David Hirshey's article on Newcastle's Carroll and City's trio.
November 2nd 2010 10:50
THis is an article from ESPN.com written by David Hirshey. It's a great article about drinking and fan acceptance or lack of. I thought this was a must read.
Let's face it, one of the hallmarks of English soccer culture is the excessive drinking that surrounds it. From the legions of lager-loving louts who travel by train up and down the country on game day to the after-hours bar brawls that are sport for players on their days off, it's as much as part of the EPL as diving, take-no-prisoners tackling and WAGs.
And it's nothing new.
The sainted Bobby Moore, captain of England's 1966 World Cup champions, did TV spots extolling the virtues of pubs in the black-and-white days of TV. Spaced about a decade apart, George Best and Paul Gascoigne squandered the bulk of their talent in the bottle. And at a 2008 Christmas party, Steven Gerrard couldn't resist putting his talismanic fist into a poor DJ's mouth after his request for a Phil Collins medley was understandably rebuffed.
These days, the time-tested tradition is being proudly upheld by Newcastle's bully-boy striker,21-year-old Andy Carroll, and the British contingent on the Manchester City payroll, which includes England's No. 1 keeper, Joe Hart, as well as two of his national teammates, Adam Johnson and Gareth Barry.
The Man City Four (Republic of Ireland keeper Shay Given rounds out the foursome) took a quiet "golf" trip to Scotland last week that culminated with their swapping shots with college students long into the night and manager Roberto Mancini losing his famed suave, Italian cool.
Meanwhile, the ponytailed Carroll, who has a rap sheet as long as his hair, added another black mark recently when he was arrested for allegedly assaulting an ex-girlfriend. This followed another reported battery of a woman in 2008 and a bodily harm charge in 2009 for throwing a glass -- "His hand was wet" was his lawyer's defense -- at a fellow reveler in a Newcastle nightclub. And who can forget the countless training-ground brawls, most notably this past summer's bust-up with teammate Steven Taylor that resulted in the defender having his broken jaw wired and Carroll reportedly having hand surgery?
Taking all this into account, a Newcastle judge came up with an ingenious way to curb Carroll's booze-fueled enthusiasm, and it didn't involve anger-management classes. He ordered Carroll to move in with his captain, Kevin Nolan, until his most recent case is heard in court in January.
As far as living arrangements go, the Great Carroll-Nolan Roommate Experiment ranks right up there with Adam Sandler and Kevin James being pronounced Chuck and Larry. Only much funnier. Oh, it hasn't been complete domestic bliss -- Carroll's brand-new, chrome-plated $250,000 Range Rover was recently torched in Nolan's driveway, and obscene graffiti was scrawled on Nolan's garage -- but what co-habitation doesn't suffer the occasional speed bump? Overall, though, it looks like a stroke of genius by the judge, as it put the problem in the one place it could be fixed: the captain's front door.
Ever since the judge's edict came down last month, Nolan and Carroll have both helped resuscitate Newcastle's EPL fortunes. The 5-1 dismembering of Sunderland in this past weekend's Tyne-Wear derby -- the Magpies' biggest win over their rivals since the Premier League began -- was just the latest example of how the newfound serenity and interpersonal feng shui at Chez Nolan has translated into a fierce intensity on the field. Nolan, from his perch in the heart of midfield, scored a sublime hat trick that had it all: acrobatics (his overhead flick while seated on the St. James' Park grass), power (a confident side-footer at the back post) and predatory instincts worthy of Toon legend Alan Shearer (a ferocious header redirecting Shola Ameobi's nodded on corner).
rest of srticle can be found at Really Long Link
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