We all remember Jeff Whitley. We remember him diving stupidly into tackles, we remember his, ahem, ‘suspect’ passing, we remember him actually scoring a goal from a sliding tackle and most of all, we remember that penalty miss. He was never a fan favourite here, but he played a useful part in McCarthy’s rebuilding years in the Championship and left the club on good terms.

Jeff has recently been back in the news. His candid interviews, telling of how he was constantly ‘drinking and drugging it’, was surprisingly honest, and he certainly deserves praise for coming out and being so truthful. In this day and age of dull PR analysed ‘quotes’ being trot out by footballers, Whitley’s frankness made for a refreshing change.

One line which did intrigue was his plea to young footballers about how playing football is for the love of the game, and chasing the lifestyle and the excesses that go with it can lead to a miserable life. Sound advice from someone has been there and done it, but how likely is it that young footballers will take heed of Jeff’s wise words?

This lifestyle seemed to engulf Whitley during his time as our number 8, and for those with their ears to the ground there were plenty of rumours at the time which alluded to him getting up to high life activities with certain teammates who he socialised with. Similarly, lots of rumours have circled in the last year or so about our players dabbling in not-so-savoury activities and chances are more will continue to surface in the future, especially regarding young players. Young lads with a lot of time and money on their hands can always be led along such a route. How on earth do you stop a 21 year old going out and enjoying himself, especially one who is getting paid thousands of pounds a week, and who normally only works a few hours a day?

The players are always going hit the town and when there they will face temptations from a number of parties, including hangers-on desperate for the reflected glory of a celebrity mate. There is also the relative ease of obtaining Class A drugs such as cocaine nowadays. Step into almost any bar or nightclub toilet and you will see men and woman pairing up and joyously stuffing their noses with some of Columbia’s finest behind the cubicles. If this was a sensationalist, tabloid piece about drugs in the UK, I would probably write that cocaine use has reached epidemic proportions, and whilst it may sound clichéd, it wouldn’t be entirely untrue.

With temptations like this being so freely on offer to your average Joe Bloggs on the street in a normal job with a modest salary, what chance do super rich young footballers stand? Often away from home and keen to make friends, before they know it the exciting career they dreamt of all their lives has turned to dust. It needs a manager to really get a tight grip on his players, Ferguson style, to stop it happening, but it is easier said than done.

Whitley, now at Wrexham, deserves praise. Never the greatest of players (although an international and decent Championship player in his day) he obviously had some deep demons throughout his career. He should be admired for speaking out about his problems in the way he did. Hopefully young players will take heed of his warnings. However, one suspects that, unless players are kept on increasingly tight leashes by their club management, more and more of them will be taking the Jeff Whitley route.