Breakin' the law, breakin' the law...

Last updated : 07 October 2002 By Christian Kelly

Just trying out a Davies pic. No relation to the story whatsoever...
A Scotsman on a pub crawl is either a a recipe for disaster or a wonder to behold, but Gordon Strachan's recent pub crawl was in the best interests of the club. No, really they were.

It has come to the club's attention that certain players have been spotted the worse for wear out and about in the city's pubs and clubs to all all hours, a fact not lost on James Beattie who now has to rely on a lift due to his ban.

While some will say that the horse has already bolted on this issue, or at least gone off on a two month loan spell to Millwall, at least Strachan is doing his bit. Gordon said: "On my day off last Wednesday my wife and I trawled some of the bars around Southampton and we ended up at a place called the Lizard Lounge!

"It shocked a few people when I walked in but I had heard a few stories about players going out and wanted to make sure they were behaving," said Gordon, looking for a player to drag out by his ear.

"Club rules state that no-one is allowed to drink alcohol 24 hours before a game or even before training. Some might find that a bit hard and disciplined but football is not a hobby. It is a profession for these boys and they should look after their bodies.

"If fans pay a lot of money to get into games the last thing they want to see is a drunk footballer. But we are gradually getting rid of the old dinosaurs who drag youngsters into bad habits," added Strachan, who was in no way involved in the legendary drinking culture at Man Utd which happened to be going on while he was there.

"Older players can now set an example and if they choose to go against it then they are fools to themselves and will be caught out.

"We are doing as much as we possibly can to destroy that culture and stamp on it for the benefit of the younger players. There is no alcohol in the players' lounge after games and the players have the best possible back-up here."

But what I want to know is, did Gordon get sozzled going round all the pubs. He did stress it was his day off.