0:00

This podcast is part of the

0:02

Acast Creator Network. On

0:32

today's episode of That Peter Crouch podcast, we sit

0:34

down with Emil Heskey. We talk about his TV

0:37

debut on the Rod and Emu show. Michael

0:39

Owens verdict on Who's Better? Emmett or

0:41

myself. And find out why I

0:43

sit in Ealing Police Station in my afternoons.

0:50

Hello and welcome to That Peter Crouch podcast with

0:52

me Peter Crouch. Got the notorious SID with

0:54

me and Chris Stark and a very

0:56

special guest, Emil Heskey. Thank you, thank you for

0:59

having me. I'm good, making yourselves. We're looking forward

1:01

to this one, aren't we? Especially you, Chris. You've

1:03

been looking forward to this. Yeah,

1:05

I'm really buzzing about this because you're

1:08

an era of footballer that I would have, genuinely would

1:10

have the poster on the wall. I have you in

1:12

the form of a coin. I

1:14

remember there was a little coin collection at one point

1:16

during one of the tournaments. Got you on there as

1:18

well, Chris. Oh, really? I think so.

1:20

I've got to dig that out somewhere. So,

1:23

yeah, I just feel there's so much to talk about today.

1:25

There's a lot to go through. I

1:27

think you're one of those people that we've

1:29

been talking about getting on the podcast for

1:31

quite a while. So, just good to get

1:33

you on. And perfect timing because we've been

1:35

talking about Emil quite a bit recently in

1:37

Cottney-Rymond slang times. Yeah, that was obviously going

1:40

out for Heskey. He's obviously going

1:42

out for Emil. Yeah, you must have had

1:44

that before. All the time. So,

1:47

me and my mates, we thought that we were really original

1:49

there. But

1:52

I take it that's the case. That's

1:54

the thing, yeah. From when I was young

1:56

anyway. Yeah, okay. So, let's talk about when

1:58

you were young, right? you were at Leicester

2:00

from nine years old?

2:03

Yeah. Always into football? Athletics.

2:06

I really loved athletics.

2:08

Sprinter, long jump. Really

2:10

loved it. But then obviously with athletics it's

2:12

kind of structured training isn't it? Whereas with

2:15

football you just go get a ball on

2:17

the park, 20 of you,

2:19

11 of you, however many of you and you just go and play.

2:22

So that was it really and then got

2:26

spotted by school. I didn't place under

2:28

league football until after I went to

2:30

Leicester. I've read this and this

2:33

fascinates me. So you were signed for

2:35

a club before you even

2:37

done Sunday league? Yeah. So I was signed

2:39

for Leicester which is called

2:42

Centre of Excellence. Yeah. I'd

2:44

signed for Leicester Centre of Excellence and one of the dads

2:48

was the manager of a local football team and

2:50

he goes, oh do you fancy coming down and

2:52

playing? At this time my

2:54

family are quite religious so Sundays

2:56

is for church. So I was

3:00

I said, yeah no problem just ask my parents and then in

3:02

the end they let me play but it was nowhere near where

3:04

I lived. So what were they doing

3:06

when they signed you? How do you read that situation?

3:08

Because you must have been terrible

3:11

at football but just brilliant at athletics

3:13

right? I was great at everything

3:15

mate. I can't believe you gave them the

3:17

terrible football shout. It's just another striker on

3:19

the podcast. That's what I was going to

3:22

ask. So what was a young MLK, was

3:24

it always a striker? Was it a fender?

3:26

Was it a winger? Just

3:28

everywhere. It's

3:31

funny because when you got nine what

3:33

are positions? What are positions? So

3:35

just give me the ball and I'll run. I was quicker

3:37

than everyone else so you just run with the ball, try and

3:40

do a trick. You see a trick on television, you go and

3:42

try at Centre of Excellence.

3:44

I had a wonderful

3:46

coach with Neville

3:49

Hamilton who's sadly not with us

3:51

now but he was a trickster, played for Leicester,

3:53

played for Wolves and we'd practice all

3:55

these tricks but then I'd go back to school

3:57

and practice and do that sort of stuff. I

4:00

ended up playing, what I would probably

4:02

say is midfield, but it was just like, just get him on

4:04

the ball and run with it. But then when I went to

4:06

Sunday League because I was big,

4:09

played me at the back, but then I

4:11

would take the ball, run with it, and just

4:13

shoot. And

4:15

then I'd go back, and then I'd get it again, and that's what I

4:18

was doing in the end, and I'd gone up front. So

4:20

yeah, that's how I ended up playing up front. So

4:22

as you progress at Leicester,

4:25

did you know you had a chance

4:27

early, like 40? Because obviously you made

4:29

your debut at 17, and you were

4:31

a regular in a verse about 18.

4:33

So around 15, 16,

4:35

was there a buzz around you, around Leicester? Yeah,

4:38

I think I'd always

4:40

played with older people around my

4:42

area. So I was playing with

4:44

18-year-olds at 12, 13. And obviously

4:46

we know back then it's not

4:49

for the faint-hearted. If

4:51

you cried or if you whinged, then you're not

4:53

coming back again. So you'd have to get kicked

4:55

all over the place. So at 15, I

4:58

ended up playing for the 18s. That was

5:00

kind of the start

5:03

for me, but I'd obviously progressed all the way through,

5:05

and I was doing okay. At

5:07

15, I went and played with the 18s.

5:10

We were Northampton away on the cricket pitch.

5:13

One nil down at half-time.

5:16

Yeah, one nil

5:18

down at half-time. And obviously the manager

5:20

back then came in ranting and raving. And I'm

5:23

a 15-year-old, just not wanting to look at anyone,

5:25

just no eye contact, just keep your head down.

5:27

You don't want to get ball at yourself. Sorry,

5:30

the language. And then

5:34

the manager goes, he's coming

5:36

on. And I'm there sitting there like, okay,

5:38

come on, score two, come off injured. And

5:40

we're 1-2-1. So

5:42

were you just physically big for your age at that

5:44

point? Wasn't that why they were playing? You were one

5:46

of those. I

5:49

was a man child, but I still had the

5:51

ability. It's funny because I speak to my parents,

5:56

my dad, and I'm like, because my

5:59

boys are... 18 hours playing from

6:01

I could I think I could have played from 16 16

6:04

first And

6:08

I could handle myself as well and I was like

6:10

what's that much bigger than him because but I said

6:12

well yes He was yeah, you was

6:14

it compared to your boys now. Yeah,

6:16

he was physically ready 1617

6:20

you physically ready to say you were a man

6:22

child But you also quite level-headed on them because

6:24

you you'd had a sort of sense of fame

6:26

from quite a young age as well I believe

6:28

your first TV appearance was aged 11. Yeah Get

6:45

a little bit of stick for that not stick but

6:47

people take the mic but everyone wanted to be on

6:49

that show So

6:53

Church again Sunday boys brigade

6:56

and we got invited to be on the show

6:58

and go on the course That's

7:01

where the whole course. Yeah, and that's where Emily

7:03

comes from because they kept on calling me Emily

7:05

instead of a meal I really want to show

7:07

yeah, no way and how did you

7:10

do on that? So of course? What

7:13

you will be nice is to be a console Basically,

7:16

it's one nice. Oh, yeah.

7:18

All right. We said it so we go from like

7:20

rod and emu Obviously, so then straight into Philbert Street,

7:23

right? How do you know

7:25

I mean I'm just trying to think they'll for a young

7:27

lad coming into a side a lot

7:30

of for kind of big characters

7:32

Yeah, like strong men

7:35

kind of we got a tiger tiger

7:42

Parrish Good

7:47

team though huge team Really

7:50

good team really good characters And this is the

7:52

thing when you're looking up teams now where the

7:54

characters coming from and we had we

7:56

probably had too many Yeah Right,

8:00

obviously I'm just outside looking in.

8:04

You would know, because Martin's bad anyway. So

8:09

imagine having, yeah,

8:11

we had some good ties. It's

8:13

fascinating because you go from, obviously I went

8:15

from there to Liverpool and you really learn

8:17

about structure and professionalism and stuff

8:20

like that. Not quite there at Leicester.

8:23

In that case on an asylum back

8:25

there. We were winning things though. We

8:27

were winning things. So we,

8:29

I tell everyone

8:31

before every league got final, we were

8:34

in Leicester. We were in Tenerife. Yeah. I've

8:39

seen you there. I've seen you there. I've seen you there. I

8:41

don't know if you remember this, I was in the youth team

8:43

at Tottenham. I don't know if it's just going

8:45

back to me now. Veronica's, along with

8:48

Veronica's there, like Busbys and Bobbies. I don't

8:50

know if you remember that. Because

8:52

I was in the youth team, I remember seeing

8:55

you. I remember having a chat to

8:57

you, because at Ledley King, I was out there with Ledley

8:59

King. And Ledley was just getting

9:01

in the birth team. You wouldn't have known who I

9:03

was because I hadn't been in the first team now.

9:05

And I remember you and Ledley had kind of had

9:07

a discussion and Led was like, yeah, no, I could

9:09

have you. Because you'd go back to New Mids, you'd

9:12

get destroyed. You'd both have it

9:14

like that. All right, brilliant. So

9:16

good. So good. So we

9:18

would literally be in warm weather

9:20

training in Tenerife before every got

9:22

final. It was mad that when you

9:25

think back at it and then you go to Liverpool

9:27

and then you see proper professionalism and how it's supposed

9:29

to be. But we won trophies. So

9:32

the characters that we had, it

9:34

was part of our story as well,

9:36

of who we are and what we were. And

9:39

I think Derry Taggart talks about it and

9:41

says we're the best pop team in England

9:43

at the time. Yeah, yeah. But

9:45

tongue in cheek. But again, it was just

9:47

great. But you know what? Team

9:49

Spirit goes a long way. It's almost like I'm

9:52

not calling you the Wimbledon crazy gang. But It

9:54

felt like because you had more quality. You had

9:56

more quality there as well. But It felt like

9:58

the underdog was. The and you

10:00

against cup final just and great success and

10:02

the is a good sign for it to

10:05

be a list of failure. Hundred symbolism of

10:07

in when when we look back at what

10:09

we achieved his life he was to Ninety

10:11

seven Ninety Nine and Two thousand Little Fun.

10:14

We lost. And ninety nine

10:16

to spend money to. and

10:19

then as well when you go up anyone knows

10:21

when you come up as a as a as

10:24

a team from the championship which was division wanted

10:26

to the premier league is rights they get really

10:28

good start when we finish top top. Of the

10:30

table and single time. so we up

10:32

me. Over achieved

10:34

in his innocence. but we we had

10:36

fun doing a settler individually from your

10:39

journey and I see what you went

10:41

in and it was. As

10:43

a constant rise was there. Was.

10:46

That pumps or less if you've suggested. like

10:48

going to be farm and a good same.

10:50

He said they used to use cup finals

10:53

at a glut of the minute at a

10:55

rules hotness what but for you individually but

10:57

mins he was because of your big strong

10:59

or it's have a you're expected to be.

11:03

Powerful moving a plane, not an auto. Definitely

11:05

something. no I don't think there was any

11:07

bombs on our on our I'll tell you

11:09

why because I was a local. Lots of

11:11

to get where you have a lot I

11:13

can stone or not school or from the

11:15

fans are not. That means a lot with

11:17

the fact that one's arise. And then I've

11:19

got a manager. From. Absolutely adores.

11:22

Major On I can do ever what

11:24

more or less if on so it

11:26

was Reckless is a constant rise and

11:28

because it and. as.com

11:31

fruit officer despite my youth team at sixteen

11:33

so a lot is friends with seen be

11:35

another one thing will list of on say

11:37

what's that used him so they know who's

11:39

coming there is a flood i can get

11:41

you an injunction met a new lewis plays

11:43

i thought conference i was kind of the

11:45

next but it seemed he from fifteen and

11:47

they're not seventeen on plane of us in

11:49

game eighteen on a regular and i wasn't

11:52

playing them of france or spain on the

11:54

wings for i was i was us attacking

11:56

attacking and go in and they looked up

11:58

bought me he gets up for the manager,

12:00

maybe we could dig down just slightly on

12:02

your relationship with Martin O'Neil. And

12:05

there's an incredible story about how

12:09

he, what's the story with the letters

12:11

with Martin O'Neil? Oh,

12:14

he would collect letters. And when

12:16

he first came to Leicester, it didn't go too well. We,

12:19

I think we ended up winning the last, I think

12:22

it was nine to ten games, our last ten

12:24

games, snuck into the playoffs and then won the

12:26

playoffs. But up to then, it wasn't really

12:29

going too well. And as we know, fans can be

12:31

a little bit fickle and they'll, people

12:34

would write in and he would keep

12:36

them all and then reply to the winner, he's doing

12:38

well. So

12:41

yeah, he's fantastic like that. Did

12:44

you feel he had a big role

12:46

in your life at that particular time? Yeah.

12:49

And is it fair to say you had a special

12:51

bond and how would you describe that relationship? Yeah, I

12:53

think it was like a father figure. It

12:56

could be, it could have its ups and downs, but

12:58

mainly your ups and the main ups were because he

13:00

wanted the best from me. If now

13:03

you look back at certain things that he says during

13:05

games and I'll pick on one, I

13:07

know Sav might not be happy to, to laugh about this.

13:09

I, I, I ball came in to me, I held it

13:11

up, laid it into Sav and he

13:15

took a touch and then someone nicked the ball off him and I

13:17

got the one that we've got the rollicking for that. You

13:20

know, when you're thinking, you're like, well, I've kept the ball, but

13:23

when you think back at it and then we'd go,

13:26

we're exchanging, you know what he's like, we're exchanging that

13:28

on the, I'm on the pitch, he's on the sideline,

13:30

we're exchanging, I've not forgot about the game and we're

13:32

just frustrated. But then when you're, when

13:34

you think back, it's like, well, what he's the

13:37

reason he's saying that is because why am I giving it to

13:39

him and I'm the one who can run with the ball? I'm

13:42

the one who can create stuff. I'm the one who can change

13:44

a game. Why would I give it to someone else? So

13:46

he says, just get it, turn and run. Oh yeah.

13:50

All right. Yeah, you're right. He didn't have a lot of faith in

13:52

Sav and did he? I

13:55

did the same. I think it was tags as well. We

13:57

had to go tags for giving it to Sam. We.

14:01

Have a wire or two

14:03

things. he. He rarely

14:05

focused in on new why why wasn't something

14:07

so special wasn't consumers it was a farm

14:09

be pinpointed the best things on every single

14:11

plane so muzzy was another one arm or

14:14

when was at villa was erm dhabi by

14:16

was of oz runner with the bulls are

14:18

lots of trouble with the bulls on to

14:20

see that the team up or of the

14:22

pits an entree something from there on bus

14:24

what he wanted me to do and he

14:27

pushed me to do that every single time

14:29

and I'm and you need a moment and

14:31

you need someplace new players who actually going

14:33

to. Change. You

14:35

don't miss Barnes and I was up player

14:37

up especially Atlas the boys when you're when

14:40

you're that young and to score goals and

14:42

privileged and your right and cup final was

14:44

lights there's always a buzzer. was in Missouri

14:46

the a pile of us adults is a

14:48

huge buzz about ness of see when you

14:50

eat at Upton Sensitive or Four Months We

14:52

go ahead as you either whispers Villa Blackthorn

14:54

there's a Dortmund. Mermoz

14:56

with drivers were we're all over the seats

14:59

and what was that like? When

15:01

I'm a Liverpool are involves I didn't really

15:04

matter as if this. Goes.

15:06

Great have all these these watching you are or

15:09

could have gone at sixteen or when it's of.

15:12

I wanted to prove muscle for mister. On. Born

15:14

and raised in this is I wanted to

15:16

prove myself or winning the pharmacists to to

15:18

be there when I'm actually playing regularly. So

15:20

it was them. It was

15:22

a great time to be around the club

15:24

as rooms so was three even though it

15:26

was it was a fortress had a fight

15:29

it off as as as is that it

15:31

was it was great for us we got

15:33

a new stadium now it's missile weird but

15:35

that that was fantastic from see wasn't a

15:37

nice place. Roadways on his of as he

15:39

got the opportunity has lived for he said

15:41

that was that the only club you go

15:43

go to the full size image whereas saw

15:45

that I've been fortunate to be in a

15:47

position where you you guys did you sign

15:49

of Zelda? Did you ever looked round that

15:51

lock the door? Did you guys that though

15:53

it first Silva had to come about that

15:55

when it does with Assad. guess

15:58

on the know it was my most part quick

16:01

in that sense of signing

16:03

because they triggered, I was supposed to

16:05

go at the end of the season but they triggered it in March, paid

16:08

extra to trigger it and then next to me

16:10

I'm in a car going up to go and

16:12

sign at Melwood. But

16:14

I'd already organised, we'd already got it

16:17

in for the end of the season. So

16:19

yeah, it was kind of bang there. So

16:22

you're straight to games then? Yeah, so I'd literally

16:24

gone from playing for Leicester against Sunderland, we

16:27

won 5-1 I think it was, and

16:30

then going to play Sunderland. Oh

16:32

really? Oh wow. And

16:35

how did that go? How did the

16:37

initial time at Liverpool go? Oh

16:39

I loved it. Yeah, so from the moment you

16:42

arrived you were happy. Fantastic.

16:45

But again, I

16:47

only know Leicester. And then you

16:49

go to a big club and it's like... This show

16:51

is probably done. And as

16:54

well, like I

16:56

said, I'd come from school and I'd been at Leicester all

16:58

this time and I remember

17:00

getting criticised for wearing a tracksuit at a

17:03

press conference and I'm like, well I don't

17:05

know any difference. No one's told me to

17:08

wear a suit so... And

17:10

these are little things that you realise, this is

17:12

the top, top, you need to be

17:14

representing a certain... And this wasn't the club, this was

17:16

more media. But the club were fine,

17:18

I think the club were fine with this. But you know,

17:20

media is an expectation of when you're at Leicester, they thought,

17:22

you've got to be presenting in a certain way. And

17:25

I didn't know because I was a young kid, I

17:27

was what, 22 years old, just turned. So

17:30

I didn't know that I was supposed

17:32

to be wearing that, but yeah, for me it was just

17:34

about getting on the pitch and enjoying my football. You

17:37

said that when you went to Liverpool it was

17:39

more about impressing Stevie and

17:41

Karoluk, your teammates, rather than

17:43

the man... Obviously you want to impress the man, you're

17:46

getting a team. Did you find that as well? Like

17:48

you know, you're by yourself. He was a lot more

17:50

kind of senior when I played. Yeah, I don't mean

17:52

that, but I mean, when you go there, the players,

17:55

it sounded like they had to be here. No,

17:57

it was just fans of the trainers, just look there, but do you remember, I was

17:59

in. The national team by then. so

18:01

I'd actually been around all these players that

18:03

that was going to thirds of time without

18:05

only been around his side already seen our

18:07

and you know you don't from your club

18:09

and out notices like to as a list

18:11

of. When. You got to the national

18:13

team Sneinton dame you come off it can

18:16

bring it. He can bring your shirt because

18:18

of our Damacy sweats and the running that

18:20

you do you having a yeah you're having

18:22

top of a source because my aware that

18:24

you haven't to death for visitors come to

18:26

live with his pre this is premised the

18:28

same so I was used to that don't

18:30

be I wasn't used to was on. How

18:33

salon training was in a sense of touch

18:35

with a really tough to that list of

18:37

because of some not a small Scott said

18:39

is like note tottenham we got it's getting

18:42

up close you can probably a little fifty

18:44

fifty but no real bad com in stuff.

18:46

mentions went straight through. Such

18:49

a such as a success of a sacred

18:51

a buccaneer like. Account.

18:53

Of us case on palm okay with that

18:55

because I don't knock and give us must

18:57

that as a can take them for we

18:59

know that will dance Rio in a van.

19:03

Persie. I'm so surprised to return up a

19:05

lot of seven hundred plays. How they my fellow

19:07

it's like new piece of his his his

19:09

career in early when you arrive is Steve Jobs

19:12

for to come in for that is a

19:14

semi over here that like seventy good players of

19:16

was was probably still there with ya be

19:18

built up he was Yeah Robin's to see Citizens

19:20

Moon Maison yeah I'm still does not have

19:22

is as soon. As the vilest books but

19:24

yeah it's finishing was amazing because it and

19:27

new cards and substantially since you like lobby

19:29

books which one I'm you are wouldn't say.

19:32

Bank. Mess. With their and I'll go

19:34

out on a must buy spank necessity. I.

19:37

can't be denied and slept i wouldn't there

19:39

be every single time and is fantastic but

19:41

yeah dubs aus retain written off as one

19:43

time is are we talking about passes on

19:45

double gangs of the boy he was he

19:47

deserves harrys games of they were the best

19:49

of yeah so good as the i places

19:51

him at southampton us is slightly delay or

19:53

in his career by many avenues that would

19:55

even cats in and just a major so

19:57

as you about say me over and cuts

19:59

in Yeah, I club clubbed it. The Carriga would have been

20:02

coming through with it. Yeah, we were the same age. So 22,

20:04

I went to Liverpool at 22, so Carriga would be a young

20:06

player there. Yeah,

20:09

because there's an England under

20:11

16s game, right? This is an incredible situation

20:13

where you were on the bench and

20:16

Carriga was up front, right? Yeah, so

20:18

Carriga was a forward at... So

20:21

you didn't go to Liverpool? No, I didn't

20:23

go to the trials. I

20:28

don't think my mum and dad wanted me to leave, so

20:30

I didn't go to the trials. But then it's funny because

20:32

then I went to a trial for

20:34

one of the camps and got in. So

20:37

I then went to the Euros. Did any of

20:39

your family play football? Because you often talk about

20:41

your mum and dad. How

20:43

did they navigate everything? Was this all quite

20:46

almost foreign to them in how they... everything

20:49

that was happening for you? And did

20:51

they want to have quite a bit of control?

20:53

No, you know the funny thing is just it

20:55

was... they knew I had

20:57

talent and it was just like leaving... my dad was

21:00

cricket, played cricket, I was from the Caribbean so cricket

21:02

is the main thing. He

21:05

did love football, he did play football, but it was like

21:07

local. My mum was

21:09

more athletics. And

21:11

yeah, they just left me with my agent to

21:13

do what I wanted and yeah, go about your

21:16

career. They played to them. A

21:18

lot of guys. But again, if you don't know

21:21

how to navigate now, it's different for me. But

21:23

if you don't know how to navigate that, what are you going to

21:26

do? You kind of just say, okay, well, let me

21:28

leave it to them because I see them as the

21:30

ones who are possibly

21:32

going to look after him the best. What

21:35

was the highlight for you at

21:37

Liverpool? Obviously the UEFA Cup

21:39

win was unbelievable. The FV

21:41

Cup, you know, you've had League Cup,

21:43

Super Cups. It

21:46

was a period under Houlié where it was

21:48

like obviously the Premier League was the only

21:51

one kind of missing Champions League. But like

21:53

the Cup, it was an unbelievably successful

21:56

period for Liverpool. Yeah, it's a weird part of

21:58

my career because again, I don't know. I've gone

22:00

from Leicester and we've gone to three

22:02

cup finals in four years. Then I

22:04

go to Liverpool and we go to

22:06

three cup finals in

22:08

the year, in the season. And

22:11

then we go and win the Super Cup and

22:14

the Community Shield and you're like, oh, this is

22:16

normal. It's not. It's

22:19

not. And then your reality hits and you have

22:21

your ups and downs. But I loved every minute

22:23

of it and it was great to

22:25

be part of that because I think, was it

22:27

95 was the last time before that

22:29

they won something. So to come into that

22:31

and the pressure was on and

22:35

the weirdest part about it now, I look

22:37

back and I didn't feel any pressure. I

22:39

didn't. I just. Yeah. It's not until you

22:41

get there and then you realise and then

22:43

after a year it sinks in and then

22:46

two years it's like, oh,

22:48

I moved for 11 million. I moved for

22:50

11 million two years ago. Why didn't I

22:52

think about it then? Yeah. Yeah. Never, never

22:55

thought about it. Yeah. So what like that

22:57

game obviously, the UEFA Cup game, like unbelievable.

22:59

Yeah. What was that like? I'll

23:03

be honest with you. I had to watch

23:05

that game back to really understand what went

23:07

on. What happened? Yeah, because that

23:09

was right towards the end of the season. So we played, I think

23:12

we played 63 games that season. I think

23:14

I played 59 and I was running on

23:18

fumes because I

23:20

played so many games and I played every final.

23:23

I couldn't remember half of the stuff. And

23:26

then I watched it back and like, Jesus, this

23:28

is a rollercoaster up and down, up

23:30

and down. And then Gary Mack scores that goal and

23:32

well, he's an own goal, but Gary Mack scores that

23:35

goal and you're like, everyone's cheering.

23:37

But like, oh, the game's

23:39

done. It's a golden goal. Like what

23:41

a game of football. I remember watching

23:44

it just got in disbelief. Some of

23:46

the games that you know, the finals

23:48

that Liverpool put in involved in obviously

23:50

with East Stambaugh as well. Yeah. I'm

23:52

unreal. Yeah. On a personal level of

23:54

all the trophies there was the one

23:56

that really, yeah, I think

23:58

because. Growing up, that's the only

24:01

real... That's actually the only thing

24:03

that's different. If you're the one you can watch on telly as

24:05

well back in the day. The full

24:07

Wembley experience. And the way we

24:09

won it as well. Hard if, like low. We

24:12

got battered. We got battered.

24:16

It's fascinating when you actually watch games back, and

24:18

I recently watched back an Everton game where Gary

24:20

Mac scored the right at the end. In

24:22

my head, I thought that

24:24

we dominated the game and we did really

24:26

well. And when we won

24:29

that game, they were lucky to get the goals. They battered

24:31

us. They just kept on pumping

24:33

the ball into being dunk. And

24:36

yeah, he was just nodding it down and people were running onto

24:38

it and like, I didn't see that

24:41

game going like that. I thought we would dominate, I thought

24:43

we'd pass it around. We just kept on lumping it back.

24:46

And I'm winning the flick ons. But

24:48

that's the way they play, so they're obviously better at it.

24:50

And we should have really slowed it. And then we got

24:52

Eagle Bishan sent off as well. So yeah, when

24:56

you look back at games, that's not how I

24:58

saw it. I just want to touch on your

25:01

partnership obviously with Michael Owen. You know,

25:03

he says that you were the best partner you ever

25:05

played with. That's a huge compliment because he played with

25:07

me. What was that like? Obviously,

25:16

it just felt so good.

25:19

And obviously, culminating in the Germany game where

25:21

you combined so well. But

25:24

you know, even that final, you just referenced it

25:26

with Arsenal. Just a great connection.

25:29

Yeah, I think the funny thing is, look, we

25:31

went back so far because England under 18, my under 18,

25:33

he's two years younger than me. So

25:35

he's 16 playing in our 18's. And

25:37

he was the main player then. And he just

25:39

clicked. Everything just worked really well. He understood what

25:41

I wanted. I understood what he

25:44

wanted. And we just worked together. And

25:46

it's funny because then we go

25:48

to the Euros and we play France. We do

25:50

well. I think we drew 1-1. I

25:52

think we came third in the end. Thierry

25:56

Henry up front with Vanelker, Trezige,

25:58

Gala. Silvesca,

26:01

Willy Stadnjal. So

26:05

all these players, it's me and

26:07

Michael up front. Gerald Hulier

26:09

is the manager. So then when he goes

26:11

and signs for Liverpool as the

26:14

manager, he brings me to go and play with

26:16

Michael. It had been something that had been in

26:18

the pipeline for a while and

26:22

we'd already played together with the national team and

26:24

then it just worked so well. Why

26:27

did it work so well? Was it training?

26:29

Obviously you can see why

26:31

you hold up but was

26:35

it worked on training a lot or was it just a natural? Honestly,

26:38

natural. We spoke to each

26:40

other on the pitch and what we wanted etc.

26:42

Michael will understand that if he can't get it,

26:44

nine times out of ten I'm going to win

26:46

a flick on so he knows exactly where it's

26:48

going to go and if he can't get to

26:50

it he can give me a shot so I

26:52

can just nod it back to him. We just

26:54

work as a partnership and we're losing that a

26:56

little bit in the game because we only really

26:58

play one up front. You'll find that when

27:01

you play two up front they're doing the same runs and we

27:03

used to work on it like Leicester

27:06

a lot anyway. One comes short, one goes long.

27:09

What about obviously it's going so

27:11

well then and then obviously within,

27:14

it's hard, I've been there myself

27:16

at Liverpool in England, like scrutiny

27:18

gets so much and you're kind of on a global

27:21

level and we look at certain

27:23

players at the moment like the criticism, it

27:25

almost became, it was too much at

27:27

times. How did you find it? Yeah,

27:31

you've got to grow some real thick skin

27:33

especially when you're playing one at the big

27:35

clubs and two with

27:38

the national team because everyone's, it's more

27:40

so now as well because again the

27:42

reality is You will

27:44

only be in the papers and that papers will

27:47

be gone tomorrow and it will be in the

27:49

pubs where you're not going to hear much of

27:51

that. Where Now it's really literally, it's in your

27:53

pocket, isn't it? 24 Seven.. They've got access to

27:56

your 24 seven in your pocket unless you're ready

27:58

to switch off. As

28:00

where they can get you straight from Arts

28:03

Graphic Skyn because again it was and have

28:05

been as well as well as of sell

28:07

out with May like it was like I've

28:09

really gotta prove myself when I get to

28:11

live for a school for while I'm in

28:14

England squad but I still haven't gotten good

28:16

things in my career but you ain't seen

28:18

you would do with Satan Privilege Nine so

28:20

did you Not to zealots think to yourself

28:23

the have some respects you have a look

28:25

what I've achieved require have one already Still

28:27

a young man's you can think that put

28:29

bespoke. Right wherever they want her, I'll give you

28:31

an example. So I was in no think it

28:33

was as if he was couple of. Movies

28:36

and and the most of the up he

28:38

was propellers and they're very they wanted me

28:40

to come and do the and you know

28:42

the media has to go with the media.

28:45

News like this. a ton of them sitting

28:47

there and you've got answer questions I said

28:49

why am I going to them this I

28:51

asked us of his baldini am. So

28:53

I'm going to go them when I'm gonna you're gonna

28:56

depend on not present, have an affirmative and us movies

28:58

cushions and when answering the weight arms and they're gonna

29:00

write whatever they want to write. said to let them

29:02

write whatever they want to run me of my time

29:04

buns know he's got to go You got to go

29:07

on. A when an industry. You

29:09

go the way you toy was gonna go know that

29:11

lox level of the dawn sorry wages was you know

29:14

that such as they go see the questions that you

29:16

don't was us as he is. It is going to

29:18

be stories that you don't want in the paper paid

29:20

off as I saw in the and you might whoop

29:23

There you go. Up a told you what?

29:25

yeah you've got to do this. We

29:27

bought to present someone on but I

29:29

pull no problem. Came back to remember

29:31

com he bought her for. it was

29:33

Israel game. Things. In

29:35

Israel and the sugar since he was on.

29:39

What is up this is probably alongside but

29:41

I wasn't love for me because I'd I'd

29:43

I was like of is why. Because I

29:46

was like thirty at the time. or maybe

29:48

twenty nine thirty bad compositor thousand buttons to

29:50

Dover Air weather is what it is that

29:52

gonna right when the moon right? that's it.

29:55

Doesn't bother me as to are kind of

29:57

grown in like a teflon skin on the

29:59

pill. The back to use. Oh no, not

30:01

him again. Be. Like. As

30:04

quietly put down with it and I wouldn't

30:06

play done with did really well and you.

30:09

In. The end They they did. Say. Not

30:12

sorry what kind of in the in a

30:14

way that they wanted to to right

30:16

to an apology but my ah to you

30:18

have to go thick skin with a

30:20

lot of is an onion look at moccasins

30:23

done for it but now them is

30:25

not is not integrate with a vein of

30:27

whom he might not make the bureau's you

30:29

might not but he or mcguire recently

30:31

as well like he's got a disease are

30:33

required by the denouncing the it's and

30:35

and this is the thing used you can

30:38

even buy about some was football for

30:40

the money ticket to. Personalise roses us

30:42

into lot of his personals on sitting

30:44

sitting here almost marked as a target

30:47

and then. That is very hard to

30:49

do as rubs it was an easy target. Who else

30:51

was gonna take the. Nose

30:53

Easy I remember to take his Us

30:55

two thousand four. In

30:58

the media fool difference game. So.

31:00

Prop not a sons and you know as afford lox

31:03

so where'd you get more on you like to your

31:05

is in such as yep that the whole masuda ones

31:07

from that holding midfielder. The. Cell node

31:09

Muslim leaves him a front bravo. Make sure you

31:11

don't gamble on takeoff of. And.

31:13

With to holy misuse. Of.

31:17

An isolated as hot as I

31:20

have some like. Lot

31:22

like that was what ago and other the adopt

31:24

I was what made the fall for. This means

31:27

it is it's I was in as a sat

31:29

on the for sit through fests. What

31:32

He the. What was what

31:34

was your of see the what was the

31:37

kind of felt that the lowest point like

31:39

it with all that thousand nine lives possibly

31:41

her but i was in effect of places

31:43

heard about pleasure to deal with with their

31:46

time were aware he was really kind of

31:48

like you wanted to say something all i

31:50

thought it was self as far north as

31:52

because it did not do anything are said

31:55

would been turned on amazon new.com say anything.

31:58

i at the a member I can't remember what game it

32:00

was. Waza came on

32:02

and then I think he played the following game

32:05

as a, I think it was his first start.

32:08

And they were pushing Waza

32:10

to start. And I

32:12

think it was Sven then. I

32:15

thought I had a decent game. I'd

32:17

set up the two goals. We won 2-0.

32:20

I'd cross for Michael to score and then I won the

32:22

free kick for Bexel's score. But

32:25

then when you read back, and this is probably the worst

32:27

thing, you shouldn't be reading them. But

32:30

when you read back, he's terrible, he

32:32

should play blah blah blah. But

32:35

then it's what the manager wants. But

32:38

again, that was open the door for

32:41

Wayne to come in and then Wayne was just outstanding. Yeah.

32:44

And do you think maybe, have you got the respect you

32:46

deserve now? Yeah, I think so now. I

32:48

think, you know, the funny thing

32:51

is, I think it slowly started to come when I

32:54

was older and then there's some younger players

32:56

that are playing similar to me. And

32:58

now teams are seeing the value of having

33:01

that sort of player up front. But

33:03

I was different to a lot of players because

33:05

I would run channels. I would hold the ball

33:07

up and I'd dribble. I'd play on

33:09

the left wing. I'd play on the right wing. I

33:12

played every single position. I played set the back. So

33:15

I would play everywhere and I was a little

33:17

bit different to them. But then when people look

33:19

at like a forward who holds

33:22

the ball up, they're

33:24

like, oh, I appreciate that now. Because when

33:26

he's not there and the ball keeps coming

33:28

back, you're like chasing

33:31

the ball into the channel and just getting them to kick a ball

33:33

out. And you're like, no forward wants

33:35

to chase the ball into the channel. Let's be

33:37

honest. If we're

33:40

going to talk about respect as well, let's, let's, we've

33:42

got to talk about the 5-1 game as well, which

33:45

I'll never forget watching. It

33:47

was such a special game that I had this t-shirt

33:50

I then went and bought and it had an England

33:52

flag on the side and it

33:54

had England 5, Germany 1 and

33:57

it had your name. It had the England golf score was

33:59

there. And by Germany, it just said

34:01

a German. And I always remember this. And

34:03

I must have been, I don't know, like

34:06

13, 14, something like that. But

34:09

I wore that every day. How

34:11

many people come up to you even today? So

34:14

many, really so many. Everywhere, all over the

34:16

world as well. And it's funny because

34:18

you're talking about when you're 13 and this is, I think, people

34:21

who were, people who come up

34:24

to me and were like, yeah, that game in

34:26

England, Germany, 5'1", I was this age and I'm like, what

34:28

age? Just

34:30

now that. Funny

34:32

going back. It's crazy.

34:34

That was great. It was just a, and

34:37

as well, you got to remember the pressure we were under as well because

34:39

we lost the last game at the Old Wembley. Did you know

34:41

how much you scored the goal? I don't

34:43

really remember the context around it. That's the thing. I

34:46

remember watching the game and I

34:48

remember, obviously, the celebrations afterwards and that

34:51

scoreboard, you know, seeing the scoreboard at the end

34:53

of the game and seeing it everywhere, every paper.

34:58

But what was the context of that game and leading up to

35:00

it? We'd lost the last game at the Old

35:02

Wembley. So that had been demolished and that was

35:04

Didi Hanman's score. Didi had a

35:06

lot of game at work. That was Kevin Giga's last game.

35:10

He resigned at the end of the game.

35:12

Then, obviously, Spain came in. We

35:14

played Spain, beat them. And

35:16

then that was the next game but

35:18

that's the first qualifier for him.

35:21

And then we go 1-0 down after seven minutes.

35:25

But, yeah, we had some fantastic players.

35:29

One thing with Sven is, and it was similar

35:31

to with Houlier, he'd have this little

35:33

clipboard and he would be showing everyone where to

35:35

move. And I quite like that because,

35:37

again, it's visuals for me. And you can actually see, okay,

35:39

well, you want me to go in there. But what happens

35:42

when this, you know, come out here? So

35:44

when you go into the pitch, everything's there for you. It's

35:47

already there. And then when you get the ball, it's for

35:49

you to improvise and do your own thing.

35:52

So it was really good. And then

35:54

we had quality players. What

35:56

went so right in that match? Just

35:58

the chances that we created. on

36:00

the brain. We were very very

36:03

clinical and Michael was on fire

36:05

at that time. It

36:07

seemed like he was underdolting that game, massively

36:09

underdolting. The television that scored it seemed like

36:12

he was a massive shot of Jamie 5-1.

36:15

Do you know they'd not lost

36:17

a competitive game in 50 plus

36:20

games at home? There

36:22

you go. And the clipboard really does work.

36:25

I always think this with you lads is

36:27

when you get shown the clipboard, you see a substitute

36:29

looking at the clipboard. I always think you're just

36:32

paying them lip service with it. You sort of

36:34

see a manager frantically going like moving these things

36:36

around or writing on it. It seems you genuinely

36:38

are listening. I think it's visuals. A lot of

36:41

people learn differently. So I like to see what

36:43

they're trying to do. And with Gerald Julio, we

36:45

would do mannequins on the pool pitch. There'd be

36:47

like 50 mannequins all over and Neil would say

36:50

to them, the ball's there and we'd have to

36:52

run into position and go, do that for 30

36:54

minutes. Just shadow

36:56

pose, again, visuals and it's

36:59

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changing world. So

37:24

you had an awesome tremendous career. But

37:26

obviously in Liverpool, you move on to

37:28

Birmingham, to Wiggins, Aston Villa. How did

37:30

you find those clubs? Birmingham,

37:34

yeah. It was just something that came about.

37:37

I still had

37:39

a year left and Rick

37:41

Parry, then CEO, accepted

37:43

a bid from Birmingham, blah, blah, blah. I

37:45

said, yeah, that's fine. I

37:49

was happy to stay and fight for my plays, but

37:51

the message was, no, so-and-so

37:54

is coming in and you won't play. Was

37:56

it C-side coming in? Yeah. And I was

37:58

like, ah, okay. Cool. When you hear

38:01

that, the time is done. So

38:03

I went to Birmingham, enjoyed

38:06

the time in the sense of the

38:09

camaraderie, etc. The club. It

38:12

was tough because I'd gone from, and no

38:14

disrespect to the players, but I'd gone from

38:17

being with Stevie, with Michael, with Paddy

38:20

Burgo, with Danny Murphy, with

38:22

Pied-Pierre, with all these players. All I had to do

38:25

was make runs. So I

38:27

know someone's finding me, no one's. Then I'm making

38:29

runs and no one's looking at me. And

38:31

I'm making runs and no one's even looked up. Like,

38:33

okay, no one wants to play the ball forward. No

38:36

one wants to play the ball forward. They're

38:38

hesitant because they don't trust themselves.

38:41

Because reality is the

38:45

actual levels are pretty much the same

38:47

if you tell someone to go and ping a ball there. They

38:49

can ping the ball. If they're going to pass the ball there,

38:51

they can do it. It's just whether they feel confident enough or

38:53

if they can trust themselves to do it. Whereas at Liverpool, you

38:55

had to. So I

38:57

went from that to that. I just had to make an

38:59

adjustment. The second year was

39:02

tough because we'd gone from battling

39:04

and we were... You

39:06

always want a progression. And I think, Birmingham, we

39:09

tried to progress too quickly. We went from a

39:11

battling team to try and get these really technical team

39:14

players in. It wasn't going to

39:16

fit with the majority of the battling players.

39:20

So we got relegated that season. We went

39:22

to Wigan and I... Yeah, Wigan was great. Again,

39:24

it was similar to the first. That was a

39:26

good time. Some good players as well. We did

39:28

okay. When I first got

39:31

there, we were in transition. We had Paul

39:33

Juhl. So

39:35

yeah, it was tough because we stayed

39:38

up from the last game of the season. Sheffield United, we

39:40

had to win that game to stay up and win that

39:42

game. 10-0, isn't it? I remember that. And

39:46

we stayed up. It took

39:48

his toll on him because he resigned at the end of the season

39:50

as well. He says it was

39:52

just too much. And

39:54

then, obviously, Steve Bruce and people like that

39:56

come in. And then that's when you start

39:58

to really get the play. and then they

40:00

made a bit of money because again you get

40:03

Palacios, Figueroas, your Villets.

40:07

Selling them plays, they did really

40:09

well. Villa,

40:11

when we signed in more Villa,

40:14

he was... So you played together at Villa? Yeah,

40:17

well I observed more on the bench. How was

40:19

he at Villa? He was good. Well

40:24

I noticed obviously when you watch and paint against

40:26

him before, but then when he's in your team,

40:28

and like he says here, when he holds the ball,

40:30

I've never seen someone be able to jump.

40:33

Normally you jump when you flick the ball on. He used

40:35

to jump, like chest,

40:39

hold the ball up, and like two defenders as well,

40:41

whilst the ball was literally all in the air

40:43

and come down in my motion and steal battle players

40:45

off, and then literally have the quality just to lay

40:47

it off to the sides as well. But

40:51

Shiloh as well, wasn't he? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, look,

40:53

you're quite lively, aren't you? Well

40:55

we had a lively dressing room, probably. We had a

40:57

lively dressing room, but yeah. Yeah, but he was one

40:59

of the lively ones in the business room. There was

41:01

so many. There was a good dressing room. It was

41:03

funny. Who was in there? It's James

41:05

Cottin, James Collins. James Collins, James Jones,

41:08

so Adani, Luke Young, Steven

41:10

Warnock, Marcel, Emile,

41:12

John Carrou, Gabby, Youngie.

41:16

Oh yeah. That's the Stan, Zia Petrov.

41:18

So yeah, we had a good squad.

41:22

The one time I see you lose it,

41:24

and there was only one, and it wasn't

41:26

a nice sight. It wasn't a nice sight. Was

41:29

it you? Or thankfully it wasn't

41:31

at me. It was half time with

41:33

the Pilists. I think it was the FA Cup game. And

41:36

we were running down, the

41:38

Pilists away. We weren't playing well, and

41:41

I was on the bench and I'd come in like half

41:43

time, and then was it mine and was just giving you

41:45

stick or stick? And you like, you

41:47

just headed down, and you were taking it as you normally would

41:49

as a player. And all of a

41:51

sudden he just shook his head, and he just

41:53

got up, and it took literally like daniels on

41:55

your back, big gingers on your back, Stan Petrov

41:57

on your back, trying to break him back, finished.

42:00

coach was literally just taking

42:02

bodies and

42:04

charging towards the gaffer and the staff.

42:07

No of course not. I was like,

42:09

obviously that's what he did. I

42:11

think we've got a draw on him. Do

42:16

you remember? Yeah look I think, you

42:18

know the thing is, it was a weird

42:20

time to be at Villa in the sense

42:22

of we were really on the cusp of

42:24

something but we just couldn't make it into

42:26

that top four. We were

42:28

trying to get into the top four. And

42:31

we had some wonderful young players. How

42:36

was I around 30? I think I would

42:38

have been. 30-31. But you've got to remember Martin

42:40

O'Neill had me when I was 18. Until 22. So

42:43

you're still thinking you're 18. Get

42:45

the board run. Yeah, yeah, same thing. That's not

42:48

me. Yeah, yeah. Yeah,

42:50

yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

42:53

But no, it was a case of,

42:55

look, for me I

42:57

saw it as, look, there's ways of talking to

43:00

me anyway. And I've gone from

43:02

being a young player, you just keep your

43:04

head down, to now a senior player. When

43:07

the groups need something from the manager, they're coming to me

43:09

to ask me to go to the manager and sit down

43:11

with the manager and talk. To them

43:13

now, the manager is really good. And Martin's one

43:15

of those ones that you just, the

43:17

reality is you should just shut up and just

43:19

take it. But I wasn't at

43:22

that point anymore. So yeah,

43:24

and then there was another one at Fulham, wasn't

43:26

there? Yeah. Just

43:28

tight dressing them. There's no escaping their

43:30

dressing room. What happened at Fulham? They

43:34

don't want to make it sound like what happened at Fulham, but

43:36

they use it at Fulham. Can

43:38

it look for feeder now? What

43:41

did happen at Fulham? I don't think I was

43:43

in there. I was outside. Ah, look at that.

43:45

I was in there. I was warming up. He

43:47

was in there. I thought you were in there.

43:50

No. I don't know what you did

43:52

in Fulham. Oh, because you knew what kind of action

43:54

you had. You knew it. Yeah,

43:57

that one was there. What

44:00

was the phrase? It was... No,

44:02

what it was. I'll give you the sardarium. Yeah.

44:05

I'll give you what. So,

44:07

we were losing but we had a bad game

44:10

and I'm on the bench with Ciddy and

44:14

five minutes ago he brought me on. I had,

44:16

Paul got pinged in to be the first one. It

44:19

flew past me. I couldn't get it. Next one,

44:21

coming to me, touch, played it back. And

44:25

then coming in at full time, we lost the game.

44:28

And instead of having a go at John

44:31

Carrou with Gabby, who

44:33

had played 85 minutes, he's

44:37

gone round at

44:39

everyone. And

44:41

then he goes, and the

44:43

striker, the striker, the striker. And

44:46

you, a point for that me, goes,

44:49

if you could control a ball, you'd

44:52

play every game. So

44:56

you've... You're not having it. Which

44:58

one do you mean? Just in general.

45:01

I've had two balls in to me and

45:03

I'm acting out the... He's

45:05

getting it up, he's acting it out.

45:07

Are you right? Onion,

45:11

onion, just control the ball. Come

45:15

on. You're like, fuck it.

45:18

Now this is... Was it gold? Yeah.

45:21

It was a tight dress from me as well. Yeah, yeah.

45:24

He's opening me the room, going... He's coming, he's

45:26

like, you know what I mean? He's like, you

45:28

know that? He's getting his leg up here. How

45:30

can I control this one? Finally.

45:34

So then you got a shot with Martin.

45:36

Super. Right, so then obviously

45:38

retirement happens. How did you find that?

45:41

I know you were coaching the women's team for

45:43

a while. Yeah, I kind of fell into that.

45:47

Leicester obviously brought the

45:49

women's team under their

45:52

banner, as most clubs are doing now. And

45:55

yeah, they asked me to be ambassador, which

45:58

I took up. got

46:00

into coaching and I enjoyed it. It was great to

46:02

be on the pitch again because again, that's what we

46:04

know, that's what everyone we enjoyed. It

46:08

was a great time to be around Leicester in

46:10

the sense of the progression they take in. They

46:12

took over the training ground

46:14

that I trained at as

46:17

a player because the

46:19

men went on to their new training facility. So

46:22

it was great to be back in and around it,

46:24

what promoted. Luckily we

46:26

stayed in the WSL and it was

46:28

a progression each year. So then

46:30

you became Martin O'Neil, actually, but the

46:33

same style, same thing. Similar.

46:36

Same subs, four days off after

46:38

the game. I was

46:40

actually jealous of that. I was just

46:42

seeing the other boys having a few

46:44

days off and going on over there.

46:47

It weren't sustainable. But

46:49

again, for

46:52

Team morale, that

46:54

was probably the best time.

46:57

But like he said, it wasn't sustainable

46:59

to be playing. I think we played

47:01

United, we won, Gabby scored. And then

47:03

that's a

47:07

Saturday morning afternoon. We

47:10

didn't come back in till Thursday. Yeah. What?

47:12

That was regular. So

47:16

then you'd look at it, how

47:18

much fitness

47:21

are you missing out on? How much pitch

47:24

time are you missing? There, you

47:26

could fly anywhere there. If you

47:28

fly around the world. There were.

47:30

Vegas, Miami. Vegas and Miami. I'm

47:33

saying seriously. That was the regular. We've

47:36

done Everton away as well. It was us and Everton

47:38

that was going for fourth. And we beat

47:40

Everton last minute, we're not. And

47:43

we were like, go on

47:45

Gabby, get into the gaffer again. Send Gabby and

47:47

Youngie in. Because we'd

47:49

have two days off minimum, it was like, go on

47:52

Gabby, get into the gaffer. And we didn't come back

47:54

into Friday. What's the main secret sauce for negotiating? They

47:56

were the ones. They were the gold boys. So,

48:01

Gaby will come in, we came in like

48:03

the same United game. Gaby scored

48:05

and everyone's like, oh Gaby, this is

48:07

brilliant, brilliant game. Gaby was like, see

48:10

you Thursday. It's like, didn't

48:13

hear it. See you Thursday. And

48:15

then he's like, what? You want to have a Thursday?

48:18

Okay, now see you Thursday. That was it. Why

48:21

not? That's how you do it. That's pretty

48:23

standard rather. Finish coach that out in the corner.

48:25

But that's like kids with a pairing, isn't

48:27

it? Yeah. The funny thing is, we

48:29

all wanted to run for a bit of warfare. Yeah,

48:35

we all wanted to run for a bit of warfare because

48:37

we never wanted to let him down in that sense of... If

48:39

he gives you those days off, it's like a piece of big

48:41

carrot. You win, you can have both. Everyone

48:45

had it, all the subs, everyone. Everyone's

48:47

all fine. Okay. We

48:49

were just going to get horses as we. Those are

48:52

like a common theme of mine. They'd literally come in.

48:54

So you take the whole squad to every single game,

48:56

home and away, suit. Suited

48:58

and booted. Like 25 man squad. Everyone

49:02

knew the script. So you get in there,

49:04

you're waiting to whatever time, 2 o'clock. You'd

49:06

come in and you'd get a

49:08

bit of paper out. And then like I said,

49:11

he's going to read the formation team. He'd just

49:13

go, same team, same subs. Put a

49:15

bit of paper as well. Put a bit

49:17

of paper as well. And then walk out the door. Right?

49:19

And then we were like... So then the ones that are

49:21

not in the squad would just get up and walk out and

49:23

then go to the players now and draw upstairs and wait for

49:26

the game. And let the boys get. And

49:28

then it got to the point where it was like, we need to... There's

49:31

a few of the owned horses and we were going to buy a

49:33

horse and call it same team, same subs. And

49:35

have it in that bit of colours as well. It never

49:37

matters. How would it be? How would it

49:39

be? Oh my god. So now obviously you

49:41

were talking just before we started this. Like your boys are

49:43

doing really well. You're at Man City.

49:46

Well, boys have been since... Since four? Since

49:48

four? Yeah. The oldest

49:50

one's been there since he was four. Played on the sixties. Yeah,

49:54

it was weird. My wife driving

49:57

around summertime trying to find

49:59

somewhere for the boys. for the eldest one to

50:01

go and enjoy blah blah.

50:03

And we see a summer camp. She

50:05

drives in. I wasn't there.

50:08

So she drives in and

50:11

it's a man's city, summer camp. So she goes,

50:13

ah, can my son come in? He goes, yeah,

50:15

yeah, no problem. Bring him in, bring him in.

50:17

Because he's

50:20

got to be six and older. And what he's only

50:22

four. Because, oh, I'm not sure. Big

50:24

lad. Because, oh, he's a big

50:26

lad. He comes out waddling out. Yeah, he's

50:29

fine. Go on. He's wearing

50:31

his after villa kit at the time. Because

50:34

after that week that he's been there, they

50:36

invite him down to the Plat Lane at

50:38

the time. To the main one. So he's

50:41

been there since. Oh, really? So how old is

50:43

he now? Is he 18? He's

50:45

got a chance. Yeah, he's got a chance. He's

50:47

doing well. I've heard he's doing well. He's enjoying.

50:50

And the thing is, I

50:52

never got, I was probably the best, one of the

50:54

best parents to have around. I'll be there,

50:56

and I'll be there, and I'll be there every session or

50:58

whatever it is. I wouldn't get involved.

51:00

I'd try and stand away so they can't see me.

51:02

Because I don't like the kids looking over, and

51:04

looking over. You're concentrating on your coaches, what

51:07

you're concentrating on. So I was probably the

51:09

best. And then parents even, I'd

51:12

try not to be there. But now

51:14

it's good to go and listen

51:16

to what their coaches want, and think of your

51:18

son, et cetera. Now he's just progressed to now

51:20

he's under 18. He's got

51:22

another 16 as well. Fingers

51:26

crossed he's going into the under 18s as well. Two

51:29

pension funds there. Your

51:31

parents must be so proud as well,

51:34

to have seen the success they've had

51:36

with you, and then grandkids as well.

51:38

Yeah, incredible legacy your family's made. No,

51:40

they've done well. Done well, yeah. It's

51:42

been a long way to go. Yeah,

51:44

but again, it's funny because now they

51:46

get to watch their grandsons play. They

51:48

don't live here in England. They live

51:50

in the Caribbean. But they still get

51:52

to watch it on. Because my son

51:54

plays in the UEFA

51:56

Youth League sometimes. So ESPN. They

52:00

get over there. That's

52:02

incredible. This is

52:04

the part of the podcast where we get the listening

52:06

messages in. If you're

52:09

right to get involved as well, that would be handy.

52:11

This one's from Jake and Sam. One

52:13

of my closest friends has, through no fault of

52:15

their own, booked their wedding on the same

52:17

day as England's opener against Serbia. We're of course

52:19

huge football fans and recognise the travesty of

52:21

not being in front of the huge screen altogether,

52:24

points in hand. The bride has stated

52:27

under no certain terms, that

52:29

she sees as much as a phone on the table, she'll

52:33

kick off Warden Sam, Marino during an injury.

52:35

No reference there? We

52:38

don't want to ruin anyone's big day, but

52:41

as they're catering for dietary requirements

52:43

of celiacs and vegans, we

52:46

feel that our football requirements need to be

52:48

met. We implore you to help soften her

52:50

heart and allow us to enjoy

52:52

their big day the way we want to, ignoring

52:55

them for 90 minutes plus suffragists. PS

52:59

the bride's name's Maddie. I've had

53:01

thoughts on this since we spoke about this, because

53:03

it is a disgrace, isn't it? If you go

53:05

to a wedding, they're often in the summer. It's

53:07

an England major tournament, it's a major tournament.

53:09

We've said that, as

53:12

they've said in this email, vegans could be catered

53:14

for, there's all sorts of dietary requirements. You

53:17

should be able to list any football requirements

53:19

that you have when you're replying. People

53:23

get funny, especially, I'm going to have to

53:25

say it, it's like a lot of the

53:27

time the brides especially seem really funny about

53:29

phones on tables and things like that. If

53:31

they're not football fans, there

53:33

needs to be a change in the system here.

53:35

Well, I just have to deal with it. They

53:37

always come over, and the first thing question is like,

53:40

any allergies, any dietary

53:42

requirements, any football requirements? There

53:44

should be no one extra question. Just one

53:46

extra question. Yeah, we'll have the match on, please. Then

53:49

everyone goes, great. What are

53:51

the thoughts on this? My thought

53:53

is, what times of the game? Can

53:56

you split it up where you

53:58

have... our schedule

54:00

set up don't we for our training so

54:02

could there just be a schedule for the

54:04

game and then just come back into it?

54:06

Yeah, it's sensible. Perfect, it makes it 30-90

54:08

minutes. I think you

54:11

could do both at the same time right, I'm

54:13

not saying necessarily have the screen on with the

54:16

game but you know how tables have got names

54:18

right so say there's 11 tables

54:21

right you have first goal

54:23

scorer okay so this table

54:25

or minutes it's for entertainment yeah so

54:27

this table has got the first goal

54:30

from nought to nine minutes

54:32

okay that table got and then you get every

54:34

involved every

54:37

one's involved. That's the thing it doesn't

54:39

exclude anyone who doesn't like football at

54:41

the wedding and everyone's involved. You know

54:43

you walk in and you see like

54:45

you know the groom side the bride

54:47

side instead of that you've got nought

54:49

to ten over there. And the finishes.

54:54

Is there a prize for... I

54:59

like it. I do wonder if we could offer

55:01

a little service here like maybe we do just in the

55:03

run up to the tournament

55:09

one a week you send us the

55:11

number of a bride or a

55:14

groom that has banned football at

55:16

their wedding like like Maddy here

55:19

and we get you actually just to give her a little

55:21

call. Well this is from Jake and Sam if you could

55:23

I'll go straight down the barrel here. This

55:25

one's to yeah so the mister of jake

55:28

and sam the bride's name is Maddy. Hi

55:30

Maddy, Peter Crouch here from the Peter

55:32

Crouch podcast. ML Herski alongside me with

55:35

Steve Sidwell and Chris Stark. We

55:37

just want to say be fair you know

55:39

we know you're getting married it's a fantastic day we

55:42

all want to enjoy it but it is England Serbia.

55:46

Just have a quick thought for Jake

55:48

and Sam and like to watch the game. Cheers.

55:50

That's brilliant. That

55:52

is great. Well you know hopefully it'll

55:55

have some sway. If it's anything like

55:57

my wife it won't have any. But

56:01

you never know. Alright, shall

56:03

we move on? Yeah, I've got a message

56:06

here from Rory. This is interesting. So,

56:08

my father-in-law was a senior policeman in

56:10

various police forces and boroughs across London.

56:13

One of them was Ealing. He

56:16

revealed over dinner on holiday recently that Crouchy

56:18

was famous amongst the police officers at Ealing

56:20

station as he used to spend his free

56:22

time relaxing in the reception area of the

56:24

station just watching the comings and

56:26

goings. Can Crouchy conserve

56:28

his fruit? Now

56:31

I know you grew up in Ealing. Hey.

56:37

Thor said, did you used to go to Leicester police

56:39

station? What?

56:45

What did you see in it? Who

56:49

are you waiting for? I don't know

56:51

where to begin with this because I

56:54

remember being in there quite a lot. I've got a screw. This

56:57

is true. But

57:01

I don't know why. I've never got arrested. My

57:03

thoughts were, my sister lived opposite the police

57:06

station. You've got the fire station there and

57:08

the police station was kind of over the road and

57:11

you walk into Ealing Broadway. And

57:15

I know the internets of that building and

57:17

I can't for the life of me understand

57:19

why. Because you're thinking it's not a court.

57:22

No, it wasn't like ever in trouble. It's

57:24

a totally clean record. But

57:26

I remember going in there like two in the afternoon. So

57:29

I don't know where I've walked in and just got in

57:31

there. I have been in there. Just

57:33

watching... What did they say to you? I

57:36

probably leave, apparently. I was

57:38

just like, it's the young lad having

57:40

a look in the police station. Pete

57:43

Crouchy used to hang out at police stations. Did

57:46

they kick you off? I think they were

57:48

all really pleasant. But what was this

57:51

when the bill was big or something? Did you

57:53

have in the bill? Oh, but I was just

57:55

passionate about it. I don't know. He

57:57

just wanted it in real life. But

58:01

kids like police stations, don't they? Let's be

58:03

honest. Like, the thrill of the

58:05

whole thing. Brilliant.

58:09

This is... This is... It's old.

58:11

I don't know. We're learning something new. I don't

58:14

know. It's true. All

58:16

I can say is I know I've been in there a

58:18

lot and I don't know why. I

58:20

can't remember. There's

58:23

a message here from MALF. It says,

58:25

after hearing your endorsement episode the other

58:27

week, it reminded me of something I

58:29

spotted at the start of the season.

58:31

I saw that Doctor Clinic Hair Hospital

58:34

has become West Ham's official cosmetic treatment

58:36

partner at the start of the season. Doctor

58:39

Clinic... It's saying that as if everyone's

58:41

got a cosmetic treatment partner. Yeah, but

58:43

in football, everything that's advertised

58:45

is official sweet partner, drinks partner. Yeah, that's

58:47

true. Doctor Clinic Hair Hospital offers hair transplants

58:49

and plastic surgery. I don't know if they're

58:52

just going for a free advert here, but

58:54

whatever. We'll go with the message. Initially,

58:56

it struck me as a strange partnership,

58:58

but then when you think about it,

59:00

Wayne Rooney, Jurgen Klopp, Ryan Giggs, Danny

59:02

Ings, etc., they're all owners

59:04

of new barnets. It makes sense. I

59:07

guess we shouldn't be surprised, therefore,

59:10

if we see Jara Bowen, Antonio,

59:12

who's so far sporting new flowing

59:14

locks at some point. And it's

59:16

got me thinking of a blowing

59:18

bubbles remix. You're

59:21

singing this. I'm not going to sing this. I'm

59:24

forever growing stubble, pretty

59:26

stubble but no hair. I

59:29

can't deny it doesn't reach my eye.

59:32

And unlike my dreams, I can't comb

59:34

and die. Follicles

59:36

are always hiding. I've

59:39

looked everywhere. I'm forever

59:41

growing stubble, pretty stubble but no

59:43

hair. You're

59:46

19. You're 19. You're 19.

59:48

You're 19. That is an

59:50

unbelievable remix. Oh,

59:52

now you've exceeded yourself there. That is phenomenal. Do

59:54

you want to finish on a quick 11? Okay,

59:57

we do 11s on this podcast.

1:00:00

We're big fans of these. This is a

1:00:02

roast dinner 11 if

1:00:04

you care to listen. This

1:00:07

is Tim Collyflowers and cheese,

1:00:09

gravy Neville, lamb

1:00:12

Vatonga, Scott Minto

1:00:14

sauce, Danny Rosemary. Lovely.

1:00:16

Yeah big fan. We found the

1:00:18

midfield. I like Ryan pigs in

1:00:21

blanket. Sweet

1:00:26

Sidwell. Sweet Sidwell is always a

1:00:28

beefy, Robbie Cabbage. Robbie

1:00:37

Cabbage. Dwight

1:00:39

Yorkshire pudding. Yeah. Yeah. Super.

1:00:41

Very good. Love that. Very

1:00:43

good. Obviously

1:00:46

it's probably a slightly different ending to the

1:00:48

most broadcast you've been on, but it's an

1:00:50

absolute pleasure having you on. Always a friend

1:00:53

of the pod, so anytime you fancy coming

1:00:55

on. Good luck to your boys as well.

1:00:57

Thank you. Thanks so much. Top map. Love

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it. Nice. Hi,

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