Tito Vilanova ‘story’ deserves to be treated with respect and humanity, not as transfer speculation

As tasteless and disrespectful as speculation on his successor was, it is, to an extent, understandable. Not quite so soon of course, but inevitably. What is beyond comprehension is one newspaper’s decision that they would focus on how this could accelerate a possible transfer for Cesc Fabregas to Man United. Never mind the realities or otherwise of this, just think about that for a second. When you get the news that a young man with a young family has had a relapse of cancer, your first thought is ‘this could mean Man United get Cesc Fabregas’. Now, that’s bad enough, but the way it was handled and written was literally beyond comprehension.

The news was addressed with two puns in a headline with a frankly worrying lack of humanity: ‘TATA TITO … it’s Vilan-over for Barca boss. United will be hoping to take advantage of the uncertainty that has engulfed the Catalan giants and convince Fabregas to push for a move’.

Where do we start? Two puns about a man who is resigning because his cancer has returned meaning he can no longer work in his dream job? Or the fact that they believe Manchester United, a club steeped in history and with a great understanding of loss of their own, would be classless enough to take advantage of this and get Cesc Fabregas, who loves Barcelona, to force his way out of the club because of it? With a startling lack of irony, they even include the Villas-Boas quote in the same article. The last thing either United or Fabregas would want is to be associated with this in any way.

Fabregas would not want to be involved in any transfer speculation when the club is going through such a tough time

Perhaps it is just because these events are happening overseas that the attitude is quite so appallingly callous. Bearing in mind some of the tributes managers get here when they resign or are sacked, the disrespectful and inhuman treatment of Tito Vilanova’s predicament looks even worse.

Ultimately, the only ‘story’ here is this: a 44-year-old man with a wife and two children has had to resign from the job he always dreamed of having because he has cruelly been struck down by cancer, a disease which will, in some way, impact the lives of 1 in 3 people. No one should care about who will replace him or how it impacts a possible transfer. Have some human decency and heed Barcelona’s words ‘We ask you all, especially the media, to respect him (Tito) and his privacy’.

The final word is a tweet from Barcelona’s fiercest rivals Real Madrid: ‘We would like to send our support, affection, and solidarity to Tito Vilanova, his family, friends, and FC Barcelona. #GetWellSoonTito’

Rather than speculating on what’s happening at Barcelona, wouldn’t it be better to spend the same time and donate to Cancer Research to eliminate this life-wrecking disease?