Football players have long been seen as the playboys of the sporting world. High wages, fast cars, luxury homes, the WAG wife and shenanigans are on and off the pitch.
There have been some troubled football players in the past. One only has to mention George Best and Gazza to start tongues wagging about this player who did that and so on.
Football managers are also a strange breed. We see them pitchside most Saturdays in the UK in autumn and winter, chewing gum, shouting out instructions, and gesticulating with their hands when, truth be known, no one can hear them over the racket of the crowd.
The dressing room or the board room is another matter. We don’t tend to see or hear much about that unless a high-profile player or manager is sacked.
Now it has emerged that the former manager of Newcastle United banned their ex-striker Nile Ranger from casino destinations.
It is alleged that the footballer, who made 62 appearances for Newcastle, spent in the region of £32,000 on gambling in three months.
Ranger has spoken about the ban and his manager’s attempt to put him on the right track.
Newcastle-based Chronicle Live has published a piece about the troubled time for the player.
The striker, originally from London, had a blighted history of disciplinary problems. In the article, Ranger said: “Before I got paid, I would gamble all my wages,” he explained. “I would gamble everything before. It was out of control. I was doing dumb things. I knew I had a big contract.”
It was Ranger’s mother who informed the club of his huge spending on gambling. He was then spoken to by senior management and the decision was made to ban him from all casinos.
I guess one could say, ‘Mum knows best’ in this instance.