Kovac's lollipop. Who loves ya baby?

Yesterday I posted on Kovac being banned from the national Czech side because he was caught dining after an international defeat. What I didn't realise at the time was that his dinner partners included a group of prostitutes. Given the guy has previously been "rapped" for 'degenerate sexual behaviour involving a female reporter', one hesitates to guess what exactly was on the menu at their table. I bet it wasn't salad cream!

It seems that our blond bombshell is, as they say, a bit of a character. In 2004 he was done for urinating in a bottle in a busy bar. Classy, but not quite up to true West Ham standards, the boys in Claret and Blue don't bother with the bottle as a rule of course!

What with Tristan, Cole and now Kovac, poor Zola must be at his wits' end. No wonder the Czech was missing at the weekend! Does this signal the end of any prospective permanent deal in the future I wonder? What sort of example does this set to the kids at Upton Park? Or is this all an irrelevance? He wasn't on club duty after all, so why is it any of our business?

Czech's Mate!

So what is it about West Ham exactly? There were rumours at the weekend about Di Michele, Carlton Cole has been done for drink driving, Tristan has picked up a driving ban for having too many shandies before crashing his Porsche into a taxi, and now Kovac has been banned from the Czech national team for "dining out" after an international defeat. Do we perhaps have a "Blackpool Society" in the club where players try to emulate the "West Ham Four led by Bobby Moore"?

Still, at least Kovac seems to have a little bit more class than the others. There can't be many West Ham players who have been disciplined for "dining". Urinating on a bar, yes, getting into a brawl outside a nightclub, yes, boozing into the early hours before a 4-0 thumping to bottom of the table opponents in the FA Cup, yes, drink driving, yes, a knife wound after a bit of how's your father with a team mate, yes, stealing a bracelet in Bogota, yes, a bit of drug running after you've hung up your boots, yes, but having a MEAL out with your mates after a game? Dear God, he will be reading a book next!

Kovac

I saw flashes on Sunday that suggested this guy can play with Parker. He isn't quite up to Prem speed yet but he has a physical presence that I think could intimidate opponents and release the other midfielders, Parker included, to break forward more. I counted twice that Parker ran beyond Cole on Sunday, actually trying to get on the end of the ball in the box. If Parker is to earn his massive salary he has to be more than a holding midfielder, he has to become a box to box player and offer us more going forward. There were glimpses against City that Kovac will release him to do this. Noble has been disappointing recently so I would like to see Zola persist with this pairing, teamed with the pace of Savio and Collison on the flanks.

I have also liked the way Di Michele has been linking play, filling up the midfield when we don't have possession and picking passes when we do. His turn and cross for Cole in the first half against City was pure class - and a more instinctive goal scorer would have either taken that on the volley or launched himself into a diving header. I'm not Beano's biggest fan because of his injury record and selfishness, but I think he would have scored that one, as he did against United at Old Trafford last season.

So, I suspect Kovac could be a key piece in Zola's jigsaw. If we ever get DumptyDyer and Beano Ashton fit, we could have a team to reckon with. And remember, Faubert will be back in the summer!