I truly hope Marlon King can earn another contract and resolves his issues with alcoholism and violence for the good of him and his family.


However, King has served the Reggaeboyz well but it is time to move on. If Tappa is seeking to instill more professionalism and discipline in the squad, Marlon King must be left out.

I truly hope Marlon King can earn another contract and resolves his issues with alcoholism and violence for the good of him and his family.


However, King has served the Reggaeboyz well but it is time to move on. If Tappa is seeking to instill more professionalism and discipline in the squad, Marlon King must be left out.

Dave Whelan 'forgives' Marlon King following his release from prison

Dave Whelan, the Wigan chairman, has backed down on his claim that Marlon King should never play football again but has insisted the player will not be welcomed back to the DW Stadium after the completion of his prison sentence today.

King was jailed for 18 months last October after being found guilty of sexual assault and actual bodily harm over an incident in a London nightclub, which occurred in December 2008 while he was on loan at Hull City.

Whelan terminated the striker's contract and said at the time: "I cannot really see him coming back as a professional. I wouldn't allow him back in, but I think a lot of other people will allow him back in."

However, he backed down on that stance this morning, telling Talksport: "Marlon's coming out today, he's served his sentence, I'm sure he's learned a lot and I forgive him and I wish him well if he gets back into the game.

"What I did say at the time was I do think every footballer should have a 'passport', a record of any injuries he has sustained in the game and if he has got a criminal record. That should be on his passport and that should be available to any club and any manager who's going to sign that player.

"A lot of people commit crimes and go to prison and what they say is they've served a sentence and they've paid the penalty. It would be wrong of me to say: 'No, he should never play football again.'"

Whelan added: "I was very upset at the time, but I really think you've got to forgive people because we all make mistakes and if he can get back into the game, good luck to him.

"It wouldn't bother me if he came to play against us. But he'll never play for Wigan, I'll say that."

Whelan has made it his aim to persuade the Premier League to enforce his "passport" scheme in a bid for transparency.

"If you're signing a player and he's got an injury and it's not disclosed, I think that's illegal and it should be disclosed. It's exactly the same with a criminal record," the 73-year-old said. "There's so much money changing hands – when I paid £3m for Marlon King, I think we should have had all the information that was available on injuries and criminal records."


http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jul/29/marlon-king-dave-whelan-wigan

"If you're signing a player and he's got an injury and it's not disclosed, I think that's illegal and it should be disclosed. It's exactly the same with a criminal record," the 73-year-old said. "There's so much money changing hands – when I paid £3m for Marlon King, I think we should have had all the information that was available on injuries and criminal records."

What a load of balonishiskiskaka......any club investing money in any player checks their back ground for a number of reasons:

(1) Is the player a disruptive force.
(2) Will the player embarrass the club.
(3) Is the player a person who takes instructions well?
(4) Will the player be in the news every week for the wrong reasons?
blah, blah, blah, blah.....