"I
am not a number, I'm a free man," bellowed the
Prisoner. Greedy sod, he should have been grateful,
because Coventry City striker Paul Williams is remembered
in the tomes of football folly by just a solitary letter.
Yes, one blessed letter.
I
know Italian football is going through
the duldrums a bit, but I never fully
realised that things had become so bad.
First you have supposedly the world's
best player, Andrei Shevchenko, being
made to look like the modern man's Alan
Cork in a two-year stint at Chelsea that
saw the frontman spend longer on the bench
than Michael Mansfield QC.
Add in the other striker flops - Crespo,
Mutu, Montella, and you're still only
scratching the tip of the iceberg.
Then consider how English clubs have laid
down some spectacular slap-downs on the
best of Serie A and you realise how far
forward we have moved in the game.
But if ever any more evidence was needed
then you only have to look at Philippe
Senderos sealing a one-year loan move
to AC Milan.
A man who sits so far away from the skill
and model sensibilities of the Premier
League being made to look a star in Italy.
With this news, you have to wonder
if it's too late for Mark Pembridge and
that dream move to Inter?
