Football Food For Thought / Dan Fitch / 27 October 2009 /

They don't make them like they used to. After Aaron Lennon refused to play on for Spurs, Dan 'The Betting Man' Fitch looks at how the modern footballer has become a wimp.

I was at White Hart Lane on Saturday to witness things going back to normal, as the hapless Spurs conspired to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

A key moment in the game was the injury to Aaron Lennon, which forced Tottenham to play out the end of the match with ten men, having already used all three substitutes.

As Lennon limped from the pitch, all around me the less than sympathetic supporters that make up the Park Lane were screaming 'run it off'. Unless Lennon's leg was going to have to be amputated, they wanted him on the pitch.

Time will tell as to how long Lennon will be out of action for. One thing's for sure, if Lennon's seen whizzing past defenders tonight against Everton, then some people will be wondering why he couldn't play on through the pain barrier.

Spurs are now [5.1] to finish in the top four this season and [1.74] to finish in the top six. Both those prices would have been lower had ten man Tottenham not succumbed to Stoke.

I think that the modern footballer is too used to being able to be substituted if they pick up a slight knock. Back in the old days, men were men and substitutions were for wimps.

Bert Trautmann played on during the 1956 FA Cup Final having broken his neck. Meanwhile the modern player is signalling to the bench if their Alice band falls out of place.

So are modern footballers softer than their predecessors? Put simply, yes they are, but only as a result of conditioning.

Years ago the life of a professional footballer was not that different to if you held down a 'proper' job. Yes, it was certainly more glamorous and fun, but the wages weren't too different.

Footballers had to rub shoulders with their local fans after a game. Consequently there must have been a feeling of not wanting to let these people down. Combined with the fact that there was no culture of substitutions, then you can see why players would try to stay on the pitch if they could.

The modern footballer is a highly paid and highly tuned athlete. Injuries are far more prevalent in today's high-speed game and footballers are cautious about aggravating an injury that might keep them out for the long term (especially in a World Cup year).

These days, footballers are wrapped in cotton wool and made to feel special. There's also the fact that society in general used to be tougher. The Great British public lived through two world wars. The nearest our moddy-coddled kids get to this is the Call Of Duty series on their Playstations.

The game between Spurs and Stoke was a throwback to the days when an injury could become a great leveller. In the days of three substitutes, being reduced to ten men for anything other than a sending off is a rare occurrence.

When you have seven substitutes, teams are able to cover pretty much every position on the pitch. When Burnley's Brian Jensen was injured early on in their game on Saturday, they were able to casually bring on a substitute goalkeeper.

Just a few years ago an injury to a keeper was a thing to celebrate, as it meant that an outfield player would soon be thrashing around the goal in their place.

I miss those days when an injury could cause chaos in a team. You can now bring on three subs from a possible seven. Any advance on that? I've a feeling that the bench will be getting even bigger before long.

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