In the arena of Premier League football, where avarice and loyalty are put to the test, we ask ourselves, who will become one of Forest’s most hated players?
What makes a player most hated?
Anything from greed, lies and deception can rile the most passionate football fan, but laziness and open denunciation of one’s team also cut deep.
The vast majority of footballers are loyal to one thing and one thing only: money. Although a player may kiss the badge, pledge an allegiance to the club, and even publicly announce that they will never leave the club, we all know it’s just bullshit lip service.
When the lucrative offers flood in with the promise of higher wages, hog roasts, private jets and an estate in Tuscany, it’s goodbye to the lowest bidder.
When fans fall in love with a player, it is better for them to just go, don’t turn around, because they aren’t welcome anymore. It’s easy if they don’t play in the same league as the team they have just departed from, because if they do return, it gets ugly. Ask Wolves fans what they think about Gibbs-White.
That was nearly us this season.
Never a dull moment at NFFC.
From the owner’s expectorating on officials and points deductions, to Gary Neville’s City Ground ban and now a potential legal battle, there is never a dull moment for Forest fans.
We have endured promotion, relegation battles, PSR controversy, and European qualification for the first time in over 30 years. And this has all come about in just a few seasons.
Why is Stan Collymore one of Forest’s most hated players?
The MGW offer from Spurs came out of nowhere and was as much of a shock to Forest fans as Stan Collymore’s dogging antics of the 90s – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Collymore
Many fans are still opposed to Collymore being paraded as an ambassador to the club, but, following his public carpark intercourse and his fights with Ulrika Johnson, he is often regarded as the fans’ favourite player to wear the No.10 shirt.
Anyhow, what Collymore got up to off the pitch wasn’t as detrimental to the club as Pierre Van Hooijdonk’s strike, his homeless comments, and Harry Arter’s wage.
Harry Arter
Harry Arter took full advantage of his agent’s astute avarice and sat at home playing on his Xbox for £40,000 a week. Harry Arter earned more in a week than a QMC nurse, and he had no intention of doing what he was being paid for.
This lack of ambition led to many Forest fans mocking Arter’s avarice and his lack of diligence in finding a way to play football at another club.
Do you blame Harry for playing out his fat contract? I’m sure many lottery winners can appreciate ‘money without work’.
Pierre Van Hooijdonk is one of Forest’s most hated players.
Whilst at Celtic, Pierre Van Hooijdonk was spat on following his comments about his £7,000.00 a week salary. He told the press that £350,000.00 a year might be okay for the homeless but not for someone with the pressures of top-flight, Scottish football. Bless him.
When asked to leave, Forest refused, and PVH decided to go on strike. He kept fit by training with NAC Breda, but returned to Forest when he realised he had no other choice but to play at the City Ground for a while longer.
Forest were prepared to sell him at the end of the 1998-99 season to Dutch side, SBV Vitesse for £3.5 million.
Nicklas Bendtner
There is nothing worse than a lazy footballer who doesn’t want to get out of bed and play for your team, and Bendtner admitted that he only joined Forest out of sheer desperation; he needed a job, and Forest needed a striker.
With a reputation for being a bit of an idiot, it soon became clear that the Danish international wasn’t interested in playing football at all for Nottingham Forest. Bendtner preferred a drunken brawl with taxi drivers and often referred to woman who weren’t prostitutes as ‘civilians’.
Bendtner had lost the love for the game and he committed the worst of all crimes in a Forest shirt when he scored an own goal against Derby, in a 3-0 defeat.
I mean, how does a striker score an own goal? He’s at the wrong end of the pitch. ffs!
I 8 Kris Commons
Mansfield-born player and former Celtic midfielder, Kris Commons, was another player you’d have thought was a ‘true Red’.
After kissing the badge and pledging allegiance to Nottingham Forest, the last place you expected to see Commons was at Derby County’s ground.
The Scottish international – https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/players/?pid=154983&lid=1 – gave us four years at the City Ground, and, in his final year, Commons was named in the PFA League 1 Team of the Season.
Kristian Aaron Commons departed on a free transfer to Derby in 2008 – the worst of all transfers for Forest fans.
Loyalty
As ‘Give Me Sport points’ out – https://www.givemesport.com/most-loyal-players-in-football-history-ranked/ – loyalty is a rare commodity in football. It’s all about the pursuit of wealth and the prestige of playing in the top competitions.
This lack of apparent loyalty is the reason why I discourage fans from buying a shirt with a player’s name on the back. Unless they can stomach wearing the shirt of a player who decides to leave Forest and play for a rival club, I am opposed to carrying the name of any Forest player unless he has gained legendary status at the club.
Who is Forest’s most hated player?
Many Forest players fail to fall in love with the club as much as Ryan Yates, but I’m sure even Ryan would be tempted by lucrative offers from one of Europe’s top clubs.
Gibbs-White certainly isn’t a Jamie Vardy or a Del Piero when it comes to prolonged loyalty to any particular club, but I’m sure Wolves fans will remind us that MGW is no Steve Bull.
Even the likes of Diego Maradona left his beloved Boca Juniors, and Messi left Barcelona, but it doesn’t make them cheaters or bad people.
When Morgan Gibbs-White does eventually leave Forest – as I’m sure he will – he won’t be bucketing tears when he leaves, like West Ham’s Mark Noble, but let’s just hope he has an uncomfortable time when he plays against Forest.
For now, Morgan remains a Nottingham Forest player, and I certainly don’t think he’ll become one of Forest’s most hated players. I think if an adequate replacement can be found, we’ll look at the flaws in Morgan’s game and move on without regret.
Which Forest player do you despise? (Forest fans only, or else the context will go way beyond the realm of reason.) – Contact Us | Tree Seasons | Nottingham Forest
