What will Capello and Redknapp make of Crouch’s behaviour?

After scoring two goals in England’s win over Belarus and helping his Tottenham team to victory over his old club Portsmouth you could forgive Peter Crouch for feeling pretty pleased with himself. In fact, you could probably forgive him having a couple of glasses of wine with his mates and celebrating the fact that life is looking pretty good.

Disciplinarian

Of course, knowing that England manager Fabio Capello is a hard-line disciplinarian and has gone on record to say that he expects England players to be role models and to avoid alcohol and nightclubs, he wouldn’t be daft enough to get himself photographed at a nightclub, looking the worse for wear, in the early hours of the morning.

On top of the views of his national manager, Crouch is also well aware of the feelings of his club manager Harry Redknapp who reacted very angrily to an incident back in May when Ledley King allegedly hit someone at a club after a night out that he described as a ‘night out with friends that went too far’.

Redknapp said publicly at the time,

“The nightclub reputation that was around this club when I arrived is something we’ve had to get rid of. It’s hard but I’ve given them all a warning. I’ve told them I don’t want to see them in nightclubs or pubs. I don’t think there is any need for it. These boys are highly-paid athletes. I’ve said go and have a glass of wine with the wife or partner in a nice restaurant on a Saturday night after a game. That’s not a problem. But I’ve told them I don’t want to see them rolling out of nightclubs at three in the morning. There’s no need for it. If you can’t dedicate your life to something for nine months of the year when you’re earning 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 grand a week, there’s got to be a problem. These lads have to make sure they are in great condition. They can’t do it any more anyway because they always get caught. There’s always someone waiting outside with a camera or there’s someone who wants to have a go.”

Against that background you have to ask just what Peter Crouch was thinking when he attended the Movida club on Saturday night after the win at Portsmouth with team-mates Jonathan Woodgate, Robbie Keane and Jermaine Jenas.

If he had a good night, behaved well and didn’t drink too much then ‘fair play to him’ I hear you say.

Pictures

Unfortunately pictures have emerged that show Crouch dancing with his shirt unbuttoned and his jeans soaked either by sweat or a spilled drink. He was then photographed standing up through the sun-roof of a moving people carrier after leaving the club at 2.00 am.

Fabio Capello has made it clear to all of his players what he sees as their responsibilities, particularly in the build up to next summer’s world cup. Harry Redknapp has said exactly what he doesn’t want any of his players to do.

Enjoy

I am not being a killjoy or suggesting that footballers are not allowed to enjoy themselves, but this type of thing beggars belief and places both the managers in a difficult position whereby they either take action or are seen not to back up what they say.

If Crouch finds himself on the bench more often at Tottenham and falls out of favour with Capello that would seem to be really harsh but he would have nobody to blame but himself.