Top 10 Biggest Personalities in the Premier League

Ever since its inception in 1992, the English Premier League has attracted some of the biggest personalities in football to the country's shores.

We have seen the likes of Roy Keane, Sir Bobby Robson, Eric Cantona and, of course, "The Chosen One" over the years.

Who could forget the post-match interviews of Ian Holloway? What about the off-the-pitch antics of Paul Gascoigne? Or the on-the-pitch antics of Paulo Di Canio?

Personalities are not always seen as a good thing for the game. There have been show-offs, strange philosophers, over-the-top hard men, whiners and divas ever since the league started.

But without them, we'd be far less entertained.

Personalities are dying out as corporate sport takes over, with people not wanting to anger their sponsors.

So who is left to entertain EPL fans? Here are the top 10 greatest personalities currently plying their trade in the Premier League.

What do you think of my picks? Who have I missed? Comment below.

10. Roman Abramovich

We open up our list with a fairly quiet personality, but one that has dominated the game ever since he entered in 2003.

Abramovich's millions and apparent enthusiasm for the club (something we see from very few foreign owners) have certainly warmed him to the fans.

However, his interference in club matters have not.

His insistence that José Mourinho played close friend Andriy Shevchenko may have forced the Chosen One to resign as manager—a move that really hurt the club and its fans.

He is reported to be only interested in the Champions League, and any manager who cannot provide it is not welcome. Carlo Ancelloti was sacked despite a pretty successful season in which he won the double.

Abramovich changed the game forever, paving the way for rich foreign owners to take over EPL teams as more of a plaything than a business. Whatever your opinion is on that, his influence is undeniable.

9. Arsene Wenger

Next up is a stalwart of the Premier League, Arsene Wenger.

While not the loudest of personalities, Wenger has had his moments on the touchline.

One manager to raise Wenger's ire was Martin Jol, then with Spurs.

After an injury's to Gilberto Silva and Emmanuel Eboue, Wenger felt the ball should have been put out of play, instead Robbie Keane scored. The two then squared up and had to be pulled apart by stewards.

Jol is not the only manager to have Wenger in his face. The Frenchman went a step further with West Ham's Alan Pardew.

After going down 1-0, Wenger pushed Pardew after seeing the West Ham boss over-celebrating in Wenger's opinion. He then refused to shake his hand, something he has done before.

One of Wenger's most entertaining strops on the touchline came when he was sent off for kicking a bottle. Wenger proceeded to protest his innocence from the top of the dugout with thousands of screaming United fans behind him..

He may usually be calm and calculating, but it's always entertaining to see Wenger lose it every now and again.

8. Mike Ashley

Next up is another owner, Newcastle's Mike Ashley.

Ashley has not exactly endeared himself to most since taking over in 2007.

Despite a rocky start to the ownership, Ashley struck gold when he brought club legend Kevin Keegan in as manager in 2008.

This good work was all undone when Ashley brought in Dennis Wise, a move that ultimately ended with Keegan leaving the club.

Often seen downing pints with the Newcastle fans wearing his shirt, the press were quick to deride him.

But hey, it's his club, and he can watch a game however he wants.

Not all of his moves can be justified quite so easily.

His decision to rename St. James' Park to the ever so catchy sportsdirect.com @ St James' Park Stadium was not a good way to gain popularity, especially with Newcastle fans.

Some people don't approve of Ashley's running of the club, but at least he is there supporting his team every week, not thousands of miles away. So for that, good on him.

7. Craig Bellamy

Craig Bellamy is another in a long list of great forwards surrounded by controversy.

On the pitch he can be impossible to play against, scoring vital goals such as the stunning first goal and subsequent winner against Manchester United in 2009.

He can also be a liability. In the same game, a fan ran onto the pitch and was escorted off by stewards—but not before Bellamy gave him a slap in the face for his troubles. It may have been deserved, but it was unnecessary and earned Bellamy an FA warning.

While at Newcastle, Bellamy was constantly making headlines for the wrong reasons. He threw a chair at coach John Carver while arguing about airport car parking.

Abusive text messages were sent to England and Newcastle legend Alan Shearer while Bellamy was away on loan at Celtic. Shearer reacted by threatening to "knock his block off."

The most famous incident regarding Bellamy came when he attacked Liverpool teammate John Arne Riise with a golf club.

That's right, John Arne Riise.

The Norwegian never comes across as the someone who would provoke such an attack, but after refusing to sing in a karaoke competition, Bellamy had had enough.

Quite right too, karaoke is a sacred tradition.

Taunting Riise provoked the Norwegian to square up to Bellamy, but the two were calmed down and things appeared to be OK.

Not for Bellamy though, who decided to attack Riise with a golf club.

Despite being an idiot earlier in his career, Bellamy has now returned to Liverpool a more mature figure, putting himself in the headlines for the right reasons.

6. Carlos Tevez

It seems like it's all water under the bridge now, but it's been a rocky old year for Carlos Tevez.

After apparently refusing to come on as a substitute in Manchester City's Champions League tie with Bayern Munich, Tevez has rarely left the back pages.

He has been hit with fines of £1.2 million for refusing to come back from his self-imposed exile, and has not been paid since he left.

With allegations that he was treated "like a dog," Tevez was seen by many to have overreacted just a tiny bit.

Signs of Tevez's diva attitude were shown early on in his career, as Tevez left the ground early after being substituted for West Ham.

Whatever his future may be, Tevez is one of the best players in the world on his day and will hopefully be in the Premier League for years to come..

5. Joey Barton

Next up is a man who fills up plenty of column inches, but rarely for his skills on the pitch, Joey Barton.

At one time he looked like he could be a future England regular, impressing enough at Manchester City to win the club's Young Player of the Year award.

Then the Barton we all now know would rear his head.

Firstly, he failed to quite understand the point of a friendly when he viciously hacked down Doncaster's Paul Green, sparking a ten-man brawl.

The lovable scamp wouldn't be finished there, though.

Always the life and soul of the party, Barton decided to stub out a cigar in a youth team player's eye at the Manchester City Christmas party. For this he was fined a club record £60,000.

He was then sent home from a preseason tour for assaulting a 15-year-old Everton fan.

Add to this mooning Everton supporters, criticising the national team and the lack of him in it, running over a pedestrian, the infamous assault on Ousmane Dabo at the training ground and his prison term for assaulting two men in Liverpool and you have a pretty good look at the Premier League's cuddliest player.

Wanting people to see his softer side, Barton has recently turned to Twitter to let his inner philosopher free.

He has quoted Orwell, Nietzsche, Virgil, Aristotle and Seneca in his tweets, earning him the respect of some and the puzzlement of others.

Whatever you feelings are about Barton, he's certainly one of the league's biggest characters.

4. Harry Redknapp

Just missing out on the top three is the man many want to be the next England manager, Harry Redknapp.

Harry has given some legendary interviews as manager in the Premier League.

Harry may be fairly happy-go-lucky on the outside, but, as the top video shows, Harry doesn't mince his words when he's upset.

Sky Sports' Rob Palmer faced the wrath of Redknapp in this video. After innocuously referring to Harry as "a wheeler and dealer," Harry then told the shocked Palmer, "I'm not a wheeler and dealer, f*** off."

Palmer's hilarious shocked reaction has to be seen.

While he may be going on to bigger and better things with the England team, EPL fans will be sad to see him go. The league would be a poorer place without him.

3. Mohamed Al-Fayed

The highest-placed owner on the list, Mohamed Al-Fayed makes it in based solely on that statue.

Fulham fans were left slightly confused when a statue of Michael Jackson was unveiled at Craven Cottage last year.

Having visited the ground in 1999, Al-Fayed considered his friend enough of a fan to have him permanently standing there for fans to enjoy on their way into the ground.

Fans were not all in favour of the move, calling the club a "laughingstock" and questioning how much it had to do with their club.

Al-Fayed responded angrily to all of these claims, calling any fans who didn't like the statue "stupid" and saying that they could all "go to hell."

Just Brilliant.

2. Mario Balotelli

Since arriving in the Premier League for a record fee, Mario Balotelli has made it his business to become one of the most controversial players in the EPL.

The fourth current or former Manchester City player (read into that what you will) has made his way onto this list both for good and bad.

We'll start with the good.

After winning £25,000 in a Manchester casino, Balotelli decided to share the wealth by giving £1,000 of it to a homeless man.

After crashing his car, Balotelli was searched and revealed to have £5,000 on him. When police asked why he had the money, Mario replied, "because I am rich".

You can't argue with that.

Balotelli has shown his nice side on plenty of other occasions, donating money to his local church and visiting local schools.

On the bad side, Mario has quite a rap sheet. This includes throwing darts at a youth player and setting off fireworks inside his own house.

That's right, inside his own house.

He may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but without Mario here, the Premier League would be a much duller place.

1. Sir Alex Ferguson

Who else could be No. 1?

The grand old man of the Premier League has been here since the start and has been the most dominating personality ever since.

Known for the infamous hairdryer treatment that his players get, Ferguson shot into the headlines when he kicked a boot in frustration at David Beckham, a move that would end with Beckham leaving the club.

Ferguson knows how to deal with the media and has gone head-to-head with almost every premier league manager, working his mind games to try and gain the advantage on match day.

Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez have both fallen afoul of Ferguson's tactics.

He may be good with the media, but if they're not good in return then they're in trouble.

The BBC ran a documentary entitled Father and Son, in which it was alleged that his son Jason (a football agent) had exploited Alex's position for his own ends.

This resulted in Ferguson embarking on a seven-year boycott of all BBC interviews.

Alex has been rumoured to be retiring for about ten years now but is still not ready to leave the league behind.

Love him or hate him, we're probably not ready for him to go either.