According to the Telegraph, Leicester manager Ruud Van Nistelrooy and player Harry Winks have had a major disagreement. The midfielder reportedly turned down a request to stay overnight once a week at the Leicester training ground citing private reasons.
One interesting aspect of Winks’ personal life may explain his preference for a commute - Marlowe Otilia Winks was born last month. Over the years, there has been many famous cases of paternity interfering in the work life and preparation of footballers. There is a variety of alternative views on how this should be managed and what expectations should be placed on players. They are human and experience the same emotions as all of us, equally they have statutory worker rights. Of course, these workers are extremely highly paid.
In our most recent paper, Robbie and I address the issue of paternity in football. In a nutshell, we find negative short-run performance effects for elite footballer players just prior to, and after, becoming a Dad. This decline exists for certain measures related to pass and goal creation. While it seems that the decision to commute or stay was left outside of Winks contract, the manager had a clear preference - perhaps Ruud's nod wasn't as good as a wink.
Our paper is open access in Kyklos and can be read here: The Baby Club