Former Sunderland man Michael Bridges has revealed the ‘valuable lesson’ that Niall Quinn taught him when trying to skip signing autographs.
With a clip of the current Arsenal players signing autographs but not interacting with a young fan currently circulating social media, Bridges revealed how Quinn gave him a timely reminder when it came to showing appreciation to the fans. The former Leeds and Black Cats striker had attempted to avoid signing autographs for supporters prior to entering the stadium, but senior man and ‘mentor’ Quinn had pulled him aside and advised him to go back to the fans and show more gratitude.
“There was a queue of fans at the stadium, and I signed along the line and I looked at my watch and I knew I was going to be late getting in the ground,” Bridges told the Gegen Podcast.
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“I skipped about 10 or 20 autographs and Niall Quinn grabbed me and said ‘it’s nice to be important but it’s important to be nice, you get this signed because you never know when it’s going to be your last signature’ and it was a very valuable lesson to learn.
“He said ‘these people pay your wages’ and things like that and that was probably the kick up the backside that I needed at a young age.
The 44-year-old went on to say that he ‘feels’ for this current generation of players who constantly have a camera in their face and whose behaviour is being analysed 24/7. He suggested that today’s players aren’t allowed to show ‘any signs’ of emotion or risk it being posted all over social media.
“Now you’re living in a world where every moment you have got to put on a smile because the minute that you feel down or show any signs of arrogance it’s going to be posted," he added. “I really feel for player’s these days because at some point you are going to feel emotionally underwhelmed or overwhelmed.”
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