Great interview with Gazza

atypical_boro

atypical_boro

Well-known member
May have been posted before, from a few months ago. No idea who the bloke interviewing him is but Gazza seems to really open up to him in a way he doesn’t always. Worth a watch for those of us from the “Italia 90” school of football fandom.

 
Jedi boro said:
Yet again like Merson these players all talk about there struggle with drugs etc so why didn’t they fail drug tests.
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I don’t think Gazza was doing much cocaine when he played?

But testing certainly wasn’t as prevalent then as it is now I don’t think. Back then load of professional sportsmen were doing drugs (performance and non-performance) and getting away with it.

TBF this interview isn’t just about drugs although the heading suggests it is.

Also interesting to hear his views on Boris Johnson.
 
Slightly awkward when Gazza genuinely thinks there’s a tiger sitting on the window ledge to just be told it’s a bigger than average house cat.
 
back in the 90s when the money started to bloat out players pockets many players couldn't handle the cash, fame and everything that went with it. Gazza, was unfortunately, just one of many who succumbed to drugs and the sad realities of addiction.
 
Expat Smoggie said:
back in the 90s when the money started to bloat out players pockets many players couldn't handle the cash, fame and everything that went with it. Gazza, was unfortunately, just one of many who succumbed to drugs and the sad realities of addiction.
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This has sadly always been an issue. There have been players not receiving the help they needed coping with fame. Look at Hughie Gallagher in the 1920s who sadly killed himself in the 50s but he is rumoured to have often played drunk even in a title winning Geordie team.
 
In fairness Gazza says in the interview that he started taking cocaine in 2004. So he wouldn’t have ever tested positive if that’s true. Not like poor old Adrian Mutu.
 
junos_boots said:
This has sadly always been an issue. There have been players not receiving the help they needed coping with fame. Look at Hughie Gallagher in the 1920s who sadly killed himself in the 50s but he is rumoured to have often played drunk even in a title winning Geordie team.
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Garincha “little bird”is the classic example of this said by many to have been better than pele with all the skill to go with it. But he came to sad end.


Garrincha died on January 20, 1983, at the age of 49 from the consequences of liver cirrhosis and pulmonary edema in conditions of poverty and degradation. and was buried in the Raiz da Serra cemetery in Rio de Janeiro.

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Jonny Ingbar said:
It's an issue that the authorities have zero desire to tackle, given it would only damage their brand and therefore impact on profits.

It's widespread within elite football, guaranteed.
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100%. I’d stake my hat that a fair few mystery medium term injuries are actually bans.

Same with tennis where PEDs are rampant. And without getting too deep into it, there’s some pretty big name players who regularly take 9 months off then are unbeatable when they play again - but are much too valuable to the game of tennis to make an example of.
 
jonny_greenings_sock said:
100%. I’d stake my hat that a fair few mystery medium term injuries are actually bans.

Same with tennis where PEDs are rampant. And without getting too deep into it, there’s some pretty big name players who regularly take 9 months off then are unbeatable when they play again - but are much too valuable to the game of tennis to make an example of.
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I have a mate who lived in SW19 for years (not sure if that’s relevant 😁) but is quite into tennis and reckons tennis is absolutely rife with Persian rugs.
 
Jedi boro said:
Garincha “little bird”is the classic example of this said by many to have been better than pele with all the skill to go with it. But he came to sad end.


Garrincha died on January 20, 1983, at the age of 49 from the consequences of liver cirrhosis and pulmonary edema in conditions of poverty and degradation. and was buried in the Raiz da Serra cemetery in Rio de Janeiro.

​

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Ahhh Garincha, the man who lost his virginity to a goat and is still a widely loved player. Some casual beastiality in rural Brazil means not a jot when you win a world cup and form an unbeatable partnership with Pele.
 
atypical_boro said:
I have a mate who lived in SW19 for years (not sure if that’s relevant 😁) but is quite into tennis and reckons tennis is absolutely rife with Persian rugs.
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Yeah really, that’s interesting.

I mean I love tennis, it’s my second favourite sport to watch. But it suffers from that perfect storm of being an individual sport, which means doping has a much bigger effect on results; being an endurance sport; huge money involved; no real independent oversight of doping; and that the biggest name players are the main draw, bigger than the sport itself. It’s not like football clubs where Man United are the draw card, people want to watch Roger Federer.

I don’t think tennis even passes the eye test of something that’s feasible without PEDs. When you consider that it’s a year-round summer sport, and how hard they run on every point, on their own, with 25 seconds rest, in 30 degree heat, for 4+ hours every two days, I don’t think even special forces soldiers have the physical aptitude for that level of recovery.

Maybe during McEnroe’s day with serve and volley and shorter points you could see how people can play five sets, but with the baseline game now it’s an absolute war.

A few players like Sharapova do get popped. But it’s in no-one’s best interests to ban a Djokovic or a Nadal or a Naomi Osaka. They are what makes the money and questioning their integrity would damage the sport too much.
 
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