Premiership / Dan Fitch / 08 December 2010 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

No foreign player is daring to step out into this Premier League winter wonderland without a snood wrapped around their neck. Dan 'The Betting Man' Fitch thinks that it's another in a long line of footballer fads.

Considering whereabouts they are worn, it's perhaps no surprise that snoods are getting people hot under the collar.

Now that they are turning up on footballers' necks, this once harmless garment has become a big talking point. The snood might have been an appropriate thing for Leroy from Fame to wear when he was prancing about, but no one seems to want our footballers wearing them.

We like to think of our players as men's men and don't like the idea of them dressing like girls. This is despite the fact that they kiss each other when they score a goal and roll around on the floor in mock agony whenever anyone goes near them.

This is just the latest in a long line of protests against footballers adding extra items of clothing, in an effort to stay warm. I remember how shocked people were when players wore gloves (not goalkeepers, I don't go back that far). Then there was another furore when John Barnes squeezed his massive thighs into a pair of tights.

I must admit though that I do find the snood phenomenon a peculiar one. From my days of playing football, I can recall having freezing hands and feet, but I can't ever remember thinking that my neck was particularly cold. It's not even as if modern kits feature the sort of plunging necklines that were commonplace back in the eighties, when exposed chest hair and the v-necked kit was the norm.

So not only do they look silly but they are clearly somewhat unnecessary. To wear one instantly suggests that the player in question is something of a namby-pamby.

Roy Keane summed it up well when he said that if players want to wear their winter warmers, then they'd better play well, as it's the first thing that he'd throw back in their face if they didn't perform. Considering Ipswich's current form though, I imagine Keane is rollicking his players on a weekly basis anyway.

One player who certainly did pass the Keane test this weekend, was Samir Nasri. Sporting a snood and gloves, he was still able to score two goals and generally play a blinder against Fulham. Arsenal are [5.0] to win the league, with Nasri a decent shout to be named the PFA Young Player of the Year at [10.0].

The other three snood-wearers this weekend were at Manchester City, as Mario Balotelli, Carlos Tevez and Yaya Toure all donned the girly scarf in their 1-0 win over Bolton. Balotelli actually wore the full snood, gloves and tights combo, although this might have been in an effort to hide any bruises sustained from his scrap with Jerome Boateng. City are [1.57] to finish in the top four.

Snoods might be the height of football fashion in this cold weather, but I don't see them catching on long term. Over the years many similar fads have come and gone.

Remember the days when every player was wearing cycling shorts underneath their normal shorts? Or those daft plasters which were meant to make players be able to breathe easier? They were both big in their day, but the only time you see footballers wearing them these days is if you are watching ESPN Classic.

The snood is destined to go the same way. In the short term, if players are really that committed to covering their necks, how about a nice cravat for the spring time?