Paul Merson is a man with real commitment to football and in his latest book and well written story about a man and his problems, you get the knowledge of what addiction can be also in the wrong direction.
He has been around at Sky Sports since the start of this century being a pundit who shines as an indivudal and often his comments makes a debate or a laugh as you get a balance in the studio with other pundits being in another mood or fase.
We all knew his ability on the field and how good he was for Arsenal during his days playing alongside great players of his era doing twelve seasons with The Gunners before starting his travel to other clubs.
Merson played a vital part in the teams of George Graham winning the league in 1989 and 1991, and later also doing well in the time of the early years of Arsene Wenger.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe man himself is a riddle and opening up about gambling, drinking and using other substances might be an old story and well known, but again always good with a reminder as many do struggle with different aspects of mental health issues.
Paul Merson, as we know him from the football field, he was a grand player, a special talent and as so many others of his generation we do see a different approach today, but as we all know, we do love to see those players that stands out for different reasons and are not main stream.
After leaving Arsenal, Merson moved to Middlesbrough and as he describes it himself, probably not the best of places, with a certain Paul Gascoigne also at this football club at the time. The stories of the two might have stopped others as they both have suffered from the life they lived and struggled with.
After a short stay up north, Merson moved to Aston Villa were he had a number of good years and just before played for England in the 1998 World Cup, probably forgotten by most that he scored in the penalty shoot outs as other were missing their target.
During his four years at Aston Villa, described by himself to be his best years in the game, he has fond memories of his last final at Wembley playing in that millennium year of the FA Cup final. Despite losing 1-0 to Chelsea, still very special as it was his only final for The Villa.
After his time with Aston Villa he made a move down south to help Portsmouth winning promotion to the top flight and at the age of 35 taking charge of Walsall becoming their player manager. His time with The Saddlers never really became any success though avoiding relegation from League One might have been a bigger achievment than valued, and he can proudly say that he was never relegated as a EFL manager and there after moving away from the trade of football management with a short period at Non-League club Tamworth.
He has also over the years played in a number of games of charity and such, always seen with a smile on his face as he still show his skills even at the age of above fifty.
Many of us watching Sky Sports do still remember his good days in football and hopefully he will continue to talk of the game as he continues to make his reports and comments on Premier League.
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