The former Chelsea and Arsenal striker has landed his first management role. Forgive us for being quite amused at the news.
There have been a few bizarre managerial appointments through the years, even poor old Paul Gascoigne was given a chance to boss Kettering Town.
That one did not end well with accusations of Gazza turning up drunk to training and never landing a managerial job again.
On the other hand, Paulo di Canio was seen as an equally brave appointment by Swindon Town last summer and he is going great guns.
Swindon sit top of League Two, seven points clear with a game in hand, and are promotion certainties.
It remains to be seen whether Nicolas Anelka will be more Gazza or more Di Canio
He moved to Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua in January, where the wages he earns are believed to be simply astronomical.
It was announced this morning that he will join former Fulham boss Jean Tigana as a ‘player-coach’, after four of Tigana’s backroom staff quit.
It is unclear why exactly they quit- with simply ‘disagreements’ cited, but we wonder if it was anything to do with dealing with Anelka’s ego.
Anelka’s life is never dull, becoming known as ‘Le Sulk’ during his time at Arsenal for a lack of enthusiasm in his performances.
His career has been chequered by controversy as much as it has been blessed with his talent and goalscoring abilities.
At Real Madrid he was handed a 45-day suspension by Vicente del Bosque for refusing to train.
He was also viewed as a troublesome influence by former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas, who wasted no time at all in dispatching him to China as quickly as possible.
But perhaps Anelka’s most famous incident of notoriety came at World Cup 2010 where he swore at and abused French coach Raymond Domenech at half-time during their eventual 2-0 loss to Mexico.
He was sent home immediately, which caused a famous French protest led by Patrice Evra, leading the nation into total disarray.
When all was said and done he was slapped with a record 18 match ban by the French Football Federation.
So forgive us for being surprised at the news of Anelka’s transition into management.
It promises to be quite an adventure- if only it was in the Premier League.
image: © Andrea Sartorati
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