Carrabuh started an interesting thread about how we chose our nicks for this place, so I thought I'd do one on players' names. Do you think the name of a player influences the way we think about him? And does it change the way he plays? Would Hilario be a better goalkeeper if had a different name? For example, I've never seen Mackail-Smith play but part of me is prejudiced against him coming to Carrow Road simply because of his name. It doesn't sound like a proper footballer. OK, I know, it's totally stupid and illogical. Anyone else have any similar prejudices?
Googling weird player names came up with this amazing list: Stefan Kuntz Chiqui Arce Bongo Christ Have-a-Look Dube (my favourite) Ars Bandeet Segar Bastard Rafael Scheidt Rod Fanni Johnny Moustache David Goodwillie Danny ****tu Johan de Cock Milan Fukal Quim Brian Pinas Bernt Haas Uwe Fuchs Two-Boys Gladstone Gamede Wolfgang Wolf Creedence Clearwater Couto Norman Conquest Danger Fourpence (amazing!) Paul Dickov Argelico ****s Harry Daft Ruud Boffin Mark De Man
Wow these are amazing Beefy! Great research. How many of them are REAL, I wonder? Be great if they were names as given at birth.
There's a lot of names I recognise, I think they're all legit. Some aren't birth names, obviously, I think 'Quim' was portugese and took a nickname, but most (including my favourite, Mark De Man) are real
Is Mark de Man a defender? I hope so. And Rod Fanni must be an ineffectual winger who tries to beat his man six times and then loses the ball. While Segar Bastard has to be a Souness-type break-your-legs midfielder.
Perhaps that's why we stuck with Rosario for so long... Waiting for the brazilian flair to kick in. (bit unfair, he had his moments).
The commentators would find some way to make it more palatable for their audience. The way Arshavin (arse shave-in') became AR -shav- in. And yobbo became yoe boe.
I've always thought that Eddie Stobart would be a great name for a centre forward rather than a truck driver !
Then there are the ones who missed their vocation and went into other branches of the entertainment industry - how Leeds in the 70's could have used Terence Stamp as a defender
Ars Bandeet unfortunately seems to be made up. I remember a similar thread on the old 606 that led to a bit of an investigation. Claims on the Internet are that he was an Algerian national team footballer in the 70s but someone discovered a genuine list of hundreds of notable Algerian players and he sadly didn't appear.
