WHO would be Lee Bowyer today?

Unwanted by Liverpool and unloved throughout football, he learnt on Saturday that he faces an expensive civil lawsuit arising from last year's crown court trial.

All he has to console him are his £17,000-a-week wages and the promise of a lucrative move before his Leeds contract ends next summer.

Just when Bowyer seems to be unable to sully his reputation any further, having become involved in some kind of outrageous incident or other, he presses the self-destruct button again.

Leeds attracted a welter of criticism for standing by Bowyer during the court case, so the least he might have done once the affair was over shortly before last Christmas was to repay that loyalty.

Not a bit of it. He refused to pay a fine of four weeks' wages and was immediately slapped on the transfer list.

An apology was soon forthcoming, and he was no longer for sale, but just five months later he was demanding a move.

Luckily, Liverpool saw straight through his act before he put pen to paper on a contract worth nearly £2m a year at Anfield.

As a player, his ability is beyond reproach.

But he must be among the most odious individuals one could wish to avoid.

Compare his behaviour with that of soon-to-be-erstwhile Leeds teammate Rio Ferdinand during his protracted move to Manchester United.

Yes, he has asked for a move, and in doing so showed similarly scant regard for a contract he signed in good faith barely 18 months ago.

But he has acted with some dignity during the last two weeks, and has at least paid lip service to the notion of standing by his employers if the United transfer were to fall through.

Of course that will count for little when Ferdinand returns to Elland Road in the red of Manchester United on September 14.

Just as Sol Campbell found on his first game back at Tottenham Hotspur for Arsenal last season, fans don't take too kindly to their club's best player joining their fiercest rivals.

But Ferdinand can hold his head high when he arrives at Elland Road in eight weeks' time, confident he retained his honour amid one of English football's most acrimonious transfers.

The supreme irony is he could now be playing against Bowyer in that game.

And who will the Leeds fans be cheering? Why, Lee Bowyer, of course. Maybe then, Bowyer will find some people who love him after all.