Ben Herd: Without team spirit you have nothing

Ben Herd / Ben Herd / 28 November 2008 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

The Shrewsbury right-back discusses the frustrations of suspension, the complexities of Gallas-gate and asks, "What were my parents thinking when they named me?"

It has been a week of suspensions since my last article; the obvious being William Gallas, and, funnily enough, myself - for completely different reasons I may add!

I'll start with my suspension. As a footballer, it pains me to miss even a training session, so you can imagine what it's like missing a game when you're not injured. But I've totted up five bookings this season and that means a one match ban.

To be honest, I'm not a great watcher of games that I'm not involved in. Obviously I want the team to do well but it is frustrating not being involved, because I feel as though I'm able to contribute to the team.

Without getting myself into trouble with the FA, in my opinion, not many of my bookings were warranted. However, I used the suspension as a positive and went to visit friends and family - something I haven't done for the last six months.

Returning to training this week, I feel recharged and freshed. Now, I've just got to win my place back in the side - never easy when the team keeps a clean sheet.

Now for Gallas. Put it like this, if the old guard of Adams, Keown and Bould were still at the club, you can rest assured that Gallas would have been put in his place. Players shouldn't talk to the media about dressing room incidents or level personal criticism at team-mates.

Firstly, before anybody starts criticising anyone, they should look at themselves before making a comment. Team spirit is worth countless points a season. Without it, you have nothing regardless of the amount of ability within the team. At every club in the country, including our own, players have meetings to sort various things out.

We had a few of them last year when we were really struggling for form. But the details of these meetings stay firmly within the four walls they were spoken in. As my mum always said, "To get respect, you have to give respect." There's little evidence of this from Gallas.

The manager places complete trust in appointing his skipper to lead the team. Our skipper, Ben Davies, has the upmost respect from the lads, and if he came out and publicly criticised the lads, I'm sure a few might have something to say - not that he would.

Another player that made the news last week, for all the wrong reasons, was Didier Drogba, for pelting a coin at an opposing fan. At pretty much every away game you get abuse from rival fans, especially, if like myself, you take throw-ins.

"Herd you're a....," is a common phrase that I've become used to, but as a professional you just have to block it out, or laugh as I occasionally do, especially when it's a reference to Charlton Heston's Ben Hur! (what were my Mum and Dad thinking when they named me?).

I can't condone what Drogba did, because it could've seriously hurt someone, but I can understand his anger at being the victim of the coin-throwing to start with.

It happened to me and a couple of the other lads a few years ago at the old Meadow. It was an ill-tempered derby game with Chester City and, as the final whistle rang out, a few pound coins were hurled at me and our then goalkeeper, Scott Shearer. It may sound a bit strange but their aim was about as good as Chester's shooting on the day! It may have been a different story if they had hit me.

My family probably won't talk to me for a few weeks, as I keep mentioning the Gooners, but this weekend sees 'Grand Slam Sunday', or whatever Sky Sports are going to call it this week, with Chelsea taking on Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.

It will be interesting to see how Cesc Fabregas handles the responsibility and pressure of being club captain. For some players captaincy can become a burden and a distraction from their normal game whereas others, such as Steven Gerrard and John Terry, really get the bit between the teeth and produce inspirational form.

I see this game being a tight affair with only the odd goal in it, so get on Under 2.5 goals at [1.78]. The possibility of Chelsea keeping a clean sheet might also yield value as the market develops.