Four Four Two - UK (2020-11)

You must have studied at Scotland’s most

star-studded school?

Aye, Holyrood produced a lot of students who

went on to do very well. There was comedian

Frankie Boyle, Fran Healy from Travis, Jim Kerr

from Simple Minds, Manchester United hero

Paddy Crerand, and me as well.

You made your breakthrough at Ipswich

under Sir Bobby Robson. What was he like

to play for?

I was very fortunate to start my career under

the great man. I remember him watching me

when I was on trial. He said, “Son, I think you

might have a chance.” That meant so much.

It was brilliant to play for him, but don’t think

for one moment that he was a cuddly uncle,

Does it amuse you that some people don’t

know you were a player?

I’ve got used to it now, but it’s still a bit weird.

I’ve worked at talkSPORT for 20 years, so the

younger listeners don’t realise I used to play,

rather than just talk about the game. Some

say, “Oh, he played football?” which is funny.

I suppose I’ve been lucky to reinvent myself.

Have you ever told Sir Alex Ferguson that

you regularly ruined his garden?

No I never have, so please don’t tell him! As

a boy growing up in Glasgow, I used to walk

past his house when he was a Rangers player.

Because I was a Celtic fan, I’d pick the flowers

in his garden. It was stupid – I stopped when

one of his neighbours told my mum about it.

Martin’s team talk now – he basically told us
we had to leave everything out on the pitch
that night. He said, “It’s do or die. You either
go out there and stand up, or we fail and are
out.” He inspired us to go and get that result.
We ended up winning 2-0 with a wonderful
performance, on a Thursday under the lights
at Anfield, and the Liverpool fans applauded
us off afterwards.

You’ve had a few different roles as a coach
but are a pundit these days. Would you still
be interested in becoming a manager?
I’m not really sure. I’ve coached at Newport,
I’ve been a coach at Livingston and I’ve been
assistant manager for Wales. I’ve dipped my
toe in, teaching the strikers, but I don’t know
now unless the right opportunity came along.
If someone rang saying, ‘How about it, John?’
with a good club, a good chairman and good
players, then I might consider it. But I think
as the years are going by, in my mid-40s, you
wonder whether you want to do it as late as
that. Some managers and coaches start off
in their 20s and then work their way up. I was
a little disappointed in the past that I didn’t
get an opportunity at places like Swansea. It
would have been nice if I’d got a chance, but
they decided to go elsewhere, which is their
prerogative. There were a couple of occasions
when I was 36 or 37 that I thought, ‘Here we
go, there’s a chance here’, but someone has
to give you a break in any walk of life. I had
that break in the media, but I’ve never quite
had the same opening in terms of going in as
a coach or manager.

You stepped down from your role as Wales
assistant in November 2013 and previously
said that you didn’t enjoy it?
I went in there under Chris Coleman and was
really delighted to get an opportunity to work
for my country, after earning 51 caps. Chris
is a good friend of mine, and he asked if I’d
go and assist him. I just felt I wasn’t allowed
to make... not so much wasn’t allowed, but
I didn’t make the impact I wanted to. It was
more standing around than getting involved,
and it showed me that perhaps in the future
I needed to be the manager, rather than the
assistant or coach. I spent quite a lot of time
standing around being Chris’ eyes and ears,
whereas I was looking for more involvement.
I wanted to be in amongst it with the players.
So I stepped away, and then they went on to
reach the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

When that happened, did you wish you’d
stayed on as assistant?
I had no regrets, because I thought about it
for a long time and decided to step away. It’s
not a criticism of Chris or the coaches. Some
coaches are quite happy to watch from the
sidelines, but as a player I always voiced my
opinion and was always involved. I wanted
to do the same thing with Wales, and didn’t
feel like I could. But I’m a proud Welshman,
and working for my country was a fantastic
experience. It just helped me realise that if
I was going to work with another side in the
future, it would have to be a specific role or
I’d go in as the manager.

Interview Sam Pilger

Whenhewasn’twatchingEnglandstarsscamperingamong

trees, Ipswich’s idol was rejecting a role in Escape to Victory

“TREVOR FRAnCIS WEnT InTO THE

WOODS AnD CAME BACK OUT WITH

THIS SICK-STAInED £200 JUMPER”

TEAMS

Ipswich

Detroit Express (loan)

Tottenham

Manchester United

Coventry

QPR

Scotland

ALAn BRAZIL

FourFourTwo November 2020 93