There have been several displays of utter filth on football pitches over the last couple of years with it becoming more common for the so-called professional “stars” to mess with the boundaries of sportsmanship and integrity

There was the Ben Thatcher incident during his time at Manchester City two years ago in a fixture against Portsmouth. The hot-headed defender led with his elbow in a 50-50 challenge with Pedro Mendes leaving him needing oxygen on the side of the pitch and suffering a seizure on his way to hospital.

'With his barbaric antics, Joey Barton has taken over the space left by Robbie Savage'


Further back in time was Roy Keane and his leg-breaking revenge tackle on Alf Inge Haaland, the Eric Cantona kung-fu kick on a spectator at Crystal Palace, and Vinnie Jones's infamous ‘tackle-grabbing’ of Paul Gascoigne.

Here is my current Premier League dirty half-dozen:

Didier Drogba – his inability to control himself in one of the most important games of his career only highlights what we already know. When Drogba slapped Nemanja Vidic in the Champions League final he proved that the “cheat & diver” remarks so often used in the same sentence to describe the striker are spot on.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Nani – the two are listed together as Nani is seemingly an apprentice of Ronaldo in the art of the dive. Despite immense skill from both players they still find it necessary to dive in an attempt to gain an advantage from a dead-ball situation. Nani even took it a step further against West Ham recently when he head-butted Lucas Neill and then rolled round on the floor with ridiculous theatrics.

Joey Barton – with his barbaric antics he has taken over the space left by Robbie Savage. The spell in prison will hopefully serve the midfielder well and he will learn to curb his aggression and get back to playing football.

Jens Lehmann – the German shot-stopper could give most outfield players a run for their money. He has one the worst attitudes in the Premier League and even publicly throws a paddy for not being picked ahead of Manuel Almunia.

Craig Bellamy – like Barton, much has been made of the Welsh striker and his golf clubs. If you’re going to attack your own team-mate while on a team night out then I think it’s finally time to admit you have a problem.