Merson on BBC2 now

[Littlejimmy]

Doing one of them walking documentaries in North Yorkshire. Quite interesting and he talks about his time with Boro, living with Gazza in Hutton Rudby and all that stuff. He said he had to leave because of his addictions and had to get home, which is funny as he went to Villa, IIRC! He said 2 minutes later he'd divorced his wife at the time and moved to Birmingham. Hey ho. It does show the mental health benefits of a good walk in the country, though.

 

[zzzzz]

Sad that he lost it all.
But then took money to advertise gambling.
I had a bbq and Darren Williams was there and took a call from Merson and it was clear what was going on and you'd have thought they'd have been a bit more discreet.
No wonder it all ended in tears.

 

[northernrower]

I really enjoyed it, but it was tragic to see someone with so many demons talk so candidly. I hope he finds peace. Hopefully discovering the benefits of walking and nature can help him with that.

 

[italianjob]

Really enjoyed that. Was awful hearing him talking about wanting to kill himself.

Up the boro!

 

[Yearbyred]

Just finished watching it, really enjoyed it.

The power of being quiet and in nature.

 

[coluka]

Well i think he was honest too many years too late

 

[Zoophonic]

I really enjoyed it, but it was tragic to see someone with so many demons talk so candidly. I hope he finds peace. Hopefully discovering the benefits of walking and nature can help him with that.

It must help. Walking and the mindfulness it presents helps me enormously. Many footballers are lavished with money and attention in their careers and some can manage and others like Merson couldn’t. it gets worse once their careers are over.

Reflection like this will definitely help him.

 

[RavsDad]

Despite his demons he managed to be nothing less than brilliant for us on the pitch and remains a player that retains some love from supporters for his time here unlike some others who jumped ship when it suited. He certainly didn't associate with the best role models though during his stay. As he said, discovering the peace of the local countryside he never saw whilst at Boro was a real benefit and he clearly enjoyed it. Whilst obviously still a troubled soul with many regrets he seems to seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. Interesting also that he is the only long-term survivor of the panel on Soccer Saturday and that must be cathartic because as he says, football is the only thing he knows. Sky must have examined the risk/benefit of that quite closely.

 

[Nero]

I read a little bit of his book for the Boro part. He explains how him and Gazza would drinks bottles of red wine and take sleeping pills. They'd gamble who could stay awake the longest. In hindsight it was total madness putting those two together really.

Merson also explains in that book about being a young player. The first time he was paid he spent the lot in some bookies. It must be awful having those types of urges that can't be controlled.

 

[Glover_elbow]

I really don't see how anyone can so dislike someone who's so mentally fragile

 

[Anton_Berg]

A new meaning to 'repent at your leisure'. Longer than these walk-with-selfie-stick programs usual take, but then he had more on his mind than the average celeb.

 

[billsykes]

Doing one of them walking documentaries in North Yorkshire. Quite interesting and he talks about his time with Boro, living with Gazza in Hutton Rudby and all that stuff. He said he had to leave because of his addictions and had to get home, which is funny as he went to Villa, IIRC! He said 2 minutes later he'd divorced his wife at the time and moved to Birmingham. Hey ho. It does show the mental health benefits of a good walk in the country, though.

My understanding of is he was happy up here and his wife was all set to move the family up. However, he was shagging that bimbo off the radio that half the team had gone through. He had told Tony Adams, his mate who told his wife. The two couples were very close, often going out together so Mersons wife found out through Tony Adam's wife.

She wasn't coming anywhere near the north, and he had to leave in a hurry and go home to Birmingham (the family home was in St Albans).

Anyone who remembers at the time, Merson had been in the wilderness and had resurrected his career at the Boro, to the point that he had been called up for England. He was in fact away with England when it all blew up, with him being interviewed on tv and making the first claims about the drink and gambling. But, it was Tony Adams, who was also asked about this while with England, who let a couple of things slip which let the cat out of the bag.

Sex, not drink and gambling, because the drink and gambling never really stopped, did it?

 

[Corcaigh_the_Cat]

Well i think he was honest too many years too late

His mind was in turmoil at the time. He's still battling now.

 

[uncle_rico]

I really enjoyed it, but it was tragic to see someone with so many demons talk so candidly. I hope he finds peace. Hopefully discovering the benefits of walking and nature can help him with that.

Am sure it won't be long until he's out there with Mark Crossley, Dean Windass, Chris Kirkland and co.

Home | walkingsbrilliant.com

#walkingsbrilliant Raising money for worthy causes through walking & talking It is well-publicised that athletes from all sports often suffer from mental illness. This can happen during a career but is particularly common after retirement from a professional sport. Whilst mental

www.walkingsbrilliant.com

 

[wilkos_perm]

My understanding of is he was happy up here and his wife was all set to move the family up. However, he was shagging that bimbo off the radio that half the team had gone through. He had told Tony Adams, his mate who told his wife. The two couples were very close, often going out together so Mersons wife found out through Tony Adam's wife.

She wasn't coming anywhere near the north, and he had to leave in a hurry and go home to Birmingham (the family home was in St Albans).

Anyone who remembers at the time, Merson had been in the wilderness and had resurrected his career at the Boro, to the point that he had been called up for England. He was in fact away with England when it all blew up, with him being interviewed on tv and making the first claims about the drink and gambling. But, it was Tony Adams, who was also asked about this while with England, who let a couple of things slip which let the cat out of the bag.

Sex, not drink and gambling, because the drink and gambling never really stopped, did it?

His career didn't need resurrecting, he was player of the year at Arsenal the season before and they'd been expecting him to agree a new contract.

It must be sad to have achieved so much but to feel like you've lost huge chunks of your life.

 

[Alan_Breck]

I had a downer on Merson after what he did when leaving Boro, in the way that he did, but at the end of that programme I really felt for him, his battles with demons, and concluded that he really is a nice guy, It was hard to watch in places.

#UTB

 

[chickenrunner]

I really don't see how anyone can so dislike someone who's so mentally fragile

Agreed. For sure at the time he left the animosity from fans was understandable, he alluded to this in the programme after he met the Boro fan in Hutton-le-Hole. But his 'issues' have been known for some time now which has given context to what happened. I just don't get the enduring dislike of the lad.

 

[Nero]

My understanding of is he was happy up here and his wife was all set to move the family up. However, he was shagging that bimbo off the radio that half the team had gone through. He had told Tony Adams, his mate who told his wife. The two couples were very close, often going out together so Mersons wife found out through Tony Adam's wife.

She wasn't coming anywhere near the north, and he had to leave in a hurry and go home to Birmingham (the family home was in St Albans).

Anyone who remembers at the time, Merson had been in the wilderness and had resurrected his career at the Boro, to the point that he had been called up for England. He was in fact away with England when it all blew up, with him being interviewed on tv and making the first claims about the drink and gambling. But, it was Tony Adams, who was also asked about this while with England, who let a couple of things slip which let the cat out of the bag.

Sex, not drink and gambling, because the drink and gambling never really stopped, did it?

Really interesting insight. It seems you've got some actual inside knowledge of the whole episode. It all would make perfect sense as you've explained it.

 

[Smoginexile]

Just watched it.
What a good person he is.
He could do things with a football I could never even imagine
He really was magic.
Yet he hated himself so much he wanted to die.
It made me value what I have in life.
I hope he stays well and is able to enjoy life from now on.
I really admired how he played football.
Now I really admire him.
Best of luck in the future Paul.

 

[Ravs]

Just watched it.
What a good person he is.
He could do things with a football I could never even imagine
He really was magic.
Yet he hated himself so much he wanted to die.
It made me value what I have in life.
I hope he stays well and is able to enjoy life from now on.
I really admired how he played football.
Now I really admire him.
Best of luck in the future Paul.

I really enjoyed watching this too. It was quite enlightening for me to learn so much more about the life and thoughts of the man I had remembered mostly as Magic Man. He is a nice man!

And that walk (or dare I say “trek”) of his through God’s Country was so lovely and inviting. It was a nice reminder to me of where I want to someday end up.

UP THE BORO!!