Mad bastards of the game

TheReligion

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Who would you have least liked to have faced on the pitch and why? I'm not sure I could put together a Mad Bastard XI but feel free if you want to have a crack.

I'm thinking scary goalkeepers like Oliver Kahn and big Peter Schmeichel don't seem to exist anymore and we are unfortunately blessed with pencil necked geeks like Kepa so it's likely that majority on your lists will be from some time ago. I've added a few names below to get your juices flowing;

Oliver Kahn
Paulo Montero (@antohan)
Eric Cantona
Edmundo
Miguel Nadal
Marc van Bommel
Roy Keane
Patrick Viera
Joey Barton
Dennis Wise (@duffer)
Vinnie Jones
Duncan Ferguson (@SilentWitness)
 

arthurka

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Who would you have least liked to have faced on the pitch and why? I'm not sure I could put together a Mad Bastard XI but feel free if you want to have a crack.

I'm thinking scary goalkeepers like Oliver Kahn and big Peter Schmeichel don't seem to exist anymore and we are unfortunately blessed with pencil necked geeks like Kepa so it's likely that majority on your lists will be from some time ago. I've added a few names below to get your juices flowing;

Oliver Kahn
Paulo Montero (@antohan)
Eric Cantona
Edmundo
Miguel Nadal
Marc van Bommel
Roy Keane
Patrick Viera
Joey Barton
Dennis Wise (@duffer)
Vinnie Jones
Duncan Ferguson (@SilentWitness)
You could add
Effenberg
Kahn
Kuntz
 

TheReligion

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Was there anyone in the same bracket as John Sitton as an angry coach. This is a legendary clip where he calls the players cockroaches at half time then offers to fight two of them after the match. Gold dust;

 

duffer

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Who would you have least liked to have faced on the pitch and why? I'm not sure I could put together a Mad Bastard XI but feel free if you want to have a crack.

I'm thinking scary goalkeepers like Oliver Kahn and big Peter Schmeichel don't seem to exist anymore and we are unfortunately blessed with pencil necked geeks like Kepa so it's likely that majority on your lists will be from some time ago. I've added a few names below to get your juices flowing;

Oliver Kahn
Paulo Montero (@antohan)
Eric Cantona
Edmundo
Miguel Nadal
Marc van Bommel
Roy Keane
Patrick Viera
Joey Barton
Dennis Wise (@duffer)
Vinnie Jones
Duncan Ferguson (@SilentWitness)
Wisey was not really a mad bastard. He wanted to put you off or get you sent off.

He was a sneaky devotee of the dark arts.

Not sure if Diego Costa makes a mad bastard XI or a dark arts XI. I'm not sure if he is crazy or a genius.
 

Maluco

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Kevin Muscat. Some of his “challenges” would have had me fearing for me life.

 
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Not sure if you're after hard/mental or just mental....

Tommy Smith - loved the physical side, would always retaliate on behalf of teammate
Souness - tw@t, but a hard tw@t. Bit sneaky, probably leg you from behind
Gentile - they say some players can play across the back four... Gentile could foul across the back four (and play tbf),
Bremner - probably the hardest little man I've seen
Pepe? - Can't remember specifics, just have memory of him fouling all the time
 

SilentWitness

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DUNCAN Ferguson, the first professional footballer to be jailed for an on-the-field assault, fought off two burglars at his home yesterday. One was taken to hospital.


The former Rangers and Scotland player was praised by police for acting ''bravely and responsibly''.

The 6ft 4ins striker, who was jailed for an attack on an opponent when he played for Rangers, and has long had a reputation as a hard man on and off the pitch, tackled the intruders at his house near Ormskirk, Lancashire, at about 1am.

One man, whom Ferguson detained after a scuffle, was taken by ambulance to hospital but the other fled. Ferguson, 29, who now plays for Everton, suffered minor injuries to his head but did not need hospital treatment

Lancashire Police said the householder had asked not to be named but sources at Everton confirmed Ferguson was involved. Local residents said a police helicopter had circled the modern house in the village of Rufford.

Inspector Steve Sansbury said officers attended a report of a burglary near Ormskirk at about 1.05am and found one alleged offender still on the premises, having been detained by the householder.

He said: ''One of the alleged offenders was taken to hospital for treatment to injuries sustained in a scuffle with the householder. Another alleged offender fled the scene. Police inquiries are continuing to trace him.'' He added: ''We are satisfied that the homeowner, who was also injured in the incident, acted both bravely and responsibly when encountering these intruders in his home.''

Mr Sansbury said a 21-year-old man was arrested and has been detained at Ormskirk General District Hospital.

He became the first professional footballer to be jailed for an on-the-field assault and served 44 days of a three month sentence in Barlinnie Prison, Glasgow, in 1995 after headbutting John McStay, a former Raith Rovers defender, during a match at Ibrox. He was convicted at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

It was his fourth conviction. In 1991 he was convicted of head-butting a policeman in Stirling and fined #125.

The following year, he was fined #200 after he punched and kicked a postman who was on crutches.

In the third assault, at Anstruther, Fife, in 1992, an argument took place in a pub and a fisherman was knocked to the ground.

Ferguson was given a lifeline with a #4m move south to Everton, but on the eve of his first Merseyside derby, he failed a breath test, which cost him #500 and a one-year driving ban.
 

Maluco

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Even Warnock hated Muscat. Great shout.

Amazing! The “he’s a s***house” chimed in from one of the players in the dressing room was like something from the office:D
 

Zehner

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Can think of many examples from the present. Ramos, Vidal, Nainggolan, Ibrahimovic, Pepe, Dani Alves, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Costa, Mandzukic, ...

Longer ago: Jens Jeremies, Materazzi, Toni Schumacher, Sepp Maier, Frank Rost.
 
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Yagami

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Even Warnock hated Muscat. Great shout.

I love Warnock.

At the end, when he was talking about how well they played and tat they didn't even need a keeper, was that their keeper the camera man zoomed in on? :lol:
 

RedDevilRoshi

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Alfredo Morelos from Rangers can be a bit of of a mad bastard when he gets riled up by the opposition.
 

Maluco

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Also, Ben Thatcher, whose magnum opus was the worst challenge in premier league history, described at the time as “a bit late” and “on the brink of a red” :rolleyes:

 

Art Vandelay

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Wisey was not really a mad bastard. He wanted to put you off or get you sent off.

He was a sneaky devotee of the dark arts.

Not sure if Diego Costa makes a mad bastard XI or a dark arts XI. I'm not sure if he is crazy or a genius.
Costa is an absolute genius of the dark arts. He's a national treasure and it may be a long time before we see his like again. Watching him annoy the feck out of opposition players is comedy gold.

The only one I'd really be wary of is Suarez, you can dodge tackles, but it's hard to shake someone off when they are gnawing on your flesh.