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Arsenal’s Smoking Jack Wilshere Relights The Spirit Of 1966

by | 15th, July 2014

ARSENAL’S Jack Wilshere has been spotted smoking…again.

That is Manchester City’s Joe Hart in the Las Vegas bubble bath. And just out of shot it James Milner.

Tsk!

The first time Wilshere was spotted having a crafty fag, Arsene Wenger, his Arsenal manager, opined:

“You can damage your health at home, you can drink at home, you can smoke at home and nobody sees it. But when you go out socially, you can damage your reputation as an example.”

For sure. Smoking is not a health option; not even the sugary isotonic sort or the full-fat version peddled by Gary Lineker.

Neil Ashton is appalled, writing in the Mail:

The images of Germany celebrating their fourth World Cup triumph in the Maracana Stadium on Sunday evening will live long in the memory. Sadly, so too will the pictures of Joe Hart and Jack Wilshere tearing it up in Las Vegas after England’s latest tournament humiliation.

In year to come, we will all remember where we were when we saw Wilshere in a jacuzzi. But granted, Wilshere and Hart pratting about in Vegas is more entertaining that Wilshere and Hart pratting about against Costa Rica.

Ashton calls the pictures “alarming”. They might even be be as alarming as these photos of smoking footballers.

Or more alarming than a newspaper perving at underage kids?

Ashton of the Mail doesn’t say. But he notes:

The two players have been in Las Vegas partying with friends before they return to Manchester City and Arsenal for pre-season training. It is not becoming of England internationals.

The unbecoming photos were taken by a paparazzo with a long lens. Anorak readers will recalls the Mail’s vow to never buy such photos. But they do. And it’s not just racy shots of other people’s kids the Mail trades in. You get photos of grown men engaging in legal drinking, too.

Phwoar!

Ashton adds that the “ill-disciplined and ill-advised” behaviour is linked to England’s failure on the pitch. Ashton says the German players would never do such like. Unless they do.

 

England's Charlton brothers, Jack (l) and Bobby (r), relax at a pre-tournament function Date: 26/06/1966

England’s Charlton brothers, Jack (l) and Bobby (r), relax at a pre-tournament function
Date: 26/06/1966

 

 

Wilshere is not fit to wear the Three Lions on his shirt.

Elsewhere,the Mail salutes the team of 1966 – “Our World Cup-winning heroes, led by Bobby Moore at the peak of his immaculate career”. Is that Moore, the not–all-that-happily-married-man dubbed ‘King of the barstool’?

Moore’s drinking exploits were legendary, and a couple of crates of lager were always on hand when Bobby held court. He was once even sensationally dropped from the West Ham team for breaking curfew the evening before an FA Cup tie in Blackpool. Best friend Jimmy Greaves called Mooro the ‘King of the Bar Stool’.

Back then, cameras were more visible, and the Press more protecting of the ‘heroes’.

Wilshere’s a bit of a wally. But if he plays well for England, who cares if he smokes and larks about?

Oh, and anyone calling him a role model will be mocked remorselessly. He’s not. He’s footballer. If the Press and elite want to make the players into shining beacons of moral purity, more fool them…



Posted: 15th, July 2014 | In: Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink