By Alan Duffy
Confidence is vital to a striker, it can turn an Andy Carroll into a Robin Van Persie, or a Fernando Torres into a Clint Dempsey. However, too much belief in yourself and you can, very easily, become a bit of a knob (see Nicklas Bendtner).
Bury centre-forward, Giles Coke, gave us all a prime example of over-confidence in action against Yeovil at the weekend, when he refused to hand over the ball to team captain and designted penalty taker, Steven Schumacher (what great names these lads have!).
Coke, on loan from Sheffield Wednesday, won a penalty after being fould in the Glovers’ box. However, so eager to nab a goal for himself was the 25-year-old, he refused to give the ball to Schumacher. A ridiculously embarrassing row followed, with both players getting a booking for their trouble. The captain scored, by the way.
Coke has since apologised, saying:
“When playing my emotions run high, and in my mind following being brought down, all I could think of was getting the ball and making it 3-1.”
“I make no apology for wanting to win, however I am also a professional footballer and fully appreciate the need to respect the captain and manager, even when emotions are running high.”
Still a knob, mind.