I hope this works and doens't wrap up too much, but the following is from the On-Line Sunday Sun......boy does it give Sylvia a smack or what! =====================================

RUUD VAN NISTEL-ROOY is an example of why medicals are a feature of every football transfer.

Silvio Maric is proof that a psychological evaluation should be statutory too.

From virtually the day he joined Newcastle United, Croatia's most maudlin export has mooched about with a face like a slapped backside.

And yes, his skulking has been done on as well as off the pitch.

No matter that he is one of the very best paid players at St James's Park.

No matter that his team-mates have been far more accommodating to him than to several of the other malingering imports at the club.

No matter that the man who led him into purgatory by bringing him to England has long gone.

And no matter that Ruud Gullit's replacement had hitherto comforted and cajoled rather then condemned him during his darkest hours.

No, Maric's attitude has simply reeked from day one. And in recent weeks, the stench has been so foul as to make you gag.

Visits to United's training ground are no longer deemed complete without a sighting of the Maric depressive in apathetic repose.

On a good day, he might be found idly flicking through the channels of the gargantuan digital TV set which adorns the new players' lounge.

But more usually, he will simply be slumped slobbishly in a corner, pet lip fully curled, eyes staring blankly into space.

All in all, an utterly contemptible sight.

And the reason for his self-pity? He has not been getting his game. And when he has, he patently perceives himself, under Gullit at least, to have been played out of position.

Now, it would be wrong to completely dismiss the grounds for Maric's complaint as no grounds at all.

No man likes to be passed over, regardless of whether they deserve to be.

And in fairness, the distressed look was almost the vogue in the Newcastle dressing room under Gullit.

Indeed, Maric's grim countenance was barely distinguishable from that of a certain England captain during that period.

So similar in fact that Alan Shearer and others in the anti-Gullit camp took him under their wing.

But what has since set poor, misunderstood Silvio apart from the rest of United's Mr Glums has been his reluctance, nay refusal, to respond positively to Gullit's replacement.

Bobby Robson offered every player he inherited a clean slate and a fair crack of the whip.

The likes of Rob Lee, Nikos Dabizas and, most significantly, Maric's fellow loner Alessandro Pistone grabbed the olive branch with both hands.

But Maric? He shows no willingness to change or better his situation. Just an unwillingness to accept it.

His going AWOL ahead of this week's end-of-season tour to Trinidad and Tobago was merely the final straw for Robson.

Exasperation has overtaken the Newcastle manager's usual bonhomie whenever Maric's name has been mentioned recently.

Robson recognises the player's unhappiness, having placed him on the transfer list early in the New Year.

But what this ageless pillar of footballing industry fails to understand is Maric's disinclination to play his way to the front of United's shop window.

At least from the Croatian's explanation for his actions this week, Robson has the answer to that little conundrum.

Maric actually wants his work permit rescinded in the hope that it will entitle him to a free transfer.

Playing first team football would have the opposite effect.

Publicly, Robson insists he is hellbent on recouping at least a fraction of the huge investment United have made in Maric.

Privately, I fancy any opportunity to rid himself of his biggest headache appeals.

Whatever now transpires, Newcastle will recall Maric as arguably the most spectacular of their several major disasters in the transfer market in the late 1990s.

But given his demeanour from the moment he stepped onto English soil, it is clear that a simple sit-down conversation with the man would have told Gullit he did not have the fortitude to flourish in the Premiership.

As with most of his signings, Gullit did not have that sit-down chat.

He simply saw the player Maric could be - as we all had when the Croatian dazzled against Newcastle for FC Zagreb at St James's Park 18 months before - and not the person he was.

For that, Gullit's ex-employers and his successor are now paying a heavy price . . .

And praying they never make a similar misjudgment of character again

-- Anonymous, May 21, 2000

Answers

All that in 3 words - he's a jerk!

Is it just my connection or is the response time on this site deteriorating. It seems to have been painfully slow recently.

-- Anonymous, May 21, 2000

Titbits from the Sunday Mirror:-

* Wimbledon keeper, Neil Sullivan, is going to Spurs - just what they need, another half-decent goaly!

* Leicester have/are to offer Chewsee #7mm for 'outcast' Chris Sutton - they deserve each other!

* Paul Merson has been told he is surplus to requirements at Villa and is to listed - wonder who will touch him?

* Roma want Marc Bosnich and are prepared to offer Fransicso Totti (valued at #15mm) to manure to get him - it would great if that big duck-egg, Taibe, were to go back to OT.

-- Anonymous, May 21, 2000