Campbell was key to Everton’s surge to safety
(Getty Images)Despite having no previous for the relegation grind, Campbell threw himself into it. He took both Jeffers
and Cadamarteri under his wing and, after bad results, did what he could to stay level and lift those around
him who, by then, had tasted defeat too many times. Campbell says he is a positive person by nature, but
puts his behind-the-scenes work down simply to years in the game.
“It’s what experience brings to the table. Think about it – if you’re going to be an experienced pro you’re
going to have had to go through some adversity. And it’s how you deal with that adversity that makes you
get to the top.
“So all these players had been through adversity, they knew how to do it, they knew not to get too high
when we win and not to get too low when we lose. That was the key to that Everton team. And I think that
is what you should look for when bring someone new into a club when you’ve got a fight on your hands.
Look at their personalities. Who is going to help you out others when the times are tough? Those are the
players that get you out of bad situations.”
Sometimes, though, even those without great self-belief and experience can make a difference. Sometimes,
like Jon Stead, you can make the biggest impact by keeping your head down.
Things happened quickly for Stead at the start of 2004. In the space of two days he went from being
Huddersfield Town’s forward in the old Division 3 to sitting in the stands watching his soon-to-be new club
Blackburn Rovers play Chelsea ahead of a £1million deal.
After the match – a 3-2 defeat for Rovers sealed in the dying minutes – the 20-year-old met his new
manager, Graeme Souness.
“Can you handle that?” asked Souness, who had not seen Stead play live before. What followed, Stead says,
was a less than convincing “yes”. Souness sighed: “I’ll see you at training then.”
Like Campbell, Stead’s goals saved Blackburn. Though he only scored six across 14 games, four of them
were winners with another securing a point. The club survived, in the end, by 11 points.