 Mae'n gweithio'n gwreibio, a beth'n hyn roi'n gweld i wonio'r ar gyfer drei yma i'w gandd yn y gyrddai'r 36-er i chi mae'n gweithio? Chiki! Da, mae'n gweithio, ble mae'n gweithio, fel ymddangos deall. Yn treata, yn fawr, Mae'n gwirio criticol o hyfer ac ein ddweud, ond mae'n gymryd yn eich bod nhw. Mae'n gwirio yn ansoddol i'n gwirio a'n rhaid i'r newid. Mae'r gweithio diolch ar RC. oeddaeth i chi ddweud y hyd yn ymwneud amser o gwrthrobyn ar y awd y cyhoedd, yw rwy'n ei wneud cyfball yn ymddangos i'r adeilad i grelio? Yn mynd i fi, mae'n gwneud do EPYL yn hyn o'r amser ac mae'n gweithio efallai mae hynny'n cydwethaf gwneud o ddair, mae'n gwneud ehonomodau a'n hynno'n rhaid i gael ychydig i'r peynprynu a'r sefydlu. Mae'n婆wch i i ddweud o'r ddweud i chi ddweud i chi ddweud i mi yng ngynghor. So last night was your 435th league appearance. I don't know if you're keeping track. But how much do you remember September 2002? Your first professional game, Brathford City vs Walsall? What was that like for you? Very nerve-wracking. I think you come into a club where you know there's more on the line than reserve games. You've got the crowds playing for three points and the situation when I came into Brathford was just coming out of administration and things like that which was a difficult time around the club. But I loved every minute of it and I think it just inspires you to want to play more and I've enjoyed every moment since. So you had a couple of launch bells before you eventually made that breakthrough for Liverpool. How big of a moment was it making your debut for Liverpool? I think you replaced a half decent midfielder on that day, didn't you? It wasn't too bad. Now it was a dream come true because I'd worked so hard at everything to get in that position to get myself right to play for Liverpool. I've had bad injuries and I've done the right thing on going out on loan. It's like an old cliché but you learn your trade and you grow up and become a man. And then to obviously replace Stephen Gerrard and come onto the pitch is not a bad way to make your entrance. I believe at the time there were some question marks about the rotation policy at Liverpool and you probably didn't play quite as much as you'd like. Was that just because there were so many good players in every position or was it something that you feel could have been better handled by the club? I think it was probably one of the reasons I left the club was because of that. I actually started out as a left midfielder when I broke into the team. I played a lot of games at left midfield and we had John Arnorisa and Jimmy Troyori at left back. And they had the infamous game at Burnley where Jimmy Troyori scored their own goal and moved back into left back that game and played well and continued to play left back from their own. But like you say, in and out of the team became difficult and just become a moment where I thought I want to go and play more regularly because I was enjoying it so much and fortunately for myself I got that opportunity to go to Blackburn and stay within the Premier League. So you got the move to Blackburn. It must have been a relief in many ways that you were going to go get some more Premier League football under your belt but was it emotional leaving Liverpool since you'd been there as a young lad? It was very tough to make that decision but I knew it was the best thing for my career. I spoke to Steve Highway at Liverpool and he just turned around and said you can play 150 games in and out of the team for Liverpool over your career or 200 odd games. Or you can go and be a professional footballer and play 500 games and I thought you're right in what you say so I took his advice and took the jump. So that time at Blackburn and then Aston Villa, is it fair to say that they were your best footballing years at those two clubs? I'd say definitely the whole time at Blackburn was the best time in my career and probably the first year at Villa under Martin O'Neil. I broke into the England squads and things like that which was something I only dreamed of and I knew it was a big achievement to do that but I was playing really well at the time and enjoying my football but it helped out the environment that I was in and the managers I played under. Well it was the form at Aston Villa that got you the call up to the England 2010 World Cup squad. How big was that for you? Yes, it was humongous. Not just for me, for my family, for my friends. Basically having the best seat in the house to watch the World Cup, I knew it would be difficult to break into the team with Ashley Cole who's arguably the best left back that England have ever had and he was at that moment in time probably the best left back in the world. So I knew I was going there as backup. I understood that. I knew me role within the squad and I enjoyed going to the World Cup and experiencing it. What was the atmosphere like in the camp then under Fabio Capello and there's a lot of stuff in the media about what his England regime was like but how did you find it as a player? We were very isolated. We were in a purpose built complex that was out the way. We couldn't walk out into the local town. We couldn't go and sample South African life if you like and just see what's around you. We couldn't interact with the fans so it became hard at times because you were so confined to the spaces that you were in. We did get time when we moved around for the games to go out and see things but from my point of view it was my first World Cup, it was my first major tournament so anything to me was a bonus. I enjoyed every minute of it but I think Michael Carrick's come out recently and spoke about his time at the World Cup and how he found it difficult but these guys have been going to five, six major tournaments for me. I probably knew in the back of my head that this could be the only chance that I got. You'll be on the other side of the fence so to speak with this year potentially working in the media at the World Cup but how do you fancy England's chances for Russia? I think they've got a chance. I think the squad that Garry South gets put together, the young squad has been very ambitious. They've done well at times. Things do change when you go to a major tournament, how people do handle that time alone and being bored at times. It is doing the right things and making sure that you're ready for every game but I think a good run this year would probably be quarter-finals, semi-finals because it's such a young squad. Stephen with 500 nod league games with England. We could talk all day about players you've played with and coaches that you've worked under so first give you five names and you tell us the first thing that comes to mind. I'll elaborate a little bit if you have to but start off with Steve Highway, you've mentioned him already but what do you think of when you think about Steve Highway? A mentor, someone who changed me as a person, made me a better person and a better man and I've got nothing but admiration for the man. And the man who gave you your debut at Liverpool, Raffa Benitez? I get ultimate respect, I think he's proven in the game what a great manager he is and I think you've always got to thank the guy who gave you your debut for your hometown club and who you dreamed of playing for. Gerard Hulie, did you work with Gerard at Aston Villa? I've mixed emotions about Gerard Hulie. I had him at Liverpool when I was younger, he sent me out on loan a couple of times, didn't really keep in contact and then when I went to Villa I had a really good run in the team under him for reasons that will probably come out later down the line. We fell out and I lost my place in the Villa team and probably my career at Villa. Again, we've mentioned him already but Fabio Capello, what was your relationship with Fabio? Very good, enjoyed working under him, I thought his tactical side of his game, his management style was different to what I was used to, you can understand why he'd won so many titles in Italy and Spain. But again, someone who I have to thank massively for giving me the chance to go to a World Cup and to play for England. Finally on a managerial front, Simon Grayson, as manager now coming to the end of your career, have you found it working under Simon Grayson? I've enjoyed it, I think it was a difficult period for both Simon and the players because Stuart McCall obviously had a great rapport with the fans and the players and it was tough for him coming in but he's shown to the players now why he's been so successful at getting teams out of this league and being a top championship manager so I've enjoyed my time working with him. Finally, despite the tweets last night that we were reading saying, come on Steven, surely you've got another year in here, you've announced that you're finishing at the end of this season. You said in the statement you want to still be involved in the game, how does that look, how do you envisage your future? I think first of all it'll be a media side of things, I've already started doing work on that side of the game which I'm enjoying doing. I've done me away for B which is my coaching role, my coaching badges. I look to doing my A licence as soon as possible, trying to fit that in but the main goal is to be a manager. It's something I always, I've probably looked at in the last five years or so but I'd like to take that challenge. I think there's challenges in football like you have to set yourself and that's one of them that I really want to achieve. Can you see yourself maybe going in at youth level similar to Steven Gerrard at Liverpool? I think you've got to in a way, I think you've got to make mistakes and there's a place where you can make mistakes as a manager and the youth level is that place. And that's not been disrespectful to the players but there's not much riding on results so you can try things, you can try different formations, tactics, how you approach players and things like that. And then the other thing is though is that if a job opportunity arises and suddenly you put your name in the hat and you get it, you've got to take it and you've got to run with it and make the most of it. So what will Steven warn up the manager? What will that look like? The word philosophy is branded around in football, do you have any footballing philosophies? Not really, I've got a few notes that I note down about what I'd like to be and the type of person I'd like to be. I think the biggest thing is being a man manager. I think you've got to want your players to play for you first and foremost. They've got to enjoy coming in every day, which is what I try and do every day. I want to come in, I want to enjoy myself, I want to be challenged all the time. So I think the things that what I'd like as a player and what I know other players like, you've got to deliver that to your players. Do you feel that the leadership roles you've captained a lot of the teams you've played for, do you think that will help you understand in a dressing room and being able to motivate players? I think so, yeah. I think that's one of the big things I've taken out of the game is that when you are captain of a club you often get players coming up to you saying certain things and asking certain questions and you get a better understanding of players and what they think and so that's a huge role that you play within the game but I think it will definitely shoot me into management if I go along that route. Brilliant, so closer to home. Last couple of games of this season now coming up. How important is it that the professionalism stays high, the standards stay high and that we finish the season on a high with Bradford City? I think it's massive. I think it's massive not only the players and the staff. I think it's huge for the fans to give them that belief to come back next year to watch the team. They're improving, they're getting better and stronger because this is a fantastic football club and we know the fan base that they've got here but we need to get them people back in the stadium and it helps the team massively. I think the team needs to be back in the championship but in the short term game we just need to keep doing what we're doing which is we're on a good run after the Blackpool game, a lot was said after that game but we've bounced back really well from it and been positive and hopefully we get another result at the weekend. Facts talking to Steven and best of luck to the future. Cheers, thank you.