As most are aware, this week John Terry listed out the football men from whom he was willing to accept criticism. He let everyone know that Robbie Savage was not among them. The journalists loved it.
Robbie chose to respond to Terry through the medium of his column in the Mirror.
Savage made one point that was begging to be made. Terry may sneer at Savage's credentials, but it remains true that Robbie Savage has played 346 more games in the English top flight (or, indeed, in any top flight) than JT's own frequently lauded manager.
Terry’s own manager Jose Mourinho never played the game at a high standard. He started out as Bobby Robson’s translator. But he became a top coach. When Mourinho expresses an opinion, the whole world listens.
The current England manager, Roy Hodgson, never played League football after being released by Crystal Palace as an 18-year-old.
That did not stop him from coaching three national teams and some of the biggest clubs in Europe. Does his opinion on football matters count?
Savage briefly outlined his own achievements but that wasn't the main thrust of article. His principal argument is that everyone is entitled to their opinion, regardless of their achievements in the game or even whether they ever played the game to a decent level.
Apparently I am not entitled to venture opinions about Terry on BT Sport, in the Daily Mirror or the BBC Six-0-Six phone-in because I have not won major trophies like fellow pundits Rio Ferdinand, Jamie Carragher or Gary Neville.
I only played 346 games in the Premier League, captained four clubs in the top flight and won 39 international caps. So much for playing at a really bad level...
But Terry has distanced him from the vast majority of people involved in football because he was effectively saying their opinions don’t matter.
That includes Sunday League amateurs who play the game for sheer enjoyment, and then retire to the pub for a pint and a bowl of chips, and one-club legends like Matt Le Tissier...
He also takes a stab at the journalists who greeted Terry's barb with 'sycophantic laughter', the usual noise that greets any mildly funny utterance from a professional footballer. In fairness to the journalists, most of these press conferences are so boring that any time anyone says something half amusing or barbed, then they're fit to explode with mirth.
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