‘Snappy’ Snoddy gets it wrong

CandH’s top blogger Allen Cummings takes Snoddy to task

I love our Scottish midfielder Snoddy to bits, and would never question his commitment and devotion to the West Ham cause.

But I do find myself having to question his rather ‘snappy’ tweeted response to Health Minister Matt Hancock, concerning the footballers’ pay saga which surfaced recently.

Snodgrass was clearly put out by the issue, sparked by a comment made by the minister at a Coronavirus press conference.

His comment included the words:“…in future do your homework on what we do and who we are as people before coming for us. Over £1 billion in tax and NI PAYMENTS doesn’t even earn RESPECT any more…”

Of course the tax you and your fellow players pay is respected Robert, just as everyone else’s PAYE is respected, whatever job they do.

It’s just that you pay it at a huge rate because you earn huge sums of money, far in excess of what ordinary members of the public do. Yes, collectively you may pay billions – but equally collectively you ‘earn’ billions – for kicking a ball. Whatever you pay, you are left with a whole lot more to spend as you choose. Far more than most of us could ever dream of.

Matt Hancock clearly touched a nerve, but to say he went ‘looking’ for footballers just isn’t true. He was asked a question by a journalist, who knew exactly the reply he wanted to hear, and when Hancock duly obliged, somewhat naively perhaps, the media had got the headline they were looking for.

Since Hancock’s response of course, footballers have reacted positively, setting up the NHS Charities Together programme. Maybe they were working on that course of action anyway – if so that’s great.

But maybe, just maybe, Matt Hancock’s words served to trigger that reaction – which is great also. Either way some good at least has come out of the spat, and surely we all have to be delighted with that. Now just let’s all move on together.