If a player has a certain level of popularity, they escape negative critique.

FORBES: Berbatov and Fulham - A Perfect Match?

And there's no doubt, when you shut down the U.S. airways for five days and hotels don't have any business and restaurants don't have any business, there's almost no way that an economy like ours can escape negative growth when you have that kind of a shutdown in the economy.

CNN: Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill

There's no doubt that England were lifted by their escape there, and while Ricky Ponting denied that it had a negative influence on his team, it certainly cannot have helped.

BBC: Jonathan Agnew column