www.theguardian.com/football/2018/sep/04/steve-sidwell-interview-retirement-premier-league-brightonInteresting article on Steve Sidwell.
Peter Crouch:"I became football's Alan Partridge" Villa wanted to persuade me to sign. As negotiations went on I was put up at the Belfry Hotel. My room was incredible. The Brabazon Suite, overlooking the 18th green. I walked in with my dad and thought, this is unreal. My dad winked at me. Oh yes, son. We've arrived now...I signed. I drove back to the hotel. I walked past reception. Hello, sir, the club have asked us to move you to a different room. Oh, OK. Key in the door. Almost banging my nose on the opposite wall, the only thing stopping me tripping over the single bed being the ironing board that took up the remaining floorspace. It was smaller than the bathroom in the Brabazon Suite.I stayed in that room for three months, except when the Ryder Cup was on, when I had to move out even of that. It got so lonely I'd go out driving by myself, not aiming to get to anywhere, simply aiming to get away from the single bed and my reflection in the mirror. I'd look for places that had weird names.I'd end up at a fast-food drive-thru, get a burger and drive back to the Belfry, sitting there on the bed with my quarter-pounder and fries. It got grim fast. I was going loopy even faster. I became institutionalised. I expected my towels to be folded each morning and to return after training to a chocolate on my pillow.I became a footballing Alan Partridge. I was on first-name terms with staff. I ate in the on-site carvery so often, every day was like Sunday. Some evenings I'd sit in the resort nightclub with a pot of tea, just to hear loud dance music rather than having to watch bad TV in my room
You do here of more than a few who sound like they'd starve to death if left alone for 36 hours.
Sidwell describes the jolt footballers feel when cut free from their high-pressured but numbingly cosseted world. “Football is about instant results. Yes, footballers live a luxurious life and we get given everything. If you split a pair of boots you get a new pair that same afternoon. If you’ve got a cough you see the club doctor. And you get a prescription that’s filled straightaway. Everything’s given to you instantly.“You’re a commodity to the club, and they want you to have no stress. So you lose a little touch with reality. I’ve never had a GP because I’ve never needed to go outside my club but in the big world you need to pay accounts, sort out your MOT. People outside football won’t always grasp this but not doing these little things can mean you lose touch with society.”It also means that some footballers don’t develop many social skills. “One hundred per cent,” Sidwell says. “It’s even more so for the top players. They get criticised if they go out or if they stay in. They can’t win so in the end they build up a barrier. Now when your career finishes you’re not really used to talking to people. And you obviously need that skill in the real world.”
The Crouch story is similar to Angel, who gained a lot of sympathy when he was apparently treated badly on his arrival. As was said at the time, "He expected help 24 hours a day, and Villa don't do that for anyone".