Jamie O’Hara and mental health in Football

[Werewolf of Wombourne]

Watched this clip from a podcast he appeared on. If it’s true it sheds a new light on his time with us and how the mental health of players was totally disregarded by clubs and fans back then. You’d like to think that things have improved now though.

 

[Mutchy]

Sadly there will still be some who believe that high wages somehow disqualify players from mental health difficulties.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

Watched this clip from a podcast he appeared on. If it’s true it sheds a new light on his time with us and how the mental health of players was totally disregarded by clubs and fans back then. You’d like to think that things have improved now though.

Most of the fans was on the backs of the players and manager during this time.

Didn’t help Saunders took the lads to Cheltenham races getting them all peed up.

O’Hara deliberately got himself sent off at home against Huddersfield - unforgivable actions

Jamie needed the help the club should of helped him and others. Not letting people like Saunders take them drinking and gambling only to make things worse

Not only that who gives a player a big juicy 5 year contract with rods in his back? At Portsmouth he was awesome, also didn’t have a certain celebrity as his partner. His loan spell for us was very good. So where did it go wrong? The pressures of the game?

 

[Rowzed]

It’s sad hearing Jamie talking about that horrible time, but he is honest in his reflections of what it must have been like. He recognises the tragedy of it all and acknowledges his part in it.

I think it’s a mistake to assume there was no mental health support available, but he reflects many of the pressures that exist in sport
For as long as I’ve known there has always been good mental health support in the club.
Unlike most workplaces the players have on-site services they can access any day of the week.
At the time the club also employed a psychologist and there were and still are multiple references and sign posts to both “Sporting Chance” and the PFA support
https://www.thepfa.com/players/wellbeing. Players also have very comprehensive medical insurance.


Like most young men under performance pressure, players are not immune to mental health problems which are often hidden from workmates and employers and not immediately obvious even to themselves. For a marquee signing these pressures are higher
Injury, relegations and abuse don’t help and will be a problem to many players today
It is a significant problem in football as it is in life, however services are available

 

[arctic rime]

I wonder what problems he had when he took those 2 slappers home into the family bed?

He was a prat at Wolves.

#justsaying

 

[Timberwolf]

I think his personal life probably contributed more to his vulnerable mental health than playing football. I mean Danielle Lloyd ffs…!

 

[MasWolf]

I remember watching an interview with him a couple years ago and it really changed my view on him. He spoke about losing his mother at a young age and how that affected him.

 

[WickedWolfie]

I think his personal life probably contributed more to his vulnerable mental health than playing football. I mean Danielle Lloyd ffs…!

The constant injuries probably didn't help any....

 

[Axle]

Sadly there will still be some who believe that high wages somehow disqualify players from mental health difficulties.

In all honesty the opposite is possibly the case: someone has all that money and a job most people would dream of and they still don’t feel happy or even content.

So it is doubly worse in that they think they should be happy but they’re not.

It’s tragic really.

 

[BlahBlah]

I wonder what problems he had when he took those 2 slappers home into the family bed?

He was a prat at Wolves.

#justsaying

as Mutchy says, he could put that down to mental health issues. Worth a try i guess.

 

[Mutchy]

as Mutchy says, he could put that down to mental health issues. Worth a try i guess.

As Mutchy says what?

 

[BlahBlah]

He played more games for Wolves than anybody else, but only 41 matches.
It does seem a shame he was ruined by injuries.

 

[BlahBlah]

As Mutchy says what?

You posted on this thread, #2

 

[Streathamwolf]

I wonder what problems he had when he took those 2 slappers home into the family bed?

He was a prat at Wolves.

#justsaying

What a prattish remark.

 

[Pengwern]

We should think about this when we talk about Fabio Silva; being a confidence player is linked to mental health.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

Does he want sympathy from our fan base or something?? It’s water under the bridge for most of us.

I hope he gets the help he needs. His own words when I met him. “I scored against west brom the fans should love me more.” Instantly I thought what a total moron. But if he was depressed and had mental health issues we can draw the dots here. It’s ok Jamie some things work out, some don’t.

We can only accept the past and what has happened and change the future and good luck to you

 

[Mutchy]

You posted on this thread, #2

I did indeed. But you'll need to quote me the post that says what you state please.

 

[Wolf 82]

Unfortunately, people will rarely get sympathy and understanding for mental health issues. It’s invisible and people who have not suffered themselves, will only see what the person, materialistically, has through their own eyes..

He’s rich.. he’s playing football for a living.. he has his pick of the birds.. etc..

Of course, a big part of mental health is guilt.. guilt from knowing you should be happy, that you don’t have it bad, so why can’t I be happy? Why can’t I be thankful?

The brains a super-computer and if it turns on you, then there isn’t much you can do about it.

 

[WKFWolf]

Just because you don't like someone doesn't make them any less of a human being. As @Wolf 82 mentioned above, whether you live on the street or in a mansion once your mind goes, it's a ****ing tough ride.

I don't think a lot of people realise how hard it is to just talk about something like this. He gets a lot of credit from me, like anyone else, for putting himself out there in this case. And some of the flippant comments around this topic make me sick honestly.

 

[oldgoldheart]

A pretty honest interview. Interesting to hear about that time. I wish him well. if we hadn't had our journey as a club then we might have a different position now so i have no malice towards him

 

[OLDGOLD]

This is a tough one, as I am very aware of mental health issues. Personally very aware.
I am not denying he has had issues, and some of his poor decisions may have been cause or effect, but I do wonder in his instance if he is trying to re write history a bit more favourably for his younger self...

 

[SuperGran]

What a prattish remark.

It’s no wonder that mental illness is so misunderstood and male suicide is so high when we have such antiquated views sad really.

 

[Contrarian]

Just because you don't like someone doesn't make them any less of a human being. As @Wolf 82 mentioned above, whether you live on the street or in a mansion once your mind goes, it's a ****ing tough ride.

I do get that. It just somehow feels worse when those in the mansions start blaming those on the street for everything, than the other way around. Ideally there would be no punching at all, but punching down seems more despicable than punching up. Which is part of why people have less sympathy for wealthy footballers.

 

[Streathamwolf]

It’s no wonder that mental illness is so misunderstood and male suicide is so high when we have such antiquated views sad really.

Very true. I work as a therapist and am very fortunate to be surrounded by enlightened views.

 

[Pagey]

I've got a lot of respect for anyone that admits their mistakes, fair play to Harry for helping him through a rough patch in his life, bit disappointing to hear about Jacketts treatment of players.

Would just like to say that nobody at wolves wanted to kill you Jamie, the incident you mention was after losing to the **** 5 1, you didnt play and nobody laid a hand on you, although Danielle did her best to inflame the situation.

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

Thanks for posting this Werewolf. I watched this the other night but did not know how to post it on here as I thought it was a very honest interview and I had no idea just how injured/knackered the guy was when he was with us. It's all very sad hearing him reminisce about his time at Wolves and we as a Club don't come out of it too well tbh. Can someone remind me about the bomb squad again. JOH and others , who were they? had to train away from the 1st team. Why did we do that? Just seems so sad hearing this now when the club under GON is so united.

 

[Lichfieldroadwolf]

Have sympathy with him as a person but as a player, none at all. Had all the tools and did nothing with it, dont agree with him slagging Jacket off too. KJ was bought in to do a job at Wolves and did it very well, can't say that about JOH

 

[JOSWolf]

I have every sympathy with him and mental health issues.

 

[Finch3d]

He still disregards his time with us during his cohosting on talk sport and jokes about it. In the video he said he stuck his thumbs up to us when singing 40k a week... I seem to remember him hand gensturing 4 and 0 to us.... Still don't like him as a player or how he is now on radio.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

He still disregards his time with us during his cohosting on talk sport and jokes about it. In the video he said he stuck his thumbs up to us when singing 40k a week... I seem to remember him hand gensturing 4 and 0 to us.... Still don't like him as a player or how he is now on radio.

That’s why it’s hard to take him seriously

 

[Jawwfc]

He should have perhaps been supported better with his mental health and I can understand why somebody on the spotlight can suffer. I'd hope there is more support now.

On the other hand he was found guilty of assault and fined for punching a 14 year old kid and Danielle Lloyd has alleged domestic abuse against him....certain things can't be given a free pass.

 

[WolvesAndCows]

Couldn't believe it when he said Haaland isn't all that, the other day.

 

[BlahBlah]

JOH and others , who were they? had to train away from the 1st team. Why did we do that? Just seems so sad hearing this now when the club under GON is so united.

Johnson , Karl Henry etc.
You answer your own question, they were disunited and the fans turned against them because of some of the behaviour and attitude.
Going from the Prem down to League 1 needed a different team and a different salary outlook. The rot needed to be stopped, and we needed to clean out because the income dropped enormously.

It was so bad we needed to cut our losses, and perhaps we forced some of these higher earners out instead of haemorrhaging money on wages...their transfer values had dropped to minimal.
Maybe some were just a victim of circumstance, you couldn't blame Karl Henry for getting angry but again, he was earning a lot and we transferred him to a higher division club so assumedly he could continue to earn the salary that Wolves could no longer afford to pay him?

It did for a lot of people, including the owner, multiple managers, and lots of players.
What is boiled down to was that we had a very weak squad for the Premiership and it was too weak for even the Championship. It wasn't until we hit League 1 that our players looked good enough for that level, then we could use our younger reserves and bring in cheaper new players for a fresh start.

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

Johnson , Karl Henry etc.
You answer your own question, they were disunited and the fans turned against them because of some of the behaviour and attitude.
Going from the Prem down to League 1 needed a different team and a different salary outlook. The rot needed to be stopped, and we needed to clean out because the income dropped enormously.

It was so bad we needed to cut our losses, and perhaps we forced some of these higher earners out instead of haemorrhaging money on wages...their transfer values had dropped to minimal.
Maybe some were just a victim of circumstance, you couldn't blame Karl Henry for getting angry but again, he was earning a lot and we transferred him to a higher division club so assumedly he could continue to earn the salary that Wolves could no longer afford to pay him?

It did for a lot of people, including the owner, multiple managers, and lots of players.
What is boiled down to was that we had a very weak squad for the Premiership and it was too weak for even the Championship. It wasn't until we hit League 1 that our players looked good enough for that level, then we could use our younger reserves and bring in cheaper new players for a fresh start.

Thanks for that comprehensive reply. Sad, sad times, so different from now.

 

[Stingray II]

We should think about this when we talk about Fabio Silva; being a confidence player is linked to mentaI health.

I agree with you. I've always felt for the lad . It wasn't he who billed Wolves $35M and he likely didn't see too much of that money. It wasn't he who claimed to be the next best thing. I've never seen any arrogance or Billy big-*******s from the lad. To have that value placed upon you, and read in the media that you're a "generational talent" must bring pressure like I can't imagine. I wonder if this Mendes-Wolves purchase had not happened; would the kid be in a better place.? I think, certainly yes. And of course, he must have visited these pages and read the hate. Clearly the lad is stripped of confidence, and that mostly resulted in from his move to Wolves. We love our heroes on here, but my God how cruel we are to some, without once thinking of how they feel when they read it.

 

[Streathamwolf]

I agree with you. I've always felt for the lad . It wasn't he who billed Wolves $35M and he likely didn't see too much of that money. It wasn't he who claimed to be the next best thing. I've never seen any arrogance or Billy big-*******s from the lad. To have that value placed upon you, and read in the media that you're a "generational talent" must bring pressure like I can't imagine. I wonder if this Mendes-Wolves purchase had not happened; would the kid be in a better place.? I think, certainly yes. And of course, he must have visited these pages and read the hate. Clearly the lad is stripped of confidence, and that mostly resulted in from his move to Wolves. We love our heroes on here, but my God how cruel we are to some, without once thinking of how they feel when they read it.

Well said!

 

[Shergar]

He played more games for Wolves than anybody else, but only 41 matches.
It does seem a shame he was ruined by injuries.

He played more games for Billericay, with all that he says was going on with him this must have been a crazy environment to have gone into. I had first hand dealings with Glenn in the steel business before he got involved in Billericay… what a roller coaster.
The bizarre world of Glenn Tamplin, the former football club owner now on the run

 

[Mutchy]

You posted on this thread, #2

I did indeed. But you'll need to quote me the post that says what you state please.

I take thats a 'not possible' then. Glad thats sorted.

 

[MasWolf]

In all honesty the opposite is possibly the case: someone has all that money and a job most people would dream of and they still don’t feel happy or even content.

So it is doubly worse in that they think they should be happy but they’re not.

It’s tragic really.

Add to that the idea that everyone knows you have a lot of money. That can be very anxiety inducing.

 

[Flump]

He should have perhaps been supported better with his mental health and I can understand why somebody on the spotlight can suffer. I'd hope there is more support now.

On the other hand he was found guilty of assault and fined for punching a 14 year old kid and Danielle Lloyd has alleged domestic abuse against him....certain things can't be given a free pass.

I think this is important.

We all want to be understanding about mental health, and increasingly are. But it's also perfectly possible for someone to be a ****head and have mental health issues. That doesn't absolve them from being a ****head.