Once again the moral and spiritual fibre of the modern footballer is being dragged through the mire thanks to further revelations about the seemingly limitless greed and laziness of the modern pro. The role of unscrupulous agents is also being called into question.

The seeds for this latest soccer scandal were sown in the recent league encounter between Logica and Wandsworth Town. Reeves, or Reevaldo as he has recently taken to calling himself, was selected to play in the unfavoured wing-back role by Logica Supremo, Scott Fleming. Reevaldo said little at the time, and indeed seemed to buckle down and put in a solid performance that contributed to an impressive 6-3 win.

After about an hour of the match, Logica's big name new signing had to leave the field of play due to a bout of cramp. A typical darting run had seen him beat three Wandsworth defenders, but one sensed there may be something not quite right when he opted not to go back and beat the third man for a second time. Seconds later as he advanced alone with the ball, he suddenly crumpled in a heap on the ground. The dreaded cramp!

After the match, some fairly terse quotes appeared in the national press, attributed to some unnamed "friends" of the Walsall Wizard. Mr Reeves was said to be very angry at being asked to play the wing-back role, which inevitably required him to perform tracking back type activities, and assorted defensive duties. It appears that he blamed his bout of cramp, not on his poor state of fitness, but on this unexpected roster of defensive duties.

However the most sensational claim was made later that week. A source close to the Reevaldo camp claimed that the player had insisted on a "reduced tracking-back" clause when he signed his contract only weeks earlier. This revelation has shocked the footballing public, who were aghast that a player could give 110% without tracking back.

Reevaldo had only played two games for his new club, after impressing for England in this summer's World Cup in Italy. Some commentators had opined that he was over the hill, selfish in front of goal, too slow, and not contributing enough in the Picture Round. But Fleming was in desperate straits, and decided to take a chance on the ageing maverick. The gamble seemed to paying off in Logica's opening game after the tetchy hole-merchant came off the bench to inspire a dramatic come-back, setting up the equaliser with a typically darting run around three defenders.

Now the early optimism has been quickly extinguished, and relations between Reevaldo and the club have sunk to a new low. In light of the perceived nullification of his contract, the temperamental talent flounced off to Barcelona in a McManaman-style bid for the easy life. Dutch master Louis Van Gaal was unimpressed however, even when Reevaldo attempted to show him his new ball trick, the Triple Back Lollipop (TM), and the errant star was soon back on an EasyJet flight to Stansted, tail firmly between his legs.

Fleming is likely to give short shrift to such petulant demonstrations of revolt after a previous bad experience with another temperamental foreigner called Johninho. Reeves found himself dropped for last week's top-of-the-table clash with Lusitanos, and its not clear whether he will be forgiven this week. A fairly sheepish Reevaldo yesterday tried to shift the blame for his behaviour on to his agent. "My agent said he would smooth it over with the gaffer. On this basis I signed the contract. Next thing I know, the boss claims he has never heard of a 'reduced tracking-back clause'!" expostulated the Highgate holester. However, Mr Reeves' agent was unavailable for comment yesterday.