Sorry but i must agree,professionalism should be seen from players.

So they don't need to BE professional, just LOOK professional? They can get tanked up behind closed doors, but not in public.



Why, exactly?

Absolutely 100% agree with this thread, to a point. 1 or 2 beers is socially acceptable, and I would expect the players to relax and make themselves available and accessible. Though several is not..... When I attend work functions with customers, clients and senior members of my business, then I moderate by behaviour even though in the privacy of my own world, I like a beer as much as the next man. Others do not.

I guess it comes down to your personal values of how you intend to present yourself, be perceived.



Hypocrisy, maybe a little: If you recall the picture of Peter Crouch in the Sun this summer with a fag is a good parallel. It was barely mentioned, because he was away from anything to do with his club, on holiday and in his break. I would wager if he was on an event for Spurs and was having a fag, it'd have been seen in a very different way.



I think this is a personal viewpoint. The "aren't they allowed to have a beer......." arguments dont hold up, the answer is yes - time and place.... that is in my view.

I absolutely agree about time and place in that if it affects your ability to do your job properly, you shouldn't be drinking and you should be taken to task by the management about it. And this should apply no matter what job you're in. However, this was a pre-season celebration event. If the guys only had one or two and were having a social chat at the bar, I still can't see that as a problem, no matter who's present. There are no reported incidents of them actually being drunk or indulging in anti-social behaviour on the night.



Why can't each event be treated on its own merit?

i think you need to take the night in it's context. to me the night symbolised the following;

- this is the squad for the season

- the season if full of hope and big expectation

- in the presence of the management, BOD and sponsors the squad are presented their shirts and it is a statement of intent by the club that we mean business this season.

- to the fans and the sponsors, this is the squad that will deliver success

- we have completed a grueling pre season and we are no ready for the season



so for those reasons i think it is fair to say players drinking beers at the bar can be seen as a little un professional. personally i dont care but i can easily see to some that it can be seen as pentulent!



no one is saying the players are out of order i think it was probably a little niaivaty on their part and it would not have hurt to keep off the drink given the night was about signaling it's intent for the upcoming season. impressions are everything in life and unfortunately you only get one chance at a first impression!!

Well said!

Did any of the sponsors or directors have a drink?

You just cant win.



Just 12 months ago fans were up in arms about our drinkers at the club.

We all know who they are or were.



Now fans are sticking up for the drinkers.

Crazy old world. It's either one or the other.

No, it's not, not even close.

There's a HUGE difference between having a couple of drinks on an occasion like Tuesday and turning up for training/a match after a heavy session the night before.



If the two guys in question were worse for wear on the evening, then yes it looks bad. BUT, if they were simply having a social drink, there's no problem as far as I see it. And I still fail to see the difference between having a couple at the King's Croft and having a couple at home. They're still drinking and the "outcome" will still be the same - except that one is in a public place and one isn't. I really do fail to see why so much is being made of this.

Mmmm, the outcome for the individual is the same - getting drunk - but the outcome as far as how the club is perceived by potential sponsors and other outsiders is different. I think the point the OP was making was not to judge the actions but to simply point out that the actions presented a 'risk' to the club, a risk that could've and (in my opinion) should've been avoided.

So how many drinks are we talking they had? Question to the people who were there and saw this?

Who was counting? - ok 1 or 2 or more players had a couple of pints of lager ( I had 3 or 4 ) Unless the managment had said that none of the players were to drink then I don't see a problem.



It was watching them falling about and having to be carried out at the end of the night I thought was not right.









JOKE

From what's been said on here, a couple of the squad had a couple of lagers. There's been no reports of drunkenness, bad behaviour or anything like that. So my point is and has always been, what's the difference between not getting drunk on beer and not getting drunk on fruit juice?