Ok so apart from actually playing football, let’s have a look at what else is expected of a professional player on a daily basis. They must ideally be wearing clothes and be where they’re told to be on time, that’s literally it. Complex I know, but apparently some chaps up in Sunderland have real difficulty with the latter. This season, manager Roy Keane has had to drop no fewer than five players from the first-team as a result of lateness, even transfer-listing Liam Miller due to continued transgressions of Keane’s law.
This weekend Kieran Richardson became the latest player to join the illustrious crowd of Anthony Stokes, Tobias Hysen, Miller and Marton Fulop, and was denied the chance to play against his formative club Arsenal. “During the week, I was late for training due to my train being late,” Richardson articulately described. “That's why I was left out against Arsenal. I expect that of the manager, if you're not in on time, you don't get in the squad.” I think we can all respect Keane’s principles, but let’s face it, of that list of five players you’re not exactly gonna miss any of them are you?
Cynics amongst you will probably suggest that if Kieran perhaps actually lived in Sunderland, rather than commuting from London most days just so he can get his Chinawhite fix in the evenings, then he might stand more of a chance of getting to training on time. That would be a valid point without question, but if you can either live it up in Sunderland at night or chillax with dudes as street as Jermain Defoe, what would you do? Trust me, once you’ve watched Defoe date-rape an aspiring page-3 model in time with the latest Dizzee Rascal single you just can’t go back. His cousin Charley Uchea is also ever so demanding, and reportedly if he isn’t around to get her into London clubs six days a week then she just screams non-stop until either he relents or the rest of the world takes its own life in protest. Whichever comes first.
