ROBERT Hoof has failed his medical. The lumbering Chelsea benchwarmer and early-rounds-of-the-Coca-Cola-Cup-specialist is reported to have an on-going dodgy ankle and now the £5m move - "a done deal" inherited from Steve McClaren - has been scrapped.
The modern battery of high-tech medical tests are tough. It is not like the old black and white Ayresome era when doctors said 'cough' and counted then the player did a few shuttle runs and block tackles between slay drags on their fag. Nowadays only the finest physical specimens of athletic excellence pass. And Malcolm Christie.
Now Huth joins an illustrious procession of would-be Boro heroes who failed to make it past the doctors after shaking hands on personal terms and picking out their locker.
In January 2003 Boro snatched a £7m cheque back out of Leeds' hands after seeing the x-rays of Seth Johnson's knee. The shaven headed left-sided run-around-and-kick-people merchant had been identified as an industrious midfield in the Robbie Mustoe mould who could cover for Jonathon Greening's occasional lapses in form.
The deal was done. Leeds were in financial meltdown and couldn't wait to get shot. Johnson was the subject of an widespread apochryphal tale that highlighted the bloated nature of football's stratospheric wages. It was said when he was at Crewe and Leeds approached him he had gone into his meeting determined to ask for £25K but ready to settle for £15k but was left gobsmacked when spendthrift supremo Peter Ridsdale's opening gambit was: "Right, I will give you £37,000 a week and not a penny more." Done! You have been.
Two years later with the bubble burst and Leeds involved in a clearance sale Johnston was Boro-bound on much reduced wages but the security of a four year deal and a big signing on fee. Then came the medical. The word on the Boro 'street' was that the x-ray pictures looked like a jigsaw. Boro naturally pulled the plug and Johnston went back to Leeds where he played about seven games over the next two years before being released.
Boro had kept the impending deal low key. That is the standard practice these days - ever since the red faces at the Riverside over the infamous unveiling of Keith Gillespie. The bookie-bothering Newcastle winger's £3.5m signing had been announced to the local media at the Riverside, out in force for the 'prestigious' pre-season four team JD Sports Cup. Gillespie had actually been paraded around the in a Boro shirt before his would-be new employers squabble over the wooden spoon with the Geordies and signed autographs for smiling kiddies and ra-ras.
Gillespie was due to speak alongside Bryan Robson at a post-match press conference but the gig was hastily cancelled amid rumours that the Norn Iron widemanr had failed the medical, possibly with a torn betting slip. He later joined Blackburn but was no great shakes while Robbo spent the money on Brian Deane instead. Let's hope Southgate's second shot at splashing the Huth cash is more exciting and productive.
- Post to:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
Nowpublic
Reddit
« Previous | Home | Next »