"YOUR CHOICES!" Simon Jordan explains why he has ZERO SYMPATHY for Raheem Sterling at Chelsea!

Raheem Sterling, I don't know if you've seen this, producer Luke showed me it this morning. There's been quite a reaction of sympathy largely towards Raheem Sterling. He posted a picture on Instagram this week of an empty Cobham training pitch at Chelsea's training ground. There it is, if you're watching at the moment on TV, you can see it, highlighting the time of 20 past eight at night with the caption training alongside a handshake and cold face emoji. Now Sterling, for those who don't know, hasn't been part of Chelsea's first team plans for some time, remains on the outside looking in alongside the likes of Axel de Sassi and Fofana. Now Enzo Maresca has been talking about this, the so-called bomb squad, those who are not taking part in training with the main squad, and he spoke to the newspapers. I'm not sure what your take is on what Maresca says here, Danny. He says they are Chelsea players because they have a contract with the club. At this moment, they're still training apart. The idea is to continue in exactly the same way. Since we started this season, I didn't see one of them. I didn't see Renato Vega, I didn't see Axel de Sassi, I didn't see Raheem Sterling, because they train at a different time and a different pitch. I haven't seen them since we started the season. But Enzo, you're the guy that made them the outcast, are you not? Well, it's hard to speak specifically about each individual, but if you want to get out badly enough and play football, you generally find a way. If that means you have to cut your wages a bit, then you have to cut them. You can look at it both ways, because I've had brief times where I've been training away from the squad, and it is tough. It is tough, but it's putting perspective to real life. Was that in the evening? Like, Sterling is doing here. No, a bit later in the day, not in the evening. But when you were training, Danny, did you think, I'll make a good impression here, tricky I know to imagine Danny doing that, but I'll make a good impression here, and that might springboard me back into the main squad. Yeah, I stayed pretty focused actually, just for myself really. Not thinking I'd be back in the squad, but keeping myself as fit as I could, because I knew that chapter would come to an end. And those lads will have, hopefully, opportunities in January, so they've got to do it for themselves. I see both sides to the other. It's that new message though, is it? I mean, he slung him out last year. He went out the door to Arsenal, did nothing at Arsenal. Oh, no, you're right. He makes no bones about it. He was asked, is there any way back into the first team for those players, like De Sassi and Vega and Sterling? Marescu said, what with us? No. No, he made his decision a year ago. Sterling went out and had an opportunity to create a new narrative about himself, did nothing. He'd done nothing particularly for Chelsea to justify the £48 million transfer fee they paid for him. Nothing to justify the £300,000 a week he's on at Chelsea, besides the history of his performances somewhere else. And so now he has a choice, Sterling, but besides playing and putting a picture of himself and the only thing that's missing is some violin music behind it, he can compromise himself out of a contract and be prepared to accept less money. So what he's doing now, it would seem, is saying that the money side of things is more important than the playing side. Which is his prerogative, and he might be absolutely fine with it. So let's pack it in with the sympathy stuff then, because if anyone, not us, of course, but in the idea that people are saying they feel hard done by or that there's a sentiment of feeling that he should be given an opportunity, he's had opportunities. He didn't do them at Chelsea prior to the manager arriving. The manager made his position entirely clear, which is entirely fair for him to do. If he doesn't fancy Raheem Sterling, he's allowed not to. He went out to Arsenal, Sterling didn't prove him wrong, didn't prove anybody wrong. Comes back from Arsenal, he can go and say, well actually, if Chelsea are prepared to write off the £18 million worth of transfer fee that's left on their books, and I can go on some form of free or a discounted transfer fee to make it happen, I'll be prepared to take a view on my salary to be able to get myself playing. But it would appear that someone somewhere would take Raheem Sterling, if it was on the right kind of money for them to slot into their budget. Clearly, so when you're posting a picture of yourself on Instagram, give it a break. These are choices that you've made. If you're posting it to elicit a response. Is he posting it for sympathy? Why else would you do it? What is the purpose of posting an Instagram picture? Well, to show how excited you are. Oh, come on, you know what it's about. 8.20 at night Danny, you can see where he's going with it. Training in inverted commas, alongside a handshake and a cold face emoji. In your time at Palace, did you ever have any of these bomb squads? Players still under contract, but having nothing to do with the first team. Yeah, of course you do. It's like, bomb squad. Did you okay that? I okayed the manager to make decisions that he felt that he needed to make with the players. Did you make them train at night? He made them, he didn't make them do anything. It's unusual to train at night. They had a responsibility to train at the times that was conducive with getting the outcomes that was required of the year. To be honest with you, even less if they trained or not half the time. It was an obligation upon you, because if you didn't, in come those busy little scrotes, the PFA that have nothing else to do with it as anything meaningful, saying you've got to have a sporting chance. To be honest, the other thing as well is you might have been training at night because the first team might have been training at night in another, on another pitch. And he's in it, you know, there's no context to it. So what? But no, but the thing is here Danny, I know he's getting next to no sympathy with them, but Sterling DeSantis and Fafana, well have they, are they not sitting there at night thinking What else are they doing? Or is it Vega? Are they not sitting at night thinking, we've hit a brick wall here? Some players deal with it differently, some crack on and keep themselves really good and others, others become dismissive and just don't care. It depends on the individual and what you want from your next chapter. The worst thing you can do is start feeling sorry for yourself and not put it in because you'll end up suffering. And when you do get the opportunity, you won't be ready. The bigger question is, the bigger question above all this is, why has Raheem Sterling gone into such marked decline? Why has he gone from a player? I mean, I've never rated him that highly anyway. So why has he gone from a player that was perceived to be a match winner, a Manchester City perceived to be the match winner for England in the Euros of 2020, I think it was. And now cannot get a game at two leading football clubs and is marginalised at such a level that he can't even train with the first team now. The question is, how's that happened? He's 30 years of age. He's not, you know, and this decline has been going on since he was 27. Well, I'll wait back at the beginning of this and I'll put it to you, Danny, and then, God love me, I'll put it to Simon. Do these players deserve any sympathy? Not really. I understand it because I'm a player and I know how tough it can be. But, generally, you're not going to get sympathy. What about old heartless Harry? Okay. When you're earning 200 bags a week, people aren't going to get sympathy. Forget what you're earning. No, you can't forget it. Forget what you're earning because the only time it ever comes into what you're earning is when you're not doing what you should be doing. The question is, who brought this upon him? If the answer is himself, then how can anybody in a real world without being ridiculously over-sentimental about something that they've got no fundamental understanding of have any empathy with it? But is there much sympathy? Are we creating a narrative that's not really there? Well, it's all down to the Instagram post, isn't it? And what message is he sending?