1. Sven-Goran Eriksson – obviously.
2. Ashley Cole – Cashley came over all
indignant and nearly crashed the car when he heard Arsenal were
only offering him £55,000 a week. All together now..... aahh.
3. Pierre Van Hooijdonk – comes in this high in
the rankings for the wonderful quote when he spurned Celtic's
contract offer in 1997. “£7,000 a week would be fine for the
homeless,” he philosophised, “but not for me.” Joined Nottingham
Forest for £4.5million then went on strike for 11 games when he
found out the team was rubbish.
4. Gareth Barry – a family man of integrity,
played his heart out for Aston Villa after they effectively vetoed
his transfer to Liverpool, then decided, upon being granted
permission to fulfil his dream of moving to a Champions League
club, to take (rumour has it) £150,000 a week from Manchester
City.
5. Winston Bogarde – earned £8.3million in a
four-year contract with Chelsea in which he started four games. At
least his weekly £40,000 softened the travel costs of commuting
from Amsterdam to train with the youth team by the end. “I am the
biggest outcast in England,” he wailed. Wonder why that was,
Winston?
6. Fabrizio Ravanelli – loved Middlesbrough
(“all I have for these fans is love”), loved Marseille (“it is my
own little paradise”), loved Derby County (“Maybe I will pay for
free? Money is not important to me”), notwithstanding their
insistence on paying him £40,000 a week as the club sank towards
League One.
7. Carlo Tevez –
love that "Welcome to Manchester" sign they've put up in the city
centre, with Sheffield United's favourite Argentinian in the blue
of City. So unloved at Manchester United they paid him £90,000 a
week and only played him 48 times last season, including a
Champions League final, he soon found solace in an extra £40k a
week.
8. Ronaldo – Massimo Moratti, the Inter
president, financed the Brazilian's treatment, counselling and
£72,000 weekly wage for nearly three years of injury before he
defied everyone's denials by moving to Real Madrid.
9. Luis Figo – faced flying bottles, a knife
and, urm, a pig's head from the Barca fans who used to adore him
when he returned with Real Madrid on £72k a week (netto). “My
conscience is clear,” he said. “I thought uniquely of myself.”
Fantastic honesty.
10. Fabio Capello – maybe a little harsh. At
least he backs up his £6million annual salary by actually being
very good at his job.
