently been saved from financial oblivion, not that you’d be concerned of course – until your wages were stopped. At which point I’m sure your agent would have been complaining about the unfairness of it all.

(2) We, as a country, are living through difficult times at the moment. Maybe you hadn’t noticed (from your ivory towers or gated community) but many are out of work while trying to support families. Those who are working are paying more in taxes and yet most of us are still finding money to buy tickets or merchandise – which pays your wages.

Is it your fault you are paid such grotesque amounts? No. It is however your fault when you show a complete lack of sensitivity and start flogging your motors on twitter. It’s not like we’re talking about a ford escort here is it?

You must also shoulder some of the responsibility for the amount of value fans see from the wages you are paid. I remember being genuinely excited when you signed for the club. But three years, two managers and god knows how many coaches later and we are yet to see your significant abilities come to fruition. How much is the total bill for your services to date? How much value do you believe you have delivered? Please do not start telling me how it’s not your fault you aren’t picked. Because Ryan, it must be. You are in control of your own destiny, are you not?

I hope you take this open letter (if you read it) in the spirit it is meant. There is a way to behave in modern society and those who are lucky enough to be wealthy should really take account of the current environment they are tweeting in. Your tweets, in my opinion, showed a complete lack of consideration for those who follow you. Not that we want you to take pity on us, but we don’t need to know about your £100k bentley either.

Here’s a suggestion for you. Provide, what to you will be, a small token. Open up your raffle to the masses, at (say) £5 a ticket rather than £5,000. Arrange for the prize draw to be carried out on twitter in some way. Then donate all of the raffle sales to charity. Put something back in to the community which supports you day in, day out.

As your favourite philosopher would say “Everybody carries a burden, how you carry it is what counts” -Rev Run.

Sincerely,

@mcdonaldtaf