Dimitri Payet: Hero or Villain?
The unrivalled popularity and passion that comes with football is not only a thing of a beauty but also a terrible ticking time bomb.
One of the things I strongly dislike about modern day football however is the media culture that surrounds it, (and of course the ludicrous, unjustifiable amounts footballers are paid, certainly in the Premier League at least).
The irritating thing about the media in sport for me is that firstly, people do read the papers, the tweets, the articles and watch the news and are influenced. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to determine what is recycled rubbish and what are peoples’ own opinions.
Secondly, and I hope people can agree with me more easily on this one, is that we have to acknowledge how the media have their own agenda. This often encompasses bypassing ‘the truth’ and honest journalism as a means of creating exactly what they want; attention, controversy and interest.
So now in modern day football, despite all probing from the media, the majority of players and managers come across as very well reserved in press conferences and interviews knowing full well their every word is being scrutinised (and is still in a lot of cases unnecessarily twisted in how they are reported).
So when the media get ahold of some real gold dust ammunition for a story, and several absurd spin off stories from it, they go all out. And boy oh boy, did they get a gem here in these past couple weeks:
Dimitri Payet, ladies and gentleman.
West Ham and France midfielder who has become an absolute fan favourite and talisman at the club. As a player I’m a huge fan of this guy. He has a classy fusion of guile, flair, creativity, efficiency and all with a very calm exterior.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic dropped an absolute bombshell by openly saying to the press that they had a situation with Payet in that he wants to leave and is refusing to play. An interview you can see HERE
Queue the pandemonium from the media and the subsequent, monumental backlash with the West Ham fans.
Within a couple days several videos emerged online of what masses of West Ham fans had to say about this. A very explicit alternative to their favourite chant they sang for him (you can view this HERE) as well as footage of people using a shirt with his name on as a doormat when entering the stadium, people wiping their feet on it, spitting on it and calling him every name under the sun (Can be viewed HERE).
Like a flick of a switch. This guy for all his immense performances in a West Ham shirt with his fancy flicks and trademark free kicks was now public enemy number 1 in East London.
First and foremost, to put my Masters Degree to use and analyse the situation, it was interesting how the manager just came out and declared this. Maybe he was feeling immensely let down but things like this rift through to the rest of the dressing room unfortunately. With similar situations in the past with players trying to engineer a move away from a club managers usually keep quite tight lipped on what’s really going on with the player.
The media all over it like a blood sucking leech really not helping matters. Stories emerging of a move to China for eye watering amounts of money. Doesn’t even matter if there was approach from a Chinese club or anything, if the story and implication is remotely plausible, they’ll write it. So this was really adding fuel to the fire, giving an impression Payet wanted to move away from an underperforming West Ham in favour of reddies.
And every single day it was a new story:
“West Ham won’t sell Payet”
“Payet walks out of training session”
“Payet the missing piece for Real Madrid?”
“Payet hardly ever buys fairy liquid”
Even West Ham manager Slaven Bilic comically shows his frustration at being asked more questions about Payet rather than questions relevant to their recent victory over Crystal Palace with him swearing in a press conference interview which you can see HERE.
But after the roaring inferno has died down a bit, reports are now saying that his desire for a move away is not fuelled by money or trophy ambitions necessarily. Quite simply, a return to Marseille is what the 30 year old wants, for personal reasons and would sooner take his family back there.
Oh no. Heaven forbid a professional footballer have a personal life outside of football or put his family’s thoughts first.
So if this is true, and some also claim he would be willing to take a pay cut of up to 30% to make the move happen, then I say that the treatment of this guy has been totally unacceptable.
Don’t get me wrong, no player is ever bigger than the club itself. But you cannot disregard everything he has done when putting on a West Ham shirt so far so I can sympathise with both sides. Actions speak louder than words they say, but has he actually said anything bad directly at or about West Ham? If this is all for personal reasons then the whole thing has been completely and utterly blown out of proportion.
Personally, I’d like to think if I was in his shoes then I would not go on strike and refuse to play or train like he is apparently doing. I don’t think that helps anything nor is it how I would like people to think of me if it is my last few weeks at a club that has given me so much. Honouring my contract would be my way to go about it. Easier said than done I know.
Someone of Payet’s quality in my opinion is irreplaceable currently at West Ham but you have to try and plan for life without him and not let it disrupt the dynamic of the team.
Of course this situation is for from finished, maybe he will change his attitude, maybe he won’t. Maybe he will move to someone other than Marseille and there will be a further huge uproar. Right now the ball is in West Ham’s court as now would probably be the time they can get the most money out of his transfer.
I hope this article has given insight into the role of the media in sport when a rare situation develops, and how the opinion of a seemingly class individual is tarnished (possibly unnecessarily) very, very quickly.
Thanks for reading, you can also follow me on Instagram & Twitter @Stevegrayfs
