Two multi million pound businesses reach agreement for a prominent employee of one to start working for the other in exchange for a very substantial payment as compensation for early termination of a contract of employment.
This must happen reasonably frequently throughout commercial environments and mostly passes without comment.
When the businesses concerned are football clubs it can amount to something close the end of the world with a torrent of comment and contumely, metaphorical rending of garments akin to a funeral during the Trojan Wars, triumphant celebrations in one capital, fearful reading of the auspices (to mix metaphors) in another and a general sense of the world turned on its axis even on a day when we have the ghastly VSG being more geniuser than anyone has ever been.
The reason for this is not hidden. Football clubs inhabit a space that extends well beyond the commercial into communal bonds and culture, shared history, local and national rivalries and the very stuff of personal orientation; Red or Blue is a choice that matters more than most. It's essentially tribal.
So early termination of a contract of employment by one of your very best employees comes with personal and cultural baggage wholly out of proportion to the surface transaction. In particular:
- rejection. Few are good at dealing with this but for those left behind it feels like a personal kick in the teeth. Here is someone in whom trust has been deep; here is someone on whom to rely; here is someone akin to a saviour who can dig you out of a deep hole and can create magic almost on a whim. And then in a blink of an eye it's all gone
- jealousy. And of course it's gone somewhere else. To another team who are a European rival. We've been jilted and now our player is elsewhere. Worse, as anyone who has experienced the ending of a relationship knows, they're even happy to be elsewhere. It's as though you don't exist any more.
- inadequacy. We weren't big enough or good enough. We've failed. It's our fault for screwing up the chances that we had to win something that might have made us a genuine contender for the top.
- unfair competition. The playing field wasn't level. What chance did we have against this team who keep on telling everyone that they're the biggest/best/richest team in the world? It's impossible to compete against them.
- recurrence. We've been here before. Our best players keep on being stolen by other teams. How can we ever win something significant if this just keeps on happening? It's doubly unfair. Every time we look like we can break through it's snatched away.
- the hope kills you. We're just starting to play some of the most expansive attacking football on the planet and have just signed a player than other top teams really wanted (whatever they might say). He's just scored a winner against our bitter local rivals. Then this happens.
- we were better in the past. Just can't escape the history. We deserve to be at the top because we used to be there. Forget all of those other fallen idols, the Ozymandiases of the football world. Your team always has a certain exceptionalism; a manifest destiny to be the best.
- catastrophising. It's all downhill now. Only the downsides will come to pass. We won't win another game all season. We've handed our rivals a massive advantage. We might as well just take the pearl handled revolver out of the desk drawer and put ourselves out of our collective misery. It's just not worth going on. And we just hate those other teams so much (see jealousy, unfairness, recurrence ...)
- decline. This is another one of those signs of mortality. It's inexorable.
So basically the ending of a contract of employment in football is akin to ending a relationship in the most acrimonious manner possible; experiencing severe depression and feelings of worthlessness; meeting people who share and reinforce these feelings; hating their new partner; fearing that you'll never have another meaningful relationship whilst those in the new relationship are having a great time somewhere on the east coast of Spain (as it happens) and feeling that you might as well just end it all now. It's better than the pain of ongoing failure.
That's why football is so painful.
Life and Death. It's more important than that.
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