Quote: NickyKiss "Maybe there’s a reason he went for him. There is clearly some ill feeling there and neither party covered themselves in glory. I think plenty of people want it to be a red flag and maybe it is. There is an element of people in the game desperate to see him mess up and I find that pretty sad but I get it. The guy has surprised me since he came to the club in just what a genuinely good guy he seems to be but he’s obviously made numerous mistakes in his time and as his agent pointed out they usually involve drink. I didn’t want him at Wigan and wouldn’t have gone near him but from the outside I’d give him a lot of praise for how he’s handled himself to date. You sense lockdown has been a challenge and I’m sure the club will be talking to him about how he’s getting on.'"
The thing that made me worry is that when you meet Zak, he’s one of the most polite and humble players around. He has time for people, spends hours doing stuff with supporters and doesn’t see himself as special in any way.
The issue is when he has a drink or ten inside him. I’m pretty sure that a sober Zak Hardaker wouldn’t get into that kind of abusive exchange on Twitter. And given his previous issues with alcohol, what happened is a big warning sign that things are not going well for him.