I don't think anyone is necessarily to blame for any of this. I keep trying to compare some of these footballing scenarios to examples in the real world and I can't blame these guys for making the choices they have because [I assume] they are doing what they think is best for them. As a young man I had the opportunity to turn pro but turned it down because I already had started a career that firstly was paying more than I was offered to play and certainly had better long term prospects [I stayed with that employer for 23 years]. In those days, we all [or 99% of us] actually had jobs or careers outside the game and the dream of being a world class professional or even making a decent living from the game was a bit of a stretch. These days, there are far more opportunities to make a decent living from the game and so many youngsters would give their right bollock to be a pro, at any level. The likes of Howieson who have already dangled their foot in the pro water, have more insight that most into how hard the pro road is and I can't blame them for thinking, "do I want to go through all of this again?"
I don't think anyone is necessarily to blame for any of this. I keep trying to compare some of these footballing scenarios to examples in the real world and I can't blame these guys for making the choices they have because [I assume] they are doing what they think is best for them. As a young man I had the opportunity to turn pro but turned it down because I already had started a career that firstly was paying more than I was offered to play and certainly had better long term prospects [I stayed with that employer for 23 years]. In those days, we all [or 99% of us] actually had jobs or careers outside the game and the dream of being a world class professional or even making a decent living from the game was a bit of a stretch. These days, there are far more opportunities to make a decent living from the game and so many youngsters would give their tight bollock to be a pro, at any level. The likes of Howieson who have already dangled their foot in the pro water, have more insight that most into how hard the pro road is and I can't blame them for thinking, "do I want to go through all of this again?"