Post by Macmoish on Aug 9, 2011 6:41:21 GMT
Telegraph - Emily Gosden
Benni McCarthy labels West Ham United vice-chairman Karren Brady 'the devil with a set of t**ts'
Benni McCarthy, the former West Ham striker, has responded to a personal attack by the club’s vice-chairman Karren Brady, calling her the “devil with a set of tits”.
In an extraordinary interview with the Johannesburg-based Sunday Times, the 33-year-old South African also launched a stinging attack on European clubs, accusing them of victimising and intimidating African players.
McCarthy left West Ham with a £1.5 million pay-off in April after a disastrous 16 months in which he made only 14 appearances, failed to score a single goal and was fined £200,000 for failing to lose weight.
On his departure Brady used her newspaper column to dismiss him as a “big fat mistake” and said he had cost the club more than £5 million.
She wrote that McCarthy had apologised and hugged her when he left and that she had “no hard feelings” – but also labelled him “a player devoted to filling his belly more than filling the net”.
Asked about Brady’s comments, McCarthy said: “It makes me want to throw up. There’s the devil with a set of tits.”
McCarthy, who at one stage weighed more than 15 stone (95kg), said he had lost five kilograms and was determined to get fitter.
“I am conditioned and can last for 90 minutes, but I’ll push myself more to get in even better shape,” he said.
The striker joined West Ham from Blackburn Rovers for £2.2 million in January 2010, having previously played for Ajax, Celta Vigo and Porto.
But in a blistering parting shot after 15 years in Europe, McCarthy blamed “European clubs [that] don’t respect African players” for his relatively low turnout – 79 appearances – for South Africa.
He claimed that “every club” he played for, with the exception of Ajax, “victimised and intimidated” African players.
“They get them for peanuts and sell them for big bucks. And, when it comes to releasing you for the national team, they give you problems,” he said.
“They don’t give a rat’s ass what happens to you and your country. They say if you want to save your career, sign this statement that says you want to concentrate on your club career.”
McCarthy refused an offer of £1 million to leave West Ham at the start of 2011, eventually settling for the £1.5 million deal to forfeit the remaining year and 10 weeks on his £38,000-a-week contract – which was worth nearly £2.5 million.
In his newspaper interview McCarthy insisted: “Money is not everything.” He said wealth had transformed his life after a childhood “playing soccer on the streets” of Cape Town where, he admitted, he “sometimes robbed people in the train”.
However, he added: “You can afford luxury and the good life but, money don’t buy you ---- happiness.”
McCarthy signed for Johannesburg side Orlando Pirates last week and said he was determined to improve his reputation.
“I ain’t going out a loser,” he said. “I have a point to prove. It’s unfinished business.”
www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/west-ham/8689654/Benni-McCarthy-labels-West-Ham-United-vice-chairman-Karren-Brady-the-devil-with-a-set-of-tts.html
Sunday Times
www.timeslive.co.za/sport/soccer/2011/08/07/money-don-t-buy-you-s-happiness-says-benni
Money don't buy you s*** happiness, says Benni
KGOMOTSO MOKOENA and BARENG-BATHO KORTJAAS | 07 August, 2011 03:04
Benni McCarthy poses next to his Porsche Panamera. His salary jumped from R1 200 a month when he was playing for Seven Stars to about $80 000 at the age of 17
Benni McCarthy's painful divorce and the death of his father are among the reasons he decided to return to South Africa.
The controversial soccer star, 33, is one of the country's most successful sportsmen. He returned to the country after spending 13 years playing in Europe's top leagues.
In a candid interview with the Sunday Times, McCarthy, who joined Orlando Pirates this week, talked of the big money he earned and the pressures that came with it. He also said that:
* He was heartbroken about his divorce from Spanish sweetheart Maria Jose-Santos and longed to give his daughters a better life;
* He managed to lose weight and resuscitate his career in a lengthy battle of the bulge;
* He and fellow star Rowen Fernandez did not cavort with P*******s during a pre-World Cup training camp;
* His former club vice-chairman at West Ham United, Karren Brady, who called McCarthy a "big, fat mistake", was the "devil with a set of tits";
* African players plying their trade in Europe were "victimised and intimidated";
* He still felt the loss of his father, Dudley, who died three years ago; and
* He robbed passengers on trains when he was a youngster just years before becoming one of the country's top-earning sportsmen.
McCarthy and his former wife were together for seven years and have three daughters: Minna, 6, Miya, 5, and Allegra, 3.
"We got divorced during my second year at Blackburn Rovers, in 2007. She did not really want to leave Spain and it became a problem," he said.
"When I was at FC Porto it was okay because it was just an hour's drive away from Portugal to Spain. It was a problem when I moved to England."
He said: "Spanish people are not good travellers and they never want to leave Spain. Even the players leave for one season and they want to go back home."
McCarthy, the only South African to win a Uefa Champions League medal, when he starred for the victorious Porto team, said he and Jose-Santos had parted without acrimony.
"We are still very good friends - we have to be for the kids. As a footballer you travel a lot and I prefer the kids growing up with their mother. I get to see them on holidays and any time I want to," he said.
"Of course I miss the kids every single day. They are the reason why I want to be successful and everything I do in life, I make it for them.
"I don't ever want to be in situation where their daddy was a popular footballer and now they have to go and work for a pittance. I want them to have the best upbringing and nothing like I had it growing up in Hanover Park (on the Cape Flats)."
Recalling one of the most controversial moments in his career, McCarthy denied bringing P*******s to the team hotel during a Bafana Bafana training camp prior to the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
He and goalkeeper Fernandez eventually did not make the team.
"We did not bring girls to the hotel. We were given a night off and when we got back there were girls in the foyer who recognised me. They asked for a photo and one of them asked for my Bafana Bafana shirt.
"My mistake was going with her to my room to get the shirt. The hotel security plus the Bafana security were there and they saw I went up to my room to get some shirts for them."
He explained that "poor Rowen was not even involved" and that he hoped one day "he forgives me".
McCarthy also ascribed his alleged refusal over the years to play for the national team to "European clubs (that) don't respect African players".
"They get them for peanuts and sell them for big bucks. And, when it comes to releasing you for the national team, they give you problems.
"They don't give a rat's ass what happens to you and your country. They say if you want to save your career, sign this statement that says you want to concentrate on your club career."
He said "every club" he played for, with the exception of Ajax Amsterdam, "victimised and intimidated" African players.
He said he had received better offers for his services from the US and Saudi Arabia but one of the reasons he came back to SA was that he had been homesick for the past three years.
"My dad passed away and my mother is on her own in Cape Town. I have done enough travelling. I have seen the world and very beautiful places but I have not really lived my life back home. As a South African I never felt like I was going to live the rest of my life overseas."
His father Dudley died in 2008 after suffering complications related to diabetes.
"This is the time now to make a base for myself here. I lived in Amsterdam and, just as I was getting comfortable, I had to move to Spain. You start buying a house then it's boom, you have to move on to another country like England. Even though England is the best when it comes to football, I could not live in that country."
McCarthy said he now planned to buy a house in Johannesburg.
"If Pirates is a success story then Cape Town will be my second home. My mother is there. I have the luxury of having a house in Cape Town and also in Johannesburg. That's why famous actors have homes in a number of cities.
"Joburg is fast. I like it. You want to go to Cape Town on holiday and relax on the beach. I have lived in big cities where life goes at 100km/h, so Cape Town will be a little boring."
But, despite these sentiments, he said he would never "turn my back on Cape Town".
"I grew up there and played soccer in the streets. I did not know I was going to be a millionaire. I was getting R1200 a month at Seven Stars and then I went to Ajax Amsterdam. You go from R1200 to about $80000 a month and a $600000 signing-on fee at the age of 17."
He said the money was a godsend - particularly for a kid who had been a petty thief in his younger days.
"We sometimes robbed people in the train. We used to steal just like the other boys in the Cape Flats. I was a devil. I was lucky because I had a strict dad. If my dad found out he hammered me. So I had to choose.
"Now I was able to buy mom a big house in the suburbs. But, money is not everything. You can afford luxury and the good life but, money don't buy you s*** happiness."
On his fluctuating weight over the years, McCarthy said he had lost significant weight and wanted to "get fitter".
Benni McCarthy labels West Ham United vice-chairman Karren Brady 'the devil with a set of t**ts'
Benni McCarthy, the former West Ham striker, has responded to a personal attack by the club’s vice-chairman Karren Brady, calling her the “devil with a set of tits”.
In an extraordinary interview with the Johannesburg-based Sunday Times, the 33-year-old South African also launched a stinging attack on European clubs, accusing them of victimising and intimidating African players.
McCarthy left West Ham with a £1.5 million pay-off in April after a disastrous 16 months in which he made only 14 appearances, failed to score a single goal and was fined £200,000 for failing to lose weight.
On his departure Brady used her newspaper column to dismiss him as a “big fat mistake” and said he had cost the club more than £5 million.
She wrote that McCarthy had apologised and hugged her when he left and that she had “no hard feelings” – but also labelled him “a player devoted to filling his belly more than filling the net”.
Asked about Brady’s comments, McCarthy said: “It makes me want to throw up. There’s the devil with a set of tits.”
McCarthy, who at one stage weighed more than 15 stone (95kg), said he had lost five kilograms and was determined to get fitter.
“I am conditioned and can last for 90 minutes, but I’ll push myself more to get in even better shape,” he said.
The striker joined West Ham from Blackburn Rovers for £2.2 million in January 2010, having previously played for Ajax, Celta Vigo and Porto.
But in a blistering parting shot after 15 years in Europe, McCarthy blamed “European clubs [that] don’t respect African players” for his relatively low turnout – 79 appearances – for South Africa.
He claimed that “every club” he played for, with the exception of Ajax, “victimised and intimidated” African players.
“They get them for peanuts and sell them for big bucks. And, when it comes to releasing you for the national team, they give you problems,” he said.
“They don’t give a rat’s ass what happens to you and your country. They say if you want to save your career, sign this statement that says you want to concentrate on your club career.”
McCarthy refused an offer of £1 million to leave West Ham at the start of 2011, eventually settling for the £1.5 million deal to forfeit the remaining year and 10 weeks on his £38,000-a-week contract – which was worth nearly £2.5 million.
In his newspaper interview McCarthy insisted: “Money is not everything.” He said wealth had transformed his life after a childhood “playing soccer on the streets” of Cape Town where, he admitted, he “sometimes robbed people in the train”.
However, he added: “You can afford luxury and the good life but, money don’t buy you ---- happiness.”
McCarthy signed for Johannesburg side Orlando Pirates last week and said he was determined to improve his reputation.
“I ain’t going out a loser,” he said. “I have a point to prove. It’s unfinished business.”
www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/west-ham/8689654/Benni-McCarthy-labels-West-Ham-United-vice-chairman-Karren-Brady-the-devil-with-a-set-of-tts.html
Sunday Times
www.timeslive.co.za/sport/soccer/2011/08/07/money-don-t-buy-you-s-happiness-says-benni
Money don't buy you s*** happiness, says Benni
KGOMOTSO MOKOENA and BARENG-BATHO KORTJAAS | 07 August, 2011 03:04
Benni McCarthy poses next to his Porsche Panamera. His salary jumped from R1 200 a month when he was playing for Seven Stars to about $80 000 at the age of 17
Benni McCarthy's painful divorce and the death of his father are among the reasons he decided to return to South Africa.
The controversial soccer star, 33, is one of the country's most successful sportsmen. He returned to the country after spending 13 years playing in Europe's top leagues.
In a candid interview with the Sunday Times, McCarthy, who joined Orlando Pirates this week, talked of the big money he earned and the pressures that came with it. He also said that:
* He was heartbroken about his divorce from Spanish sweetheart Maria Jose-Santos and longed to give his daughters a better life;
* He managed to lose weight and resuscitate his career in a lengthy battle of the bulge;
* He and fellow star Rowen Fernandez did not cavort with P*******s during a pre-World Cup training camp;
* His former club vice-chairman at West Ham United, Karren Brady, who called McCarthy a "big, fat mistake", was the "devil with a set of tits";
* African players plying their trade in Europe were "victimised and intimidated";
* He still felt the loss of his father, Dudley, who died three years ago; and
* He robbed passengers on trains when he was a youngster just years before becoming one of the country's top-earning sportsmen.
McCarthy and his former wife were together for seven years and have three daughters: Minna, 6, Miya, 5, and Allegra, 3.
"We got divorced during my second year at Blackburn Rovers, in 2007. She did not really want to leave Spain and it became a problem," he said.
"When I was at FC Porto it was okay because it was just an hour's drive away from Portugal to Spain. It was a problem when I moved to England."
He said: "Spanish people are not good travellers and they never want to leave Spain. Even the players leave for one season and they want to go back home."
McCarthy, the only South African to win a Uefa Champions League medal, when he starred for the victorious Porto team, said he and Jose-Santos had parted without acrimony.
"We are still very good friends - we have to be for the kids. As a footballer you travel a lot and I prefer the kids growing up with their mother. I get to see them on holidays and any time I want to," he said.
"Of course I miss the kids every single day. They are the reason why I want to be successful and everything I do in life, I make it for them.
"I don't ever want to be in situation where their daddy was a popular footballer and now they have to go and work for a pittance. I want them to have the best upbringing and nothing like I had it growing up in Hanover Park (on the Cape Flats)."
Recalling one of the most controversial moments in his career, McCarthy denied bringing P*******s to the team hotel during a Bafana Bafana training camp prior to the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
He and goalkeeper Fernandez eventually did not make the team.
"We did not bring girls to the hotel. We were given a night off and when we got back there were girls in the foyer who recognised me. They asked for a photo and one of them asked for my Bafana Bafana shirt.
"My mistake was going with her to my room to get the shirt. The hotel security plus the Bafana security were there and they saw I went up to my room to get some shirts for them."
He explained that "poor Rowen was not even involved" and that he hoped one day "he forgives me".
McCarthy also ascribed his alleged refusal over the years to play for the national team to "European clubs (that) don't respect African players".
"They get them for peanuts and sell them for big bucks. And, when it comes to releasing you for the national team, they give you problems.
"They don't give a rat's ass what happens to you and your country. They say if you want to save your career, sign this statement that says you want to concentrate on your club career."
He said "every club" he played for, with the exception of Ajax Amsterdam, "victimised and intimidated" African players.
He said he had received better offers for his services from the US and Saudi Arabia but one of the reasons he came back to SA was that he had been homesick for the past three years.
"My dad passed away and my mother is on her own in Cape Town. I have done enough travelling. I have seen the world and very beautiful places but I have not really lived my life back home. As a South African I never felt like I was going to live the rest of my life overseas."
His father Dudley died in 2008 after suffering complications related to diabetes.
"This is the time now to make a base for myself here. I lived in Amsterdam and, just as I was getting comfortable, I had to move to Spain. You start buying a house then it's boom, you have to move on to another country like England. Even though England is the best when it comes to football, I could not live in that country."
McCarthy said he now planned to buy a house in Johannesburg.
"If Pirates is a success story then Cape Town will be my second home. My mother is there. I have the luxury of having a house in Cape Town and also in Johannesburg. That's why famous actors have homes in a number of cities.
"Joburg is fast. I like it. You want to go to Cape Town on holiday and relax on the beach. I have lived in big cities where life goes at 100km/h, so Cape Town will be a little boring."
But, despite these sentiments, he said he would never "turn my back on Cape Town".
"I grew up there and played soccer in the streets. I did not know I was going to be a millionaire. I was getting R1200 a month at Seven Stars and then I went to Ajax Amsterdam. You go from R1200 to about $80000 a month and a $600000 signing-on fee at the age of 17."
He said the money was a godsend - particularly for a kid who had been a petty thief in his younger days.
"We sometimes robbed people in the train. We used to steal just like the other boys in the Cape Flats. I was a devil. I was lucky because I had a strict dad. If my dad found out he hammered me. So I had to choose.
"Now I was able to buy mom a big house in the suburbs. But, money is not everything. You can afford luxury and the good life but, money don't buy you s*** happiness."
On his fluctuating weight over the years, McCarthy said he had lost significant weight and wanted to "get fitter".