Top 7 innocuous things banned by football managers

Amongst the list of things that managers constantly prohibit players from indulging in are sex and binging the night before a match. Now while these are commonplace, there are other stranger things to have been banned. Here is a countdown of the top 6 things outlawed by managers starting with yesterday’s news about Leyton Orient banning the FIFA 14 video game. Word of special mention to Italian Paolo Di Canio, who recently got the boot from the Sunderland job, for making four distinguished appearances on this list.

Singing in the shower

A simple one to start with.

Singing out loud is said to alleviate stress and a bunch of players singing together can even promote bonhomie. But according to Di Canio, it also disturbs concentration and lambasted his players. He banned the practice.

FIFA 14

Leyton Orient have outlawed the FIFA ’14 game that is seemingly messing with the players’ performances on the pitch.

Leyton Orient’s communications manager Jonny Davies, speaking to the Independent about the club’s new bus, had this to say:

“The coach boasts a fold-out massage table, a coffee machine and Sky TV, but the most exciting thing for the players was a PlayStation 3. For the majority of the trip the lads, led by Lloyd James, got stuck into the new Fifa 14 game and at times even played as themselves against Oldham in preparation for the match the following day. The staff were quick to implement a “no Fifa on a matchday” rule, however. The gaffer suspects several hours playing football on a video game is not conducive to a good performance in the real thing.”

Leyton are undefeated so far this season after the first eight matches of the season, but since the release of the latest installment of the game, have been held to two 1-1 draws prompting a crackdown on the game by club officials.

Using your phone

One of the many things that Di Canio went against almost immediately was the use of mobile phones.

Di Canio on his banning mobile phones.

“…Imagine if for years your habit is to use the phone when you’re having a massage on the bed, even one minute before going out to train? For 25 days I accepted this, because my first priority was to work on the field. However, I’ve said that from now if someone comes inside with a mobile phone, even in their bag, I’ll throw it in the North Sea. They’re banned. [...]”

Mars bars

Arsene Wenger joined Arsenal in 1996 as an unknown Frenchman who had been coaching in Japan. Most fans were left unimpressed and there was more frustration when he cracked down on the players’ chocolate-eating-habits.

Before his first game in charge, Wenger banned the team from eating chocolate, provoking outrage: “We were travelling to Blackburn and the players were at the back of the bus chanting ‘we want our Mars bars!’” Having grown up in a restaurant, Wenger knew the importance of nutrition and was not going to back down.

Coke with ice

More Di Canio.

You may be the biggest cola company in the world and a popular beverage, but Di Canio took umbrage at his players having their glass of Coke with ice.

Reason: indigestion.

“If you have ice with coke you can have indigestion. I know players who’ve had ice with their coke the night before a game and then couldn’t play. Even coffee can be a problem. You can have one when you get up, but not an hour before you go out training or playing. We give the players diet sheets to follow.”

Toast

Jackie McNamara took over as new manager of Scottish Premier League side Dundee United. And soon after taking over, brought about a sea change in the players’ diets.

“Jackie is changing the players’ lifestyles and that’s something which appeals to me,” said chairman Stephen Thompson at the time.

“So instead of toast for their breakfast, it’s now porridge and Weetabix.”

Famously defined in Johnson’s Dictionary as “a grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people,” porridge is a good source of slow-releasing carbohydrates, together with B vitamins and soluble fibre.

Dundee finished the 2012-13 season in sixth place, and with a 4-0 loss to Celtic.

Mayonnaise and ketchup

And the winner…

Popular food accompaniments mayonnaise and ketchup also faced the wrath of the fiery Italian. The saucy couple had to bid goodbye to the Stadium of Light after Di Canio opined that they would cause problems internally to the players and he was uncomfortable with their fat content.

“This is a complete revolution”, thundered Di Canio when he took over.

“We need to have lectures about why we can’t have every day things like mayonnaise, ketchup and coke.

“They can cause chemical problems to the liver, to the stomach

He even managed to defend his choices:

“Obviously, you have to enjoy life. I won’t say anything if one day you like to go and have a cheeseburger. I ban my daughter from going to places like that, but I know sometimes she goes because she enjoys it and because it’s typical of a student. It is all right, but not as a habit.”

We don’t know about the gastronomical troubles that the team went through, but they have struggled so far on the pitch despite all these measures.

It also managed to get the man with the Mussolini tattoo fired!