Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has revealed that he once feared Gareth Bale was too preoccupied with his hairstyle to make it as a leading footballer.
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Bale left Tottenham for Real Madrid last month for a reported world-record transfer fee of £85 million, but Redknapp says he used to have doubts about the Welsh forward's strength of character.
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"He drove me mad in training," wrote Redknapp in his autobiography, which is being serialised in British newspaper the Daily Mail.
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"Technically, he was outstanding, but he always seemed to be playing with his hair.
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"It was never right. He'd be flicking the fringe or wiping it out of his eyes and I would be going quietly mad, just watching. 'Gareth, leave your barnet alone! Gareth! Stop touching you hair!'"
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'Barnet' is cockney rhyming slang for 'hair', derived from a rhyme with 'Barnet Fair'.
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Redknapp, who now manages second-tier Queens Park Rangers, was also worried about Bale's propensity for injury.