Ambition makes you look pretty ugly.. or does it?

Most people have probably experienced something like this at work. A colleague becomes dissatisfied where they are and believes they are worth more/have more to offer than they currently do. One person continues to work well, finds the job that matches their ambition, hands in appropriate notice, then leaves wishing everyone well. Another tells everyone how good he/she is, how underpaid/under appreciated/underused they are and how they are going to find a job at a better place as soon as one comes up, Goes to the pub and tells all in earshot about how it too. Which person annoys you more?

I agree that he is more than within his rights to aspire to higher things, but bearing in mind his agent is capable of advertising him privately to suitors, I resent him, or any player doing so vocally.

I always kind of had respect for Franny Jeffers when he left. He said he wanted a shot of winning medals and turned down a lucrative contract (I think from Newcastle) to wait for Arsenal. No bullshit misquoted, he said what he wanted and did it.

Maybe that's naive of me, I dunno, but I think the right thing for Marouane to do would have kept that to himself. He has a high enough profile not to do his advertising in press conferences.

Rooney, Lescott, Arteta and inevitably Fellaini represent the milestones of this journey into the abyss.

Yet people defend or, in the case of one poster, gleefully revels in the antics of those reponsible.

Granted, supporting a club IS primarily based on emotion. However, if Phil Neville indicated that this would be his last season before retirement, there wouldn't be this "well fuck you!" attitude doing the rounds.

I have never expected Fellaini to spend the remainder of his career with us. If he's honest enough to suggest he wants to move somewhere else at some point, no problem: Thanks for the service - good luck.

What I find more patronising is that he (and presumably 'his people,') have felt the need to 'manage,' and indeed walk-back his comments to pacify the 'outrage.' I'd always take honesty over spin.

Bottom line: If he is angling for a move, then as a positive, one can hope that he puts in the performances to earn one to the type of club he may ultimately crave.

Steven Naismith joined US because he didn't want to stay and help Rangers in the Scottish 3rd division. Loyalty simply wasn't enough of a motive for him to override personal ambition.

I have not seen him criticized ONCE on ToffeeWeb.

The next reason is that footballers earn way above the threshold where money makes a difference to happiness. Joe Bloggs's income will directly affect what he can and can't do on a daily, weekly and yearly basis in terms of where he can afford to live, what holidays he can go on and so forth. A footballer's salary won't. The threshold by the way, and I wish I knew how to find a reference to this, is $60,000 a year. Beyond that, money doesn't increase happiness, things like quality family time and feelings of fulfilment and so on make all the difference.

Having said all that, trophies and achievements will make a difference, and unless we can offer Fellaini that, then for that reason, we can't take personally his desire to leave.

I didn't realise how easy it would be to find reference to the $60,000 threshold. Here's one link:

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/happiness-is-earning-60000-a-year.html

Tomorrow here on TW: the lyrics to Lana del Rey's 'Video Games' cast an interesting light on the 'Can Coleman play at right back?' question...

Take Arteta for example he took a pay cut to go to Arsenal - a true case of someone moving for the right reasons.

It must be frustrating as hell for managers these days, all you hear is about the Champions League, and players who want a taste.

You also have to remember loyalty is a two way steet, if we got an offer for Baines from Arsenal for £25m, who is to say we would refuse - even if he was happy & he did not want the move ?

I suppose we just have to accept that with the obscene amounts of money on offer, combined with all the other factors, we may lose any player at any time.

My advice is to support the club - players will always come & go.

If you are leaving for more money, say you are leaving for more money, not ‘lack of ambition’ or for ‘Champions League Football’ or any of the other bollocks.

And another thing, stop kissing the badge unless you sat in the Bullens as a boy and don’t intend to leave until you are sold.

Your comparison is invalid.

You're comparing an average guy who will probably be working till he's 70 just to be able to retire with a roof over his head. To a guy (the footballer) who already has enough money to live a life of luxury for as long as he lives.

Yes the footballer can pursure as much money as he wants. but let's not pretend the footballer needs another £2M a year on top of his 3.5M a year salary -because he's trying to feed his kids.

Let's also remember that if average joe bloggs broadcasts a statement publically courting rival companies while employed by someone else. He'd be in massive trouble.

Footballers are paid to represent their club - on and off the field. Touting yourself about in interviews (if ti's true) is seriously bad form. So let's not pretend he's just being ambitious.

On the other hand, I am not the type of employee that would be happy to spend thirty years with the one company. I managed six and a half years in my last job. I left for a change, taking a drop of money in the process. Having the change and a fresh burst of motivation was worth the trade off. I'm four and a half years in my current job. I'm generally happy to stay. I like the job, the people in the office and my manager is alright.

However, my personal circumstances have changed since my last job. I am more likely to stay in this job because I have to for personal reasons, than my last one. I now have to think about school runs, child minding in the evening, having a family life. At times I would like to change jobs. It would be nice to be offered a job with twice the money. But because of where I'm at personally, I might not be able to take it.

For footballers, the same things must apply to some degree. In some ways, it must come down to what means more to you, your career or your family. It can sometimes be a balancing act. Why has Baines never pushed for a move, why has Hetinga, for all his whinging, never put in a transfer request. I appreciate that it is a short career. You will only get to play at the top level, at the top teams, when you are in your prime. But you have to remember that the majority of footballers, have more in common with your average joe than you think. Not every football player is on 40k a week. For every premier league footballer, there are ten lower league players who are all on a professional wage.

Example: if Joe Bloggs turns up at his new job and was fucking useless for the first 6 months, he would be sacked!!

Example: if Joe Bloggs goes on the sick for 6 months, every year for 2 years running, he would be sacked.

Example: if Joe Bloggs tells the newspaper that his company is a bit shit but that other company across the road is the bee's knees, he would be sacked.

Example: if Joe Bloggs decided to elbow some fucker in work, resulting in missing a few weeks of work, he would be sacked.

Example: if I came into work with a haircut like that, I'd be sacked (joking about that one but stranger things have happened).

In my view, footballers should be paid £10k max... if they win the league, they get a million bonus... and cups, half a million, etc etc. If that was the pay structure I'm 100 percent sure we would see a much improved performance from all players.

That way we'll soon see his true colours.

I always read that as a Spice Girls reference, its not hard to match each one to a word in that line.

As said before, its what the club means to us that makes it important to us. These guys don't have our connection, but should conduct themselves professionally.

To compare a Premier League footballer with a fan who doubles his pay from £20k to £40k a week is, well, showing a lack of insight.