Coco is On Trial With Man City and … Oh. Never Mind.

By: Martha | January 23rd, 2007

Ooooh that smarts. A week ago today, Inter defender Francesco Coco (You would be forgive here for saying “Liar! Coco is not at Inter!” because he’s yet to play a minute for the club.) left Italy for a trial with Manchester City. He was meant to be in England for a week, training with the team and trying desperately to get into a game, somewhere. Two days later, however, Man City manager Stuart Pearce sent him on his way, saying “We did not want to waste his time … I did not feel as though he was right for the club but we wish him all the best and if anyone phones me I’ll give him a glowing reference.” Apart from that rather harsh first sentence it doesn’t sound too bad: A guy who doesn’t fit in, whether it’s because he sucks or is fat or can’t play in the system at hand, is sent home right away rather than going through the motions for five extra days. Nothing so odd about that, right?

Slowly, though, rumors have been slipping into the media that Coco’s departure was down less to physical issues and more to his … personal habits. British tabloids — under the mysterious, intensely British headline “Coco the Clown” — report that the player showed up for training and lit a cigarette on his way into the team’s facility which, apparently, was a deal-breaker for Pearce: He kicked the former Azzurri defender to the curb immediately. Wow. Well, Pearce has never been one to compromise his principles — at least he didn’t stomp on Coco’s ankle when he ordered him to leave. Of course, Coco is sticking to the party line: He asserted in the press again today that his departure from Manchester was all about football, and that he and the gaffer are great friends.

However, Coco’s resolutely football-only message failed to get through to Gigi Riva and Gianluca Vialli, both of whom leaped to the defense of smoking while footballing. Hell, Riva smoked for most of the week when he played, cutting himself off every Thursday to allow his lungs to a few days to get prepare for 90 minutes of endless running! Pearce is such a pansy.