How risky is signing bad boys?

[facaldaqui]

Just noticed that Doncaster may have a disciplinary issue with Diouf (unconfirmed). That aside, signing him has hardly worked out, given the lack of improvement in their results. Maybe they'd've been better sticking with the old manager and his little-known squad until they got through the bad patch. I raised my eyebrows at Paul Jewell's signings last summer, which included Bowyer, Bullard and Chopra: I thought no good could come of it, and, sure enough, the team has misfired, and recently the last two had to be disciplined.

I'm interested in this matter in the light of Brian McDermott's apparent policy of signing "good people", which seems to be paying off in terms of team spirit and, indeed, squad spirit. (I don't know whether Manset was a mistake in that respect, but he hasn't been in the match squad since his drink-driving offence and is on loan on the other side of the world.) Leicester didn't profit much by signing Paintsil, or even Mills--not so much a bad boy as a Mr Temperamental; it cannot do the atmosphere round the club much good to have those two sulking about. Then there is Jermaine Beckford--recent disciplinary issue unconfirmed, again.

We've had our bad boys in the past, but usually that didn't spill onto the pitch. The great Friday never let us down, though he did Cardiff. Lita had his moments, but he seemed to mean well on the pitch, mindless shirt removals notwithstanding. Mind you , he was never patient when out of the team, which is why he went off on a couple of loans. No idea if he had a bad influence when he came back after his last loan, but team morale seemed at a low from then on--probably for many reasons. He's never kept a place in a team since he left, and is a mixed blessing, it seems.

As for Balotelli and Tevez, I don't see how you can function as a team with those two around. But the Prem's another world. Warnock should never have signed Barton, in my opinion--who repaid Colin for signing him by slagging him off on Twitter. Newcastle were well shot of him, it seems. Carroll also --- Liverpool have a forward line of a woman-hitter, and a spitter and racist ... Kenny's got his hands full there.

[AthleticoSpizz]

sign footballers....forget the "Friday/Murray/Whitehurst/Hurlocks"....they are confined to history....and in a lot of cases rightly so

None of the above would survive ten minutes of the referees notebook theses days


Todays players are athletes...quite simply, sign the fittest

[leon]

it rarely ever works. I can think of Cantona as the exception and he was an intelligent man as is Ferguson who knew how to handle and get the absolute best out of him.

[facaldaqui]

it rarely ever works. I can think of Cantona as the exception and he was an intelligent man as is Ferguson who knew how to handle and get the absolute best out of him.

Overall, yes--but losing him for a large chunk of the season after the kung fu kick at Palace must have been highly disruptive to the team.

*

I see Mancini is talking of selling Balotelli after today. When he bought him he believed he could control him and has been proved wrong. Brian McDermott is smarter than Mancini in that respect, never taking risks with character: Man City could do worse than appointing McDermott to replace Mancini at City, which I am glad to say will not occur to them.