Prememento #106: Season 3 Episode 30 - Ben Thatcher

Heroes don’t exist without villains. In footballing terms, the antagonist is often just anyone outside our own personal fanbases. It’s hard for a player to draw the kind of ire and ill-will from neutrals if he’s never done anything to their clubs. There are a certain few however that – for one reason or another – stand the test of time in terms of Premier League infamy.

There’s a hurricane of outrage to deal with in this episode and a direct parallel that has to be drawn to the modern day. Even all that with standing, this is a career filled with incident at various different clubs up and down the spectrum of English football. Underneath it all given that the potential that was there, questions arise of the role coaching has to play as well as the idea that circumstances at an early age can dictate what comes later.