Quote: exiled Warrior "If he does have such issues then the best thing he could do is leave alcohol alone - as someone who struggles to make rational decisions then alcohol will only make that much worse. One thing that alarmed me was the sheer amount he allegedly drank when outlined in his UKAD hearing - that much would render most people totally incapacitated and certainly not in a position to do anything else - to me that indicates someone who is a habitual heavy drinker.
I can only see this ending one way, just a matter of how long.'"
The trouble is that he probably wakes up each day intending to avoid alcohol. On most days he will. But when he’s egged on or when temptation presents itself, he can’t make the right decision. We all know what happens next..
In terms of the amount he supposedly drunk, my cynical side thinks that’s been over-done to mitigate his use of cocaine (which seemed to work). He claims this all happened two days before the game, but he took part in training at Cas at 10.00am the following morning. If he really did drink 6-7 pints, shared a litre of whisky and a litre of vodka with one other person and continued to drink spirits (and take cocaine) then he did a bloody good job of completing captain’s run the next morning. It’s more likely this happened the night before the game, when he didn’t need to be at Cas until 6.30pm the following day, but this wouldn’t have supported the case for reducing his ban from the standard two years.
Again, he could have avoided all this if, knowing he’d recently taken cocaine, he suffered a mysterious minor “injury” that meant he couldn’t play. But he made the decision to play, knowing what he’d taken and that there was a chance he’d be tested.
Zak’s a lovely lad. He’s genuine, polite and I’m sure he’ll even convince himself with all the “fresh start”, “new leaf” and “I know it’s my last chance” comments he’ll undoubtedly make. He’ll sound convincing because he’ll believe it himself. Unfortunately though, his mental health issues will likely lead him to further bad decisions.