Harry Redknapp, the former Tottenham Hotspur manager, has revealed that he feared Gareth Bale was too preoccupied with his hairstyle to make it as a leading footballer.
Bale left Spurs for Real Madrid last month for a reported world-record transfer fee of €100 million (Dh499m), but Redknapp said he used to have doubts about the forward’s strength of character.
"He drove me mad in training," wrote Redknapp in his autobiography, which is being serialised in British newspaper the Daily Mail. "Technically, he was outstanding, but he always seemed to be playing with his hair.
“It was never right. He’d be flicking the fringe or wiping it out of his eyes and I would be going quietly mad, just watching. ‘Gareth, leave your Barnet alone! Gareth! Stop touching your hair!’”
“Barnet” is cockney rhyming slang for “hair”, derived from a rhyme with “Barnet Fair”.
Redknapp, who now manages second-tier Queens Park Rangers, was also worried about Bale’s propensity for injury.
“He was always getting a little knock in training, too. He’d go down then limp off and I always thought the physios made too much fuss of him,” he said.
“It was the same pattern every morning. Gareth would tumble and stay there, and they’d all go running over. In the end I told them just to leave him alone.”
Bale, 24, who on Tuesday was named Football Association of Wales’ Player of the Year, has made just three appearances since moving to the Bernabeu due to a thigh injury which has also ruled him out of Wales’ final two World Cup qualifying matches.
– Agence France-Presse
MATCH INFO
Syria v Australia
2018 World Cup qualifying: Asia fourth round play-off first leg
Venue: Hang Jebat Stadium, Malayisa
Kick-off: Thursday, 4.30pm (UAE)
Watch: beIN Sports HD
* Second leg in Australia on October 10
RESULT
Australia 3 (0) Honduras 1 (0)
Australia: Jedinak (53', 72' pen, 85' pen)
Honduras: Elis (90 4)
The biog
Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi
Age: 23
How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them
Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need
Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman
Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs
Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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Match info
Uefa Champions League Group F
Manchester City v Hoffenheim, midnight (Wednesday, UAE)
