Former Chelsea star 'threatened' his teammates over PFA awards voting as surprising detail revealed
A former Chelsea threatened his teammates in order to get them voting for the PFA Player of the Year awards.
The ceremony takes place at the Opera House in Manchester on Tuesday, with Phil Foden looking to follow up winning the Premier League Player of the Season prize.
His teammates Erling Haaland and Rodri are also in contention, while Cole Palmer, Martin Odegaard and Ollie Watkins feature on the shortlist.
The award is particularly special as it is voted for by the players, though it seems as though many aren't too engaged when it comes to the voting process.
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Each club would have a PFA delegate whose role was to ensure everything was smooth regarding the voting.
At Chelsea, left-back Graeme Le Saux assumed the responsibilities during his spell at Stamford Bridge.
It turned out that getting all the players to vote was a difficult task, so much so that the former England international wouldn't let players eat before they voted.
Some tried to get out of it and Le Saux even had to physically grab them to make sure they voted.
“It was hard work at Chelsea, I have to say,” Le Saux recalled in an interview with The Athletic.
“I didn’t look forward to doing it (getting the forms completed). It was like being a schoolteacher chasing kids for their homework. I had to go around grabbing people by the scruff of the neck and taking them into my temporary office, which was the dressing room.
"You had to threaten players and say, ‘You cannot go up to the canteen and have lunch until you’ve done this!’. Some players did show diligence and took responsibility for it, but others would quite happily say, ‘Can someone else fill it in and I’ll sign it?’.”
There has been written and online facilities over the years but the same issues do appear to be persist.
The report notes that players tend to vote tactically and Le Saux claims rivalries and past incidents on the pitch do not get put aside with voting.
He added: “Players are definitely thinking, ‘I’m not going to pick him because I don’t like him. He plays for the wrong team so I’m not going to vote for him’. If someone booted you in a game, or made you look stupid, there’s probably half a chance he’s not getting in. Shall we say there’s a lot of unconscious bias… or conscious bias. Not related to discrimination, but definitely, players will hold a grudge.”
Haaland is looking to win the award for the second time, which would match a feat achieved by Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer, Gareth Bale, Kevin De Bruyne and Mo Salah.
Josh Lawless