Ivanhoe is not a Knight..(Heskey)

[Stadt]

Agreed.

I've said this to mates before, that in his days at Leicester Heskey was every bit as good as Benteke and Lukaku are these days. Yet the same kids that make jokes about him would consider them great players.

Emile didn't help himself towards the end of his time in England but we always knew that he was a confidence player. To me, it seems that his confidence became a bit shot post-Leicester and that he also possibly lost his way with knowing what kind of player he was meant to be. He went from an unplayable target man who would chip in with 10-15 Premiership goals a season at Leicester to Liverpool trying to make him an outright goalscorer to a left winger for England and then God knows what thereafter.

People very easily miss the subtle qualities of Heskey's game and it astounded me that he got so much stick at the last World Cup when his lay-off for Gerrard's goal versus USA was world class. Instead he became a scapegoat. The fact that he's so high in the all-time Premier League goalscorer lists also goes unnoticed, as does what those who have actually played with him say, as does the amount of trophies and awards he's won and money he's commanded in transfer fees.

My next point is possibly a little more controversial but I think that with the jibes Heskey gets there's also a subtle, underlying racist tone. I just don't believe that if Heskey was white he'd be ridiculed in the manner that he is. That's not to say that the people who ridicule him are racist or are only doing it because he's black, but I just think there's an element to the way that he's perceived that wouldn't exist were he exactly the same player but white. It's exactly the same with Bramble. Yes, he made a few gaffes and might not have been the best player but he played at the top level for years whilst being this national joke figure. Meanwhile Richard Dunne is scoring own goals and getting red cards left, right and centre but is somehow considered a good defender.

Those who actually watch football and understand that a striker shouldn't solely be judged on goals will understand Heskey's worth, the 'FIFA generation' as I call them will continue to make jokes such as this petition.

Best post in the thread

[blue army 1988]

If it wasnt for heskey and linker then maybe leicester city wouldnt be around now. They put in alot of their own money so we didnt go into liquidation.

Ive meet emile and hes such a nice guy. Hell always be a leicestet legend imo.

Also i remember owen and rooney, to point out a couple, saying emile was their fav strike partner for england.

[Corky]

He was on the TalkSport breakfast show this morning, delighted that we are promoted. Said he really enjoyed playing next to Stan Collymore and it was a shame that the partnership ended so quickly.

 

Great to hear from him, and a real shame that the later years of his career overshadowed the first six or so (four with us and two with Liverpool), where his pace, power and threat made him a player defenders hated.

 

As Freeman's said, he was every bit as good as Benteke and Lukaku are during his early years.

[ianormondroyd]

It is blatantly a piss take.

 

We talk about Ormondroyd, Lowe and Coatsworth like that because they were shit players. Likeable maybe, but shit. Ormondroyd is a joke figure, no doubt about it. We take the piss out of him because he was lanky and shit, but we liked him. These 'campaigns' are a dig at Heskey's ability.

 

For some reason Heskey is a joke figure to a lot of English people. Maybe because he played for England so many times. Of course, there have been much worse strikers in the last 10 years, but they are not the butt of as many jokes. 

[Vlad the Fox]

Agreed.

I've said this to mates before, that in his days at Leicester Heskey was every bit as good as Benteke and Lukaku are these days. Yet the same kids that make jokes about him would consider them great players.

Emile didn't help himself towards the end of his time in England but we always knew that he was a confidence player. To me, it seems that his confidence became a bit shot post-Leicester and that he also possibly lost his way with knowing what kind of player he was meant to be. He went from an unplayable target man who would chip in with 10-15 Premiership goals a season at Leicester to Liverpool trying to make him an outright goalscorer to a left winger for England and then God knows what thereafter.

People very easily miss the subtle qualities of Heskey's game and it astounded me that he got so much stick at the last World Cup when his lay-off for Gerrard's goal versus USA was world class. Instead he became a scapegoat. The fact that he's so high in the all-time Premier League goalscorer lists also goes unnoticed, as does what those who have actually played with him say, as does the amount of trophies and awards he's won and money he's commanded in transfer fees.

My next point is possibly a little more controversial but I think that with the jibes Heskey gets there's also a subtle, underlying racist tone. I just don't believe that if Heskey was white he'd be ridiculed in the manner that he is. That's not to say that the people who ridicule him are racist or are only doing it because he's black, but I just think there's an element to the way that he's perceived that wouldn't exist were he exactly the same player but white. It's exactly the same with Bramble. Yes, he made a few gaffes and might not have been the best player but he played at the top level for years whilst being this national joke figure. Meanwhile Richard Dunne is scoring own goals and getting red cards left, right and centre but is somehow considered a good defender.

Those who actually watch football and understand that a striker shouldn't solely be judged on goals will understand Heskey's worth, the 'FIFA generation' as I call them will continue to make jokes such as this petition.

Great post. The 'fifa generation' is one of the major ills of the game nowadays (don't they like to go on about formations).

[Trumpet]

 

EMAIL, EMAIL, EMAIL HESKEY

[Jonzey01]

Give him freedom of the city