Man Utd coach Benni McCarthy was called ‘too fat’ by Sam Allardyce
Benni McCarthy is now making waves at Manchester United after joining Erik ten Hag’s set-up as a forward coach at Old Trafford but for the younger generation that do not know about his playing days, there is some added Premier League history. The former South African international was once considered to be among Europe’s highly-coveted strikers before his move to Blackburn Rovers from Porto in 2006.
He would hit the ground running in England, netting 18 times in 36 outings in his debut Premier League season (2006/07) before things later turned sour.
McCarthy was fined almost £200,000 for failing to meet fitness targets during his final years with the club before he was moved on to West Ham in January 2009.
He was sensationally considered ‘too fat’ to feature for Blackburn and was labelled “unprofessional” by Allardyce before being sold to the Hammers.
Speaking to FourFourTwo in 2017, McCarthy attempted to set the record straight on the ordeal that threatened to ruin his reputation in the Premier League.
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He declared: “It frustrated me a lot. I was 85 kilos and fine at that weight; I scored a lot of goals at Blackburn at that weight [under Mark Hughes].
“I had Sam Allardyce telling me I should be 80 kilos, but I wasn’t fat. I was 80 kilos when I joined Ajax as a kid – I was never going to be that weight 12 years later.
“Sam kept fining me because I was 84 or 83. He said I could be one of the best players if I was 80. He had it stuck in his mind that I should be 80.”
McCarthy’s move to West Ham would end in tears, however, as he would fail to score a goal in two seasons before receiving a £1.5m pay-off.
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Hammers vice-chairman Karren Brady would later claim he was “more devoted to filling his belly than filling the net.”
It’s fair to say the comments did not sit well with McCarthy, who hit back in 2011 by labelling Brady a “devil with pair of t***”.
He told the South African edition of The Sunday Times: “It makes me want to throw up. There’s the devil with a set of t***. I am conditioned and can last for 90 minutes, but I’ll push myself more to get in even better shape.”
When asked if he regretted the comments at all, McCarthy laughed off the incident claiming it was Brady that started the confrontation.
He told FourFourTwo: “[Laughs] West Ham are flying and Karren is part of that, so who am I to knock them? But she started throwing blows at me and I could step into the ring with anyone.
“I wasn’t going to stand there as she spanked me in public, so I hit back. Do I stand by what I said? Yes, I do.”
At the time – 2011 – McCarthy also hit out at Europe’s treatment of African players, stating it was a problem that needed to be tackled.
“They get them [African players] for peanuts and sell them for big bucks,” he said.
“And, when it comes to releasing you for the national team, they give you problems. They don’t give a rat’s ass what happens to you and your country. They say if you want to save your career, sign this statement that says ‘concentrate on your club career’.”
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