MX23RW : Wednesday, December 19 23:03:42

The ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’ and other memorable footballer nicknames

The ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’ and other memorable footballer nicknames
© Getty Images
The Norwegian’s super-sub status won him the nickname the ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’ due to his youthful looks and killer instincts in the box.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has taken over as Manchester United’s caretaker manager  until the end of the season after the club dismissed Jose Mourinho.

Solskjaer had an uncanny knack of bailing United out of trouble as a player and Sir Alex Ferguson would regularly summon the striker from the bench if his side needed a goal.

The Norwegian’s super-sub status won him the nickname the ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’ due to his youthful looks and killer instincts in the box.

Here, Press Association Sport looks at some other memorable footballer nicknames.

George Best – The Fifth Beatle

George Best
George Best outside his Bridge Street boutique, Edwardia in 1970 (PA Photos/PA Archive)

The Northern Ireland and United winger was dubbed the Fifth Beatle as he used his wealth and celebrity status to pursue a lifestyle that saw him open his own nightclubs, restaurants and clothes shops at the time to rival the fame of The Beatles.

Fitz Hall – One Size

(One size fits all) Former English defender – at 6ft 4in – who counted Crystal Palace and QPR amongst his former clubs before he ended his career at Watford in 2014.

Stuart Pearce – Psycho

Stuart Pearce
Nottingham Forest captain Stuart Pearce played with an aggressive style (David Jones/PA)

Former England and Nottingham Forest defender Pearce was given the name Psycho due to his aggressive style of play.

Javier Hernandez – Chicharito (Little Pea)

It could be thought that West Ham striker Hernandez is know as Chicharito due to his height of 5ft 7in – but you would be wrong. The Mexico international’s father Javier Guttierez was nicknamed Chicharo (pea) because of his striking green eyes so his son inherited the name, being a mini-version of his father.

Eric Cantona – The King

Eric Cantona
Eric Cantona remains one of Manchester United’s greatest players ever (PA Archive)

Manchester United fans gave Frenchman Cantona this nickname because of the way he bossed play and was the king on the pitch. He remains to this day one of the club’s greatest players.

David James – Calamity James

Former Liverpool, Manchester City, Portsmouth and England goalkeeper James was given the unfortunate name of The Beano comic strip’s Calamity James, who always seems to have disastrous luck, following a number of footballing blunders during his playing career.

Sergio Aguero – Kun

Sergio Aguero
Sergio Aguero was given the nickname by his grandparents (Nick Potts/PA)

Manchester City’s Argentina international was given the nickname Kun – from a popular cartoon series – by his grandparents because they thought he looked like the main character.

Arjen Robben – Der Mann aus Glas (The Man of Glass)

Bayern Munich midfielder Robben was named the Man of Glass because of his susceptibility to injury in a playing career during which he has earned an impressive 96 caps for Holland.


Click here for more stories about Stuart Pearce

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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1714303773045
2Manchester CityMan City17142148103844
3Tottenham HotspurSpurs17130431161539
4Chelsea17114235142137
5Arsenal17104337231434
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd177552929026
7Wolverhampton WanderersWolves177461919025
8Everton176652422224
9West Ham UnitedWest Ham177372525024
10Watford177372325-224
11Bournemouth177282528-323
12Leicester CityLeicester176472121022
13Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton176382024-421
14Newcastle UnitedNewcastle174491422-816
15Crystal Palace1743101423-915
16Cardiff CityCardiff1742111733-1614
17Southampton172691632-1612
18Burnley1733111533-1812
19Huddersfield TownHuddersfield1724111028-1810
20Fulham1723121642-269

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