Bentley's drive for DIY
Friday 11 April 2008
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That housework does rather take it out of you (©Getty Images)
At Off the Ball we like to think of ourselves as uefa.com's equivalent of renting out a church basement and getting talked down. But there are other methods of finding spiritual contentment, including one put forward by Blackburn Rovers FC's very own Zen guru, David Bentley.
Clean habits
The 23-year-old England winger was at one time a self-confessed gambling addict but has kicked that habit and found more wholesome pastimes in which to lose himself. "The other week I enjoyed jetwashing the grime off the driveway so much that I tried to do the whole house," he wrote in the Observer newspaper. "With vacuuming it's the same problem. I won't vacuum for a month and then I do one little bit of carpet and I'm hooked. At the minute I'm obsessed with DIY. I've been taking up tiles and knocking down walls, mending the potholes in my driveway – although I've got a strict DIY 24-hour ban before a match because it knackers you out. My team-mates can't get their heads round why I wouldn't just pay someone to do it. But I like DIY." Bentley is also a fan of televised debates in Parliament, though disturbingly for the left-leaning Observer he admitted to an admiration for the rhetoric of David Cameron, leader of the right-wing Conservatives.
Hunt foxed
Whether Bentley has been given a nickname becoming of his practical hobby we know not, but we are more than aware of the hilarious and harmless banter that goes on in the dressing room among the lads. Take the Republic of Ireland, where among light-hearted tags for players are Keano (Roy Keane) and Keano (Robbie Keane). But not their compatriot Stephen Hunt, who has been given the rather political incorrect soubriquet 'Big Issues' due to his unkempt hairstyle which his Reading FC team-mates thought it would be hilarious to compare to a vagrant. So Hunt decided to take the advice of his manager Steve Coppell, if not that of the Biblical tale of Samson, and had his mane shorn. "I'm not worried by long haircuts, but if it gets in the way then it is a problem," said Coppell. "He would say it wasn't a problem, but I would say it was and I do have a saying for the Alice band wearers, although I really can't swear that much. But he didn't get it cut because of what I said to him recently. There's not many players who can get the chant of 'You scruffy [tugboat]' from the Kop End!"
Fool disclosure
We resisted April Fool stories last week in order to allow the dust to settle and see if any themes emerged from the japes on offer from our witty media bretheren. And it seems a thread did indeed become clear. Firstly, the French Football Federation website announced that Raymond Domenech had decided to withdraw from UEFA EURO 2008™ in order to prepare fully for the FIFA World Cup. "I spoke to Patrick [Vieira] and he really doesn't think its worth it," the hoodwinking coach explained, before blowing the gaff with a wink: "See you on 29 June." Then there was a story posted on various European websites that England had been given a reprieve, and would be forced to interrupt their pre-World Cup qualifying limbering to add flair to the continental finals, joining Group A and opening the tournament against Switzerland. And finally a Swedish newspaper reported that coach Lars Lagerbäck would be forced to include one of their successful women's squad in his selection after Gudrun Grönberg, the Ombudsman for Equality in Sport, had threatened to take him and his employers to court if they "continue to ignore clear anti-discrimination rules". Grönberg explained: "I accept that the player may not get a full match. But it would send shockwaves around the sporting world if Sweden brought on a woman for, say, the last ten minutes of a game. As long as we were already a couple of goals up and coasting."
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