I remember seeing this lad come through the citeh ranks and thought he was a talented young lad. We were linked to him in 2011, yet he f**ked up his career.

 

He has been earning £40k per wekk, doing sweet FA. Enough to make anyone live a party lifestyle!

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-city/9802663/Michael-Johnson-once-tipped-for-England-stardom-is-finally-released-by-Manchester-City.html

 

http://chelseachiefs.com/2011/07/30/whos-better-johnson-or-kalou/

I remember him scoring a nice goal v Sc**thorpe in the cup. 

 

Don't really sorry for him though, he wasn't motivated to train or do anything apart from drinking and partying. Not to mention he was still getting paid £40k, which is just baffling to say the least. Sturridge wanted around the same amount if I recall correctly and they said no.

 

Sunday League it is for him it is, I guess. That's if he can be bothered. 

Getting paid a footballer's salary to get fat...

I've been doing that for years...but since it was for Pompey, they just decided not to pay me.

You have to wonder sometimes whether sometimes the big clubs buy up promising youngsters just to prevent other big clubs from having them.

When i lived in the walthamstow/leyton ares in early 70s i used to party oppo the leyton orient ground.....You may have heard of this player...BILLY HURLEY.....Played for England boys too............He was a talanted player but literally , as i understand it, pissed his football career up the wall....He used to be atthe same parties and drink for england.....He faded into obscurity

Wasn't he injured quite a lot as well. Guessed that didn't help much.

I remember him getting a serious injury just as he was starting to feature in the first team at Citeh, then didn't hear about him for ages. It looks as if the prolonged absence of playing football was too much for him - maybe having £40k a week turned him towards bad habits rather than motivating him towards his future fitness. Shame, he was a quality youngster.

Unfortunately for him, and us. At the time when this lad was coming through we had an absolutely awful medical department, so when he had an abdominal problem it kept getting misdiagnosed again and again. That was where the problems set in, he showed a distinct lack of effort in getting back in to shape when he was ready to get back to playing, it was all over Bluemoon repeatedly that he'd been seen pissed in this bar or another bar and then he'd pick up an injury in the youth teams, and then he'd be fit, have a good few games, pick up another injury and I honestly think he just got depressed and gave up trying.

When it comes to a self-destructive waste of God given talent, you'd have to go a long way to find a better example than Leon Knight. Remember him? Talented little sod, once regarded as a genuine prospect. He's still only 29 but is described as an "ex-footballer", unable to find a club to take him on, having managed to wilfully screw up every opportunity, every second, third and twenty-bloody-first chance he was given along his chosen path of self-destruction.

I think Ravel Morrison isn't far off Leon Knight to be honest.

Jody Morris is another one who could have had such a better career.

Players like those mentioned are a prime example of why a large portion of these very high salaries should go directly into a pension for when they retire.

 

Lets all be honest as a young man/woman would we be responsible if we were earning these kind of salaries.

 

Lots of time and lots and lots of cash, really is a recipe for disaster.

.........and there was this bloke.......George Best.........................................

Recently read a book 'Babysitting George' all about George Best during the twilight of his life, and I have to say, that I lost a lot of respect for him!

 

Great footballer, Arsehole of a man.