By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions. We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
How many more ex players do we have to listen to laughing and joking about our time with us whilst they were paid a fortune for nothing in return. Won't be listening.
It glamourises issues such as drinking, gambling and being abusive to women.
Did listen, Caulker laughs about a lot of his problems without really being convincing that he is ever going take responsibility and seriously deal with them.
The madness of football, in that he ballsed up everywhere he went, yet still got mega rich contracts elsewhere.
Only in football could this happen.
In the world we all live in, he would have to address our problems otherwise consequences much more serious.
It highlights the role of agents but I was led to believe it was depression Caulker suffered from but can't see much evidence here.
Just had a talent but literally destroyed it in pubs and bookies but knew another money bags contract was always around the corner.
Pretty damning indictment on how weird the football industry is.
It glamourises issues such as drinking, gambling and being abusive to women.
Did listen, Caulker laughs about a lot of his problems without really being convincing that he is ever going take responsibility and seriously deal with them.
The madness of football, in that he ballsed up everywhere he went, yet still got mega rich contracts elsewhere.
Only in football could this happen.
In the world we all live in, he would have to address our problems otherwise consequences much more serious.
It highlights the role of agents but I was led to believe it was depression Caulker suffered from but can't see much evidence here.
Just had a talent but literally destroyed it in pubs and bookies but knew another money bags contract was always around the corner.
Pretty damning indictment on how weird the football industry is.
[Post edited 26 Apr 2023 8:25]
I don't think there is any other industry in the world which rewards so richly failure / poor performance.
Well, for a start Caulker isn't a small island off Sierra Leone, it's actually one of the larger masses in the selfpity archipelago, and has had a lot of money pumped in to it, to the extent that Caulker has bases in many other places.
Classic case of never judge a book by its cover. I watched the entire podcast and think he comes across as a good lad. Never expected to think that
Like many of us he has his demons and is honest enough to admit that and own his mistakes. Hes putting his energy into help other younger footballers so they can learn from his mistakes.
Another one to debuff the Harry Redknapp man management myth
Caulker, or somebody he has working for him, has always been a master of PR.
His agent is very clever.
Redknapp never spoke to Caulker ever, Koeman signed him with no idea who he was, and two months after playing Liverpool and conceding six, got signed for Liverpool.
Got the news of the Liverpool signing, when he was spark out, lying on the floor fully clothed, after a night out in Dublin.
Like you say Clive, unbelievably efficient people working for him.
But also suggests a lot of managers do diddly squat research, a google search would highlight Caulker's troubles.
Classic case of never judge a book by its cover. I watched the entire podcast and think he comes across as a good lad. Never expected to think that
Like many of us he has his demons and is honest enough to admit that and own his mistakes. Hes putting his energy into help other younger footballers so they can learn from his mistakes.
Another one to debuff the Harry Redknapp man management myth
Redknapp throwing him under the bus at Spurs was pretty bad. Telling him not to travel with England and stay at Spurs then publicly saying you should never turn down England, absolute tosser
Felt for him a bit, he made some really daft mistakes and career choices and obviously struggled badly with his addictions.
His agent obviously took him for a ride, some of those stories about his agent blocking moves to Palace and Southampton to force him to go QPR and then try and move him to Russia, almost certain back handers involved there
Caulker, or somebody he has working for him, has always been a master of PR.
Post home match with Fulham a few years back (Friday night game I recall) Caulker finally made him self available after being unavailable for a time due to personal issues and was a non-starter on the bench,
Caulker was doing post match-match warm-down when mate I was with started to heckle him about his no-shows while still taking his full pay, genuinely nothing OTT and to be expected,
Caulker went ape, came to pitch side trying to offer my mate out, who by the way was not to be intimidated and readily accepted Caulkers 'you want some' offer whilst he was being held back by Manning and the other Subs,
Just highlights how unprofessional he is if his response to some honesty is I'll see you outside, which like the pie-throwing at Clapham Junction, would'nt have ended well for him.
Listened to a little over an hr, will finish another time, thought it was quite interesting and a few interesting bits for me.
- Was on about £55-60k a week while with us. - When talking about Cardiff where he states he played well, he uses us as the example of when he’s genuinely been crap and deserved stick for it. - Redknapp never spoke to him at Spurs or QPR, and wasn’t good for them. Toxic squad at QPR. - He lists Chris Ramsey as the best Manager at QPR, seems to rate him a lot for his football knowledge. Although spoke quite well of Jimmy H too. - Gambled away £250k the night before we played Arsenal. Les got a mention as he had the casino call him about it and he couldn’t believe he lost that much and then went and played. - Referenced his Swansea team and some of the big drinkers/players that like a night out and Leroy Fer was named. Did Caulker and Fer play for us at the same time? Explains a lot about the shambles we were. - Redknapp comes across as you would expect — telling Adam Smith, another youngster, Caulker and Dean Parrett not to go off to the England under 19 world cup because if they did they wouldn’t have a chance of playing for Tottenham as they needed to have preseason with them. Parrett and Caulker decided to go to the tournament anyway, the other two did what Harry said. That same day Redknapp is on sky news saying that players have to go off and play for their country etc, real honour and the players that did what Harry wanted ended up looking like dick heads. Who would have thought it, Harry is full of sh*t.
Out of interest why do players go on podcasts like this? They're only ever going to come across as unprofessional because you're not going to get many hits if you're a teetotal who only sleeps with his wife (but not on Friday nights). I get the MEGABANTZ element which doesn't matter so much if you've retired but Caulker is still playing and his team are in a relegation battle!
Out of interest why do players go on podcasts like this? They're only ever going to come across as unprofessional because you're not going to get many hits if you're a teetotal who only sleeps with his wife (but not on Friday nights). I get the MEGABANTZ element which doesn't matter so much if you've retired but Caulker is still playing and his team are in a relegation battle!
[Post edited 26 Apr 2023 11:03]
It's a chance for them to tell their story honestly without it being spun by someone else. this one felt a lot less laugh along at the mad stories more feel a bit sorry for him in that he's a young man who made some really stupid career decisions which he is happy to admit to. It also shows the footballer as a human and like everyone else a bit complex rather than someone you can pigeon hole as either a wrong un or a good one
The plan he has to help released kids which opens this summer is a good one, Danny Simpson is doing something similar as well
I haven't listened to Undr the Cosh in a while, but whilst some of them are cringey as anything to listen to, some are really quite deep and thought provoking. The one with Joe Thompson who talked about beating cancer whilst playing for Rochdale and living with that as a young man with a kid was absolutely heart breaking.
It's a chance for them to tell their story honestly without it being spun by someone else. this one felt a lot less laugh along at the mad stories more feel a bit sorry for him in that he's a young man who made some really stupid career decisions which he is happy to admit to. It also shows the footballer as a human and like everyone else a bit complex rather than someone you can pigeon hole as either a wrong un or a good one
The plan he has to help released kids which opens this summer is a good one, Danny Simpson is doing something similar as well
Sorry, cant feel sorry for anyone who reneges on their contract and embezzled that much money from our club, that for me is the definition of a wrong un,
If he had any integrity he would have cancelled his contract or as a minimum asked for his wages to be held while he had treatment and was in a position to honour his contract,
I fail to see how any of our fans can have sympathy for the likes of Caulker and the rest of the charlatans who've walked through our doors in the last 10 years and then load up on the victims (our owners and fans) whilst those players who stole their wages are given a pass.
Sorry, cant feel sorry for anyone who reneges on their contract and embezzled that much money from our club, that for me is the definition of a wrong un,
If he had any integrity he would have cancelled his contract or as a minimum asked for his wages to be held while he had treatment and was in a position to honour his contract,
I fail to see how any of our fans can have sympathy for the likes of Caulker and the rest of the charlatans who've walked through our doors in the last 10 years and then load up on the victims (our owners and fans) whilst those players who stole their wages are given a pass.
Embezzled money? That seems a bit harsh/ridiculous.
We gave a player who was a known alcoholic who suffers from alcohol induced black outs and a gambling addict a massive contract, you can't then act shocked that he gets pissed a lot and spends all his money on gambling.
Our owners are not victims, they were stupid enough to give him that deal when he had massive issues which is why Spurs got rid of him a year earlier. Redknapp was so daft he was his manager at Spurs when a lot of this was happening and still signed him for QPR
When you hear his story I have some sympathy with the problems he's faced such as addiction, he's made some really bad choices in life turning down certain contracts that could have made him and making some really poor choices in which clubs he goes to. It's clear he'll have a lot of regrets when his career is over, I found it quite sad especially when he spoke out about his problems as we are told you are supposed to do and the industry turned it's back on him.
I do wonder how many of the current squad are going through similar issues at the moment, not sure as an industry football does enough to help these players.
Post home match with Fulham a few years back (Friday night game I recall) Caulker finally made him self available after being unavailable for a time due to personal issues and was a non-starter on the bench,
Caulker was doing post match-match warm-down when mate I was with started to heckle him about his no-shows while still taking his full pay, genuinely nothing OTT and to be expected,
Caulker went ape, came to pitch side trying to offer my mate out, who by the way was not to be intimidated and readily accepted Caulkers 'you want some' offer whilst he was being held back by Manning and the other Subs,
Just highlights how unprofessional he is if his response to some honesty is I'll see you outside, which like the pie-throwing at Clapham Junction, would'nt have ended well for him.
Blokes a VVanker and another one who stole a living I wish your mate would have taken the offer and put the Sh1t head in his place
And Bowles is onside, Swinburne has come rushing out of his goal , what can Bowles do here , onto the left foot no, on to the right foot
That’s there that’s two, and that’s Bowles
Brian Moore
Blokes a VVanker and another one who stole a living I wish your mate would have taken the offer and put the Sh1t head in his place
No he did take the offer as was boxing at that time,
Caulker's over-reaction to a 'so you're able to run around after the game are you' jibe was laughable, and proved whether in drink or not, the bloke's a self indulgent wrong'un,
Embezzled money? That seems a bit harsh/ridiculous.
We gave a player who was a known alcoholic who suffers from alcohol induced black outs and a gambling addict a massive contract, you can't then act shocked that he gets pissed a lot and spends all his money on gambling.
Our owners are not victims, they were stupid enough to give him that deal when he had massive issues which is why Spurs got rid of him a year earlier. Redknapp was so daft he was his manager at Spurs when a lot of this was happening and still signed him for QPR
When you hear his story I have some sympathy with the problems he's faced such as addiction, he's made some really bad choices in life turning down certain contracts that could have made him and making some really poor choices in which clubs he goes to. It's clear he'll have a lot of regrets when his career is over, I found it quite sad especially when he spoke out about his problems as we are told you are supposed to do and the industry turned it's back on him.
I do wonder how many of the current squad are going through similar issues at the moment, not sure as an industry football does enough to help these players.
"I found it quite sad especially when he spoke out about his problems as we are told you are supposed to do and the industry turned it's back on him."
This is the bit that always niggles me with him though. He's always very contrite, very open, very honest... but he'll always sneak that underlying thing in there that "the turned its back on him" or the manager in Turkey fell out with him through no fault of his own. There's always a but with him. The industry didn't turn its back on him at all, he's had a contract every season throughout his career regardless of how he's performed or behaved. He's still got a contract at Championship level now. The industry has paid him money the rest of us can only dream of.
Anyway, I shall reserve further comment until I've listened to the full thing over the next couple of days. But, like I say, somebody somewhere in this is an absolute master of PR.
Embezzled money? That seems a bit harsh/ridiculous.
We gave a player who was a known alcoholic who suffers from alcohol induced black outs and a gambling addict a massive contract, you can't then act shocked that he gets pissed a lot and spends all his money on gambling.
Our owners are not victims, they were stupid enough to give him that deal when he had massive issues which is why Spurs got rid of him a year earlier. Redknapp was so daft he was his manager at Spurs when a lot of this was happening and still signed him for QPR
When you hear his story I have some sympathy with the problems he's faced such as addiction, he's made some really bad choices in life turning down certain contracts that could have made him and making some really poor choices in which clubs he goes to. It's clear he'll have a lot of regrets when his career is over, I found it quite sad especially when he spoke out about his problems as we are told you are supposed to do and the industry turned it's back on him.
I do wonder how many of the current squad are going through similar issues at the moment, not sure as an industry football does enough to help these players.
I do find it hard to believe that England selected a known alcoholic,
I find it less hard to believe that Harry Redknapp would do this simply on the basis of the coach he employed from another former club who ended up being a 'bag-man' to some of our other stars who had similar addictive tendencies / behavioural issues,
If our owners can be criticized (harshly imo) it is for being too trusting and naive with these sorts, whether it be wrong'uns like Caulker & Co or blaggers like Les and Paul 'Look at our Production Line numbers' Hall.
"I found it quite sad especially when he spoke out about his problems as we are told you are supposed to do and the industry turned it's back on him."
This is the bit that always niggles me with him though. He's always very contrite, very open, very honest... but he'll always sneak that underlying thing in there that "the turned its back on him" or the manager in Turkey fell out with him through no fault of his own. There's always a but with him. The industry didn't turn its back on him at all, he's had a contract every season throughout his career regardless of how he's performed or behaved. He's still got a contract at Championship level now. The industry has paid him money the rest of us can only dream of.
Anyway, I shall reserve further comment until I've listened to the full thing over the next couple of days. But, like I say, somebody somewhere in this is an absolute master of PR.
That's sort of missing the point though isn't it? Is just giving someone a contract/job sufficient? or do you have a duty of care and responsibility to help with their welbeing as an employer of yours? Caulker was paid money the rest of us can only dream of and was able to pick up jobs regularly, does that mean he can't criticise the lack of care/support he received while working in those jobs? The guy has gambling and drink demons that way exceeded what I thought, and if people in the game knew about these but didn't offer support then I think that's quite shameful.
That's sort of missing the point though isn't it? Is just giving someone a contract/job sufficient? or do you have a duty of care and responsibility to help with their welbeing as an employer of yours? Caulker was paid money the rest of us can only dream of and was able to pick up jobs regularly, does that mean he can't criticise the lack of care/support he received while working in those jobs? The guy has gambling and drink demons that way exceeded what I thought, and if people in the game knew about these but didn't offer support then I think that's quite shameful.
No, fair, absolutely agree with you, good post and good points.
I'm just slightly cynical about him because a big media appearance like this about all the lessons and improvements he's learned and made and how he's been off to Sierra Leone and discovered himself again comes out around this time every year, coincidentally just as his latest contract is expiring and he needs another one.
Embezzled money? That seems a bit harsh/ridiculous.
We gave a player who was a known alcoholic who suffers from alcohol induced black outs and a gambling addict a massive contract, you can't then act shocked that he gets pissed a lot and spends all his money on gambling.
Our owners are not victims, they were stupid enough to give him that deal when he had massive issues which is why Spurs got rid of him a year earlier. Redknapp was so daft he was his manager at Spurs when a lot of this was happening and still signed him for QPR
When you hear his story I have some sympathy with the problems he's faced such as addiction, he's made some really bad choices in life turning down certain contracts that could have made him and making some really poor choices in which clubs he goes to. It's clear he'll have a lot of regrets when his career is over, I found it quite sad especially when he spoke out about his problems as we are told you are supposed to do and the industry turned it's back on him.
I do wonder how many of the current squad are going through similar issues at the moment, not sure as an industry football does enough to help these players.
He certainly didn't come across how I assumed he would. He's actually very articulate and doesn't expect any sympathy for his own poor actions nor the troubles he's faced. He also spoke fairly well about QPR which shocked me as he was here when the club was a complete mess and offered absolutely no platform for success really.
I found the Rowan Vine episode pretty hard to listen to as it accentuated and glorified a footballing stereotype of a sort of lad culture of boozing, gambling and generally squandering riches which the others of course found hilarious. It almost seemed he hadn't matured a day since his 15th birthday and was somehow proud of that. This one wasn't like that at all. I don't sympathise with what Caulker has wasted but I absolutely do sympathise with his demons.
There's a bit of a trope within English football that Arsene Wenger completely turned it on its head in terms of fitness and professionalism. I don't doubt British footballers are much better athletes now than they were 25 years ago but I don't think they're any more prepared for their inevitable fame, money and attention. Someone like Caulker who had all the talent to become a mainstay for the national team but whose career largely went down the drain is testament to that.