I like Stuart Pearce. Always have done.
He’s a winner and someone who always played the game at 100 per cent, with passion, strength and determination.
He garnered that nickname of ‘Psycho’ with valid reason and, especially in these days where football has almost become a non-contact sport, I fondly recall the sight of him dumping an unfortunate winger into Row J with one of those thunderous sliding tackles he so perfectly mastered.
Then came the customary menacing scowl, a flash of a tattooed forearm and, throw in his fist-clenching, chest-beating mannerisms, and you had a real blood-and-guts hero – even despite that dodgy side-parting hair-do that made him look ever so slightly nice.
So it was disappointing to read the comments made after England Under-21s’ European Championships semi-final loss to Holland.
They had lost 13-12 on penalties, with some players having to take a spot-kick twice, following an incident-packed match which saw three England players receive bookings that ruled them out of the final, others fall to injury and more crocks battling on because they had no substitutions remaining.
Boss Pearce said: “It was an incredible evening. I told the players it was probably the proudest moment of achievement I’ve had in football.
“They’ve sweated blood for the country...”
Just what you’d expect from a manager after seeing his side lose in such fashion. Blah, blah, meaningless, cliched nothing.
But Pearce? I expected more. How can he be “proud” that his side lost. I know he’s probably after the job full-time so he has to make the right noises and, given his history, he could certainly sympathise with his players when it comes to the pain of losing in such a manner.
But he’s fallen into the way of so many British sportsmen and women - accepting second best is good enough.
It might be my bugbear but don’t you just hate the way in which Britons are such gallant losers. We’re always so “brave” and “gutsy” and, wait for it... “unlucky.”
Garbage. You make your own luck and it’s because we’ve grown so accustomed to failure that we find it so easy to roll over and accept it time and again.
We’ll see it in the coming fortnight at Wimbledon when it makes its annual appearance. Fortunately, ‘Tiger’ Tim Henman doesn’t look capable of beating his way out of a paper bag at the minute so we won’t have to go through the customary dross where everyone gets excited that he’s made the quarter-finals and could go on to win the title.
I could go on and play for Bradford Bulls - always ready Steve - but I won’t. It’s the same with Henman but we go through this charade that always ends up with him being a “brave, gutsy, gallant, unlucky loser.” We almost expect it. Maybe it’s our fault as a watching public.
Hopefully Andy Murray won’t follow the same path but don’t hold your breath. And don’t get me started about the England football team.
At least Pearce retained some dignity when he added: “It was not quite good enough.”
When a weightier version of that sentiment becomes mantra we might see an improvement in our sporting accolades. Maybe we’ll even win a penalty shoot-out.