DM1ST
mirror.co.uk/sport SATURDAY 17.08.2019 DAILY MIRROR^59
WA L LY MEETS
MIKE WALTERS: INSIDE FOOTBALL... AND OUTSIDE THE BOX
I was playing in Hong Kong and saw
the ‘Dentist’s Chair’ in 1996
(
it lookedworse than it was!
)
... I was then atWembley for Gazza’s celebration,
and thought ‘that looks familiar’
LEE BULLEN is a one ‘cap’
wonder who discovered the
laws of cavity in the
Dentist’s Chair on a night
out with Paul Gascoigne.
Sheffield Wednesday’s
perennial caretaker manager- holding the fort at
Hillsborough for the third time
in as many seasons – was there
on an infamous soiree when
the England squad got more
than their teeth flossed at
Gazza’s birthday celebration.
Before Euro 96, Terry
Venables’ side played a couple
of warm-up friendlies in the Far
East, one of them an unofficial
‘international’ against a Hong
Kong Golden Select XI,
including a handful of ringers
from these shores.
England laboured to a 1-0
win, Les Ferdinand scoring the
only goal, but the thirsty
debriefing became a notorious
episode in the social habits of
footballers, and spawned a
famously premeditated goal
celebration. Bullen, hoping to
Date of birth March 29, 1971 (age 48)
Place of birth Edinburgh, Scotland
Playing position Centre-back/Striker
Years & Team Mats Gls
1988–89 Dunfermline Ath ..........0 0
1989–90 Penicuik Ath ................ 17 12
1990 Meadowbank ..................... 12 0
1990–91 Stenhousemuir ........... 22 4
1991–93 Whitburn...................... 36 251993 CYC Stanmore ..................... 8 (^2)
(^1993) Wollongong Wolves............. – –
1993-94 Kui Tan.......................... – –
1994–97 Hong Kong Golden........– –
(^1997) South China....................... – –
1997-98 Instant-Dict..................– –
1998–2000 Kalamata ............... 50 11
2000–04 Dunfermline Ath .......151 24
2004–08 Sheffield Weds ......... 148 9
2008–11 Falkirk ......................... 47 1
TEAMS MANAGED
2017–18 Sheffield Weds (caretaker)
P 4 W 1 D 1 L 2 Win % 25%
2018–19 Sheffield Weds (caretaker)
P 4 W 2 D 2 L 0 Win % 50%
2019–Present Sheffield Weds (caretaker)
P 2 W 2 D 0 L (^0) Win % 100%
LEE BULLEN: PLAYER & BOSS STATS
do is focus on where they are,
turn green with envy, and
(^) forget about ourselves.
“If we can continue in the
same manner as we’ve started
the season, hopefully our time
will come on the Premier
League’s hallowed turf.”
In his three stints as
caretaker, Bullen has chalked
up five wins and three draws in
10 games. He is relishing his
extended audition to land the
job on a permanent basis.
“This is my chance,” he
added. “I’m enjoying it, but all
I can do is to work on the next
game. If you start thinking out-
side the box, or getting ahead
of yourself, you lose focus.
“I’m very calm, very steady.
There was disappointment
when Steve Bruce decided to
move on because we felt we
had something going after the
back end of last season.
“You don’t win any trophies
for being top after two games...
but it sure puts a spring in the
step of your players and fans.”
won the tournament. They had
a fantastic team.”
Wednesday’s flying start will
be put to the test by Millwall at
The Den today, but they are
keen to maintain it after seeing
Steel City neighbours United
reach the Premier League.
Bullen, 48, said: “Of course
there’s an element of wishing
we were there, and it would be
completely wrong if we said
otherwise. But what we can’t
to let their hair down. As a
proud Scot, I’m also sorry to
say I was at Wembley the day
they beat us 2-0 and, when
Gazza re-enacted the Dentist’s
Chair with his goal celebration,
I was in the stands thinking,
‘That looks familiar, I saw that
a few weeks ago’.
“But I suppose it was also a
great way to stick two fingers
up at the negativity. Ultimately,
I thought England should have
or a seedy bar, but it was
actually based loosely on a TGI
Friday-type diner.
“Yes, the Dentist’s Chair was
a focal point – you paid the
barman to recline in this chair
and, instead of root canal
treatment, you got a vodka and
lime tipped down your neck.
“I believe it was Paul
Gascoigne’s birthday, so the
England lads were in good
spirits, but it was nowhere
near as bad as it was made out
at the time.
“It probably looked worse
than it was because, for
whatever reason, they started
ripping each other’s T-shirts
and it probably looked wrong
in some of the photographs.
“Some of the people in the
club at the time stitched up
one or two of the England
boys. They copped all the flak,
but the Hong Kong players
were all there as well.
“We had recommended the
Jump for a night out and Terry
had given his team permission
land the Owls job full-time
after a 100 per cent start in
their first two games, said: “I’m
probably the answer to a quiz
question somewhere about
being the only Scotsman to
play against England without
winning a Scotland cap.
“I was lucky enough to play
up front for the Hong Kong
Golden XI because I was
playing my football in Hong
Kong at the time.
“We had some decent ‘guest’
players – from Mike Duxbury
to Dave Watson and Carlton
Fairweather – and I was gutted
not to score.
“I bumped Tony Adams off
the ball and tried to dink it
over David Seaman as he
rushed out. But he stuck out a
leg and diverted it with his
shin... and then came the fun
and games in the famous
(^) ‘Dentist’s Chair’ afterwards.
“The China Jump, which is
where both teams went
afterwards to wind down, was
portrayed as a den of iniquity