Who do you think are the hardest players?

dd972

I think Tommy Smith the old Liverpool legend tops the list in my book, his autobiography Anfield Iron is a good read, ( not what you think if there's any Cockneys reading )

I'd also nominate Steve McMahon, Roy Keane, Patrick Viera, John Giles and Jimmy Case.

People like Graeme Souness,Michael Brown, Neil Ruddock, Vinnie Jones,Julian Dicks, Ben Thatcher, John Hartson don't cut it in my opinion, these are malicious w**kers not hard men, the types who pick and choose their victims.

RandolphEsq

The term 'hard man' in relation to football, with the examples you have given, should be understood as 'violent thugs using football to legitimise their violence'. No hard men like those footballers would survive these days.

Turtyturd

dd972 wrote: »

I'd also nominate Roy Keane .

People like Graeme Souness,Michael Brown, Neil Ruddock, Vinnie Jones,Julian Dicks, Ben Thatcher, John Hartson don't cut it in my opinion, these are malicious w**kers not hard men, the types who pick and choose their victims.

There is something about that which I can't quite put my finger on.

Rekop dog

Leaving his personal twatishness aside John Terry is prob the hardest premier league footballer imo.

Lovely Bloke

Graeme Le Saux

Dickerty

As above - Keane was certainly no more hard that Souness. Look at his approach to Shearer, petty and almost cowardly.
He doesn't belong in there with Chopper Harris, Case, Smith, Bremner, Nobby Stiles, Big Jack, Joe Jordan, Norman Hunter, Ron Yeats, Davie MacKay...

These days, without the gratuitous violence, the likes of Carra, Skrtel, Hangeland, Vidic, Essien, Cattermole and De Jong all have current form, and Duncan Ferguson, Dennis Wise, Vinny Jones, Bowyer have all broken a few rules over the years...

GavRedKing

Gerrard, hes big and hes f**king hard. :pac:

The_Kew_Tour

Jaap Stam and Vidic.

Would not mind having a Souness in my team either being honest.

Rekop dog

dd972 wrote: »

I think Tommy Smith the old Liverpool legend tops the list in my book, his autobiography Anfield Iron is a good read, ( not what you think if there's any Cockneys reading )

I'd also nominate Steve McMahon, Roy Keane, Patrick Viera, John Giles and Jimmy Case.

People like Graeme Souness,Michael Brown, Neil Ruddock, Vinnie Jones,Julian Dicks, Ben Thatcher, John Hartson don't cut it in my opinion, these are malicious w**kers not hard men, the types who pick and choose their victims.

Not having Giles in your malicious **** group is lol, hes just as bad or worse than most of them when it came to that sort of thing. Keane too tbh. Far better players but had malicious tendencies nonetheless.

The_Kew_Tour

Oh I see where this is going now.

grenache

Stuart Pearce - when England played France in 1992, Basile Boli punched him hard, straight in the face. Pearce got up, threw a face like he had no idea what just happened, and played on. Any of today's players would act as if they need hospitalising.

gustavo

Pablo Alfaro

The_Kew_Tour

Dickerty

Rekop dog wrote: »

Leaving his personal twatishness aside John Terry is prob the hardest premier league footballer imo.

No real hard man would ever cry over losing a match. More than once.

He thinks he's Terry Butcher, but he's more Pat Butcher...



Pat Butcher



John Terry

Xavi6

“I have been safe this season but in 2010-11 when we won the FA Cup, it was the worst of my life!

“I had 21 stitches in my face – 13 in my forehead, three on top of my head – and had my nose broken twice. It was a horrible year.

“In my first game against Chelsea I got an elbow from Florent Malouda and my eye was swollen up. People were saying ‘Welcome to the Premier League!’ But I said ‘That’s OK, because I am strong myself, and I will fight for every single ball’.”

Dickerty

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Jaap Stam and Vidic.

Would not mind having a Souness in my team either being honest.

Stam for me was like Hyypia - imposing and hard to get change from, but not typically "hard".

Souness (as with Giles) gets passed off as hard man like Chopper Harris or Bates, but he was a supreme footballer - great passer, great leader, had a thunderous shot. He was a great all around footballer, hence why the Italians took a shine to him.

The_Kew_Tour

Dickerty wrote: »

Stam for me was like Hyypia - imposing and hard to get change from, but not typically "hard".

Souness (as with Giles) gets passed off as hard man like Chopper Harris or Bates, but he was a supreme footballer - great passer, great leader, had a thunderous shot. He was a great all around footballer, hence why the Italians took a shine to him.

See what you say, but been hard man does not mean you were average footballer.

Souness was a quailty player(from what I seen). He was both tough and quailty footballer.

Super-Rush

Martin Keown.

Rekop dog

Dickerty wrote: »

No real hard man would ever cry over losing a match. More than once.

He thinks he's Terry Butcher, but he's more Pat Butcher...



Pat Butcher



John Terry

Hes an animal on the pitch, goes the extra mile from a commitment pov compared to most, regularly puts his body in where it hurts, bravery verging on stupidity or madness but there's no denying his hardness. And apart from his moment of indiscretion against Barca last season he's actually had shockingly few cards or moments of indiscipline for a player applying his trade at centre back for as long as he has, especially one who relies on the physical side of the game so much to fend off opponents.

Neil3030

Do you know wha' really 'ard is?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfGZ4_obpQ0

ciaran76

Probably telling my age here but hardest players I remember are (not in any order) :
Mick Harford
Joe Parkinson
Barry Horne
Greame Souness
Terry Butcher
Mick McCarthy
Paulo Montero
Stuart Pearce
Richard Gough
Steve McMahon
Pat Van Den Hauwe

I based this on players who could take a kick too and not roll around for 5 mins after a tackle.

Dickerty

Sir Alex Ferguson wrote: »

Martin Keown.

Tony Adams
Steve Bruce

Liam O

Danny Dyer.

JimsAlterEgo

Mark Hughes, his ability to control and shield the ball while being battered hasnt been seen since.
Bryan Robson was another as was Kevin Moran

geeky

I'd label John Terry as genuinely 'hard', despite his being a hateful person - and the propensity to blub. He's played through injury that would sideline most people, and has displayed a spectacular disregard for his personal safety throughout his career. I'd just fancy his chances in a given scrap.

Vidic is another, and I'd agree with previous posters re Mark Hughes.

One lad I'm not 100% on is Dennis Wise - he never let himself get physically dominated despite giving up a good half foot in height to the average PL footballer. But I've yet to decide whether he was a genuine hard man or just an absolute psychopath.

Dickerty

geeky wrote: »

One lad I'm not 100% on is Dennis Wise - he never let himself get physically dominated despite giving up a good half foot in height to the average PL footballer. But I've yet to decide whether he was a genuine hard man or just an absolute psychopath.

A very fine line, Bowyer was even closer to that line. Wise seemed to know how to keep a lid on it, he was a wind up merchant, remember his sly pinch on Nicky Butt?

The_Kew_Tour

geeky wrote: »

One lad I'm not 100% on is Dennis Wise - he never let himself get physically dominated despite giving up a good half foot in height to the average PL footballer. But I've yet to decide whether he was a genuine hard man or just an absolute psychopath.

Agree.

Dennis Wise was not even related to hard. Never got that one.

Bodhisopha

Caveman1

Dickerty wrote: »

No real hard man would ever cry over losing a match. More than once.

He thinks he's Terry Butcher, but he's more Pat Butcher...



Pat Butcher



John Terry

super_furry

Bert Trautmann. A German prisoner of war who somehow managed to make a career as a footballer in England in the immediate aftermath of World War II. He faced down a protest of 20,000 people when he signed for Manchester City before he eventually won them over and then played on in an FA Cup final in which he broke his neck but played on before collecting his winners medal with a "noticeably crooked" neck.

jasonb

The moment I read this thread I thought of this 'tackle':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygVgxYa3mlo

As someone said, only Souness would try to tackle someone while he had the ball! I love the commentator saying 'that's certainly a booking', he'd be banned for a few matches nowadays...

J.

darced

This post has been deleted.

Anyone

Caveman1 wrote: »

All they prove is he cant time a header. Souness for me.

PhlegmyMoses

Keane was nails. He made some dirty tackles but he was as tough as they come physically and mentally.

Mark Hughes was also a tough customer. Built like a brick ****house and could hold the ball up forever.

Duncan Ferguson would probably be my choice, though. Mental but also tough as ****.

SEPT 23 1989

Why did the OP get a yellow card?

noodler

Always thought Hamann was reasonably hard.

Caveman1

Anyone wrote: »

All they prove is he cant time a header. Souness for me.

GLaDOS

noodler wrote: »

Always thought Hamann was reasonably hard.

Played champions league final with a broken foot, and slotted away his penalty, fairly impressive.

Cienciano

To be proper hard you have to do it off the pitch. And not to kids like joey barton.
Duncan ferguson:
When Carl Bishop smashed his way into a grand house on a leafy avenue in Formby, Merseyside, successfully evading the security system, he was delighted to find a bounty of champagne and whisky. But there was one 6ft 4in item of anti-burglary technology that he had reckoned without: the Everton striker Duncan Ferguson. Bishop tried to smash a bottle of vodka over the footballer's head, before feeling the full force of "Big Dunc's" fist in his face – the thief was confined to hospital for two days. It was the second attempted robbery that Ferguson had foiled in his home; two years earlier, in 2001, he had sat on a thief until the police arrived.

Leonardo Bonucci
 Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci faced down an armed robber who pointed a pistol at his head before chasing the assailant as he tried to get away, Italian media reports said on Saturday.The Italy international was with his wife and baby son at a car dealership in Turin on Thursday, looking to buy a Ferrari, when a man with his face covered pointed a gun at his head and demanded that he give him his watch.Bonucci refused and instead punched the thief, knocking him to the ground before chasing him as he tried to get away on a scooter with his accomplice

VinylJunkie

Dave McGill

racso1975

Ronald koman

Seans_Username

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Why did the OP get a yellow card?

Abuse I'd say. Derogatory term like w*nker

Xavi6 wrote: »

Caveman1 wrote: »

If taking tackles and hits counts as a hard man then why not include Xabi Alonso? In one season with Liverpool I lost count of the amount of times someone went in two feet on him and got sent off. And of course, who could forget De Jong's 'tackle'? He's taken more than his fair share of bad tackles and played on, so by that rationale he should get a mention too

My vote would go to Gattuso. He could put the fear of God into any opponent.

Moneymaker

Samir Nasri



Yeah.

racso1975

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Why did the OP get a yellow card?

I presume for his reference of certain players just being wa#kers

bullvine

Stefan Effenberg was pretty tough in the modern game, I'd say the only player never to look really intimidated by Roy Keane.

Franny Lee was meant to animal!

Rekop dog

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Why did the OP get a yellow card?

Mars bars reign of terror obv.

Dempsey

Victor Wanyama

grenache

From the 70s - Kevin Hector, Kenny Burns, Larry Lloyd.

leonidas83

Harald Schumacher - put a french player into a coma

super_furry

leonidas83 wrote: »

Harald Schumacher - put a french player into a coma

He wasn't hard, he was a thug.

Dempsey

leonidas83 wrote: »

Harald Schumacher - put a french player into a coma

IMO, thats not being hard, its just assaulting a player on a football pitch