Footballers can do what they want if they’re valuable

The sight of young Jack Grealish lying in a gutter, apparently drunk, was one that shocked me.

We’ve had plenty of footballers behaving badly over the years, but I’ve never seen anything like this 19-year-old rising star flat on his back in Tenerife.

I know my old Ipswich Town manager Bobby Robson would have been appalled.

He used to tell us to have a good rest over the summer, to enjoy ourselves but to behave properly.

Of course we didn’t always follow his instructions to the letter!

We’d get a bit larey at times. We were young and full of ourselves. We were gallus.

There would be a few beers sunk and we’d chase the girls before we were married but I don’t recall anyone ending up unconscious in the street.

We looked out for one another, and made sure everyone got home safely.

We didn’t earn anything like the fortunes that come the way of current players, but we were on good money.

The current financial madness means that standards and morals go right out the window.

We have young Aston Villa star Grealish lying in the street, and Raheem Sterling being pictured again inhaling laughing gas, the so-called hippy crack.

There’s no doubt the pair will get a flea in their ear when they report back for training, but they’re in no danger of being sacked.

It has been a different story for the three Leicester City players who were shown the door last week.

They’ve had their contracts torn up after taking part in a lewd video recording during a post-season tour of Thailand.

The fact that Leicester have Thai owners, and there was a racial element to their language, will have had something to do with their sacking.

But maybe the three, including the manager Nigel Pearson’s son, have been released because they’re not really good enough to become top players.

We consistently see players getting away with all sorts of nonsense because they are worth a fortune to their clubs.

We can talk all we like about rights and wrongs, but football at the top level is now all about money.

The message seems to be that you can do what you like, however unpleasant, because you’re worth a small fortune in the transfer market.

I’m sure there are many managers who would like to really hammer their misbehaving stars, but the owners don’t want to devalue their prized assets.

Maybe only Jose Mourhino would be brave enough to get rid of a young player he felt was unworthy of his club.

These young lads need some good advice on how to look after themselves.

Their agents should be taking a closer interest.

Family is also important, and I was very lucky in that respect.

My dad died suddenly at the age of 88 just after watching the FA Cup Final at the end of last month.

Bernard Brazil was proud to hail from the Gorbals in Glasgow.

He came down to Ipswich to be near me when I joined the club.

We have his funeral on Tuesday and I’ll remember the influence of the man who gave me the strength to go out there and find success in life.