Liverpool FC and the Cincinnati Bengals
Separated at birth?

This one is for those of you following the Cincinnati Bengals immortal quest to have ten members of their squad arrested in the one season. The are currently at nine and I am giving them to the end of the draft before closing the book on that one.

Liverpool Football Club seem to be determined to follow in the Bengals illustrious footsteps. This from the Guardian online edition

''Liverpool's preparations for Wednesday's Champions League game at Barcelona have been overshadowed by drunken misbehaviour on the Algarve. Craig Bellamy is facing a heavy fine and an uncertain future after a night out allegedly concluded with the forward using a golf club to attack his team-mate John Arne Riise.''

Nice. A golf club, no less. Bellamy is an aggressive little miscreant, for years my Dad has been warning 'he's a nasty little piece of work and will get into serious trouble eventually' and lo and behold he was right all along.

''Riise, who seemingly sustained bruises to his legs, was able to train alongside Bellamy yesterday and may receive a lesser punishment.''

Why on earth would he be punished for being beaten with a golf club? The mind boggles.

The dispute itself. Over a love interest perhaps? Or an insult maybe? Apparently not.

''The dispute involving Bellamy and Riise seemingly started with a karaoke competition in the early hours of Friday morning, when Bellamy took offence at the Norwegian left-back's refusal to sing.''

Now that's taking your Karaoke seriously.

You in the States thought T.O. was a distraction, and that Merriman was bad news, well Bellamy has class written all over him.

A history of trouble

  • February 2002 Receives a caution for hitting a woman in a nightclub
  • March 2003 Charged with racially aggravated harassment outside a nightclub but later acquitted
  • March 2004 Throws a chair at John Carver, Newcastle's assistant manager
  • January 2005 Fined £80,000 by Graeme Souness for calling him a liar
  • April 2005 Abuses former Newcastle team-mate, Alan Shearer, by text
  • September 2006 Rows in tunnel with Newcastle coach Terry McDermott
  • November 2006 Bellamy cleared of assaulting teenage girl in a nightclub

Then moral of the story appears to be, if you are the manager of a football team, team-bonding trips are to be avoided at all costs! Check this merry little list of disastrous bonding events out!


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