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Official Benoit Thread

That's really not a good comparison to what Ekotto did...


If they are one handed typists with right/left handed typewriters and the typist you are going to see is a right handed typist with a left handed typewriter it gets closer.




But that would just be silly.
 
If they are one handed typists with right/left handed typewriters and the typist you are going to see is a right handed typist with a left handed typewriter it gets closer.




But that would just be silly.

That would be silly, but still the "she's rubbish" part was plucked out of thin air.

Arguments by analogy are rarely great, but this...
 
That would be silly, but still the "she's rubbish" part was plucked out of thin air.

Arguments by analogy are rarely great, but this...

:lol: argument is a bit OT isn't it. Granted what I wrote was a bit whiffy, but I think you understand the gist of what it means. Why undermine a colleague who is at a state of learning and confidence is a huge thing, and someone on your side in front of everyone. For me its a bit of a bricky thing to do.
 
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:lol: argument is a bit OT isn't it. Granted what I wrote was a bit whiffy, but I think you understand the gist of what it means. Why undermine a colleague who is at a state of learning and confidence is a huge thing, and someone on your side in front of everyone. For me its a bit of a bricky thing to do.

A bit whiffy is a serious understatement...

I assumed you used the comparison to convey your opinion, I don't see why calling it an argument is OT.

Undermine? Really? Hey everyone, Naughton who is right footed isn't as good with his left as Ekotto, who is a natural left footed player with a great left foot, is. If this undermines Naughton we should send him to some kind of self esteem course.

I do think intentions are important here, and remembering that English is Ekotto's second language (I can identify with that for sure). If you think that his intentions were at all to undermine Naughton as some kind of ploy to secure his own position within the squad I could understand the reactions. I don't think that at all, I just see it as the honest answer of a player confident in his own ability.
 
I don't think what he said was for a public domain.

Personally if your that sure in your ability, you shouldn't need to say anything at all, but let your football do your talking.
 
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So saying that Ekotto has a better left foot than Naughton is completely uncontroversial for just about anyone to say, unless you're a footballer (or manager) speaking in public?

No - it applies to all professional layers in society, not just football

I have no idea what you do for a living - but if you stood up in our office during Monday's staff meeting, and said you deserve to be given the new project because you're much better than your colleague John Dough next to you - you'd be looked upon as a massive qunt and face disciplinary action.
 
No - it applies to all professional layers in society, not just football

I have no idea what you do for a living - but if you stood up in our office during Monday's staff meeting, and said you deserve to be given the new project because you're much better than your colleague John Dough next to you - you'd be looked upon as a massive qunt and face disciplinary action.

Not really an answer to my question...

You comparison is not a good one. I hope you're just trying to make a point and that you see the differences between the situations yourself.

--------------------

Didn't Ronaldo say that he thinks he's better than Messi not that long ago? Was that out of line as well?
 
Personally I reacted to what Ekotto said - it doesn't come out as very professional.

But maybe him and Naughton are good mates, and this is simply a bit of banter inbetween them? It could be they're laughing their asses off that the press actually printed it. Who knows. I'm sure if it's an issue, it's being dealt with behind closed doors.
 
No - it applies to all professional layers in society, not just football

I have no idea what you do for a living - but if you stood up in our office during Monday's staff meeting, and said you deserve to be given the new project because you're much better than your colleague John Dough next to you - you'd be looked upon as a massive qunt and face disciplinary action.
The point is that BAE did not say that he was "much better" than Naughton. At all. I agree that that would show a lack of professional respect. He said that he had a better left foot, which is not the same at all.

Right. I work with technical manuals. Part of my job is document conversion. Sue, one of my colleagues, is much quicker at conversions than I am. On the other hand, I'm better at highly technical work. We both know this, and have said it in meetings (without tinkling each other off at all), and projects are sometimes planned accordingly. If a project involves a lot of conversion, we try to give it to Sue.

Using that analogy, BAE's left foot is better than Naughton's. Naughton would probably say that his right foot is better than BAE's. If you want a left-footed LB who can deliver in-swinging crosses, BAE's your man. If you want a RB, that'll be Naughton.
 
Didn't Ronaldo say that he thinks he's better than Messi not that long ago? Was that out of line as well?

If you don't get the difference between saying it about your team mate, a player you should possibly be mentoring and two rivals who are competing for the same things in everything that they do on a football pitch then tbh, the discussion should stop right now.
 
If you don't get the difference between saying it about your team mate, a player you should possibly be mentoring and two rivals who are competing for the same things in everything that they do on a football pitch then tbh, the discussion should stop right now.

Of course I get that there's a difference, that was in response to Arcspace who previously said:

"Yes, I 150% believe so - whether it's rivals, or team-mates - that is not in the spirit of the game and breeds negativity, as far as I'm concerned."

In response to my question:

" So any player saying in public that they are better than a team mate at something are demeaning the other player?"
 
Of course I get that there's a difference, that was in response to Arcspace who previously said:

"Yes, I 150% believe so - whether it's rivals, or team-mates - that is not in the spirit of the game and breeds negativity, as far as I'm concerned."

In response to my question:

" So any player saying in public that they are better than a team mate at something are demeaning the other player?"



I wouldnt say so but it is a team game and putting the team ahead of oneself, I'd say is more desirable. He didn't even show respect by naming Naughton which for me is a shame as it hints a lack of respect. Perhaps Benny's English has not helped but I can understand why some see it as ego over the good of team spirit.


It could've been better:


Reporter : So Benoit, do you think you will soon be back in the team?

Benny : Yes, hopefully . Both Jan and Kyle have been great covering for me , Kyle especialy in the last few games. I say this as he's not really a left sided player and left-back is not a position he's played often . I remember a little while back filling in the right-back position myself and I recall my struggles so all credit to him but I'm hungry to regain my place back in the team.
 
Assou-Ekotto: I say what I think ... if you don't like it, I don't care

In light of recent discussion, let's try this:

On the pitch, he is known as a combative defender whose marauding runs down the left flank have helped him establish himself as one of football's most enterprising fullbacks.

Off the pitch, however, Tottenham Hotspur left back Benoit Assou-Ekotto is far from your ordinary top-level footballer.

Opinionated and strong-minded, Assou-Ekotto's surprisingly candid views have often been at odds with the monotonous, if not pretentious, rhetoric that often surrounds the beautiful game.

The French-born Cameroonian international has famously admitted that he's playing the sport just for the money on offer. He's grabbed headlines by saying every player is driven by riches and has openly criticized badge-kissing peers of "hypocrisy."

The refreshingly open, yet soft-spoken, player describes football as a "very, very, very good job," but says there are more important things in life. He shies away from the celebrity lifestyle favored by many of his English Premier League colleagues and has few friends within football.

"For me it's very important to have a normal friend and not only friends in football because you can see the reality and the difficulty of the life, [which] you can forget as your job is a very good job," he explains.

Is he concerned whether some of his comments can be seen in a negative way? "I'm honest and I say what I think," says Assou-Ekotto, who is known as much for his frank comments as his eye-catching hairstyles. "If you don't like, I don't care -- I know how I speak maybe will not help me, but I don't care and I have too much confidence in me."

With a French mother and having grown up in the city of Arras, northern France, Assou-Ekotto, 28, could have played for the French national team.

But he turned his back on "Les Bleus," opting instead to play for the country of his father's origin. He says he's no turncoat -- he just never had an emotional connection with Europe, unlike his strong Cameroonian roots.

"I have more feeling with Cameroon and Africa," he explains.

Assou-Ekotto says that his decision to play in Africa does limit his earning potential at club level in Europe. He claims African players don't earn the same wages as other players, partly because they have to play in the Africa Cup of Nations. The tournament, which is usually held every two years, takes many of the continent's top football stars out of action for their club teams at a critical period in the European domestic season.

"When you make a choice and play for an African [national] team, the football will be more difficult for you because you have the Africa Cup of Nations and there's not a club [that] wants their footballers to travel one month out in the middle of the season," he says. "A French player or an English player or a Belgium player or a Spain player would be all the time more expensive as an African player -- it's like that, it's a reality."

Yet, for Assou-Ekotto, the choice to represent Cameroon's "Indomitable Lions" was easy to make.

"I prefer to be proud to play for my country, even if my football will be more difficult, [than] to play for France and don't have a feeling," he says.

Assou- Ekotto, who joined Tottenham from French outfit Lens in the summer of 2006, comes from a fine footballing pedigree. His older brother Mathieu played top-flight football in Belgium, while his dad, David, left Cameroon for France as a teenager to play professionally. Assou-Ekotto's footballing education came from watching matches with his dad, who was an astute mentor, passing on the nuances of the sport.

"Every weekend when I was about 10 I go with him to see football and to play football and then I said, it's a good job," remembers Assou-Ekotto. "I said, okay, I will focus only on the football."

Disinterested with learning in the classroom, Assou-Ekotto dropped out of school at the age of 16 to pursue his sporting ambition. But although his gamble has paid off, Assou-Ekotto says today he regrets not completing high school.

His view on the importance of education has prompted him to start BA32, a foundation promoting the idea of teaching youth in a practical and interesting way, focused on encouraging children across the globe to learn more about mathematics, science and technology.

"When I make this foundation [it] is to give the opportunity to a young boy to understand that the education and the school is very important because you know when you are young you don't see the real problems of the life; to sleep under the roof you have to pay every month," he says. "I think it is more easy to pay this kind of stuff when you are clever and when you have a good job."

Assou-Ekotto is keen for his philanthropy, rather than his sporting success, to be his lasting legacy.

"I prefer to be remembered about what I will do after football because every weekend about 40,000 people enjoy with me and my team but I hope to help more than 40,000 people after football over the world," he says. "People need help and that will be more interesting for me. People [will remember me] not just as a footballer, because I am not just a footballer."

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/23/sport/football/benoit-assou-ekotto-cameroon/index.html
 
Re: Assou-Ekotto: I say what I think ... if you don't like it, I don't care

Have to love Benny he is spot on as usual such a refreshing view
 
Re: Assou-Ekotto: I say what I think ... if you don't like it, I don't care

totally agree with what he says, thinks like a normal human being rather than a "footballer"
esp love the attitude towards Intl games (much like Holtby it must be said) - he plays for Cameroon becasue he feels like he is Cameroonian.
 
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