But now it's all gone utterly pear-shaped. After Souness was sacked, his British imports all returned home except Thomas. Dean Saunders, Brian Deane, and Mark Pembridge all cut and run, but Mickey is holding out for the money he is owed by the club. According to Dean Saunders, who has been speaking out in support of Thomas, Mickey was owed wages before Saunder even arrived at Benfica. Thomas has recently accused the club of racism, and it's hard to think of any less repulsive motivation for treating him how they have. We can only hope that Benfica see sense, or that someone steps in to rescue Thomas from his Portuguese nightmare.

Meanwhile, things are looking up somewhat for recent Arsenal outcast Chris Wreh. He scored both of new loan club Den Bosch's goals against PSV at the weekend. It wasn't quite enough though, as 6 went in at the other end.