Harry Kewell

[johnnysmiles]

Back in the day, HK was my favourite Leeds player of that era... until he:

a) allegedly delayed his free transfer to Liverpool by 24 hours so that Leeds would've to pay his yearly insurance premium
b) subsequently signed for Galatasaray, in full knowledge of how that would go down with us all...

Mark Viduka later became my favourite player from that team for waiving money owed to him during our financial freefall... Ironic that HK & MV were rumoured not to get along...

So it was with great pleasure that I heard Peter Crouch (on his podcast) telling the story of a team bonding paintball session at Liverpool under Rafa Benitez, when HK was apparently taking the game a little too seriously.

Apparently he was taking it so seriously that Steve Finnan took a shot at him from the area reserved for people already out if the game.

HK was apparently livid and demanded to know who it was (he was convinced it was Jermaine Pennant) and never found out who it was (until the podcast I guess...) despite obsessing about it and demanding to know who it was for the whole following week).

Just thought I'd share for those who isn't hear the episode...

[NottinghamWhite]

Never forgave him, never will for joining the Turks. He knew full well how it affected the club & fans but he still went anyway. I didn’t blame any of that squad finding other clubs but Kewell & his agent royally screwed the club.

[Barlow Boy]

Never forgave him, never will for joining the Turks. He knew full well how it affected the club & fans but he still went anyway.

Couldn’t agree more.

[johnh]

Never rated him anyway. 50/50 balls were not his speciality.

[new signing]

As an Australian i can tell you all that Kewell rarely if ever played with any real hunger for his national team.

As a youngster i loved him as a player but when it all came down to it Kewell has always been little more than a self serving p***k.

At his best he was unplayable, his managers knew it, his team mates knew it and the opposition knew it. All these people also knew that it was a rare occurrence that he would feel the need to actually have a go and put his talent to use

[Mr Russell]

I have mentioned this a few times in the years gone by but I actually got to meet Harry Kewell back in 1997 in a pub here in Newcastle and with a mate we spoke to him for a least a couple of hours and I even got a shirt signed, he seemed a level headed guy who was looking forward to breaking into the first team at Leeds.

He did in the 1997/1998 season with a blaze of glory and we all know the rest of his story and his leaving of Leeds, going to Liverpool who he supported as a boy and going to that team in Turkey whose name is not worth mentioning.

He was a player of great skill but only when you let him have space and they he would tear teams apart, man mark him and he was just an average joe player who struggled to break free. I think I read somewhere that David O'Leary said he thought he was Zidane when he played and gained an ego (which he did not have when i first met him).

Its true him and Viduka off the pitch were not friends and never hung out (as they say) and they were Chalk and Cheese as characters. Viduka when he left football never came back although he is known to watch his sons play for one of his former clubs called the Melbourne Knights. Kewell moved into management and so far has failed at Watford under 23's, Crawley Town and Notts County.

Both were well liked when they played for Leeds but only one is still liked by the fans nowadays, I think we can guess which one that is.