Despite scoring just four goals for Blackburn during the first half of the 2009-10 campaign, Benni McCarthy had his options when being made available for transfer during the January window after scoring a total of 37 goals in 109 Premier League appearances at Ewood Park. The South African forward eventually opted for West Ham, but the move was a disaster. He suffered an injury on his debut and played just 110 minutes during the rest of the season. The following campaign, he started just one match - a Carling Cup tie with Stoke City - with the rest of his appearances coming off the bench. He would be left out of West Ham's 25-man squad at the end of January. McCarthy would receive a seven-figure payoff as West Ham terminated his contract, but his time in the Premier League was as good as over and he ended his career back in South Africa with Orlando Pirates.
A degree-educated, dart-throwing, non-smelling sports journalist based in a small Staffordshire town that has just become Floyd Mayweather's answer to the question: "What's the strangest place you have ever visited?"
