Why Jussi Jaaskelainen still doesn’t deserve a testimonial
Tuesday November 11th, 2008
Bolton Wanderers legend he may be, but testimonials are outdated…
There was a big debate on the BBC 606 Wanderers message board last week about Jussi Jaaskelainen. It started after someone posted a link to my piece from the summer in which I said Jaaskelainen doesn’t deserve a testimonial from Bolton Wanderers.
Of course, my side of the argument wasn’t done any favours by Jaaskelainen’s heroics against Hull on Saturday, but I did say in my fans’ view match report of the game – in which I reported that fans were saying I’d been made to look like an idiot – that I’d address this subject again. So here goes…
Firstly, my argument with Jaaskelainen was never about his ability. I’ve been saying for years that if I had to pick a squad of the Premier League’s best players then Jaaskelainen would be one of my three keepers. He is easily good enough to have played for one of the big four and I’ve always been baffled as to why Arsenal – who have been the weakest in that department in recent years – have never tried to sign him.
Nor would I argue with his ‘legendary status’. By any measure he will go down as one of the club’s greatest ever players.
My argument was that having allowed his agent to hold the club to ransom last season and declaring he was going to leave, it’s a bit rich to then turn around and ask for a testimonial as part of your new contract.
In an age when players can earn in a year what many of us couldn’t even earn in a lifetime, the testimonials – which were traditionally about giving players a financial nest egg to help them make the transition back to normal working life (buy a pub, start a business etc) – are now completely unnecessary.
The financial function of the testimonial is now redundant, therefore the only point of them is for supporters to show their respect and appreciation to an individual player. In my view that is redundant too. We already show him respect by paying (a lot) to go to games and singing his name every week, which is more respect than he showed supporters last season.
In the 606 discussion it was pointed out that Jaaskelainen never actually said anything. But nor did he contradict it. In fact, by saying nothing at all and allowing his agent to do all the dirty work for him, he made himself look pretty cowardly. I notice that he was happy to speak out – without the need for Peter Harrison to act as middle man – when it came to taking the plaudits for reaching 400 appearances in a Wanderers shirt.
The other thing that was said in the discussion is that money from testimonials normally goes to charity these days. Again, though, he’s not actually said that that would be the case.
If he comes out and says all the money will go to charity, then fine. I hope the Reebok sells out for it. But if it’s nice little earner and a love-in with the fans that he’s after, then I hope supporters show him the same respect he showed us: none.
BWFC People, Jussi Jaaskelainen
1 Comment to Why Jussi Jaaskelainen still doesn’t deserve a testimonial
[...] Holding the club to ransom by saying he wanted to leave, then demanding a testimonial when he eventually did sign a new [...]
Leave a comment
Useful links
Tags
Search Manny Road
January 2, 2009