Didi Hamann and cricket

[gene hughes]

When was that cricket match anyway? Someone should do an analysis of all these revelatory biographies and check how well the guy played while these major personal disasters were going on.

Someone very sad, obviously.

 

[Gary25]

Didi talking about Rafa:

"Rafael Benitez isn’t big on relationships, but in my mind he is pure managerial genius"

 

[FoxForceFive]

[quote author=Qball7 link=topic=48368.msg1467145#msg1467145 date=1327073829]
Off to Belle Vue tonight with my greyhound, he'll win after such a big tea. He's in the bright red colours and called Binad
[/quote]

Heh. I like you. You can stay.

 

[themn]

From The Telegraph:

Sven-Goran Eriksson has been compared to
"Swedish James Bond" by Dietmarr Hamann.
Writing in his autobiography The Didi Man, which is
being serialised in the Daily Mirror, Hamann paints
an portrait of former City and England manager
Eriksson, whose "charm and sophistication"
impressed the German.
Recalling a pre-season trip to Thailand, Hamann
writes: "One morning when I was on a sun lounger
by the pool, he walked towards me with a bottle of
champagne and two glasses on it. It was still only
10 in the morning. I looked up and said, ‘Boss, what
are we celebrating?’ expecting him to make the
triumphant announcement he was staying.
"He turned to me and smiled that gentle smile of
his and took the air of a Buddhist philosopher, as
he said, ‘Life, Kaiser. We are celebrating life’. With a
glass of champagne in hand he stood and looked
out towards the horizon, then spoke in that
higgledy-piggledy Swedish accent: ‘You know Kaiser,
I like this place. I think I will manage for another five
years and come back here and live with two
women. Yes. I think I need two beautiful women.’
"He was a man who loved life and it was impossible
not to like him and love being in his company."

 

[Fabio]

I love sven


The manager, not our resident dickhead

 

[Qball7]

I loved Didi in 'Fifteen minutes that shook the world'

 

[King Binny]

IN THE summer of 2006 Didi Hamann was reluctantly looking for a new club.

The midfielder had signed off his Anfield career in style, making the last of his 283 appearances in the dramatic FA Cup final triumph over West Ham in Cardiff.

Hamann had played enough games that season to trigger a one-year extension to his deal but Rafa Benitez had informed him he would no longer be a regular.

Word got round that Hamann was available on a free transfer and the German received a call from the other side of Stanley Park.

Hamann recalled: “The caller spoke with a soft Scottish brogue that sounded familiar. ‘Didi. It’s David Moyes here. I’ll cut to the chase, I’d like you to come to Everton.’

“What? This was a difficult one. I’ve got a lot of respect for David Moyes, I think that he is a really good manager. I’d always enjoyed our encounters with Everton too, they were great games and great occasions.

“The Everton fans had always been fine with me as well, so I had no problems there. Despite the massive rivalry in the city, I had never had one single moment of trouble with any Everton fan.

“I would have very much liked to have played for David Moyes. The problem was it was Everton. As all of this was swirling around in my mind, I think my gut instincts just did the talking for me.

“‘Moysie,’ I said, ‘I’d love to play for you, but I want to be able to go back to Liverpool in the future. In five or 10 years’ time I want to go back and be treated as one of the family.

“If I play for Everton, I could go back, but I don’t think the feeling would be the same. I would jeopardise my relationship with the club that I love and that’s not something I want to do.’

“I really didn’t want to jeopardise that relationship for the sake of a year, maybe two. Things would never have felt the same had I put on an Everton shirt. David Moyes understood. It was flattering to have a manager of his calibre wanting me to go to Goodison.”

Instead Hamann signed for Bolton but within hours changed his mind when interest from Manchester City emerged. Bolton ended up pocketing £400,000 for a player who never even kicked a ball for them.