50 February 2016 FourFourTwo.com
I n TERVIEWS
Interview Ian MurtaghThe ex-England man recalls
West Ham’s infamous drop,
fall-outs with Mou – and why
Liverpool flopped under RoyTEAMS
West Ham
Millwall (loan)
Chelsea
Portsmouth
Liverpool
Stoke
EnglandGLEn JOHnSOn
“JOSE COULD BE
PRETTY COLD AT
TIMES – HE JUST
DIDn’T GIVE ME
A FAIR CHAnCE”
Before making your West Ham debut, you
were loaned to rivals Millwall during the
2002-03 campaign. Did you receive a frosty
reception at The Den?
Everyone knows Millwall fans’ reputation, and
going there from West Ham is a big move forYou briefly went in goal during an FA Cup
tie at Newcastle in 2005 – and even kept
a clean sheet despite a 1-0 loss. Were you
always down as the backup?
Definitely not! I went in goal because Carlo
Cudicini got sent off after we’d used all three
of our substitutes. As he walked towards the
tunnel, he had to pass me at right-back and
tossed me his gloves. I’m looking around at
the other players and everyone’s doing their
best not to catch my eye. I thought, ‘OK, well
it looks like I’m in goal then!’ The first thing
I had to do was line up a wall for a free-kick.
Laurent Robert had a hammer of a left foot,
so I started telling the lads to shuffle across
and stop him belting one in the top corner.
Frank Lampard was laughing his head off at
me. Luckily, Robert didn’t really catch hold of
it and I pushed it away. But that’s one of my
funniest memories as a player.After Jose Mourinho’s arrival in 2004, you
found yourself out of the team more often.
Was that tough to take?
Jose could be pretty cold at times. He brought
in some of his own players and made it clear
they were going to be playing. He and I didn’t
see eye to eye, as I didn’t think I was getting
a fair crack of the whip. I thought I was good
enough to play at a high level and had done
well the previous season – so to just drop me
without giving me a chance was a bit harsh.
I wasn’t satisfied with a bit-part role and told
him I wanted to go elsewhere to play football.
The rest is history.After an initial loan spell in 2006-07 you
signed for Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth,
winning the FA Cup in 2008. Tell us about
your time on the south coast...
Well, Harry was a totally different manager
to Jose. [Laughs] He was one of the lads; he
had a laugh and let us do things we maybe
shouldn’t have, but he kept everyone smiling.
That’s what he was always very good at – he
knew if his players were enjoying themselves,
they’d perform better. It’s not rocket science.
We had a great team for a couple of years –
to top it off with the FA Cup was incredible.a youngster. But when you’re that age, you’re
fearless. I was confident about what I could
do, and I had friends there at the time, so it
was an easy decision. Luckily I played well so
Millwall’s fans grew to love me, though there
were a couple of difficult games at the start.After returning to West Ham that season,
you were part of their side relegated from
the top flight with 42 points. A campaign
of mixed emotions...
It certainly was. From the age of about 10
I’d dreamt of playing for West Ham, so I was
happy that I started playing – but obviously
not with where we were in the table. Listen,
that side was way too good to get relegated.
We had Joe Cole, Jermain Defoe, Lee Bowyer,
Paolo Di Canio, Michael Carrick... around half
of England’s XI at the 2010 World Cup came
from that Hammers squad. I didn’t make my
debut until February, and up until that point
we’d only won one home game. We went on
a good run at the end and got to the magical
number 40 [points], but it wasn’t enough.In 2003 you became the first purchase of
the Roman Abramovich era at Chelsea –
how did it feel to be part of such a project?
At the time, we didn’t know much about the
overall project. I was just an 18-year-old kid
living the dream. Chelsea were a huge club
and I was over the moon to be moving there.
Then all the big names followed me through
the door, conveyor belt-style. I’d grown up
watching some of those guys, so to train and
play alongside them was a dream come true.92 July 2022 FourFourTwo