Long before he was Everton’s latest former manager, Ronald Koeman was a damn fine, imposing centre back with skin pale as milk and hair of the finest spun sunlight.
During his time at Barcelona in the early 1990s, Koeman aquired the nickname ‘Tintin’ due to the physical similarities he supposedly shared with Hergé’s courageous cartoon creation of the same name.
Whether the Dutch behemoth ever truly took to the nickname is doubtful, but he was more than happy to play up to it from time to time, even dressing up as the young Belgian detective/adventurer/roving reporter in a photoshoot for a Spanish magazine…
Stunning attention to detail, complete with a trademark flick of the hair, suitably short pantaloons and an assist from Tintin’s faithful wire fox terrier, Snowy.
Football was so much better before PR teams and image reps got involved.