FourFourTwo UK – September 2019

UPFROnT

Why do you think Roy Hodgson got

the England job when you were the

clear favourite with the press and

public? Were there ever any talks?

‘Mac.egan13’, via Instagram

There were never talks, although it did

look like I was a certainty to get the job

• the bookmakers don’t normally get it
  wrong, and I was 1/10. I think Roy was
  about 10/1. One or two of the lads sent
  me text messages - Wayne Rooney and
  Steven Gerrard – because they thought
  I was going to get it. I don’t know why
  I didn’t – it was the FA’s decision. Roy
  had maybe done more work with the
  FA over the years, and was more of an
  FA man than I was. That’s life. It was
  a funny time because I was very happy
  at Spurs. It wasn’t like I was desperate.
  I knew the aggravation that went with
  the England job: not going in every day
  with players, sitting in the FA’s office in
  Soho Park, or wherever it is. Was that
  something I wanted to do, really?

Would England have lost to Iceland if

you’d been in charge?

Norman Chester, Brighton

It might not have happened, but who

knows? Hindsight’s a wonderful thing.

Peoplesaywewouldn’thavedoneso

wellattheWorldCupif SamAllardyce

hadbeenthemanager,butSammight

havewontheWorldCup– hemight

havebeatenCroatia.Nooneknows.

WhathappenedatTottenhamwhen

youwerelinkedwiththeEnglandjob?

Didyoulosefocus,orwasit justa bad

runofform?

PaddyDiver,viaInstagram

I didn’tlosefocus– wefinished4th.We

shouldhavequalifiedfortheChampions

League,butChelseawontheChampions

Leagueandwemissedout.I thinkthe

owner,JoeLewis,wanteda change–

Tottenhamalwayswanteda directorof

footballov erseeingthingswitha coach,

sowentbacktothat.They’dhadDamien

Comollitherebefore,thentheybrought

intheItalianchap,FrancoBaldini,who

cameinalongsideAndreVillas-Boas.

WelovedyouatTottenham,buthow

farcouldyouhavetakenus?Wewere

ontherighttrackfora titlepush...

DanielRapps,viaFacebook

I thoughtwecouldhavedoneit,yeah.

Wewere2ndatChristmastimeand

“BEFORE AN AWAY GAME AT

MAN UNITED, ME AND FERGIE

WOULD GO AND SIT IN HIS OFFICE,

WATCH RACING AND HAVE A BET”

10 September 2019 FourFourTwo

I was keen to sign a new centre-forward

and centre-half, but we were told that

we weren’t going to spend any money.

I ended up bringing in Louis Saha, who’d

been a great player but was coming to

the end of his career, and Ryan Nelsen,

who’d been a great centre-half. I’m not

stupid. I’m not going to take a couple of

free transfers well into their 30s if I could

have got a couple of world-class players.

I’d have rather signed Luis Suarez from

Ajax, but my hands were tied.

Which car is the nicest to hang out of

a window on deadline day?

Mikey Robson, Milton Keynes

[Laughs] I always had the Range Rover,

didn’t I? [FFT: How did the tradition come

about?] Well, it’s like when you phoned

me up about doing this. I don’t really

want to do an interview with you today,

do I? There’s nothing in it for me – you

haven’t given me a fucking Mars Bar or

anything! [FFT: We can go and get one?]

I don’t want one! [Smiles] But you ring

me, you’re nice people, you’ve got a job

to do and I give up my time. I used to

drive into the training ground and there

was a bloke from Sky who’d been stood

out there since 7am. It’s pissing down

with rain and his job is to get interviews.

I stop and talk, not because I want to

be on the telly talking about transfers,

but he’s got a job to do. When I was off

air, I’d say, “Bring him in and give him

some lunch, a cup of tea and a couple

of biscuits.” It’s all about helping each

other, isn’t it?

What really happened when Peter

Odemwingie turned up at QPR on

deadline night?

Andrew Barnes, Solihull

We were trying to get him, and thought

we would get the deal done in time. We

were haggling, West Brom’s chairman

wouldn’t budge, but they wanted to get

rid of him. We were sayng to his agent,

“You’d better get down to London – if

it gets done at 9pm, you’re not going to

get here in time. Come down here by the

football ground.” But instead of going

to a hotel, they headed straight to the

ground, which caused a big problem.

When I saw him on TV, I thought, ‘Oh

my God’. I felt sorry for him: it put him

in a bad situation. But players do that

all the time – if it’s deadline day, they’ll

travel and check into a hotel nearby.

Which of your kids is your favourite:

Jamie, Mark or Niko?

Oliver Pearman, via Twitter

[Laughs] Kranjcar! I loved Niko Kranjcar

as a footballer. You always knew what

you were getting with him, Defoe and

Crouch, which is why I continued to sign

them. Defoe would score you goals and

Crouchy would score, lead the line and

give you something completely different.

Niko was just a great player.

What was it like managing Jordan?

Darren Stokes, Woodford

That was good fun and Prince Ali was an

amazing man, but it didn’t end too well

because I was very ill. We went to play

in Australia, and just before the match

kicked off I began to feel unwell. When

I eventually flew back home, I ended up

in hospital. I had a tumour.