Top players deserve top dollar but must show their worth it by acting responsibly

By Mark Lawrenson

Published 06:04 26/09/09

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Gary Neville made a strong point when he said Premier League players deserve every penny they get, even those who earn £100,000-a-week.

I would agree with Neville for the top 20 per cent of players. They are box office. They sell shirts, tickets and TV deals. But what about the rest, the average squad players who sit on the bench earning £50,000-a-week.

And as the players’ unofficial shop steward, the Manchester United defender should also then realise that the players should behave themselves as well.

Just look at Craig Bellamy and Javier Mascherano. They are two big earners and yet their behaviour in the past week has not put them in a good light. Far from it, in fact.

Make no mistake. Bellamy ran 15 or 20 yards to hit a fan who had run on the pitch during the Manchester derby. A fan who had already been apprehended by stewards. What business of Bellamy’s was it?

Then you have Javier Mascherano. Rafa Benitez says he elbowed the Leeds player by accident as he turned. No, he didn’t. Mascherano elbowed him.

What gets me is that the FA seem running scared to charge these players. Yet if someone does what Bellamy or Mascherano had done in the street they could be charged with assault.

But if you are a lawyer for Bellamy and challenge the FA in court then you just take a DVD of what Mascherano did in and the whole case falls down.

It’s beyond a joke. The lack of consistency is incredible in football. Emmanuel Adebayor deserved to get hammered. Then Craig Bellamy - his team mate - gets let off the hook.

What a joke. So when Gary Neville says players deserve every penny, maybe they do that but when you earn big money responsibility always follows. You have to earn respect to go with the big wage.

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