Dai Thomas has been suspended by Cardiff City following the discovery of footage which clearly showed a man bearing a strong resemblance to Thomas involved in riotous behaviour during Euro 2000.
It now seems unlikely that he will ever be seen in a Cardiff City shirt again, but there must be very few supporters who will lose any sleep if he does depart.
If say for example, Phil Stant had been involved in a similar incident while a City player, most fans, bearing in mind his stirring performances for the Bluebirds would have probably turned a blind eye to his off pitch indiscretions.
Thomas however is no Stant in terms of ability, commitment or personality.
As a person with no talent for
playing football, it has always been a mystery to me how so many
men with the ability to play at he highest level so readily squander
their gifts in pubs.
After all, anyone can have a beergut & far more talented men
than Dai Thomas have frittered away their careers in this fashion,
as the sorry plights of the likes of George Best and Jim Baxter
illustrate.
Now Sam Hamman is at the helm,he must actively root out players like Thomas who seem to be more interested in downing pints than playing football. Talking about the footage of the bare chested Thomas in Belgium, one City fan spoke with horror about how a professional footballer could proudly display such a large stomach.
In fact Thomas looked more like
Leighton Rees than Leighton James.
It may seem that we are involved in some personal vendetta against
Thomas, but really he has become a symbol of the kind of player
who has no place at City if the club is to have any future. Sam
Hamman very realistically said that it could take many years to
transform Cardiff City into a top flight club, but with players
like Dai Thomas on board, the chances of this ever happening are
pure fantasy.
It seems the City board may have been hoping the controversy would blow over, but the airing of the new footage of Thomas's alleged misbehaviour made this an impossibility.
So questions must be asked about Borley and co, who when the story first broke in the Daily Mirror in July claimed they would be investigating matters.
Thomas has been suspended on full
pay, but how much evidence do City need before they take the correct
course of action and boot
Dai Thomas out of the club for good?.