Dear Mr. Adams: Please…don’t.
The Scotsman is reporting that Ross County F.C. are speaking with 29 year old forward Derek Riordan about coming to Dingwall to join the club on a short term deal. The deal would have to be short term as Riordan’s salary demands will preclude any other kind of deal. Now, you may ask yourself, why would the third all-time scorer in the Scottish Premier League consider coming to a newly promoted club on a short term contract? Well, that’s where things get interesting…
Let’s first look at his record as a player-
Riordan made his debut for Hibernian during the 2001-2002 season as an 18 year old, but his first full season for the club came in the 2003-2004 season. Through the 2005-2006 season he scored 15, 20, 16 goals, plus another 10 in cup competitions. This was enough to cause a big move to Celtic where- for whatever reason one chooses to believe (he wasn’t good enough, Gordon Strachan didn’t like him, etc.)- he only played 24 matches over two seasons and scored only 5 goals. Following the 2007-2008 season he returned to Hibernian and went right back to scoring, netting 12, 13, 11 goals over the next three seasons (plus four more cup goals). When Riordan’s contract ended after the 2010-2011 season he chose to leave the club- he was purportedly offered a new contract but at reduced wages. Why might that be?
In July 2011 Riordan signed a two-year contract with Shaanxi Chan-Ba of the Chinese Super League. Riordan played well, but the club didn’t and he was often the target of the manager’s criticism- perhaps because it was easy to blame the foreign player- who know? Whatever the case, he was gone by November 2011 by “mutual consent.” Riordan returned to the United Kingdom and after trials with Blackpool and Kilmarnock before signing with St. Johnstone F.C. for the remainder of the 2011-2012 season. At present Riordan is without a club, having had unsuccessful trials with MK Dons and, according to some sources, a club in La Liga.
So, a quality player and a proven goal scorer, but with maybe just a a red flag or two waving in the periphery. Now let’s take a look at Derek Riordan off the field. Well, sort of, you’ll see. I’m going to do this in list form for reasons that will become clear.
- 2005: He appears in a video calling derby rival Rudi Skacel (a Czech international who plays for Hearts) a “fuckin’ refugee.”
- 2008: Riordan complains publicly about his lack of playing time at Celtic and is demoted to the reserve squad.
- 2008: Riordan is banned from every pub and night club in Edinburgh for two years after an altercation with a bouncer.
- 2008: Three months later he is banned for an additional three years for getting into a fight in a club that he- if you’ll note the previous entry- wasn’t supposed to be in to begin with.
- 2009: He is arrested for “breach of the peace” when he was refused entry to a night club. He was also disciplined by Hibs for this act.
- 2010: Riordan is sent off while captaining Hibs in the Edinburgh Derby for a tackle on…wait for it…Rudi Skacel.
- 2012: In may Riordan is arrested after an altercation with a bouncer at a night club- sensing a trend here?
Those, my friends, were only the highlights.
Oh, and for good measure, Riordan’s best friend since childhood is Gary O’Connor. Mr. O’Connor was most recently in the news in June when he was convicted of possessing cocaine and obstructing a peace officer. The incident that led to his trial and conviction is actually quite entertaining- treat yourself.
Ah, but let me bring this topic back to the beginning- why would Derek Riordan be interested in coming to Ross County F.C.? It’s simple, he needs to. Right now, mainly due to his off field antics, his career is dead in the water. If he comes to Dingwall, regularly scores goals, and stays out of trouble, he might get one more big contract before his career comes to its natural end. And, truth be told, if any club can set Riordan back on track it’s probably County. There’s not much trouble to get into in Dingwall, the community is very supportive, and the manager, Derek Adams, is a Christian and a teetotaler who- allegedly- doesn’t even swear. But he’s also, however, a manager who once punched forward Sean Higgins during a post-match dressing room disagreement. Talk softly and carry a big fist, or something like that.
Still, why? Yes, if his form is good he could help the club score a few goals and win a few matches and both would certainly be helpful in keeping the club in the SPL. That being said, if Ross County has a strength beyond all others it is team chemistry. This is a club where everyone pulls their weight and every pulls it in the same direction- it is truly a “team.” The last thing the club needs is a prima donna with a penchant for alcohol and fisticuffs. I wish Riordan the best both personally and professionally, but I hope his redemption comes at somewhere other than Ross County F.C..
I am curious how some of these European players are able to get away with their off-field antics. Are there legal protections available to them in Europe that players here in the USA don’t get?
I mean, if you are an NFL player now and you get a freakin’ traffic ticket, you can be summoned to the commissioner’s office for fines, lost playing time, etc….Are the teams/leagues forbidden from including “morality/behavior” clauses in player contracts?
Kevin, give me a few hours to think about this (I’m at work) and I’ll try to give you an answer less frustrating and disappointing that the one I’ve got in mind at the moment.
Unless he’s gone straight edge, the headache that comes with him is absolutely prohibitive. I hope if they do grab him, it’s a one strike and done deal. He struck me as not the most pleasant of human beings, albeit somewhat talented on the pitch.
I’ve had time to think and I believe there are actually two separate issues here: how this behavior is handled by the clubs/league and how it is perceived by the public.
Clubs/league: On the club level I think things are handled pretty similarly to professional sports here in the States, which is to say that favoritism, selective amnesia, etc. are always in play. Rightly or wrongly, better players get away with more- as it has always been, so shall it always be. If I had to put a fine point on it I’d say that if a player’s behavior embarrasses the club he’ll catch hell for it, if he only embarrasses himself any punishment will be superficial/meaningless.
As for the “Roger Goodell” equivalents, I think you’ll find that most people in Scotland view them as, “muppets,” as in, “not to be taken seriously.” As was amply demonstrated by the SPL and SFA during the whole Rangers “thing,” the heads of these organizations (Neil Doncaster and Stewart Regan) are only concerned with two things- making money and stroking their own egos. The idea of either one handing down meaningful discipline is laughable on its face.
I wouldn’t normally point it out, but I think in this instance it’s worth noting that Doncaster and Regan are both English and neither is a “football man.” Doncaster has some administrative experience at the club and league level in England, but Regan’s only connection to the game is that he engineered a sponsorship deal with the Old Firm clubs when he was working for Coors. My point being that I don’t think either one has a vested interest in the game in Scotland other than on the financial level- they want to keep their jobs. Again, one need only look to the Rangers fiasco and how they employed every shady tactic they could to try to keep the club in the SPL, then in the SFL First Division, etc.
Lastly, and it pains me to say this, but Riordan is not “atypical” when it comes to this kind of behavior among young men of a certain class in Scotland. I don’t think anyone likes this kind of behavior, but I also don’t think that there’s much of a push to change it. Partly because there’s a little too much “boys will be boys” sentiment still floating around, and partly- and I’m making a leap here- because I think there is some guilt that Scotland hasn’t done much as a society to address the issues that, in a sense, create people (or at least behavior) like Riordan’s. Education isn’t what it should be, social programs are not what they should be, etc.
(This is where I would launch into my “Why Scotland Should Be Independent” rant, but I’ll spare you…)
Check out the Wikipedia entries for “Ned (Scottish)” and “Lad Culture” for a little more background on this part of Scottish society.
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