Wise could start a fight in an empty house - Sir Alex

Dennis Wise, who will grace Edgar Street in less than a week, has seldom been out of the headlines during his footballing career and not always for the best of reasons but his managerial success at Leeds United to date this season was bringing him many compliments until he had words with a referee at a recent game.

Wise had a varied career on the field. Born in 1966, he started at Southampton but fell out with manager Lawrie McMenemy and then moved to Wimbledon. From there Wise was sold to Chelsea in 1990 for a fee of £1.6M.

He spent eleven years at Stamford Bridge. In that time he made 445 appearances and was part of a team that won various cups and competitions including two FA Cups. In 2001 he was sold to Leicester for £1.6M.

During this time Wise didn't always show the best of behaviour. In 1995 he was convicted of assaulting a taxi driver and in 1999 he was accused of biting a RCD Mallorca player.

Sir Alex Ferguson once remarked that Wise 'could start a fight in an empty house'.

His behaviour whilst at Leicester wasn't much better and he 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, while Davidson slept.

He moved to Milwall, some said a natural home for him, and became player-manager. He had a notable success whilst at the Den when Milwall reached the final of the FA Cup in 2004. He moved onto Southampton and then Coventry before being appointed manager of Swindon Town in May 2006.

Again although he had some good results he didn't stay long as he was tapped up by Ken Bates in the following September and joined Leeds. A more unlikely pair could hardly be envisaged.

Although Leeds were relegated to League One at the end of the last campaign, Bates kept his faith in Wise and as the current season progresses Leeds United are on track for promotion.

In a Guardian article last week it was said that Wise had 'matured considerably' since moving to Leeds.

"I knew the financial side of the club wasn't great and the dressing room wasn't great. But Leeds is a massive club and there was my relationship with Ken Bates; we're very close."

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