Okocha on signing for Bolton

It sounds like Bolton sold the move on prestige rather than infrastructure. That probably worked fine until he actually saw the training ground.
 
cant even blame him really if they showed him the nice bits first and fed him the old trafford line then of course he thought it was a big move
 
The more I think about it the funnier it gets because someone at Bolton genuinely decided that telling Jay Jay Okocha they were ten minutes from Old Trafford was a convincing pitch and apparently it worked, which is outrageous in itself. Then he sees the stadium and thinks fair enough this is proper, and then the training ground and shower situation hits and suddenly the glamour is gone and the reality is just there staring back at him. That is such a football thing to happen, honestly the whole sport runs on these tiny little lies and half truths and everyone just accepts it because they want the move to happen and the fans want to believe the club is bigger than it is and the player wants to believe the project is real and then you end up with stories like this that are hilarious now but probably not so funny when you are the one standing in the changing room thinking what have I done
 
i actually love this because it feels so human like he just trusted the salesman and the shiny stadium and ended up at bolton with a three person shower and probably had to just laugh it off, cant imagine how that first week must have felt
 
It is funny, but it also makes sense that a player would judge a club by what he sees on the day. The pitch and stadium matter, even if the backroom setup is less glamorous.
 
Had a mate who swore blind he nearly signed for a non league side because the gaffer took him to the nicest pub in town and kept talking about ambition and a new era and he was halfway sold until he saw the dressing room was basically a portacabin with one broken radiator and I swear this story reminds me of that because football clubs can be absolute masters of theatre, they know exactly which bit to show you and which bit to hide, and if youre young or just trying to make a move you can get caught up in it so easily, the funny thing is everyone acts like they would never fall for it but if someone took you to a gorgeous stadium and told you you were ten minutes from Old Trafford youd probably nod along too, thats just how it works, and then later you sit there thinking how did I not see it coming
 
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