Hibs Chairman Rod Petrie pleaded with coaches to take striker Garry O’Connor to Asda to prevent him eating junk food.
The front man burst on to the scene at Easter Road as a young striker under Alex McLeish, and the Hibees would eventually sell him to Lokomotiv Moscow for £1.6m in 2006.
He returned to Hibs five years later for a second spell, but it was during his first that Petrie was desperate to ensure the player was in better shape in order to maximise his potential transfer fee.
As with most top level clubs, Hibs would ensure the players’ nutrition was looked after when at the training ground or stadium.
But O’Connor didn’t exactly live the life of a model pro, and ex-Hibs assistant manager Gerry McCabe told Rocksport Radio how Petrie pleaded with the coaches to take O’Connor shopping for healthier food to cook himself at home.
“The players used to get the best food from the chef - chicken, pasta - but then they would stop off at the garage and (get junk food),” he said.
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“Garry O’Connor was the same. We said, ‘We’ve got a problem with Garry’s weight; he’s up and down’.
“He was a big boy, a talented player with a great career in front of him, went on to Russia and made a right few bob, and played for Scotland .
“He was going to be some player but there was this other side to him.
"Rod Petrie called us in - myself, Jim Clark, Bobby and Ian Westwater the goalkeeping coach - and he said to us, ‘Can you not take it in turns and take Garry down to Asda and buy him the veg and meals and all that?’
"We said, 'We've got lives as well!', and Petrie said, 'But Garry's an asset.'
"We said, 'He's getting all the best food here, but what can we do when he leaves training and he's eating burgers?
"What a talent he was, but his weight fluctuated. And we just couldn't do anything about it."
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