The RJW63 Official Jack Grealish Appreciation Thread

[Keyblade]

1 hour ago, The_Steve said:

“I love this club so much!” Throwing out those blue hearts like candy again. Next contract he's going to call them "my club" at this rate. 

You want him to say he hates it there or something? He just won the treble, of course he's loving it up there. He's one of them now, just accept it man.

[BleedClaretAndBlue]

 

[Genie]

2 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

Of course I don’t know. But I’m not the one calling him a potential alcoholic. The burden is on other people to provide the evidence. 
 

It’s like me saying he sniffs glue, but having no evidence and saying “yeah but he might, you don’t know”

That’s a ridiculous example.

Footballer with a history of excessive drinking, following a pattern of other footballers who behaved the same way is plausible he might have issues later on.

The glue thing is just silly.

[MNVillan]

11 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

This is kind of my point. He might be. But there’s no evidence for it apart from he likes to get wasted every now and then. 
But that’s circumstantial, lots of people do that and they’re not alcoholics. 
 

What I have issue with is people jumping to the conclusion that he’s going to be an alcoholic and his career will be over when he’s 30 because he’s had a bender for a couple of days. It’s madness

There is at least one bit of evidence that points towards it… it seems apparent that once Jack takes his first drink, he’s not stopping until his body literally starts shutting down. He’s had sleepless nights, days-long benders, etc. 

And maybe that is only happening while he’s in public celebrating. Maybe he’s capable of sitting in front of the TV and having a couple beers. I don’t know. But when he’s in public, he’s drinking until he can’t anymore.

This is one of the biggest differences between a regular drinker and an alcoholic. Once an alcoholic has that first drink touch their lips, they lose all control and only want more.

Again, I’m not claiming that Jack is certainly an alcoholic. I’m just saying that there are worrying signs of what he does while drinking in public. Whether his public celebration behaviors are due to exceptional circumstances or manifestations of trends that are happening more often in private is a question only those close to Jack will know.

So yes, it’s unfair to label Jack as an alcoholic. But it’s also not a leap to say he has displayed risky drinking behavior in public on multiple occasions.

[UpTheVilla26]

With regards the drinking, you don't have to be an alcoholic for it to kill you. 

Unfortunately I have first hand experience in my family. Without going into major detail, my cousin lost his life due to drink - he wasn't an alcoholic. He just went on a binge, while abroad with friends, and that was that, he had a heart attack. His friends just thought he'd passed out, put him in his hotel room and found him dead the next morning. 

That is why, when I see people actively 'celebrating' his drunken high jinx, I don't find it funny. Some people, Grealish might be one, can obviously hammer their bodies into submission and have little side effects (though his liver will be taking a kick in). 

He's already shown that under the influence he makes reckless decisions - drink driving - and what I find the saddest part is, he has to go to the complete extreme of getting wasted then acting the fool. 

If this was an isolated incident, I don't think anyone would be batting an eyelid. It isn't though, he has history and form for it and I find it extremely hard to believe that what we see in public doesn't happen on a weekend or whenever the chance arises for him. 

[Mic09]

Let's re-live that "alcoholism" history. If I forget something please feel free to add to it.

1. Tenerife picture. 

2. Video with a girl that was likely alcohol motivated.

3. COVID car accident.

4. Last year PL winning celebration.

5. This year's treble winning celebration.

I would say, in a life of a 27 year old man, with extreme wealth and countless Abu Dhabi/Vegas/Ibiza parties that history does not point to an alcoholism problem. The sample size isn't enough for a serious conclusion. Yeah, he might have an issue. But what some people seem to be experiencing is called confirmation bias - hanging on to any snippet of information to support their thesis.

Coming back to the COVID car accident, that was in my opinion the only "idiotic" thing that he's done. 

Yeah, he seems like a "lad". But he can do that, and still come to training with best footballers on earth on Monday morning. If he didn't, Guardiola wouldn't spend £100m on him, simple as. 

[wishywashy]

How

[villa4europe]

37 minutes ago, wishywashy said:

How

The guy in the dark blue training top that's how

They'll know he's been on the piss, they'll get it out of him

[Wainy316]

2 hours ago, wishywashy said:

How

Id imagine he’s had at least a full day off drinking in between so he’ll be perfectly functional now if not quite 100%.

[MWARLEY2]

27 year old lets loose after winning a treble. Has never been able to handle his drink.  He is still the same jack the lad he always was.  Got the same kind of profile as Freddie flintoff who was also worshipped for getting on it and going further than others . Until he **** up and then he will be battered by the press  . 

 

Edited June 14, 2023 by MWARLEY2

[sidcow]

6 hours ago, Genie said:

“The makings of” isn’t the same thing.

”The makings of a world class player” is not the same as being a world class player.

He’s a professional athlete who seems to behave in a way very different to that of other professional athletes. That’s a concern already, it’s not the norm to get that battered in that environment.

We’ve seen this type of behaviour from the likes of Merson, Best, Adams, Gascogne who all struggled with alcohol later on in their careers.

 

Ross McCormack had a similar personality type and functioned perfectly well as a top of his level footballer for years, scoring bundles of goals until he couldn't any more, then he went into a spiral. 

Ross McCormack is still younger than Ashley Young.  His career effectively finished years ago. 

It's not just Jack doing what we all did in our 20's. As others have said, it's at odds with pretty much every other top footballer these days, and coupled with his personality it could spell danger in the long term. 

Maybe it won't but alarm bells are ringing. 

Edited June 14, 2023 by sidcow

[villan-scott]

4 hours ago, Mic09 said:

Let's re-live that "alcoholism" history. If I forget something please feel free to add to it.

1. Tenerife picture. 

2. Video with a girl that was likely alcohol motivated.

3. COVID car accident.

4. Last year PL winning celebration.

5. This year's treble winning celebration.

I would say, in a life of a 27 year old man, with extreme wealth and countless Abu Dhabi/Vegas/Ibiza parties that history does not point to an alcoholism problem. The sample size isn't enough for a serious conclusion. Yeah, he might have an issue. But what some people seem to be experiencing is called confirmation bias - hanging on to any snippet of information to support their thesis.

Coming back to the COVID car accident, that was in my opinion the only "idiotic" thing that he's done. 

Yeah, he seems like a "lad". But he can do that, and still come to training with best footballers on earth on Monday morning. If he didn't, Guardiola wouldn't spend £100m on him, simple as. 

The Villa promotion bender was pretty impressive. That was also days long. 

I’m not getting involved in the whole alcoholic debate though, just highlighting another of his public antics.

[Genie]

5 minutes ago, sidcow said:

Ross McCormack had a similar personality type and functioned perfectly well as a top of his level footballer for years, scoring bundles of goals until he couldn't any more, then he went I to a spiral. 

Ross McCormack is still younger than Ashley Young.  His career effectively finished years ago. 

It's not just Jack doing what we all did in our 20's. As others have said, it's at odds with pretty much every other top footballer these days, and coupled with his personality it could spell danger in the long term. 

Maybe it won't but alarm bells are ringing. 

They can hide it much better nowadays. Rooney has talked about getting smashed at home on 2 a long drinking sessions that we never knew about. Also racked up massive gambling debts early in his career  that never got out. 

[HanoiVillan]

fwiw you can put me on team 'this is a slightly concerning way to behave'. 

It's really very common for footballers, and especially former footballers, to struggle with addiction issues. It's a short career; he'll be retiring with more money than he can ever need. He'll go from a world where agents and physios and trainers and minders and god knows who else look after him and care about his movements, to one where he's completely on his own. He hasn't shown any interest that I can tell in forming a long-term relationship, let alone having a family. He is also - and there's no way to say this nicely, but I think it's important to say - really quite thick, so I personally find it hard to see him being very successful at the two most common post-professional careers of coaching or punditry.

I'm sure nobody wants this to happen to him, certainly I don't. But alcohol really is an addictive substance, it's not just a conspiracy of prudes, people really do become addicted to drinking and if you're a guy who likes to go on a semi-public 3-or-4-day bender, cheered on and encouraged by millions calling you a 'legend' for how wasted you are, I don't think it's unreasonable to consider you at higher risk of forming a habit you can't easily kick later. 

[Kingman]

There's having a session and getting absolutely wankered on a 3/4 day bender and totally off your bonce. 

I'll be surprised if he can even remember last night let alone the final on Saturday 

[Keyblade]

2 hours ago, villan-scott said:

The Villa promotion bender was pretty impressive. That was also days long. 

I’m not getting involved in the whole alcoholic debate though, just highlighting another of his public antics.

He came back to preseason fitter than anyone. He was already doing work beforehand. He doesn't let it get in the way of his football. Not since he was a teenager at least.

[imavillan]

well, well !!!

 

 

[The_Steve]

On 14/06/2023 at 18:04, Mic09 said:

Coming back to the COVID car accident, that was in my opinion the only "idiotic" thing that he's done. 

Really?

He "pleaded guilty to a separate offence of careless driving after prosecutors said an unmarked police car spotted him driving at more than 90mph along the M42 at “close to an intimidating distance” on 18 October".

The legal limit on the M42 is 50mph - Jack was driving almost double that. He's incredibly lucky he didn't kill anyone or himself. 

 

[Kuwabatake Sanjuro]

On 14/06/2023 at 23:02, HanoiVillan said:

fwiw you can put me on team 'this is a slightly concerning way to behave'. 

It's really very common for footballers, and especially former footballers, to struggle with addiction issues. It's a short career; he'll be retiring with more money than he can ever need. He'll go from a world where agents and physios and trainers and minders and god knows who else look after him and care about his movements, to one where he's completely on his own. He hasn't shown any interest that I can tell in forming a long-term relationship, let alone having a family. He is also - and there's no way to say this nicely, but I think it's important to say - really quite thick, so I personally find it hard to see him being very successful at the two most common post-professional careers of coaching or punditry.

I'm sure nobody wants this to happen to him, certainly I don't. But alcohol really is an addictive substance, it's not just a conspiracy of prudes, people really do become addicted to drinking and if you're a guy who likes to go on a semi-public 3-or-4-day bender, cheered on and encouraged by millions calling you a 'legend' for how wasted you are, I don't think it's unreasonable to consider you at higher risk of forming a habit you can't easily kick later. 

Don't rule out punditry based on not being the most articulate

[HanoiVillan]

25 minutes ago, Kuwabatake Sanjuro said:

Don't rule out punditry based on not being the most articulate

I actually wrote a whole footnote about Gabby and then deleted it. I was going to acknowledge him as a counter-argument to the difficulties of getting a media career if you're not articulate and a bit dense, but I deleted because I remembered that actually, whether through smarts or good advice, he'd built up a property portfolio before he retired (IIRC) and obviously as you say he got the TalkSport gig so who knows, I guess there's hope for Jack yet.