The eleven pantomime villains of the season so far

Nicolas Anelka (Sulking Anti-Semite)

Nicolas Anelka has been nothing short of shocking (in every sense) since his arrival at West Brom. Starting with a string of stinking performances (amongst the worst I’ve seen in an Albion shirt), Anelka has done everything to confirm many people’s prejudices against him- namely his laziness, arrogance and lack of work ethic. Further still, Anelka then managed to insult the whole of the world’s Jewish Community with his idiotic “Quenelle” gesture at Upton Park in late December- cementing his status as true pantomime villain.

Whether the gesture was meant in a racial way or not, it is impossible to believe that “Le Sulk” did not know the connotations it carried- and I will not defend his idiotic actions which betray the values that the club once (and still do) stood for. The only thing more lamentable than Anelka’s gesture was the actions of Albion’s kit sponsor, Zoopla- who withdrew their sponsorship deal in a publicity stunt off the back of “La Quenelle”. A villainous exploitation of a serious situation.

Arsene Weneger’s Zip (The Bane of North London)

Those who have seen the video clips will understand. Those who have not, YouTube “Arsene Wenger Zip”. Laugh for hours.

Vincent Tan (The Embodiment Of Evil)

The modern day owner/dictator

In terms of arch-villains in English Football, Malaysian businessman and Cardiff City owner is the Godfather. Tan has a number of blood-curdling footballing crimes against his name, including the re-branding of Cardiff City (discarding the club’s tradition), his laughable knowledge of the game (it was alleged that Tan tried to sack goalkeeper David Marshall for “not scoring enough goals”) and his horrific football shirt/glasses/blazer/moustache combination.

However, what turned Vincent Tan from playful idiot, to brutal footballing dictator was of course his inhumane treatment of Cardiff’s favourite son Malky Mackay. His public threat to Mackay about his impending sacking was nothing short of disgraceful, and this alone was enough to turn most of the footballing community against him. Now, with his new man Ole Gunnar Solksjaer in charge, Cardiff are looking increasingly troubled at the foot of the Premier League. Maybe a relegation will see Vincent Tan return to his evil lair for good…