I probably shouldn’t post this on here but if it could help one person then it is worth it.
My Dad, he was the greatest man I ever met. Of course he was my Dad I would think that but he was a special bloke. He was loved everywhere he went, he was the best at what he did (Bricklayer) I couldn’t have respected him any more than I did. I lived on every word he said.
The drink though, it is so damaging. He had a scare a year before he passed away, and he said when he was released from hospital he’d rather be gone than give up drink. The damage was done by then to be fair. It robbed him of meeting his grandsons. That’s how bad it can get you, he was a very intelligent man but it got him good and proper.
For anyone who is struggling, don’t just stop drinking, it is very dangerous and that was what caused his first scare, because he became so ill he couldn’t drink. You can’t go cold turkey off drink if you are dependent it has to be managed. Seek help and know it is possible and there is something far better on the other side.
I heard that one as well. In fact I may be wrong but wasn’t it basically confirmed in a podcast with one of the players from that era. Plus I am sure both Wracky and Jimmy talked about going on sessions with Merson in the run up to matches
His Instagram account is still there, but EVERYTHING on it is deleted not JUST Walsall.
Similar with Twitter although it looks like just the past year has been deleted, also not just Walsall related tweets but ALL in the last year.
I don’t think you meant to do it, but the way you stated that was like he’d only deleted Walsall related stuff and left other bits on.
I suspect it’s just removing a lot of posts that would attract opposition fans taking the piss.
There were posts particular on Twitter where he’d given a bit of banter and clearly rattled not just opposition fans but players too. After we didn’t get promoted the opposition fans and players came out of the woodwork on them to take the piss. They’d no doubt be wading in on this news too, so deleting their opportunities to do so would be for the best.
It’s probably not been deleted; it’s just been hidden from the public. Either way, it doesn’t change his situation at all. It’s not an easy time for him, so it’s probably better for him to blend into the background.
That’s very true and read somewhere that some of the betting companies shop the players on to the FA. Whether that is true who knows, but someone’s giving them the information not unless there is some other sort of investigations.
Probably worth noting Jellis’s own journey in all this.
He’s as far away from a premier league academy product you can get.
Done the very hard yards at all of Aylesbury, Tring, Hitchin. Kings Langley, Hemel Hempstead.
That reads like the West Coast mainline route from Euston up to Milton Keynes but you’re talking about five years very hard graft in steps 6-8 of the pyramid and even when he joined Tamworth they weren’t even in National league North.
Without 100% knowing the environment I can imagine the coach trips and general dressing room camaraderie is probably what you used to get at all levels in the 90s and 2000s, card schools, regular money changing hands and probably betting on everything including Football.
Of course all individuals have to make decisions for themselves but let’s say he came through at a prem academy like so many of the players this club tends to sign each summer. Pretty sure they’d have had someone come in from the PFA or independent educating them on the pitfalls of gambling generally and the ramifications if you’re caught. Dosen’t guarantee players won’t still bet but they know the consequences at least.
Jellis was at the level where he probably didn’t get that workshop given he was part time and working. Interesting it seems he stopped when he moved to Tamworth and they started moving up the leagues and so he started to adopt more professional mindset to secure a league move.
Many are a product of their environment in personal and professional circumstances so while that isn’t a cast iron defence for him he’s inhibited a different world to many higher up the leagues who’ve been educated about it and still caught.
Could also be the banks. I know someone who works in Lloyds fraud detection department, obviously they are mostly reporting to HMRC, money laundering and scams etc. However he told me about how they caught a sky presenter who was using information gained from their job to place bets before it became public knowledge and the odds were affected. He was using his nephews accounts to try and keep it under wraps but they still caught him and his relative.
Obviously he did not name names and I do not know how high profile this person was but it makes you realise how much scrutiny people are under
Certainly seems to be some sort of initiative being taken by the FA to pursue this betting in football given the number of cases there’s been recently. We still don’t know the nature of JJ’s alleged betting activity do we or when its set to be considered by the FA?
