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The 'Baby-Faced Assassin' and other memorable footballer nicknames

The Norwegian's super-sub status won him the nickname the 'Baby-Faced Assassin' due to his youthful looks and killer instincts in the box.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has taken over as Manchester United's caretaker manager  until the end of the season after the club dismissed Jose Mourinho.

Solskjaer had an uncanny knack of bailing United out of trouble as a player and Sir Alex Ferguson would regularly summon the striker from the bench if his side needed a goal.

The Norwegian's super-sub status won him the nickname the 'Baby-Faced Assassin' due to his youthful looks and killer instincts in the box.

Here, Press Association Sport looks at some other memorable footballer nicknames.

George Best – The Fifth Beatle

George Best
George Best outside his Bridge Street boutique, Edwardia in 1970 (PA Photos/PA Archive)

The Northern Ireland and United winger was dubbed the Fifth Beatle as he used his wealth and celebrity status to pursue a lifestyle that saw him open his own nightclubs, restaurants and clothes shops at the time to rival the fame of The Beatles.

Fitz Hall – One Size

(One size fits all) Former English defender – at 6ft 4in – who counted Crystal Palace and QPR amongst his former clubs before he ended his career at Watford in 2014.

Stuart Pearce – Psycho

Stuart Pearce
Nottingham Forest captain Stuart Pearce played with an aggressive style (David Jones/PA)

Former England and Nottingham Forest defender Pearce was given the name Psycho due to his aggressive style of play.

Javier Hernandez – Chicharito (Little Pea)

It could be thought that West Ham striker Hernandez is know as Chicharito due to his height of 5ft 7in – but you would be wrong. The Mexico international's father Javier Guttierez was nicknamed Chicharo (pea) because of his striking green eyes so his son inherited the name, being a mini-version of his father.

Eric Cantona – The King

Eric Cantona
Eric Cantona remains one of Manchester United's greatest players ever (PA Archive)

Manchester United fans gave Frenchman Cantona this nickname because of the way he bossed play and was the king on the pitch. He remains to this day one of the club's greatest players.

David James – Calamity James

Former Liverpool, Manchester City, Portsmouth and England goalkeeper James was given the unfortunate name of The Beano comic strip's Calamity James, who always seems to have disastrous luck, following a number of footballing blunders during his playing career.

Sergio Aguero – Kun

Sergio Aguero
Sergio Aguero was given the nickname by his grandparents (Nick Potts/PA)

Manchester City's Argentina international was given the nickname Kun – from a popular cartoon series – by his grandparents because they thought he looked like the main character.

Arjen Robben – Der Mann aus Glas (The Man of Glass)

Bayern Munich midfielder Robben was named the Man of Glass because of his susceptibility to injury in a playing career during which he has earned an impressive 96 caps for Holland.

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool15113131131836
2Chelsea16104237191834
3Arsenal1686229151430
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest168442119228
5Manchester CityMan City168352823527
6Bournemouth167452421325
7Aston Villa167452425-125
8Fulham166642422224
9Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton166642625124
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1672736191723
11Brentford167273230223
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle166552321223
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd166462119222
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham165472129-819
15Crystal Palace163761721-416
16Everton153661421-715
17Leicester CityLeicester163582134-1314
18Ipswich TownIpswich162681628-1212
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1623112440-169
20Southampton1612131136-255


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