It is a common to hear the cliche in English football today that players are 'only in it for themselves' or 'in it for the money'. Yet, if that's true, how do we explain the rise in pressure on players not to celebrate goals against former teams? Players have been expected not to celebrate their goals against old teams for ages, of course, but in the last few seasons, they seem under greater pressure than ever not to celebrate. Is is due to players jumping from club to club more regularly? Every time a player scores against his old club anymore, you can actually hear the gears of social media grinding to a halt as thousands of people study the reactions to judge how offensive it is. How did we get so caught up in goal celebrations?
Not celebrating goals is, of course, an old tradition in English football. Maybe the most famous example came in 1974, when Denis Law scored that infamous back heeled goal against his former employers Manchester United whilst playing for their neighbours, Man City. His goal gave City a 1–0 win, a goal which he thought had relegated United. He refused to celebrate it and instead turned and walked off the pitch with his head held down. He was substituted straight after.
Law's time at United came between two separate spells with City - illustrating that player loyalty was also a relevant issue 39 years ago.
But let's face it. In 2012, there's something a bit ridiculous about footballers not celebrating a goal against a former club. Footballers play the game with one aim - to win. To win, you must score goals. It's the most natural thing in the world to celebrate a goal. It's amazing how happy footballers look after scoring. Sure, there is the issue of having respect for your former employers and their supporters but the bottom line is that either the club didn't see you good enough to merit a new contract or the player himself found a better option elsewhere. In the vast majority of cases, if a player leaves on his own accord, it is either down to the club showing a lack of ambition or he has a far better financial offer somewhere else.
It is surely not showing disrespect to a previous club's fans to celebrate a goal - as long as the celebration is conducted in a tasteful manner. A player should celebrate a goal to show his commitment to his new club rather than be so concerned with how his previous supporters look at him. Life moves on. And so does a career of a Premiership footballer.
Of course there are exceptions to this rule. Emmanuel Adebayor's sprint to the opposite end of the Etihad Stadium to celebrate in front of the Arsenal fans nearly caused a riot. Adebayor had been heckled and suffered serious abuse before getting his own back against the fans that used to adore him.
Although this was an extreme case, few could argue that it wasn't entertaining. And at the end of the day, football is an entertainment business. Deep down, most supporters know this.
The proof that the 'not celebrating' rule is flawed in how randomly it is observed. Take West Ham. The Hammers have one of the most respected academies in England and have produced some of England's top players. It is only natural that plenty of old faces will return to haunt the Upton Park faithful. What is interesting in the West Ham's case is that some of their former players regularly celebrate whilst others prefer the muted option. Frank Lampard and Jermain Defoe are perfect examples - both players left in somewhat acrimonious circumstances and have no hesitation in celebrating for their current respected clubs.
On the other hand, the likes of Glen Johnson and Michael Carrick on the other hand seemingly have a better relationship with their old club and have never celebrated when scoring against West Ham.
Robin van Persie's goal celebration (or lack thereof) against Arsenal this season perfectly illustrated how these type of muted celebrations can be completely patronising towards opposition fans.
Did he really think that by not celebrating - or holding his hands up to tell the world that he wouldn't be celebrating - that it might soften the blow of him leaving Arsenal? I don't think so. No amount of non-celebrating could ever make it any easier for an Arsenal fan to see van Persie in a United shirt scoring against their club at the Emirates. The 'hands pushed down' motion that he opted for has become very popular recently. Joe Cole's goal against West Ham for Liverpool a few weeks ago was celebrated in a similar fashion although Cole was back with the Hammers a couple of weeks later so perhaps he knew something we didn't.
Robbie Keane is another strange case. Keane has played for eleven different clubs, each one fulfilling a long "childhood dream". Eight of these clubs have been English. Keane has never celebrated scoring against any of his former clubs. For a player who clearly doesn't have much loyalty to any club to not celebrate against them sums up the fickle nature of the muted non-celebration in contemporary football.
As ever in football though, financial matters play a heavy role in decision making and celebrating against your old club and burning your bridges with supporters can have negative consequences for a player's career. David Healy is a perfect example. Healy left Preston in 2004 after forcing a move to Leeds. Preston fans didn't take too kindly to Healy pushing for a move from Deepdale to a rival club and were even more irate when he opted to celebrate goals scored against them. After leaving Rangers last year, Healy wanted to return to Preston but his behaviour had never been forgotten by the Preston faithful who still resented Healy, all of eight years later. Although manager Graham Westley was an obvious admirer of Healy's, he had no choice but to block his move. He stated: "There is a body of supporters who have a strong feeling against the move and I think it would be the wrong thing to do at this moment in time."
This seems to be the season of the non-celebration. There were RVP's and Cole's reactions, but the most bizarre non-celebrations we have seen in the Premier League this season have undoubtedly been courtesy of Shaun Wright-Phillips and Adam Johnson. Wright-Phillips spent a largely forgettable five years at Chelsea. Earlier in the month he scored his first-ever Premier League goal for QPR, which was also his first league goal since May 2010. You think he would have been delighted. It was a massive goal for his new side, a goal which gave them just their second win of the season, their first away from home and also gave his new fans fresh hope for survival. But instead of enjoying the moment with his new fans, he stood there looking like a deer caught in the headlights. I'm sure Chelsea fans would have been understanding if he celebrated such a crucial goal as long as it wasn't rubbing their faces in it.
Adam Johnson was hardly given a chance to prove himself under Roberto Mancini at Manchester City so you would have thought he would have enjoyed his goal for Sunderland against them in December. After all he didn't exactly owe City anything and like Wright-Phillips, wasn't a folk hero at his former club. Johnson almost had to be forced into celebrating a goal which subsequently beat the champions and eased the pressure on his struggling new club.
Whether it is right to question their commitment to their new club is another matter entirely but from reading various fan forums, this is certainly happening in today's game.
Man United take on Real Madrid in the Champions League in the coming weeks where it is almost a guarantee that a certain Cristiano Ronaldo will score at least once against the club whose supporters still sing his name from the stands. Ronaldo however has already made his intentions clear, should he score against United: "I won't celebrate if I score against United. I had six great years there and am still friends with my teammates. It is thanks to Manchester United that I am here playing for Real Madrid. Without them, I wouldn't be the player I am today." United fans don't harbour any resentment against Ronaldo for leaving their club. If, or should I say, when he scores against them, he would be wise not to adopt this patronising 'hands pushed to the floor' gesture.
Much in the same vein of Adebayor's 100 metre dash, Carlos Tevez's 'RIP Fergie' handmade sign at the Man City league victory parade last May boarded on the downright wrong, but will be remembered much more than Adam Johnson's celebration against City. It is nice to see that players are respectful towards their former club, teammates and supporters after moving on, but there is nothing greater in football than scoring a goal, and say Gael Clichy scores against Arsenal on Sunday, a polite, gentlemanly celebration with the teammates who helped create the goal would be far more preferable to the confused reaction of a player trying not to celebrate.
Now is the time for players to start celebrating goals scored against their former clubs.
