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Fehmi Alpay Ozalan - Defender
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Never known as anything but Alpay, he settled very quickly at the Villa just like Olof Mellberg, and had an excellent first season. The 2001/02 season saw him suffer quite a few injuries, but when he was fit, his performance were rock solid, and some of his crunching, bone-breaking yet fully legal tackles on the opposition, reminiscent of those of Ugo Ehiogu, made the entire Villa Park gasp.
After spending two seasons at Villa, however, Alpay developed a habit of critisising Aston Villa in the media. Manager Graham Taylor made it clear that if he wanted out, he'd better start performing. While continuing his unprofessional behaviour towards the press, Alpay did actually do well on the pitch, but in the end, the moaning became too much for Taylor, and Alpay started missing from the team sheats at the end of the 2003 season.
Then came the deciding incident. England was playing Turkey in Istanbul in October 2003, and Alpay set out with the intention of winding up David Beckham. TV viewers saw Alpay repeatedly taunting Beckham, and when the England midfielder missed a penalty, Alpay was right in his face. At half time, a fight broke out between the two in the tunnell, allegedly involving several players from both sides. After the game, Alpay admitted that the Turkish side had been instructed to try to wind Beckham up and have him sent off.
This was more than enough for Aston Villa. After being handed a 10 day vacation, Alpay was told that he needn't come back. Alpay's agent did what he could to obscure the fact that Alpay had been sacked, but the fact remains that he was told to stay away and that Aston Villa were willing to pay out the contract to get rid of him. "In light of recent events, it would have been difficult for Alpay to represent Aston Villa again in the future," as Doug Ellis diplomatically put it.
On top of all this, Doug Ellis revealed the next day that Alpay had tried to secure a transfer move behind Aston Villa's back.
Alpay left Aston Villa with no sympathy from the fans and with the rest of England on his back as well. After about three months, he signed for South Korean club Incheon United FC. It's highly unlikely that he'll ever set foot in England again, and it's probably for the best.