Marlon King Update (Thankfully Signs for Coventry)

[Macmoish]

And the headlines after that game will probably be: "Warnock says he may have to bring a striker in on loan, blah, blah, blah...:

[eskey8]

Who know, King might score the winner

[cpr]

AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

[Macmoish]

Maybe I missed mention of it...And it is for a very different and lesser..., but I see that Bradley Orr also served prison time in 2006

Wikipedia

On 1 September 2006 Orr was sentenced to 28 days in jail relating to an incident outside the popular Bristol nightclub 'Romeo Browns' the previous October. Also jailed in relation to the same incident were fellow teammates Steve Brooker for 28 days, and David Partridge for 2 months. Orr and Brooker were released on September 14 2006, serving only half of their original sentence. He scored against Manchester City in the Carling Cup second round.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_Orr

BBC Septenber 1, 2006
Football stars jailed over brawl

Bristol City captain Brooker was jailed for 28 days
Three professional footballers who admitted taking part in a drink-fuelled brawl at a nightclub last October have been jailed.
Wales international David Partridge, 27, and Bristol City team mates, Scott Brown, 21, Bradley Orr, 23, and Steve Brooker, 25 were charged with affray.

On Friday at Bristol Crown Court, Orr and Brooker were jailed for 28 days, Partridge was sent down for two months.

He was also ordered to pay £1,000 compensation to a doorman.

City centre

Brown was given 120 hours' community service for his part in the brawl.

The court heard the quartet were on an evening out when violence erupted as Partridge was ejected from the Romeo Browns nightspot in Bristol city centre.

Prosecutor Robert Davies told the court Partridge "lost control" and charged at the club's doormen.

He became involved in a fight with the bouncers and his team mates then became involved.

Orr, who was sent off recently for headbutting a team-mate in City's 3-1 win at Northampton, was ordered to pay £2,500 in defence costs.

A spokesman for Bristol City FC said: "The club is very disappointed by the judgement and, together with the players and their legal advisors, will be looking at all the options available to them.

"No further statement will be issued by the club until these options have been clarified."

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/5306506.stm


BBC
Jailed duo return to Bristol City

Brooker is back at Bristol City after a spell in Leyhill Prison
Bristol City duo Steve Brooker and Bradley Orr have returned to training after apologising to fans over the incident which led to being imprisoned.
The pair were released from Leyhill Prison on Thursday morning and were driven to a meeting with chairman Steve Lansdown and vice chairman Keith Dawe.

Orr and Brooker were jailed for 28 days for their part in a nightclub brawl.

However, team-mate David Partridge is still in prison after receiving a two-month sentence.

A fourth player, Scott Brown, was given 120 hours' community service.

City captain Brooker told the club website: "I greatly regret what happened. While I think the sentence was harsh, I know I let down the club and the supporters."

Midfielder Orr added: "I can't wait to put it all behind me.

"The best way to make up for it is for me to give 100% on the pitch and help the team achieve promotion."
news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/b/bristol_city/5345494.stm

[Macmoish]

The Observer/Paul Wilson Blog

Marlon King's return would be a moral stretch too farQPR, in the end, balked at signing Marlon King after his jail term for assaulting a woman. But what other industry would even consider re-engaging someone with such a charge sheet?

Ken Loach created a mini-controversy in his 1968 docudrama The Golden Vision by including a scene in which a small boy saying his nightly bedtime prayers asks for divine protection for his favourite Everton players.

Loach was a perceptive observer of the place football held in ordinary people's lives – think of Brian Glover's bravura performance as the sports master in Kes a year later – and he was on to something early when he none too subtly suggested that religion was part of the equation.

As an 11-year-old at the time I did not find it especially unlikely or outrageous. As children we all go through an impressionable stage and, though real life and the growing-up process teaches us fairly swiftly not to be quite so silly, most of us can still recall a relationship with footballers and their clubs that was simply one of worship.

Some might say the entire reason for the ongoing popularity of football is a desire to recapture the lost innocence of youth and return to a world that is perfect once more, though I am not going to argue anything so pretentious or easily shot down here. All I will say is that when the sport is occasionally accused of losing its moral compass, as happened last week when Queens Park Rangers seemed prepared to offer the unlikeable Marlon King a way back into football, the almost universal reaction of revulsion showed that the moral compass is still in full working order.

There are plenty of people, of course, mainly columnists working for national newspapers, who sneer at the very idea of morality in football and cite Stamford Bridge, say, as the new Sodom and Gomorrah. Yet most of modern footballers' offences are against taste rather than the law and Chelsea do not play their games against a background of disapproving silence. This does not make Chelsea fans bad people, despite suspicions that there are even more overpaid and overloud geezer types on their terraces than there are on the pitch: it just means that family ties are stronger than the urge to be judgmental.

QPR considering King was similar to a family risking upsetting its own equilibrium by adopting a complete stranger with a police record. Every Rangers supporter over the last few days, whether they admit it or not, will have been asking him or herself how it would feel to have to admire someone who has just completed a prison term for assaulting a woman. Someone, in fact, with a long list of convictions, more than one of them for assaulting women. Would you be out of your seat with joy when such a person scored the last-minute winner in an important cup tie, or would you have to think twice? Could you boast to your friends in the pub that you have the best striker in the division, or would you have to keep quiet and secretly wish the manager had looked elsewhere?

This may be childish over-simplification, but at a basic level that is how supporting a football team works. If we were all going to be completely adult and rational about it many of us might not bother. And because football appeals so directly to children – real children, that is, not just immature adults – it seems astonishing that criminal records can be overlooked when in almost any other walk of life they are strictly enforced. Anyone with King's charge sheet would not have a hope of regaining work as a teacher, a policeman, a nurse or a civil servant. He would be wasting his time even applying for unpaid positions as a Sunday school teacher, a scout leader or a sports coach. It is possible that Criminal Records Bureau checks are enforced too rigorously in this country, where minor teenage misdemeanours can blight employment prospects well into adult life, yet that only makes it all the more unfair when footballers with alarming convictions – in King's case for sexual assault, violence, theft, fraud, receiving stolen goods and other offences – can seemingly breeze back into lucrative jobs.

The reason for that is simple. Where Marks & Spencer, for instance, can easily turn to the next applicant who doesn't happen to have a conviction for petty shoplifting or drunkenness, football clubs find proven goalscorers much more difficult to come by. That does not make it right, however, regardless of the fact that King was not exactly lethal for Wigan or for Hull and that Neil Warnock has now thought better of his offer of a second chance. Dave Whelan at Wigan thought King deserved a second chance too, and only when he blew it did he belatedly realise that the striker was actually on his third or fourth chance. The Wigan chairman said he would never have signed the player had he known the full extent of his record.

That is precisely the point of CRB checking, and football clubs ought to be doing it more assiduously than most employers. They pay bigger wages, after all, and have far more community influence. Where clubs, for reasons of opportunism or short-term convenience, insist on insulting their supporters by employing convicted criminals, they should be reminded by their league about the notion of bringing the game into disrepute. The CRB mission statement – "Our aim is to protect children and vulnerable adults by providing a service to support organisations recruiting people into positions of trust" – could have been written with football in mind. You don't see kids walking around with teachers' or scout leaders' names on the back of their shirts, do you

www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/aug/15/marlon-king-return-football

[Macmoish]

Bumping not to get missed

[obk]

At last, a voice of reason!

[Macmoish]

Back to Coventry?

Mirror (from couple days ago)

Mirror- Cov hold fresh talks with disgraced King
15/08/10 By MirrorFootball


Coventry boss Aidy Boothroyd has held fresh talks with Marlon King and hopes to sign the striker this week.

King, 30, is available on a Bosman after leaving jail following his sacking by Premier League Wigan. He was sentenced to 18 months last October for attacking a woman in a nightclub in December 2008, but has vowed to appeal to clear his name.

Boothroyd previously worked with King at Watford.

www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Transfer-news-Marlon-King-will-hold-fresh-talks-with-Coventry-about-a-possible-move-article555919.html

[eskey8]

Please let this be true!!

[Lonegunmen]

Probably score a hattrick against us and none for us if he signed here! Still, I do not want him here regardless.

[Macmoish]

Coventry Telegraph


Premier League sides interested in Marlon King, says Aidy Boothroyd
Aug 18 2010

AIDY BOOTHROYD says he talks to in-demand striker Marlon King "all the time" but fears a Premier League team will sign the Coventry City target instead.

The 30-year-old, who was jailed for 18 months last October for sexual assault and causing actual bodily harm, is available on a free transfer after being sacked by Wigan Athletic.

The striker used to work with Boothroyd at Watford, leading to speculation that the pair will be reunited at the Ricoh Arena.

The Sky Blues boss is in constant contact with the striker and says several Premier League clubs have shown an interest in signing him.


www.coventrytelegraph.net/coventry-city-fc/coventry-city-fc-news/2010/08/18/premier-league-sides-interested-in-marlon-king-says-aidy-boothroyd-92746-27085567/

[klr]

Go To Hell Marlon

[Macmoish]

Mirror/James Nursey

Jailbird King will be Cov's top earner
Published 23:00 20/08/10

Coventry have offered to make striker Marlon King their best-paid player after his release from jail.

Sky Blues boss Aidy Boothroyd is desperate to snap up King, 30, who is available on a Bosman.

And Championship City are willing to give King a basic £10,000-a-week plus bonuses for appearances, goals and possible promotion.

It would comfortably eclipse the current top earner at the Ricoh Arena who is midfielder Michael Doyle on around £8,000-a-week.

www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Transfer-news-Marlon-King-will-become-Coventry-s-highest-paid-player-on-10k-a-week-article559779.html#ixzz0xJhYUJka
Sign up for MirrorFootball's Morning Spy newsletter Register here

[Macmoish]

"Some Coup. Some Club!"

News of The World

AIDY TIPS TURNER FOR TOP
21/08/2010

".....Boothroyd hopes to have Marlon King in the side long before then, especially after inviting the disgraced striker to the Ricoh Arena to watch the game.

Boothroyd said: "He was here to have a chat. I got him a ticket and expect him to pay me for it if he joins us. If he does sign, it will be a coup for the club." ....

www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/916348/BEN-TURNER-proved-a-multi-tasking-master-with-a-display-that-inspired-off-colour-Sky-Blues-to-victory-over-the-injury-ravaged-Rams.html

[Macmoish]

The dance continues

Coventry Telegraph

Marlon King: I'd love to join Coventry City
Aug 24 2010 by Alan Poole

MARLON King would love to relaunch his football career with Coventry City.

The striker was hugely impressed by his visit to the Ricoh Arena on Saturday, describing the Sky Blues as “sleeping giants” – and the chance to work with Aidy Boothroyd again would give the club a trump card in any contract negotiations.

Agent Tony Finnigan, who travelled to Coventry with King and his family, confirmed: “It’s very important to be able to work with somebody you trust on and off the pitch.

"Marlon and Aidy had a very special relationship and that’s definitely a big factor – the biggest factor.

“I remember the journey at Watford very well; it was a wonderful, wonderful period and I’m sure he’d love to rekindle that again.”

And at 30 years-old, King – sacked by Wigan in October 2009 after being jailed for assaulting a woman in a nightclub – is clearly looking for the best possible financial package.

Boothroyd stressed at the weekend that Sky Blues chairman Ray Ranson would not be prepared to bust his budget to get King on board – but Finnigan said that he, too, had “a great feeling” about his day out at the Ricoh.

“The guy wants to play some football and be part of something special and Coventry ticks all those boxes,” he said.

“I was really, really impressed. We kept saying in the box ‘look at this place – the stadium, the facilities, the crowd.

"There’s 600,000 people in the city; it wouldn’t take a lot to get it going and you’ll have 30,000 people here. And imagine this place full!

www.coventrytelegraph.net/coventry-city-fc/coventry-city-fc-news/2010/08/24/marlon-king-i-d-love-to-join-coventry-city-92746-27124172/

[cpr]

"Aidy Aidy Sign Him Up"

Looking better and better guys! ;D

www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Coventry-transfer-news-Sky-Blues-set-to-make-ex-jailbird-Marlon-King-their-highest-earner-article562913.html#ixzz0xZ2w3cuf


Coventry are set to sign controversial striker Marlon King on a three-year contract.

Sky Blues boss Aidy Boothroyd is desperate to snap up King, 30, on a Bosman after working with him before at Watford.

Championship City will give King a basic £10,000-a-week plus bonuses to make him their highest-paid player.

King is available on a free after being sacked by Wigan when sentenced to 18 months last October for a nightclub bust-up with a woman in December 2008.

[obk]

"A basic 10 000£ per week" the world has gone totally insane. I'm beginning to think that the whole english football system is going to crumble sooner rather than later with that sort of wages for someone like him!

[toboboly]

Im surprised they can afford that sort of wage. They must have very little income and a fair amount goes on that souless bowl of a stadium.

He should be forced to start at the bottom of the pyramid. A two year rehab thing where he has to play for clubs that can't afford to pay for players. One game for each team in the league sounds fair, then the next year he could do the league above and so on until he has worked his crime off as it were.

[Macmoish]

Meanwhile supposedly Kitson to Portsmouth

BBC Gossip

Stoke are set to sign Portsmouth captain Marc Wilson for £3m, plus striker Dave Kitson, 30, after edging out West Bromwich Albion for the 23-year-old defender's signature.
Full story: Daily Mail


Also...
Former Portsmouth owner Milan Mandaric could return to Fratton Park once he completes the sale of his current club Leicester. (Daily Star)

newsvote.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/8944894.stm#

[magyarangol29]

Derry is going to love this season winding up the likes of Bellamy and king.

Just a shame I wont be able to see it lol. Keep your EyEs open on this one - trust me

Back to woman beater. I really hope that your lot, like us, will be most welcoming to him when he visits

[toboboly]

Saturday 22nd January.

He'll probably be locked up again by then!

[blatantfowl]

Aug 26, 2010 8:04:43 GMT Macmoish said:

Meanwhile supposedly Kitson to Portsmouth

BBC Gossip

Stoke are set to sign Portsmouth captain Marc Wilson for £3m, plus striker Dave Kitson, 30, after edging out West Bromwich Albion for the 23-year-old defender's signature.
Full story: Daily Mail


Also...
Former Portsmouth owner Milan Mandaric could return to Fratton Park once he completes the sale of his current club Leicester. (Daily Star)

newsvote.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/8944894.stm#

I was just about to start a thread suggesting we should raid Portsmouth with a cheeky bid for Dave Nugent at a bargain price. Then I read that Pompey are rivalling us to get Kitson....I thought they were supposed to be bankrupt too! What is going on?!?!?!

[toboboly]

I would have thought his wages were far more than Marc Wilson's. Apparently there are rumours of Lawrence from Stoke too, bizarre!

[Macmoish]

PFA Give Me Football Q&A with Aidy Boothroyd

Q: WHAT IS THE LATEST WITH MARLON KING’S SIGNATURE?

A: It's an ongoing situation, which I would like to clear up as soon as possible. Other clubs are interested in him but the fact that he has spent the last three days with us is very encouraging. We are quite close now and it's getting closer. We're talking and we've had him in to do some tests on him.

Q: SO WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP?

A: We always like to be thorough so we do a lot of tests on our players, and I wanted to see where he is in comparison should we press the button and should he wish to come. We want to make sure he's right if we can get this over the line - and I think he would be absolutely fantastic for us if we can do that.

Q: WOULD HIS ARRIVAL SIGNAL ANY DEPARTURES BEFORE AUGUST 31?
A: We'd be a little bit top-heavy and would need to move a couple out. I'm well aware that we have a budget that has to be sorted out, and we've got players that might need to play their football elsewhere. We are a work in progress, I have said that from the start and I am looking forward to January and February when we can win and win well and perform well.



www.givemefootball.com/championship/sky-blues-boss-takes-the-gmf-hot-seat

[Macmoish]

[And just a snippet re Aidy Boothroyd from The Times, from August 22 -which I posted a year ago. Was never clear which club he was referring to, but some did wonder!

"...Unemployment must be a stiff test of any sense of humour, but Boothroyd’s survives, as his tale of one experience with a prospective employer demonstrates. “I was asked to meet the chairman, who sat me down, said he’d been very impressed by my work at Watford and offered me the job,” he said.

“ ‘Hang on,’ I said. ‘There’s a few things I’d like to discuss first.’ He asked what. I said I’d like to talk to the owner about a variety of things — including who picks the team. He told me not to worry, everything would be fine. So we shook hands on it.

“Two weeks later I turned on Sky and there was someone else with the club scarf held above his head. Apparently, the chairman had offered the job to about five or six of us. It was just as well we didn’t all turn up on the same day..."

qprreport.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=6225

[Macmoish]

Obviously unscientific poll...

Coventry Telegraph

How do you feel about Marlon King signing for Coventry City?

Disgusted 46.2%

Happy 48.9%

Not bothered 4.9%

www.coventrytelegraph.net/coventry-city-fc/coventry-city-fc-news/2010/08/27/vote-give-your-opinion-on-signing-marlon-king-92746-27149157/

[Lonegunmen]

Well it is Coventry isn't it? Ever since the Car manufacturing declined, a high area of un-employment etc.

[Macmoish]

Coventry Telegraph

Marlon King 'could face Leicester City next week'
Sep 1 2010

COVENTRY City are closing in on Marlon King who could become a Sky Blues player by the end of the week.

And the 30-year-old striker will be thrown straight in to make his Ricoh Arena debut against Leicester City if, as expected, he completes his deal to join the club in the next few days.

Manager Aidy Boothroyd insists the former Watford star, who helped the Hornets gain promotion to the Premier League with 22 Championship goals in 2005/06, will be fit to face the Foxes when the two clubs lock horns in the big M69 derby a week on Saturday.

“We didn’t have to sign him before the window closed but we hope to complete that by the end of the week,” confirmed the City boss who invited the player to train at the club last week where he underwent a series of tests to assess his fitness.

Quick Vote
How do you feel about Marlon King signing for Coventry City?

Disgusted 45.8%
Happy 49.3%
Not bothered 5.0%

Asked how soon he would be ready to play, Boothroyd replied: “For the next game!

"He’s kept himself in good shape and he would be available for the Leicester match.”

www.coventrytelegraph.net/coventry-city-fc/coventry-city-fc-news/2010/09/01/marlon-king-could-face-leicester-city-next-week-92746-27177985/

[qprrobbo]

I am sick to death of reading about this ongoing farce to bring the thug back into football.

He ain't coming to Loftus Road thank God, SO PLEASE MODS.. LOCK THIS THREAD OFF NOW, and file it somewhere else eh?

[eskey8]

Until he signs for another club, you can not be sure he's not gonna sign for us!