A good attitude goes a long way in this sport. In the case of Lee Bowyer, his malevolent, poisonous and cantankerous behaviour at both Elland Road and St. James Park showed him to be nothing short of a cowardly thug with no respect for his employers or the fans who pay his wages. Despite having been involved in a high-profile court case at Leeds United in 2001, in which both he and team-mate Jonathan Woodgate were charged with racially aggravated assault, Liverpool Gerard Houllier entered the market for the £9 million-rated midfielder the following summer.
''We agreed a fee with Leeds United and arranged to meet the player. There was a gap between what we were offering and what the player wanted, but that is not unusual as you begin to negotiate any big deal. What you do want to recognise in a player as you continue with the talks is a commitment and a passion to join you. I had my doubts on day one with Bowyer. The longer the discussions went on, the less convinced we were that the player had his heart set on joining us. We have a real desire to win more trophies. If that is not enough to fire a players desire to join us, what is? - Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry, August 2002.
Parry must have been chuckling to himself with pure relief three years earlier when Bowyer yet again disgraced himself, engaging in an on-pitch brawl with Newcastle United team-mate Kieron Dyer at St. James Park. The one-cap wonder would go on to enjoy a relatively mediocre career, slumming it in the peripheries of mid-table while the Reds escalated to the pinnacle of European football.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
