| Dennis Wise |
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Wise started his career with Southampton but fell out with manager Lawrie McMenemy and moved to Wimbledon at the age of 18. He was a member of the Wimbledon " Crazy Gang " that famously defeated hot favourites Liverpool 1-0 in the 1988 FA Cup Final and was named Wimbledon player of the year in the same season. He signed for Chelsea in July 1990 for a then club record fee of £1.6 million. Wise's Chelsea career spanned 11 years from 1990-2001. In his time at the club the combative midfielder made 445 appearances (only three Chelsea players have made more) and scored 76 goals, including a memorable Champions League equaliser in the San Siro against AC Milan in 1999 . Wise was captain of the Chelsea teams that won the FA Cup in 1997 and 2000 , the League Cup in 1998 and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1998. He was also twice voted club player of the year, in 1998 and 2000. With new manager Claudio Ranieri seeking to lower the average age of the Chelsea squad, he was sold to Leicester City in June 2001 for £1.6 million. Always a controversial figure ( Sir Alex Ferguson once said he could start a fight in an empty house) Wise's time at Chelsea was tarnished by disciplinary problems and unsavoury off-the-field incidents. In 1995 he was convicted of assaulting a London taxi-driver and given a three month prison sentence, which was later overturned on appeal. The incident saw him stripped of the Chelsea captaincy by manager Glenn Hoddle ; while in 1999 he was accused of "biting" Elena Marcelino of RCD Mallorca in a Cup Winners' Cup tie. In the 1998-99 season he missed a total of 15 games through suspension. Wise's time at Leicester was less successful, and equally marred by controversy. He made just 17 league appearances and was sacked by the club in September 2002 after fracturing team-mate Callum Davidson's jaw with a punch on a pre-season tour of Finland . This incident and his subsequent failed claim of unfair dismissal saw Wise become one of the most hated men in the game by Leicester fans. Wise then signed for Millwall and became player-manager. He led Millwall to the their first ever FA Cup final in 2004 , where the (then) First Division (now called The Championship ) side lost 3-0 to Premiership team Manchester United . Millwall were only the second team from outside the top flight to reach the final since 1982 . Despite losing, Millwall still earned a place in the UEFA Cup for the first time, as United had already qualified for the Champions League. But they were knocked out in the first round by Hungarian champions Ferencvaros . He resigned at the end of the 2004-5 season, citing a disagreement with the new board. Wise joined Southampton on a free transfer during the summer of 2005 and made a total of twelve league appearances this season. With the resignation of Harry Redknapp , he was joint temporary manager of the club with Dave Bassett . However, he left the club in December 2005 when the club decided to appoint George Burley and Sir Clive Woodward as the new management team. On January 19 2006 , Wise signed a short-term pay-as-you-play deal with Coventry City, where he joined up once again with Micky Adams , who had been his manager whilst at Leicester City. He began his spell with Coventry by scoring a goal in each of his first three games with the club. The second goal, scored during a 2-1 victory against Hull City , was an overhead kick from sixteen yards. He won 21 caps for England and scored 1 goal, on his debut against Turkey . He played for England in all three group games at Euro 2000 . |
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