Ben Herd / Ben Herd / 29 October 2008 / Leave a comment " class="free-bet-btn" rel="external" onclick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/G4/inline-freebet');" target="_blank">Free Bet

Ben Herd heralds charisma at Tottenham, intellectual reading material at Shrewsbury and a strict regime at Villa.

I know I said I wouldn't talk about Tottenham anymore but I'm sure you'll agree that events of the past week have been head-spinning, to say the least. I'm mightily relieved that Spurs have got their first win and installed an English manager with a bit of refreshing charisma in good old "Arry".

One of the first things he has done is give some of the exiled first-team players a squad number. This just shows that in football things can turn around very quickly. I can offer some insights into this, as last season we had a change of manager when Gary Peters departed and Paul Simpson arrived.

Each manager has his own ideas to implement, such as recruiting new players, and this is what happened at Shrewsbury with some players who had been regular starters under the previous regime now finding themselves on the periphery. Even some of the players who signed in January now find themselves training with the youth team.

The players that the Gaffer has recruited this season are a far more intellectual bunch judging by some of the reading material on the coach on recent away trips! You should've seen the amount of literature Michael Jackson has in his folder (I think he's doing a football management course) - it's enough to choke a dozen donkeys!

Probably living up to stereotypical footballers, there's plenty of lads' mags doing the rounds, such as Nuts, Zoo and FHM. I'm pretty partial to a "good read" of Nuts when the rest of lads have stopped drooling over it.

Shane Sheriff is an interesting one. He's very into his business books, probably because he's doing a Business 'A' Level. I suppose we share similar interests in that respect, and the boy from Down Under has lent me few books to read, namely 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad cashflow quadrant' and 'Rich Dad's guide to investing'. I would say we have taken a fair bit of stick from some of the "less intelligent" lads, however I would definitely recommend them. It is a lot more stimulating than the Harry Potter that some of the lads read!

One player who certainly wasn't burning the midnight oil last week was Villa's target man John Carew. It's a disgrace that a player of his profile would even think about going out the night before a game, let alone to a City centre strip joint. The pole dancers must have been absolutely gorgeous to warrant the £100k fine he's had to pick up.

We've all had expensive nights out, but if that fine ends up with a local charity they'll probably be driving the big man to his next evening out! It's slightly invigorating to see the Villa players asking O'Neill to double his fine. I tell you what, if Grant Holt played for Villa, it certainly would've been doubled. Let's just say Holty is our enforcer when it comes to fines - the boy is so sharp, nothing gets past him. Some of the boys have had to take out loans to cover the fines Holty has let the skipper know about.

On a serious note, one of the first things the Gaffer emphasised when he arrived was that none of the lads were allowed in a licensed premises; not that this was a problem, but his view was why leave yourself open to rumour and story-telling about what you were drinking.

One player who has had his fair share of run-ins with club and international managers alike is Zlatan Ibrahimovic - reportedly the highest paid player on the planet. The Swede has netted five times this season to take the Special One's Internazionale to the top of Serie A. I'm sure Carew's £100k fine would have been loose change to the tall hitman.

As the Nerazzuri take on Reggina, let's see if Ibrahimovic can add to his tally. Back him to score at anytime at around [2.5] when the market goes up and I also fancy the Over 2.5 goals in this match at anything better than [1.8].