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Half rant/Half serious : winter kit wimps

Should the players be allowed to wear winter extras?

  • Of course! The tender, precious little things should be allowed to snuggle up against the cold.

    Votes: 11 12.2%
  • Well if long sleeves or gloves keeps 'em warm, ready and productive then sure.

    Votes: 68 75.6%
  • No. If they aren't sweating buckets through commitment then why the hell not?

    Votes: 11 12.2%

  • Total voters
    90

alamo

Don't worry be happy
Jun 10, 2004
5,047
7,226
One thing that particularly caught my attention yesterday, now that our glorious British temperatures are on their winter decline, is that many of our players have started garbing themselves in their usual winter accessories.

The individual (among others) that particularly caught my attention was big bad Vlad. As relatively impressed as I was by his forays down the touchline I couldn't help notice his flapping great arms due to the long-sleeved shirt and black gloves he insisted on wearing.

In his defence he is from Romania, not exactly deepest Siberia but fuck me, is he a rugged, tough, east European center back bruiser or not??? Paulinho, ok, it's not exactly Brazilian beach football right now but......

Whilst playing the beautiful game I have never had a problem with just shorts and a t-shirt no matter the weather. Maybe that is due to my resplendent natural body fleece but I am still, shall we say, follically challenged (or in the words of the great Muhammad Ali - "He so ugly, even his HAIR run away from his face") and I am able to resist the urge to wear a hat.

In short, what the fuck?? Is it me or do said accoutrements indicate a lack of desire and/or effort?
 

WalkerboyUK

Well-Known Member
Jun 8, 2009
21,658
23,476
Look up Rainauds Syndrome....

I'm not saying every footballer who wears gloves suffers from it, but it's a lot more common than you'd think.
My daughter loses the feeling in her fingers as soon as it gets cold - to the point where sometimes she can't walk down the freezer section in a supermarket.
 

BuryMeInEngland

Polish that cock lads
May 24, 2012
11,043
27,441
It's a modern footballer thing inn'it? They would have been laughed off the pitch in the old days and told not to be such a nancy boy.
 

Metalhead

But that's a debate for another thread.....
Nov 24, 2013
25,351
38,294
Personally I think that unless they've got a condition such as the one mentioned above whereby they are especially impacted by cold weather then it would be nice to see them in the usual kit (albeit haven't footballers generally tended to chuck a bit of deep heat on?) but I'm not especially bothered.
 

Mouse!

Fookin' Legend in Gin Alley
Aug 29, 2011
6,303
19,260
Can't say I care that much really.

It's one of those things that only annoys me when I'm already pissed off.
 

mpickard2087

Patient Zero
Jun 13, 2008
21,886
32,512
I think gloves are fine, you want someone to go out there and feel comfortable. However I say that as someone who really feels the cold in their hands and it used to be hell sometimes when playing rugby in the winter months.

Snoods, leggings etc. though are pretty ridiculous.
 

AB27

Active Member
Jun 17, 2012
328
558
Is this really a concern? I mean, where do we draw the line?

"Shorts and a short sleeve shirt?! Back in my day we did PE in vest and pants in the pouring rain and didn't complain at all..."

We're talking about top-tier athletes who can benefit from the most marginal percentage increases in performance. If gloves and long sleeve shirts help them do their job in cold conditions, then more power to them.
 

robbiedee

Mama said knock you out
Jul 6, 2012
2,713
7,487
Lennon has always worn gloves and he's from Leeds!!!!

I thought Diego Costa's bright blue chelsea gloves looked outrageous though.
 

alamo

Don't worry be happy
Jun 10, 2004
5,047
7,226
Is this really a concern? I mean, where do we draw the line?

"Shorts and a short sleeve shirt?! Back in my day we did PE in vest and pants in the pouring rain and didn't complain at all..."

We're talking about top-tier athletes who can benefit from the most marginal percentage increases in performance. If gloves and long sleeve shirts help them do their job in cold conditions, then more power to them.

No, it's not a concern, it's a poll. ;)
 

VoteMe4Prez

Well-Known Member
Oct 6, 2013
2,690
6,752
If it was me I'd need a helmet, two pairs of trousers and an over sized woolly coat. I remember as a kid, barely any of us wanting to play when the temperature went right down. I am such a diva
 

alamo

Don't worry be happy
Jun 10, 2004
5,047
7,226
Quite surprised that the results (although relatively few) so far are quite so accepting.

My personal opinion is that is that if they aren't utterly busting a gut and are absolutely sweating their tits off by then end of a match then they aren't worthy to wear the shirt.
 

MyNameIsNicolaBerti

Well-Known Member
Jan 28, 2013
2,035
3,834
Quite surprised that the results (although relatively few) so far are quite so accepting.

My personal opinion is that is that if they aren't utterly busting a gut and are absolutely sweating their tits off by then end of a match then they aren't worthy to wear the shirt.
Well, they'll sweat more the more layers they have on! :)
 

VanZan

Well-Known Member
Aug 28, 2013
433
524
If the stuff they wear stops them getting flu's or colds (which might also decimate the rest of squad) then I'm all for it!

I used to like wearing gloves playing in the school yard. Partly because I was a poser and partly because I hated the fucking numb feeling you'd get in your fingers due to low temperatures. Yes I would get kicked into the air sometimes because of it but I feel it was worth it overall.
 

ERO

The artist f.k.a Steffen Freund - Mentalist ****
Jun 8, 2003
5,910
5,226
The short sleeves and gloves combo is what bothers me.

Grrr.
My preferred combo on winter days. It's not my bloody forearms that gets me cold. (Though my definition of winter days is slightly colder than "oh no, it's not above 10c"...)

Don't see the point in feeling uncomfortable, and thus more likely not to be on top form, just to fit in to some macho stereotype. And definitely don't see the point in being upset by players that does what all modern sports science will tell you to - keep warm.
 

DaSpurs

Well-Known Member
Jan 20, 2013
11,816
13,655
Quite surprised that the results (although relatively few) so far are quite so accepting.

My personal opinion is that is that if they aren't utterly busting a gut and are absolutely sweating their tits off by then end of a match then they aren't worthy to wear the shirt.

You're basing this on the assumption that all humans experience the same level of pain, have the same biochemistry of muscles producing heat, or as @WalkerboyUK points out: the same ability of their blood vessels to constrict; and consequently are subject to the exact same level of judgement as to whether they're "handling the cold" or not.

I hate to be a dick, but this is a very naive and ignorant stance you're making here.

If the players are producing on the pitch, I don't care if they managed to sneak polar thermals under their long sleeve.
 

SpunkyBackpack

Well-Known Member
Dec 8, 2005
7,831
9,372
Mnaaar......not like in my day... play a game fight a war and then play another before supper... bloody poofs.... who let this lot in?.... bloody labour government....money they are paid they should be immune to temperatures....whats this foreign muck on my plate.... id play in a burlap sack and be grareful.... 62p for a stamp?.....Levy probably forced them to wear them for sponsorship... mnaaaaaar.
 

WalkerboyUK

Well-Known Member
Jun 8, 2009
21,658
23,476
I remember playing football on an ice-laden pitch in High Wycombe, mid winter freezing my f'ing balls off... No joke, it did feel like they had frozen solid and fallen off. I was so cold that I lacked the enthusiasm to move , so I can fully understand a professional footballer keeping warm!
 
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