WE NEED RESPECT, BUT LETS KEEP OUR HUMOUR

WE were visited this week by the excellent PFA. The players’ union does an exceptional job for their members. Just as the LMA looks after managers’ interests wonderfully well, so does the players’ organisation do a superb job.

I am always pleased to support their communications and training efforts to the full. On Thursday, we engaged in a training exercise on diversity. The players were given excellent guidance on the various elements of law relating to equality; matters such as race, religion, age, sexuality, gender and disability were raised.

I am a great believer in equal treatment for all. But I am also a great believer that we all have to be able to have a laugh and not take ourselves too seriously. I think that the world has gone OTT in its reaction to many things.

To emphasise my point, I asked the trainer why he had referred to me as ‘the gaffer’? He told me that most managers used that title. I had searched the internet and discovered that ‘gaffer’ was defined as ‘old man’. So I asked him if he was ‘ageist’ and asked him why he was insulting me in that way! Of course, I was being daft to make a point. The poor trainer had to take me seriously.

It seems that people have an entitlement to take offence nowadays even if no offence is meant or intended.

I know this is a sensitive area and in no way do I wish to condone genuinely bad behaviour. But I do think we are all being a little too sensitive about things.

In cricket there used to be sledging. In dressing rooms there used to be banter. Let’s not kill a good laugh in the name of political correctness.