Little John Hartson (left)
Do you remember the days when Arsenal would buy a player from a lower league English club, stick him in the first team and hope for the best? No, neither do I. But there was a time, only a decade or so ago, that this was fairly common practice, as in the case of big John Hartson. The former forward, who additionally played for Celtic, West Ham and Wales, has undergone emergency neurosurgery to relieve pressure on his brain at Morriston Hospital in Swansea. The 34-year-old, who retired from football in 2008, has been diagnosed with testicular cancer which has now spread to his brain.
During his playing career, Hartson was known for a no-nonsense style of play, i.e. my kind of footballer. He was a player who compensated a lack of genuine skill with huge strength, commitment and his will to win. Hartson weighed, er, considerably more than the average player and he used this to his advantage, often muscling other players off the ball. He was an excellent link player who often did well as the second striker, flicking balls onto his team mates for them to score goals. Despite playing this type of role, Hartson himself had a very decent goal to game ratio. The game could do with more of his type, even if he did make the occasional off the field blunder.
Unfortunate training ground incident: Hartson kicks Berkovic in the head
John Hartson scores a screamer against Liverpool for Celtic in the UEFA Cup
Good luck big fella.
even though hartson is a jack i wish him all the best, he was an amazing pro, i met him once at the races when he was at west brom and he was down to earth and easy to talk to. get well soon big john