Bolton Wanderers

Richard Littlejohn using Fabrice Muamba for a bit of publicity – March 20 2012

Richard Littlejohn works for the Daily Mail. Of course he does, that’s the only paper that would publish something like his ‘Pray 4 Muamba, but less of the fake tears‘ article.

Today, Littlejohn chose the most sensitive subject in English football, and wrote something that he thought would be as controversial as possible about it – Fabrice Muamba and the displays of public concern after his collapse at White Hart Lane.

Here’s a little sample of what Littlejohn essentially repeats for 1000 words in the Mail:

‘But while it is understandable that others want to offer their support and good wishes to Muamba’s family and friends, it has also triggered another maudlin display of vicarious grief from the ‘football family’.

As I have observed before, professional football has a sentimental streak the width of Wembley Stadium. On Sunday, Manchester United and Wolves staged a pre-match display of synchronised applause for Muamba, despite the fact he isn’t dead.

Real Madrid wore ‘get well soon’ messages on their shirts, even though I doubt few of the players have ever heard of Muamba. The English disease has gone global.

At Stamford Bridge, the Chelsea defender, Gary Cahill, a former Bolton team-mate, ‘dedicated’ his goal to Muamba and unveiled a T-shirt bearing the slogan ‘Pray 4 Muamba’ for the benefit of the TV cameras.

He couldn’t even be bothered to spell out the word ‘for’. There is a fine line between a tasteful show of solidarity and exhibitionism. And in this case, football yet again trampled across it.’

Yeah, very tasteful, even more so when an accompanying picture of Cahill displaying his t-shirt – in support of a former teammate – is captioned as ‘exhibitionism’.

It’s not Littlejohn’s opinions, because he’s so frequently contrary for the sake of it that we’ve all become desensitised to him. It’s the principle of this type of journalism though; taking an issue which is obviously raw and squeezing it for the sake of some page hits – it’s so horribly calculated and cynical.

It’s embarrassing. A 23 year-old father is still in hospital, and by all accounts his family have greatly appreciated the support and sensitivity of the public – so who at the Daily Mail thought that this publishing this was in any way appropriate? If you’re going to make a comment about the nation’s reaction to situations like this, it can definitely wait a few weeks.

Our press is disgusting.