The image of the modern footballer has been dragged through the proverbial field of UNGULATE FECAL MATTER this season. Suddenly, the choice of those 'we love to hate' isn't necessarily limited to the usual suspects, or the dirty bastard who nobbled your team's star forward with a nasty studs-up slider.
Maxim runs down its list of the Top 10 Most Hated Footballers playing in the Premiership this season (minus Gary Neville, because he's boring to write about).
*VOTE NOW IN THE POLL ON THE RIGHT*
ASHLEY COLE (Chelsea)
Ashley hardly endeared himself to the average working man when he confessed "I nearly crashed my car!" after learning of Arsenal's paltry £55K-a-week contract offer, and then engineered a move to Chelsea to line his pockets. Cashley's subsequent hate crimes have mostly involved indulging his sexual whims minus his Girls Aloud wife Cheryl, most recently texting pics of his bared nipples to a secretary.
RIO FERDINAND (Manchester United)
The bling-mad Man Yoo defender hasn't had it easy recently, what with all the injury troubles, but it seems that there's still a few fans who have him earmarked as a 'hate figure'. Maybe it's the flash-boy image, the dodgy recent performances in an England shirt, the hellish prank show World Cup Wind Ups, the time he booted the ball into a female fan or the drug tests that never was. Whatever it is, despite his class, he behaves like a complete plonker at times.
CRAIG BELLAMY (Manchester City)
Bellers' petulant, moany face was once voted the 'least attractive' by female football followers, but that's hardly why the male contingent hate him. No, that's to do with his persistent whinging, his constant club-hopping, his off-the-field 'bad boy' behaviour and his threatening of fellow club-mates with metal sporting equipment. As one West Ham fan once said, 'he may be a c**t, but he's our c**t, and we love him'. Then he fucked off to Manchester City.
EL-HADJI DIOUF (Blackburn Rovers)
The Senagelese winger may struggle to get a game for his club these days, but it's impossible to ignore his atrocious disciplinary record, nimble diving skills and serial inability to keep saliva in his mouth. Even worse was the allegedly leaked phone-call where Diouf told a confrontational fan what he would do to his mum and daughter, which needless to say, didn't involve treating them to a slap-up Sunday lunch at the Harvester. Uncomfortable listening, but admittedly the perpetrator hardly sounded like the sort of bloke you'd fancy a pint with.
DAVID BENTLEY (Tottenham Hotspur)
That Romford 'happy hour' chav look, the awful over-gelled hair, the drink-driving incident when he reportedly got trollied at a Jet gig and wobbled home in his naff wideboy-mobile... To some, Bentley may seem like an insignificant Premiership trader, to others, his failure to work hard after a poor start to his Spurs career (the team he supported as a boy) hints at the modern footballer who's happy to sit back and indulge in the finer luxuries of his career. But then again, recent Spurs performances suggest he may have finally kicked his arse into gear. Still, England's new Beckham? No chance!
JOHN TERRY (Chelsea)
Even before the recent Bridge-gate incident, Terry wasn't exactly appreciated by everyone for his bruiser-boy tactics and his family's reported off-the-field misdemeanours. Now as the sexual allegations flow out like a porno site's RSS feed, England fans can at least rejoice that they have a ready-made scapegoat for when we get knocked out 4-2 on pens by Australia in the second round of the 2010 World Cup.
FRANK LAMPARD (Chelsea)
It's not that he's ever really
done one thing in particular - West Ham fans will disagree - it's just
that there's something about him and his smug, moon-faced grin that
seems to wind opposition fans up something chronic. Who can forget the
Spurs fan who ran on the pitch to try and thump him one on the kisser and the boos he
once endured in an England shirt? There's definitely something in the Lamps make-up that evokes strong emotion of the snarly kind.
KEVIN DAVIES (Bolton Wanderers)
Don't be fooled by the cherubic looks, this very angry man plays most matches like he's embroiled in a UFC cage fight. He collects yellow cards like we used to collect Panini football stickers when we were seven.
DIDIER DROGBA (Chelsea)
The Drog's almost in Wayne Rooney's 'he's so fucking good, it's impossible to hate him' category. But then we remember that England's entire World Cup hopes do not pin on the Drog, and that he's almost as good at remonstrating with refs and falling over, despite his burly boxer physique, as he is at banging the ball in the back of the net. And what was all that swearing in the TV cameras about, eh? Bad words don't wash with us, we're afraid, you pratt.
EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR (Manchester City)
Technically, it's only really Arsenal fans who hate this tall, languid striker after he spent the whole of last season seemingly sulking for a move and playing like a tree stump. In fact their accumulated hatred - especially after he celebrated in their angry faces following his Man City goal - probably makes up for the rest of the Premiership (Spurs fans aside)! Oddly though, he almost alienated his current employers when he appeared on Sky Sports wearing an Arsenal T-shirt during the Togo shooting aftermath. He put this down to 'missing clothes'. Under the tragic circumstances, he was given the benefit of the doubt.
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