Rational Response to Recent Press Reports on Jack Grealish

Jack Grealish’s Previous

In the past MOMS hasn’t bothered commenting on the off-the-pitch antics of Jack Grealish. First of all, it’s his life and secondly I could never understand all the press hype (outside of the Villa fraternity) about him. He was in the national papers before he’d started a game for the first team and most of the journalists who wrote about him had never seen him even play. It was a lot of unnecessary pressure for the lad.

I had seen the pictures of the summer’s Tenerife incident early doors, but for Grealish’s sake (he was just having a laugh on a summer holiday) I didn’t even mention it on social media on the off-chance it would blow over. The problem is though, with social media it’s impossible to suppress such things.

The irony is those who retweeted and discussed on Twitter the pictures of Grealish passed out on a Tenerife street, which inadvertently broke it to the press, were then trolling and being nasty to the girl who had found Grealish outside her apartment and later tweeted him a pic as a good-natured joke. She wasn’t courting attention, she could have sold the pics for thousands, if she was that way inclined. At the time, she and her boyfriend had checked if he was ok, even though in Tenerife you’re stepping over drunk English people all the time. They only realised it was Jack later on, when they saw a friend’s picture with him earlier in the night.

The Tenerife incident only raised one question in my book, which was, what were Jack’s wing men (including his brother) doing leaving Jack in that position in the first place? Due to his very public profession they need to have his back in such situations, the latest being the press coverage from his night out after the 4-0 Everton defeat.

Whoever filmed Grealish in the video of him singing on the night out, which the media have built their stories around, is either naive or can’t be trusted. Grealish has done nothing wrong in the video – unless karaoke/lip-syncing is a crime? – but the press is the press.

The Daily Mail, who broke the story, have already run several stories on the incident, amping it up at every opportunity, even comparing Grealish to both Paul Gascoigne and George Best’s fall from grace.

The Daily Mail actually contacted MOMS for a fan’s view on the matter. I think they perhaps half-expected fans to join in the barracking of the player. While I was initially asked to tone down what I said about the media (i.e. them), to their credit, the Mail ran the following words I sent them, which is below for those who understandably have issues with clicking on the Daily Mail links (the mention of Gascoigne and Best, are references to some of the stories they’ve run).

The MOMS Daily Mail Jack Grealish Article

Unless your name is James Milner, if you’re a Premier League footballer, the likelihood is you’ll enjoy a post-match drink on a Saturday night. With the wages you command, you’re able to splash the cash at fancy places and stick sparklers into bottles of champagne. It’s no big deal.

The reports of 20-year-old Jack Grealish having a night with his friends after Aston Villa’s 4-0 defeat against Everton have perhaps been overcooked somewhat. The only evidence of Grealish’s so-called excesses on his night out extend to a video of him in a club singing to camera, which doesn’t exactly warrant comparisons to Paul Gascoigne’s fall from grace. Also, if you’re a friend of Grealish, does that mean you’re not allowed to have a drink or any fun while in his company?

But, Grealish has been chastised for having fun before, so he should have already learnt the lesson of what people don’t know doesn’t hurt them, and what they do know can get relentlessly exaggerated.

The timing is not ideal for his new manager Remi Garde, who will want total focus from his players on Villa’s current relegation zone plight; escape from which, pundits are increasingly viewing as mission impossible. The new French manager has sent Grealish to train with the Under-21s after his latest boozy night out.

Last season, I met Grealish briefly pitchside at Wembley Stadium before Villa’s FA Cup semi-final triumph against Liverpool. As a Villa fan it was a thrill for me standing on the Wembley turf an hour or so before kick-off, but I remember thinking what a special day it really must have been for the then 19-year-old Jack, who having only previously made two league starts for the Villa first team, was about to play at Wembley for the team he joined as a six-year-old.

As well as his hairstyle and his rolled-down socks, maybe it’s the fairytale rise of the life-long Villa fan that has heightened interest in him?

To this day, Grealish has only started 15 games for Villa, scoring one goal. The truth be told, he has only shown rare flashes of his blossoming ability on the big stage. In short, he’s done very little so far to warrant such hype when you consider what the likes of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo or Michael Owen, were doing while still teenagers.

The media is fast trying to make Jack Grealish a celebrity, before he’s actually proven himself as a football player. The obsession with the whole England vs Ireland debate before he’d even started a game for Villa was symptomatic of this attention. Why should anybody care about a football player most people had never seen play? And, anyway, surely he was always going to choose England?

Both Grealish’s parents are English, he was born in England and you’d think he’d want to follow in the footsteps of his great-great grandfather who played for England, as well winning the FA Cup for Aston Villa in 1905. That’s before you consider the commercial advantages of playing for England.

‘Grealish has been chastised for having fun before, so he should have already learnt the lesson of what people don’t know doesn’t hurt them, and what they do know can get relentlessly exaggerated.’

As any Aston Villa supporter who knows a little about the young player will tell you, Grealish has a good heart, a close-knit family, a genuine rapport with Villa fans and he’s not the ‘wrong ‘un’ he’s being portrayed to be in some quarters.

Of course, as a professional footballer he has a certain responsibility to fans, but their main concern is what he does on the pitch. If like George Best, he dazzles, then any off-field exploits are easily forgotten.

In his own time, Grealish has behaved like most lads in his position do. As long as he knuckles down and doesn’t buy into and act up to his hype, the Villa winger will be increasingly written about for what he does on the pitch and hopefully that will include helping Villa stay up.

The Original Daily Mail Version

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2 COMMENTS

  1. Grealish is not up to be a premiership player believes in what the media say about him instead of believing in his ability as a footballer. Roy will be looking and saying to the England committee we don’t want him in the England set up and the only way he will be part of England is if he buys a ticket for a match the kids a joke. He hasn’t been a scapegoat at all his attitude as done to him what he’s sowing Reme Garde is 100pc right in clamping down on him Lambert should never have given him the hefty rise and a long contract. Grealish needs to look at Brian Little, Beckham, Gerrard and take a leaf out of their books gentlemen and great footballers not a footballer who hasn’t done anything yet one goal in 15 appearances isn’t the trait of a great footballer sorry Jack if your not careful you will end up along side of the Moores Luke and Stefan who believed in their own hype and look where they are now? Pull your socks up get rid of the ponsy hairstyle get your head deflated and get some decent people around you and stop taking your dad everywhere with you we don’t need two Grealishs who seek publicity we need one who wants to play football otherwise you will be seeing and playing regular at grounds like Tamworth GROW UP!!!!

  2. Jack grealish has been made scapegoat, by everyone he is expected to be like messi, even he would struggle in the villa team vtid from trev

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