 Boonwyr arno i fynd i'w cystafel yột yn ystyrwad o bracellwyr cyflwr. Mae'r UK yn ddraith teis o yolu Cymru yn centio Cymru. A oedden nhw'n i Dodd Aquaint연 gamesu, roedd cyflwr y symud yn gondol a'r cwmwyll iawn. A os oedden nhw'n iddi'n ymgwrdd gwahodol un o'r progent, a oedden nhw'n ei ddrewch Cymru yn moddol? Ond yna'r pwysig o'r rhagwyr yn dweud. Ysbryd efo'r ddrewch y maes yn ei ddwyngio'r Cymru yn cyrchan o gefnodd y gofyn ydyn nhw'n golygu i tyfn 500 pÙr o gwybod o'r code James 500. Mae'r bâl adeiladau o'r sall cyntaf ymweld gynyddiad yn ei gweld i unrhyw grunyddion ac yn ei wneud oedd ymyl James Angles yn ymgweld i chi. Nid oes – yw gyrdd gweld i'r ffaisodd! Felly、 gydweud o gwnaeth i'r pwledaeth o wneud o gwneud o'r gweithredu yn rhaglenio ar heddiw ac mae nhw'n gallu ei ffrwd y ddigwydd hynny, a'r boton o gwirio'r notifu'r boton o bwysig o'ch nôl i chi fynd i gynnwch y mhawr yn gwybod. Gweithio'n gwirio yn ddod yn gweithio. Felly mae'n mynd i gyd yn gweithio i'r lif. Efallai James! Gweithio'r bros! Mae'n gweithio. Gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio. Fe wnaeth a'r gwirio i'r gwirio'n gweithio i'r gwirio. Mae'r cofnod ymlaeth mewn ymddag a'r gweithio'n gwirio. Fe wnaeth eich gwirio'n gweithio? Yw'n goa! Mae wnaethfo dod Lord, mae oedd eich welith yn llef어� triangle. Mae'n rhaik na'i'r bobl riding. Oriwyd y peth iddin i methu i chi. Roedd yn lashe, rhai dda! Mae yna yn gwneud r že syfon 5 yr 6 byd Shadow, ond er lifnos iddyn oedd yn dd nucswll. Gen bayad gydaareng, da chi oed entio. Fyddai ames على ei casliwn i adnu newydd? Yes – retain reddewydd sydd Learnham.預ud mynd yn cwyd i adneun liquiddd newyddiau. Mae'r heirio, Kevin Keegan, Peter Bearsley, Gaza. Mae'r stori o Gaza. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'r legendau. Mae'n amser. Mae'r amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'r amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. Mae'n amser. a'r hollwch am yma ac gennym ni wedi y porfodol yn oed yn ffyrdd am gyfer eich gwneud, dyna'r byth ar yoedd yn ffyrdd i'n gallu cefnod i dd טo'r uch wyrser ac yn gyfryd am eu ddweud ac yn gwneud o'r byd o'r byd o'i gweithio i ddweud ar y bydd yn ffyrdd i ddweud ac nid wrth gynydd i fod yn gwneud i'r bydd yn hynny. Fel yw ddweud y Maen nhw, panreodd o'r fan mewn fel Caiso? Felly yn ei dddol i fan Lleidio, ond fe yna yna nid, Ac yn gweithio byddwch sy'n mynd i'w cychwynol i'r gwrthog ac yn cyflawnio'r Gwynedd, ond byddwch cyfan i'w gwaith i'w gwaith i'r gwrthog maen nhw i'w fan gyneddol. Byddwch bydwch chi'n gwrthog? Byddwch sy'n gweithio byddwch. Nid yw'r gwaith efo'i gwneud i Gwynedd. Fyddwch Denais Wyyser yn gweithio byddwch gyda'r Gwynedd, ac mae'r gwaith i'w gwaith i'w gwaith i'w gwaith i gaelwch. Yn gweithio byddwch ar gyfer? I was great at pottery so I didn't get any qualifications apart from the pottery one so it was all sport and pottery basically and I didn't concentrate at all. Fucking pottery? I was brilliant at it pal. Well it's some fucking Patrick's Wheezy shit with it. I wish. I wish. All the teachers knew when I was missing lessons where I would be in the fucking art class doing pottery. Was that right with the little machines in the clay and water? I was shit hot to be fair. Do you still have anything that you made? I think my mum's still got a few bits in the house but no I've not gotten out now. What was your first football team? Probably my first battle hill first school and then I got involved at the Walls End Boys Club which is a great tradition. You've probably heard of Steve Bruce, Peter Beardsley, Alan Shearer, Michael Carrick. So a massive hotbed for young talent in the north-east. When did you start finding a passion for football? Did you realise you had a bit of a talent? I think it was probably about eight or nine. Once you start playing for a team and you start kicking about and you start getting the scouts knocking on your door and talking to your parents and that. I was got a lot of interest when I was a kid, man United, not in forests, Spurs, Chelsea. But obviously it was a new castle where I wanted to go you know. Was you always left footer? Oh I always left footed. Like Jamie said it was last night Jamie Boyle, it was done by Bruce. He said that right foot was just for standing on, wasn't it? But I said I don't know. I step and crossed the range as goalie. I scored a couple of me right foot past him. But I was predominantly left footed yeah. When did you go to Newcastle at what age? I think I signed when I was about 13. 13 on school boy forms and then obviously when I left school then that was when I went in full time. What was that like for you? Brilliant mate, brilliant. It's your dream in it you know. I don't know who your team was as a kid who was your team. So if you got the opportunity to play for Selig it would be your dream wasn't it? That was my dream. My first dream was to play for Newcastle and I achieved that. I was lucky because I had a bad car crash when I was 16. So I broke my neck so it was touch and go whether I was going to walk again never mind playing football again. So I was out for two years 16 to 18. So it was a big time of your life you know 16, 18. Learning your trade, trying to get on the football ladder if you want. And I had the car crash which put us right on the back foot. So I was a lucky boy to get back fit from that. Yeah that's because I show years 16, 18. That's when I kind of develop and I think between 14 and 18. That's when you kind of see the boys who are going to make it. The talent gets you so far but at a certain age it's then it's consistency of the people who walk harder than you. They kind of keep rising. Aye and for me as well my mates, lad Steve Watson, Lee Clark, Robbie Elliott they were all breaking into the team while I was out injured. So I'm sitting in the stands watching my best mates who I've grown up with playing with. Getting into the first team so it was frustrating you know but it just gives us all the more incentive to get back fit and get on the pitch with them lads you know. What happened with the car crash? The lad that was driving, lad called Mickey English fell asleep at the wheel. So we were on the A1, we'd been down Ellen Road actually leads to watch a reserve team game and I not long left school I was only 16 and he dozed off at the wheel and the old style mini which is in the particularly big car was five when that's what the wreck and save does. That close together in the car when it rolled we kind of took the impact off each other so not a nice thing, there was no lights on that part of the motorway so when the car ended up on its roof 11 o'clock at night pitch black it's on its roof you think what's happened, yeah? And next thing you know you're in an ambulance and they're cutting your clothes off and all that I was like that don't cut me shellsuit off you can't cut that off it's brand new first time I've had it on they were like fuck that I was blood all over the place and cut us off in straight and I was in hospital for three or four weeks at first year. And that what was it like getting told that you might not have played football again? I don't think I knew how serious it was James it was a Wednesday night and on the Saturday I was going away with England on the 17s we had a game in Iceland and I said to the nurses first night in hospital I said well I'm not going to be fit for Saturday and they were like we need to speak to your parents and stuff like that son so real tough time not just for me mentally and physically obviously but probably tough for me mum and dad knowing that a 16 year old boy being in a serious car crash you know Did everybody survive? I was myself who had brought me neck and then there was another lad called Phil Mason in the book he got throughout the window when the car was rolling so when the car stopped on its roof I was like everyone alright, everyone alright I didn't know I was seriously injured at first it must have been the adrenaline and the shock but there was only four of us in the car so I was like where's Phil, where's Phil and it wasn't until the police come and the services and got the lights on and all that they found him under the centre of reservation luckily he wasn't dead but he fractured his spleen and broke his pelvis he was in hospital bed next to us in the ward so I was fucking heavy unbelievable mate honestly and just the experience in hospital there was like three beds on this side three beds on that side one guy comes in just an hour after me and he was refusing to give a breath test he smashed all his hands in a car crashing he was refusing the police so there was agro going on and I'm like what's going on here couple of days later the bloke opposite over there woke up in the morning he'd lost his sight and I'm like is this a mental home or is this a hospital it was like it was mental you know but now it was there the staff were great, the nurses and they obviously got some got a lot of good visitors and stuff like that they put you up you know but now it was a difficult time thinking am I going to play football what am I going to do I've only got a pottery qualification what am I going to do if I can't get back fit or if I end up in a wheelchair so you can imagine all the thoughts going through your head as a 16 year old kid even when they were unsure if I was going to get fit or not on my 17th birthday they gave us a pro contract so they were kind of like you know just to try and perk us up and keep us keep us positive if you want but the physio Derek right who's still at Newcastle now he's done a little bit in the front of the book about it how severe the injury was and not on Newcastle were brilliant How was coming back from that though with the training wise what was the steps bike hand bike then I had this big collar round me all the way up torso up my face up the back of my head so it affected me so my skin was a mess all over my chest and it was horrible so first and foremost it was getting rid of that collar I'd done it in the September and then I was in for four weeks hospital got out with this brace thing on horrible your lads used to call it Robocop because that was on at the time Robocop and then it wasn't healing the two fractures in my neck weren't healing so I had to go back in in the January and get pins and plates put in so you can imagine that I've already done a month in hospital then going back in after Christmas in the January to get the surgery, get the pins in took some bone from me hip and grafted it in my neck it was pretty serious stuff so it was a slow process after the bike then jogging and then gradually getting the ball out and then obviously the last step starting the head of balloon and then starting to just try and get moving and then heading the ball and then I was nine on two years until I got back and played my first match but listen I got back so What was it like playing your first match back? Were you worried? I was petrified tackles going up for aerial challenges it was a mental it was probably a mental block I had and later on in my career I had a big problem of vomiting before games so certain managers didn't like it Kevin Keegan being one Bruce Ryock being another one at Bolton so Bruce Ryock sent us to see a psychologist about it so he would stop the vomiting because you know, not good vomiting before a game you're losing fluids and you don't lose fluids you're dehydrated, you're going to get injured or you're not going to perform so the psychologist put it down to the possible fear of getting a serious injury again after having me neck but it didn't cure the vomiting I carried on all the way through my career I stopped playing at 34, it was just something I'd done What about getting in a car again? It's a passenger, not great I'm alright when I'm driving but I'm not a great passenger because I'm not in control so that was another hurdle I had to get over So then you ended up in Newcastle and where did you go after that, Bolton? Who was that Bolton there, Big Stubbs in that? Big Stubbsy, Jason McIntyre John McGinley Owen Coyle Andy Walker Mixle Pat-a-Lining Dave Lee, Keith Branigan That was a good time at Bolton, aye? And then you got your £4.5M move to Villa Went to Villa? That's a big fucking move, how old were you? I was 23 It was a big move at the time It was a big fee so that was a dressing room full of characters at Villa You had the Mercens Collymores Joe Carboney David Ginola Garas Southgate David James So it was going from a good dressing room at Bolton but with no superstars if you want and then going to Villa where there was some proper big hitters Chaos, I had Merse on a couple of weeks ago he's a character 150 grand bet he's put on Lost Over Seven phenomenal It's just what was Merse like at Villa because that was at the end of his career and towards the end we signed him from Middlesbrough because I don't know if you must have told you when he was at Middlesbrough he lived with Gaza didn't he him, Gaza and Andy Townsend lived together so that would have been interesting wasn't it Merse and Gaza in the same house he was a talented footballer Merse no doubt about that but everyone public about his problems so he was a hell of a player What about Ginola man? because he was a baller Ginola knew Castle Tottenham I think he had a spell of everything as well How was it Villa? Brilliant, brilliant David he was my hero because he was at Newcastle when I left and went to Bolton he then signed for Newcastle so I used to watch him and think what a player he is so then to be in the same dressing room I was delighted when he he took his kit off on the first day man what a body he had and he's got his slips on I thought if he takes them slips off and he's got a massive head it's just not fair you know there's not a god and it was a little one so I jumped around the dressing room and it would be cool We used to think for your positions out in the left I but I wasn't there I think I was only six months there with David then I was off to Celtic after that but I was some boy the women loved him Why such a short career that for did you get injured? Was it like Achilles or something? Dummy ankle ligaments I mean it started off well the first six months were top of the league at Christmas and it was going alright and there were some ligaments on New Year's Day and I just didn't get back to where I was before that and so I kind of sat around in the duldrums for 18 months until Martin and Neil come knocking I What was that call when you Celtic? Did you know much about Scottish football? Are you with us about Stubbs? Stubbs he was obviously there Tommy Johnson was Celtic as well at the time he was a pal and then lads in the boat and dressing room like McGinley and Coyley and that they were big Celtic fans so I knew all about it I think it's till you get there till you know it's a big club you know it's got a big fan base but it's when you're going around the world you know you're going to America pre-season or winter break, you're going to Australia you're going to the far eastern Celtic fans all over the place so you know it's a big club but I think only when you play for them do you realise how big it actually is because you had the ground running did you want to table the first years that Craig? I think did Celtic not lose the season before to Rangers by about 18 points and he'll come in and say I'll try and close the gap he didn't close the gap, he went and won the travel so it was some start How good a manager was he for you at the start? Brilliant mate, he was old school you know you can tell he played for Cluffy and stuff like that at Forrest he wasn't a coach, he didn't go on the training ground and tell us what he wanted us to do you go there, you go here he was just good at saying the right thing at the right times and make you feel 10ft tall at that era is probably the best Celtic team I've ever seen I've ever seen big bobo yourself absolute ballers and you don't realise how good they are until you actually watch the old videos and you think wow what a team even the Rangers team what a fucking team they had that was a good Rangers team Michael Molls, Barry Ferguson big bobo Malcolm he was pissed off you're watching big bobo, the big hod carrier he did a big Albert Albert was there at the time the manager of Rangers now was there at the time I was a good Rangers team so we did wipe the floor with him You think in your first season this is a piece of pass? Not really to be fair James, I thought myself at the career I was over before it started I got sent off in my first old firm game at Ibrox and we got beat 5-1 so I remember going back to my ex-missies and saying we were on a rented house at the time said I don't think we should buy a house live after what's just happened in the dressing room after the game I thought Martin was going to rip me head off so I was like that myself the career could be over I've just got a red card and got beat 5-1 but luckily the next old firm game itself part of 1-1-0 and I scored so I redeemed myself after the first red What was that like for you the biggest derby on the world because it's a pure hatred you've got your vocal juniors the Celtic Rangers is pure hatred there's no fucking word you can't deny it It's a cut above the rest like you mentioned Bocher and Milan and you know it's Liverpool the class is a big derby Tottenham Arsenal but for people who don't live in Glasgow I know about the old firm it's like no other it's just the hatred that comes with it it's like a week before the game so it's just and I always say to people if you get a chance to go to an old firm game whether you're a Celtic fan or a Rangers fan or you're not an old firm fan just go to sample the atmosphere how different it is to anything else What was that like for you walking out at Ibrox for the first time? Oh it's brutal it's brutal mate it's mental when that team bus pulls up outside of Ibrox and there's like a couple of thousand Rangers fans there a boo you're getting off the bus it's great when you get back on the bus and you're running and not there it's a brutal place it's a great place to play listening to the atmosphere and what have you it's a wonderful stadium but it's intense going there What was going through your mind when you were in the dressing room getting sent off and you hear the fans cheering every fucking 10 minutes Well it was 2-1 when I went off Why did you get sent off? It was two yellow Cods the second one was a mistime tackle on Barry Ferguson I think but you go in and like you say you hear the 3-1 and you hear the next one 4-1 and 5-1 and you think I've let the lads down you I've let the gaffa down I've let the fans down I let myself down and you apologise after the game but that doesn't brush up then you get sent off and you get humped 5-1 so as you can imagine the gaffa want to rip me out of How good was Barry Ferguson? Barry was a good player like you say he played in a good team didn't he and he went to Rangers as a kid and played for all those so you don't play for a club the size of Rangers in good teams if you're an average player so tough opponent you should have a few run ins with them You had a great career against Rangers man it was 8 goals you scored 7 goals I in 26 games which is not bad for a wing back really my job was more to supply the big hit as up front Enric and Chris and John but to score 7s quite proud of it that's one of the most from a Saudi playing your top 5 or top 10 that player has scored the most against Rangers that makes you feel okay that makes you feel okay but then as Jamie Boyle author of my book always brings up your whole record for the 3 red cards so that's something I'm not proud of but obviously the 7 goals I can't take that away from all the eyebrows as well is that nerves though? I bit in nerves the first one I spoke about was a 5-1 game that might have been 2 yellow cards but then I get a straight red foreign alleged headbutt on Peter Love and Trance which was never a headbutt but it was funny I said last night we were down at John Horton's golf day at Turnbury a few years ago and there was a referee there speaking after the dinner and Martin O'Neill said John what's your opinion on the red card Tom O got at Ibrox on Peter Love and Trance and this John Robottom said there well there was a bit of intent there so there was intent to get red card and Martin O'Neill went home John you're talking bollocks it was never a red card and I put my glass of red wine down and I went gaffa did you say that was never a red card and he went Tom O never a red card absolutely not and I went you find me 2 weeks wages for that and he went I'll get you a glass of red Tom O and I got done 2 weeks wages for that one so and the next season again you won the league I it was a it's a good habit to get into you know it's like you mentioned some of the lads there Henry, John Ortson, Chris Sutton, Bobo Bolly Johann Mialby, Joss Valharen Henry, Neil Lennon Paul Lambert, Stylian Petterhoff they're all winners do you know what I mean Paul Lambert's won the Champions League playing for Dortmund so we just had a mentality in the dressing room that you know we just wanted to crack on and win trophies did you hear that as well man did you hear saying the same day as me man for 30 grand I mean what an absolute 30 grand what would you get for 30 grand now I think he'd be worth about 20 30 more that either went against him when he's got the European one like his performances was on he couldn't fucking cross the ball man for shit right now he couldn't cross the road but he was he got injuries like you know he'd get hamstring injuries cos he was that powerful and that quick but he could be out for four weeks and Martin would say to him did he I need you fit for this all firm game coming up I need you fit for this European game coming up and he wouldn't train for four weeks and then he'd train for two days before the game and come back in he was like a machine just phenomenal unbelievable athlete yeah the cup run the uf a cup run unbelievable I don't know if I've ever seen that again hopefully at all but to go through that experience man getting out through the who was the first game Sadova I think and then after that was it Stuttgart a Blackburn it might have been Blackburn and Stuttgart how was the Blackburn game cos you were a massive underdog Scottish team we don't get any credit up here huge underdogs obviously they were a Premier League team at the time had some Dwight York up front and Andy Cole up front two top world class strikers and Graeme Suwnes being the manager he kind of wrote us off after the first leg didn't he said in the paper as men against boys how can you write a team off when you got Enric Lawson up front and people like that on the team so I went down there and beat Blackburn and then not long after that so it was an unbelievable run the teams would beat Stuttgart or a decent team Felix Maggett was a manager at the time Hleb was playing midfield for them Balakoff was playing for them it was even now nearly 20 years on it's 20 years next year can you believe that 20 years in Seville so the boys are on about getting back together and having a bit of a reunion which will be fun next year to catch up with everyone but and then going to Anfield winning 2-0 even then we got wrote off so it was special times even now 20 years down the line people want to talk about it was it 1-each at Parkhead? aye and then you got the goal at Anfield didn't you? I scored just before off-time and then SuperRot smashed one into the Anfield road end in the second half so it was an unbelievable night both sets of fans singing you never walk alone the atmosphere was just unbelievable but we deserved the win, we played well it was a good Liverpool team Gerard Carriga, Smita it was a proper Liverpool team so Deepmore Hamann in midfield so it would go there and win 2-0 with some achievement I think that shows the quality of the Celtic team and getting a bit of credit they deserve the team was full of winners full of ballers man like tough like the hearts in it's Sutton and Larson Larson was a world class player a lot of people never seen it until the later years the Celtic fans seen it but obviously he's playing in Scotland but then it proves that Man United for his shots bill at how good he could adapt to any team it was phenomenal people would say he couldn't do it at the top level he was doing it for Sweden for years before Celtic and I think some people were shocked when he went to Man United in Barcelona and done what he'd done but no surprise to us because he was world class without a doubt did you see that at training? unbelievable, some of the stuff remember the goal he scored against Rangers when he knocked it round and he flips it over the top and he'd make goalkeepers look stupid and you just think how did he think of doing that some strikers were like foot down head down foot through the ball Sheerah made a mind all and Sheerah just laces power side foot power, Henry was little dinks and clever finishes he was just something else when you won the other pool game 2-0 did you just have it in mind that you could potentially win the UEFA Cup or was it still a bit of a distance away? I think when you're in the semis aren't you getting close there's something great but we fell short but I think it was the first time since 67 since the Lions and won the European Cup that's how it got to a major final so yeah it fell a little bit short at the final hurdle extra time 10 men did bobo being sent off so we pushed them close but just shows you what a good team they were and they won the Champions League the next season when Marino scored also great night, great memories but hard one to take after a Boa Vista game and Larson scored what was going to show your mind? just hang on it was a shocking game they didn't play particularly well we didn't play particularly well Henryx scores a scruffy goal he didn't score many scruffy goals but it was a scruffy goal and it was just kind of just don't concede and let's just get through so imagine the elation in the dressing room John Robertson assistant manager having a fag in the dressing room after the game which you would never do it was just mental pandemonium and then on obviously to Seville did you realise you obviously knew how strong the Celtic fans were but Seville was a different ball game there must be over 100,000 people there to then support a club from Scotland especially the size of the population here that it was unbelievable that was in Seville unbelievable I think it was playing trains and automobiles I think people often say if John Orton had been fit we could have won because you could have had Horton and Larson up front Sutton could have dropped in a bit deeper you never know because he scored big goals in big games John, whether it was old firm games European games he got through against Celtic Vigo earlier on in the cup run to Seville so who knows what would have happened if the big fellari had been fit Were you sick before that game? Every game I was sick I used to change me pretty much I would try beans on toast I would just try toast with a banana and then it didn't matter what I had I was spilling up for that kind of game before that for you mentally or any player everybody is different I imagine but for yourself it was just like any big game really you've got a routine that you stick through and try and do the same things tough thing with evening kickoff you've got all day to think about it so you've just got to try and not use up your nervous energy and just try and get your head down if you can and eat the right stuff and get plenty of fluids on board cos it was a hot night over there wasn't it so it was great memories and even like the night before training at the stadium they just put a new pitch down so even the pitch weren't as good as you would expect for a major final you could see the joins and stuff but there was no excuse on the night and I thought the pitch played alright but that was just normal preparation for a big game What was it like afterwards because you were still going for the title as well coming home after that defeat that's a mega loss that potentially never going to be a European final again It's a tough one to get over in it and then like you say you're still going for the title we played, I don't know how many games we played that season but we played a lot and then you've just got to try and get up for it but we fell short so we didn't win a trophy that season even though we had a great result in Europe and stuff like that we ended up without a trophy which was phenomenal really when you look back on it that we didn't win a trophy but still great memories How was it as the last game of the season I lost at Kilmarnock I last game of the season Gold difference we pushed them all away and like you say it was a decent rangers team and then it was a hard one to take you got Seville that was hard to take losing the league at Kilmarnock and then you got the other one lost the league last game of the season that was another tough one to take that's probably the toughest one out of the three of them that helicopter Sunday when Scott McDonnell scored two that one sticks in the throat more than Seville Did you ever get a stack for coming to Celtic after doing that I wasn't sure when he cut my Celtic I was down the road by then so I'm assuming he would have got some stick I know he scored goals for Celtic but I don't think the Celtic fans ever forgot what he done over that day That was a fucking mad game I was in the airport when that happened Celtic won no yeah and he won each one We were winning 1-0 I think the trophy was on the helicopter it was like getting awards where we were next thing they scored two goals in five minutes where McDonnell scored two goals in five minutes fucking helicop that turns around and goes to Edinburgh because Rangers have won the league so they get the trophy over at them instead of us How do you deal with that then because you know how much the hatred is proper here so the stick you're going to get for that not just a heartbreaker losing the league but the rivalry, the stuff that's going to come with that Was everything that comes with it but even after the game the gaffer didn't even say hardly anything in the dressing room five minutes ago won in the title and you conceded two in five minutes so the dressing room was just flat but we had the Scottish Cup final the following sat so we knew we had the Scottish Cup final but after the game Martin didn't say much but what he did say was next sat is my last game and then I'm leaving his wife had been diagnosed with cancer so he was leaving his job so not only would we lost the league the gaffer tells us he's leaving to be his last game so it was a lot of emotions How was that Cup final It was shite it was a tough week being honest it was a really tough week getting up for it after losing the league 1-0 we beat Dundee and I had 1-0 we scraped through I scored the winning goal but it was even after the final I don't think we celebrated what you should celebrate a Scottish Cup when you should properly enjoy it but the Sunday before it motherwell How was that when Martin only left because I know he tried to take you to Leicester and eventually took you to Celtic but does that change you want to beat a team or not when the manager goes It was a tough one for me because he brought us in he gave us a new contract after 3 years when I was here so he looked after as well so it was tough when he left but you've got to get on with it I still had a couple of years left in my contract so obviously I still wanted to carry on playing but Gordon Stratton comes in then after that I was moved on How did you get on with Wies straffing? I got on alright with him he was completely different to Martin when I was talking about Martin before Martin being an old school manager Gordon was more of a coach he liked getting out on the training ground putting his ideas across he had young lads he had show Maloney coming through I was 33, nearly 34 he just wanted to move us on so it was off your pop Lenny was great obviously he was he wasn't a stallion he was his own man sideways I used to call him the crab he hated it when I called him the crab so he was great he was like many of the lads in that dressing room with all the winners How about is it to see it when he's getting bullets through the post and attacked on the sidelines don't get me wrong that nobody should act like that but he does bring a lot of shit on himself as well the way he can act sometimes but how is that for a fellow player to see that happen? It's not nice to see that happening bombs getting delivered in the post and stuff like that him and his legal team and bullets that night when we were in the Drake in the west end of Glasgow the police come in and say put your pints down to me and Lenny you're icing him in danger and you think how does he deal with this rushed out the pub and putting the two separate unmarked police cars and took the two safe houses my life wasn't in danger I don't think but his was they've been tipped off so he dealt with a lot of shit but like you say he brought a lot of shit on himself with his background and stuff like that but you don't wish that on anyone How are they before the old film games that Martin and Neil and Lenny because they're proper Celtic men Do you feel that? Do you feel the rise and energy from them compared to another game? I think they know what it means from being back home in Northern Ireland if you cut them they'd be green and white blood if you cut me I'd be black and white blood Newcastle so they're through and through Celtic boys and they obviously they knew what it was all about more than most Was it Lenny and McCoy they thought it started fighting in the middle of the park? They had a fallout on the side of the pitch the two of them so obviously Coisty being a big rangers man and Lenny being a big Celtic man What do you think then when you see all that obviously at Parkhead when you're playing for Celtic do you feel a better energy when you go to Ibrox do you feel obviously the support of the fans as it just nerve-racking I just loved it I buzzed off whether it was over at Ibrox or whether it was at Celtic Park I just loved that atmosphere I loved the tension between the fans Listen there was respect between the players It's I mean there was one tackle it was in the first five minutes of it I've never seen it before I went for a 50-50 I look great and the noise the ball burst Honestly I've not watched it back I'll have to try and find the footage it was a block tackle it wasn't nothing dirty he went in full I went in full both at the same time bang and the ball burst everyone wanted a win it was just bizarre I was some great rival he's mental Who's the best player you played with at Celtic? Henry Henry would be the stand out one but I was saying last night someone asked the same question where I was at the gig last night people like Jackie McNamara don't get the credit they deserve you know Jackie was a wonderful player great lad Jack Yosfalharan never get to mention Loubohmer I've checked what a player Louboh was he didn't know if he was left foot or right foot he was just that talented and Zinedine Zidane said he was the best player I ever played with so Zinedine Zidane saying that about Louboh that just tells you how good he was as well but Henry would be the stand out Louboh came from nowhere was it Wenglos or something? I think it was Wenglos I think his first game was the old firm game I think he scored a double and he just didn't know what to do people are thinking who is this fucking guy I think he was 36 when I came I think when I joined that was about 27 he was like 36 and he was an absolute magician with a ball Was he a proper nutcase? Oh he was a head banger but you'd rather have him in your team than another team so I think he put the fright as up the opposition How tall was he? Probably about 6'3 but 6'7 with his studs so I was intimidating intimidating the big fella Who was it he was fighting with in the tunnel? I think it was Motta Motta from Barcelona Bobo and Motta were fighting but big Rob Douglas got involved in it trying to split it up Motta got red carded Rob Douglas got red carded Bobo got away with it but he started the fight but he wouldn't mess with it Motta by the way for having a go with him What was the story you discussed Marino with Lucasid? He was well at half time they had just gone one nil up so Porto and obviously massive gaming it was a big fracas at half time going down the tunnel and Marino was getting involved he wasn't that well known then Marino he was only after Porto when he goes to Chelsea and the rest is history then he wasn't that well known I was thinking what was he thinking he was like in his suit all giving it the big one Lucasid straight and his coupe one like I thought so I've done a runner then because it all kicks off and sat in the dressing room thinking where's all the lads they were all sorting the scrap out and I just caused that I've done a runner put the hand grenade in and bolted What was the best trophy for you to win at Celtic what was the one that stands out for you? Probably winning the title in my first season when we went on to win the treble that's probably the stand out one I won the championship we're bolting Did you not score? No we beat Red and 4-3 in the playoff final at Wembley that was the way to get promoted that is in the playoff final but we won the league we scored over 100 goals and 100 points so that was probably my first trophy but that was great winning my first one at Celtic Nine trophies man it's not bad going I alright you think the two titles we lost as well one by a point and one by a goal they could have been two more titles there and that's those things Slightly high and then I won one when I come back with Lenny as a coach the first one a nine in a row so I played my little part in that nine in a row as well so it was nice to win a title as a coach as well Who was the best rangers player you played against? Do you know what there was a few I thought Michael Moles was a good player Shotter of a lads he was a good player I thought Michael Moles was a good player Shotter of a lads he was a good player Kenegia Ronald de Burr was probably the standout one he played for Barcelona and how many caps for Holland so Ronald was a top player as well Who was the rangers going at that time? Clos, Stefan Clos Dygma Gregor at the time as well He was a young kid coming through I clos I think Paul Lambert played with Clos at Dortmund when they won the Champions League because they were Pally Paul Lambert what a player I was talking to someone yesterday about them I keep in touch with Paul, he's a great lad everyone thinks he's all dower and serious but he's one of them in the dressing room he's a dark horse but they said do you know how we come about he went to Bruceya Dortmund Bruceya Dortmund were playing mother well in a pre-season friendly at mother well and he played well for mother well and that was how he signed for Dortmund so you don't listen big move like that and then you win the Champions League he was one of our main players running that Champions League I remember him, I think he was company Celtic and the Dortmund fans I think some walk on I think they did man it was unbelievable they get great fans as well the Germans because even when you were at Celtic those years as well Celtic seemed to do well in Europe for what they could from a Scottish club that you scored against Barcelona the victory in Givente Celtic got some just seems to be so fucking distance now so it was that high I know it's mental we did we played some top teams like you mentioned Barcelona what was that like for you brilliant but first 20 minutes I'm looking around I'm saying to Lenny and Petrov and stuff like that do you feel like I feel couldn't catch me breath though that shop couldn't get the ball thought we need to keep this down to single figures never mind you know could be a cricket score and I managed a goal towards the end how was that feeling brilliant mate I got Ronaldinho's strip that night as well how was he as a player probably the best I played against he had everything quick, powerful first touch, skillful score goals, make goals he was right up there so I was buzzing when I got his top that night when the fans watch it you know who's players you go wow do you feel that as well when there's hype against somebody you see on the telly when you go up against them it's not until you get on the pitch and you see you know playing for AC Milan player and Xavi playing for Barcelona in Estonia he's a world class just says everything about Henry getting to move to Barcelona getting that team when the Champions League with them but to play against some of the players I'm playing against Harry, Henry, Vieira, Gerold, Giggs they're just top players and then you've got an England call up I've got a call up in 2003 one cap wonder you are uncertain you should have got a call up the run itself he went on in the European football stuff that you should have got a cap earlier because the talent was shown that you were scoring goals against world class teams and obviously big certain I think he fucked off the the FA he fell out with Glen Orle he fell out with Glen Orle when Glen Orle was the manager so I think he was fucked anyway there was a bit of politics involved whereas with me I just I didn't seem to get the opportunity I think I was 30 by the time I got my cap so it would have been nice to get a few more but I'm happy with the one why do you think that is because you're playing in Scotland I think like you say you're playing in Scotland I think the standard's not as good but we were playing in Europe every season you wave a cup at the time so we were still playing proper teams at good levels but I just think it was at the manager at the time was Fengor and Ericsson it's too busy probably shaggin all right I'm allowed to say that I'm allowed to say that you're saying what the fuck you want bro it's anything goes mate who was train left mid for England at that time there was a shortage you know there wasn't that many kicking about at the time really so it wasn't like they had a wealth of talent you look at the England team now they've got talent and abundance so it wasn't even like they had loads of players that they could pick from there was a severe shortage of left-sideers at the time I mean the night I played the left back who played all in the big games for England at the time was Ashley Cole he didn't play that night they played Jamie Carragher to be fair to Jamie Carragher in my opinion he wasn't a left back he was a centre off wasn't he that was why he played his trade for Liverpool centre off and Ericsson played on the left back that night behind us it would have been nice if Ashley Cole had been playing left footed and both linking up together was Jamie Carragher to be fair to Jamie but I thought it was a centre off and not a left back even though he could do it it would have been nice to have a try and test the left back behind us was that a big moment in your career getting the England call-up aw massive aye I mean you look who was in the team that night I thought it was Gerard Jonathan Mudgate who was not long back from Real Madrid John Terry you know some top players in there so I obviously a proud knight and we sell at the team mate Johan Miyabi was playing for Sweden that night as well so it was great we lost the game but still a proud moment when you pulled your jersey on the national team so brilliant Did you expect another call-up after that? No I don't think I did I didn't play particularly well so no I didn't I wasn't going to hold my breath out for sure So what age did you leave Celtic? 33 33 went to Leeds for a year then I chucked it at 34 How was that leaving Celtic for you? Tough really tough but listen I had six great years like you say nine trophies some unbelievable memories so all good things come to an end but it was a wrench I'm not going to lie and I missed it but still I went to Leeds and I had 12 great months there What was it like at Leeds? Do you know what it wasn't the Leeds of old where they get the Champions League semi-final and got all the top players that they had it was a bad time in the history of Leeds they went to the wall and it was a tough time it was a championship and then they get relegated at the league one not where you want Leeds to be so it's great when you look at them now in the premiership because it's a big club Why did you retire so early? Do you know what Dennis why he's left Leeds and he went to Newcastle as a director of football and he obviously knew I lived in Newcastle, I travelled up and down to Leeds every day and I think Dennis knew that I was kind of getting towards the end of my tether and my coughs kept pulling I was injured quite a bit in Leeds and he was director of football at Newcastle he knew I had a house in Newcastle I lived in Newcastle and he offered as a coaching job so I just thought I had a chance to go into coaching which I wanted to do again back to my hometown club the club I loved so I just chucked it at 34 looking back on it now maybe I could have given it another season two seasons and played for a heartle pool or a carl isle or something like that and just enjoyed my football but I decided to go down the coaching route looking back maybe a bit too early Is that because football is careers that don't last forever? Is there a stage though when you're playing football you never think it will end? You know you've been there yourself James and you do, you think this is never going to end you think you've got enough money the last year of lifetime and all that and little do you know man goes like that, not just the money time so I think it's going to go on forever but it doesn't Back then a lot of the youth players used to get chances I think a lot of players now especially in the UK kind of drowned that out but was that a lot easier for them when you see young kids coming through as well to see the talent that they've got chances compared to now It's difficult isn't it I think it's value for money isn't it you get a good young English player a British player whether it's Irish Scottish Welsh the price tag seems to go through the roof so a lot of these clubs now went abroad you know so it's frustrating for young lads I guess coming through nowadays but it's tough What does a football player do then what did you do once you kind of hung up the boots and well I went down the coaching route and I don't know I tried to get the golf clubs out and get involved in charity boxing and get my balls punched in Obviously becomes a big void to training every day surrounded with the boys just having a laugh and making a bit of money Do you think there's enough things in football to try and help somebody with the mental health side of things when you give such a big void I think there should be more I think obviously Tony Adams has set up his sport and chance clinic which I got in touch with last year to get some help for mental health problems depression and stuff like that I think it's coming more to the fore now people talking about it than what it was say 15-20 years ago and I think people need it not just football as you know sportsmen in general some sportsmen go on the golfers and the snooker players John Agans and Lee Westwood they can go on to the mid 40s as they are now late 40s football has not many go past 35 if you think about it really you've still got hopefully 40-50 years left living there's a long time after that and I think there should be more to help sports people who finish to deal with that void How do you deal with it back then like 90s, early 2000s when you were feeling it because it wasn't really spoken about then mental health obviously when Gary Speed I don't know what year that was That would have been about 2011 I think Yeah so over 10 years ago but even before then you never really spoke about mental health I imagine because I've listened to you speak before when you talk about in the changing room you're getting a punch off the players Yeah the boot room and stuff that you can't do that shit now when you get the jail black without a doubt But then how did you deal with that periods of your life getting sent off or losing a final is it just a case of boots back on? I think when I played obviously you'd lose games and you get on a downer about it or you have a bad game you get on a downer lasts a couple of days you know what I mean but I think when you're talking about getting down in the dumps and depressed and having the black dog and stuff like that you know yourself when it starts going for 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, yes that's when you're in trouble but I think when you play you kind of dust yourself down quite quickly I mean I didn't suffer with depression when I played Lenny suffered with it massively when he played and after playing but I used to look at Lenny and think well do you need the medication and stuff like that and he speaks openly about it Lenny but it was only when I finished playing did it start setting in with me when I played I kind of dusted myself off quite quickly was that many players struggled with mental health back then? No, well it would probably be something that would be spoken about with the doctor or the manager or something like that I know Merse went through it himself everything Merse went through in his career with his gambling and his drugs and his drinking stuff like that but it wasn't something that you talk about openly Lenny did to a certain extent to people he was close to he was close to myself and John Ortson Paul Lambert he'd speak to his close friends but he wouldn't talk about it to a journalist like he would now or a podcast or something like that so it's definitely more to the front now than what it was then Do you feel as if they had to be more closed off because he got it worse than anybody were in it? Aye Was that a telltale sign that you could tell that it was struggling? I would say so aye but it was kind of like you weren't admitting anything or you weren't admitting defeat it was something that you just you wouldn't talk about it but you could tell when he got down it it was down for a while it would affect his performances training he wouldn't be his normal self you could tell when he was good but when he was bad he was flat as a fart What was Roy Keenlike when he came to Celtic? Roy wasn't there very long because I was probably only in there about six weeks when Roy was there so I don't think he played very often he didn't play as many games as he wanted so I'm not sure if Gordon Strachan was the manager at the time I don't know if Gordon Strachan brought him in or if it was Desmond the main shareholder who brought him in because normally if you sign a player as a manager you're going to play him aren't you because Gordon signs Roy or Dermott signs Roy and Gordon didn't end up using Roy very often so I think Roy was a bit peeved off like you know that he's come to his boyhood club Celtic and he didn't play much bit later on in his career though I'm having a chat to Roy and he was saying his hip was knackered he was really struggling with his hip and that's why he left United so I don't think he was as fit as what he was Yeah did he not write a book about it when he says he walked onto the bus and they seen big hearts eating a packet of cris or drinking a can of juice and says welcome to hell or some shit he was like what am I dealing with that wouldn't happen at man United but big John had his own diet he just ate what he wanted the big fella what a fucking player big hearts he's a great fella I speak to John regularly he's a smashing fella he must have had some time in that arsenal team when he was a kid with Mercer and Tony Adams and all that man he's got some great stories How was it back then because then players seemed to go and drink a lot and all that and he says look there's the birthday I think it was a Tuesday or Wednesday and everybody used to go and get pissed it's kind of changed now you don't really see that but I believe team bonding is just as important as anything was there a lot of that then a lot of boozing with the Celtic team It wasn't regular but if we didn't have a midweek game the lads would go out if I had Wednesday off and back in on Thursday they'd probably get out going a few beers on the Tuesday night but it wasn't like it wasn't every Tuesday if we didn't have a midweek game because one would get together and the gaffer would encourage us to go and get together and enjoy ourselves How was Si Fairey at Celtic? Si was great, funny boy he makes his laugh he's done well for his selling Class man having a re-slinging By the way he's nearly as bad as you to get all of on the phone I don't know who's worse here For the younger team his big beating that was coming through as well Did you see the talent coming through? It was a good group Kenny McDowell was the coach at the time and he had a good group Ross Wallace, Aiden McGeary Sean Maloney, John Kennedy Beats as you mentioned so I had a good Simon Fairey but I used to have some crap with them lads man How about William Miller man God rest his soul See when you retire as well and you see that happening to other players Petro of William Miller Does that make you big stubs? William Miller, how does that affect him? He just defies belief someone Fernando Rixon someone so young and fit how it can just strike him down and like Big John Big John was a lucky boy he survived what he went through he's got that foundation now he's raised over a million quid and it's great that they can give something back but someone as young as Liam I think he was still playing just tragic Petro of Lechimia See you asked him Villa when that happened I was at Villa, couldn't believe it when I got the call you just think someone so young and so fit just touched what they got through Does that put you in a dark space that you're not really just kind of got on with it For me it just kind of made us appreciate how lucky I was coming back from breaking me net at 16 and getting back fit and going on to play over 500 games in my career makes you pinch yourself and think how lucky you've been How was Rixon playing against? He was tough he was a hard bastard but he wasn't dirty he was never going to top you or something like that he might give you the odd pinch and nip ear and all that kind of shit but he was a tough opponent and God rest his soul Sad to see you man against what happened to Rixon Who was it that had the fireworks? He put the fireworks through me That's not normal is it? Unless there's something they do in Holland but it's not something they do in Newcastle or Glasgow Where did they put the fireworks through your letterbox? I put some kind of bangas through my letterbox and that I had three young kids at the time one of them could have been walking past seeing how it was in the middle of the night and then another occasion he comes knocking on the door with his dog big bull mastiff I'm out of the bedroom window it's like off two in the morning I'm like Fernando take your dog home and roll around on the grass but I'm not coming down while that dog's there I can rip my head off But I was a character Why was he doing that because he wanted to defeat? When he came round with a dog we had an old firm game that afternoon and I don't know if you remember it Big Soty scored a chip He chipped Stefan Kloss at the end I think we won 1-0 It was a great goal from Soty He didn't score many good goals That was one good goal He kicked off because we just scored I've given him a little one of them on the face where he's seen the red mist He's obviously gone out after the game had a few beers and thought because I lived on the same street so he's obviously thought I'm going round there because that slap was on the face so yeah I come round with a dog Had a ring Ronald above Ronald live opposite us Had a ring Ronald wake him up in the middle of the night and tell Ronald Ronald you need to get rid of your pal I went to the front door and told them in Dutch to go home get to bed Ronald I used to play a bit of golf for Ronald but you know they haven't got the best sense of humour them Dutch players have they Ronald was alright How was Big Desmond? I was good, we didn't see much of him to be fair He'd pop in after a European game he'd bring all his mates in and get them all the top off the floor and all that much to the kick man's disgust and all that much of him really Do you miss that? Do you know what James when I stopped playing in 2008 I went to Newcastle coaching I missed it for a couple of years I wanted to join in training with the under 18s I was coaching and I thought I could still do it and for a couple of years I did miss it and then gradually the fire went out a little bit and you get used to it What changing room was the best? Oh that Celtic one was brilliant mate that would take some beating and he goes full of good players but in terms of lads and the crack the Celtic one was top notch Does that come down to manager or just I think it comes down to manager and you know we pleased the dressing room myself really we didn't need more to please it but his assistant manager John Robertson, his first team coach Steve Walford they were a big part they were always in the dressing room they were in there in the crack you can imagine you tell Robbo and Wally and you know they're going straight back to tell him so we tell him that he's got his formation wrong and all that kind of shit that we need to change the team on Saturday and all that And Mark Lonell he only picked a team about 60 minutes, 90 minutes before a game I would just come in about an hour and five minutes before the game kicks off and tell the team very rarely did he name his team the day before You're not fucking sitting on edge every game I mean I knew I was playing most of the time and you're thinking I'm out you know what I mean so it was tough some managers like the name of the team on a Thursday or work on a team shape on a Tuesday and before a Saturday but Martin just wasn't one of them How was we Bobby Peter? Bobby Pratt brilliant man, great lad Did you play in the Ajax game? I was suspended I got sent off Was that a 3-0 game or something? I wanted the win 3 I think the one 2-0 over there I was suspended because I had been sent off just before I signed for Celtic got sent off for Villa in the UEFA Cup so I was suspended for the Ajax game I was there, I travelled across but I didn't play but he was brilliant Bobby used to call him Bobby Prada because everything he wore was Prada brilliant, any underpants socks everything was Prada I seen him a couple of years ago and I said to him Bobby where's the Prada gear? Don't buy that any more time Bobby's aura now he is I think he's doing his DJing in that now I was playing a charity game with him last year He's doing alright at the DJ apparently he's doing really well Is that hard though to try because people think football players are sorted for life it's a great wage but you're not taking away the 60% tax and all the other fucking overheads that you've got retirement where you can go back and have a good life I've had a tough ride and I talked about it and the book financially I had a massive tax case, not through any fault on my own it was my advice I put us into this film scheme that's hit a lot of people hard I've got a soup a pension but I've got to be 55 I've got another 6 years so that wiped me out that tax scheme which was a nightmare that's trying to get back on your feet again Who's the best manager you've played under? I'd say Martin without a doubt What made them special? You just knew what you were going to get off him you could read when you could speak to him you could read when don't go nothing on his door he's left you out don't go nothing on his door today because he's on one type of thing he was just as honest as a days long where some managers you feel like when you go in the office they're just talking shite they say certain things just to keep you happy Did you ever have any amosity with any players? Celtic players? He didn't like that I don't like that bastard No not really I think Craig Bellamy coming I didn't know him personally but I knew of him because he was at Newcastle you've got the image of people because you've seen them on the pitch horrible little sort of he coming he was actually alright I didn't dislike many people opponent so people I played with really so I was just kind of a happy go lucky character Because had she given on he says Bellamy was always fighting an argument with someone him and Shearer he caused a load of hassle at Newcastle but you know what I'm surprised because that Newcastle dressing room was Shearer and Gary Speeden that David Batty some big characters in there he's going to Celtic and we're thinking he's going to come on you and try and cause a bit of bollocks but when he was at Norwich when he was a kid Chris Sutton was at Norwich so I think Bellas was scared of Chris Sutton from the Norwich days I think so he had one on him type of thing so he come in the Celtic dressing room and we didn't cause any bother at all like What was Big Sutton like? I know he portrays this image doesn't he now he's in the media and all that but behind closed doors he's a good kid he's a good lad he's a good to be around Where do you see him on the TV? He's a big wind-up man He was one of them man James when we used to stay in the Hilton up the road in Glasgow there every game we had would stay in the Hilton so we'd sit down and drink coffee and play cards and all that and Sutty would always say you ever see me when I finish playing football you ever see me in the media doing what them doing doing what that tossers doing doing what he's doing so I've seen him a couple of years ago before Covid I'd done a gig with him up in Stirling I said Sutty you remember what you said to us that time you can smash me round the head if I ever go into the media but listen he's carved his selonation he's got it in it and he winds the Rangers fans up and all that done he so he loves it Big Boy did it for Rangers like that that's all part and parcel of it I think that stops getting took out of the game I think he's becoming too soft I think too many people take too serious what Boyd says and what Sutty says and laugh because I know what they're both at they're just that wind in each other up so it's funny I laugh at both I laugh at them all because I think why is people getting so angry they're getting so fucking angry about what people are saying it's only a little laugh it's a little dig obviously if your team gets beat if your enemies get beat you're going to fucking wind up I fell out with family members and friends for months because I certainly was out it's just the way it is man obviously when it comes to the violence kind of thing you don't want to see that but the rivalry and the everything in the 90 minutes is what you want of course it is and that needs to stay involved and like you say too many people take it too serious man how was it did you play in the testimonial for wee Petrov no I didn't play in that one I wasn't so good at the time so I didn't play do you miss that not able to kick a ball now I've done a few charity things but you know your head thinks you can do it and then you go on the pitch you realise your two stone heavier you haven't got much power in your legs and it's kind of like I think you can make yourself look a bit stupid because you know what you used to be 15-20 years ago so I've tend to I tend to avoid it now I got a text yesterday playing them one in Dublin and June and I'm like fucking nearly 50 do you know what I mean James it's kind of like I'll just make myself look a prick you know the left foot still works but I just can't run who was the most dedicated that Celtic was a players used to stay over like after training or was it just there was a handful to be fair stillion was only a young lad then he was stillion where he sucks off Lenny believe it or not Lenny was a good trainer so I it was a now we looked after ourselves back then to be fair did they struggle to keep the weight off Lenny because you just know that we're big John he's not doing his cell any favours he's eating 25 packets of hula hoops before a game you know what I mean but a couple of lads I was alright when I was young I would tend to eat what I wanted drink what I wanted without putting weight on so I was quite lucky but a bit of not that lucky now you came back to Celtic for a second stint as a coach one in a league how was that experience for you I brilliant loved it I was at Newcastle and Lenny got the job and he said listen if I get the job would you come in being the first team coach so when I got the opportunity I was I jumped at it and then when you got asked about Charlie and taking gear and that how was that again the experience just it was just bizarre because I'd spend like I'd go out with Lenny three or four times a week for a pint and something you know what have you and then when he pulled us in his office at Lenny's town he says to his bad reports that you're taking cocaine it's like Lenny you spend enough time with me you've known us for long enough to know that's not my game type of thing I've never touched it in my life listening I like the drink and the odd cigarette and stuff like that but in terms of that I said Lenny go and get the doc mate I'll do any drugs test you want I hate injections for a start I said go and get the doc and I'll have tests I'll do what I have to do you know it's a load of shite and I was a bit peeved when to be honest that he asked us in his office at the Lenny's town training ground I thought if he was going to ask us ask us when we've gone for a pint that was kind of the little fracture between me and him when he asked us that it's not a friend because it's a your friend's off the pitch but then he's becoming more of a manager he was glass your cell like manager so it's obviously being reported that the chief executive or something like that who said to Lenny you need to nip this in the bud if that is the case so he understood why he got asked to ask us but I just thought he could have done it a little bit more subtly more pally way so what happens was that when you're Celtic re-rended no I was still for a bit after that was it not the same no it wasn't the same and then I had some shite that was in the paper about me divorce and stuff like that so it wasn't a great time and I think it was more the chief executive's decision to get rid of us then in the summer how hard is that when everything's in the paper it's horrible that was when I left Celtic as a coach that was when the shite the fan were the depression and my marriage went south that was when it all started setting in for me because it's all public knowledge why you've been sacked in this that it's not nice losing your job at any time no matter what you do when it's made public knowledge in front pages it's not nice how did you deal with that buried me head in the sand really and moved back to Newcastle and hit a brick wall you drank it more I was drinking a lot more at the time too much too much probably both when I was still at Celtic and then when I left Celtic probably too much I without a doubt how did you go over that I kind of just pulled myself round and it was still a couple of years after I left Celtic me may have got the Birmingham city job and he asked us to go into Birmingham after the reserves of the under 21s at the time and got back into football and clean me self up how do you, is that what you need to do is just kind of keep busy just kind of keep your demons at bay or exercise stuff like that we've done the boxing in October there and you know bought me sell a mountain bike I bought me sell a road bike years ago just to try and get out the house cos you know what it's like when the dark day is setting you don't want to open the curtains you don't reply to messages it's horrible so I thought you get yourself a bike get out and I start getting into cycling and just trying to not sit in the bedroom and watch TV and not open the curtains it's horrible so just got to try and keep busy whether it's exercise or back doing work you know How are you dealing with it now? I mean obviously like I said there's been tough times but got in touch with sport and chance through Tony Adams and had some counselling and without a doubt it helped When was it you get done for drink driving? It was going out towards Lenox Town I mean it Was that Celtic? I caught a 10 in the morning and I hadn't even had a late night the night before I must have been in bed for midnight possibly and I was just driving up the Lenox Town stupidly didn't have my phone blew through the car and I was on the phone and the cop was pulled as for being on the phone and smelt drink but I thought it was alright caught a 10 in the morning how's your look? Did you ever get pulled through the copers and because you were a footballer they just kind of let you go? The old Celtic one would be alright I think these are the two I think they'll arrange us friends It was a day after an old firm game Did he win? I'm not too sure what the result was but no I might have got beat It was one day after an old firm game we were players me and Lenny we were playing golf somewhere out west and we were teeing off on the first tee but there's a road coming in after an old firm game Lenny hits quite a long ball on the golf course and this car stopped further up letting us play our shots and honestly he's hit one that's bounced on the road bounced on the road and I hit this car windscreen honestly I was rolling around on the floor laughing this car drives up raging this bloke he puts his window down he's fucking known it was you he was a rangers fan and we just beat rangers a day before and Lenny puts a golf ball through his window Did you not get the jail way? Was it Migidi? Who got the jail with Migidi? Did somebody not get the jail way to Migidi? Lenny got the jail didn't he? Bobby Pitter and when we were in Newcastle the incident in Tokyo Jaws I'm not sure about Migidi What happened? I think it was a certain Bulgarian midfielder those like a podium dancer not a strip joint he had like a bikini on a certain Bulgarian midfielder pull a thong type of thing so the doorman have clocked it through everyone out big rap Douglas throws the photographer from the wreck or the sun's camera in the river Tyne go to the other pub I wasn't there I was pissed my dad had put me to bed he was in Newcastle so my dad was I come to meet us for a drink so I was in the copthorn asleep I missed all this next thing getting knocked on the door later on so the boys had been locked up and the thing is my sister was a police woman the lads who got locked up it was Mialby Valharan Bobby Pitter and Lenny it was my sister's police station in Gated where they got locked up so the sergeant had said to my sister Jane I think you're Alan's in one of the cells luckily she looked through the cell it was Lenny oh my god she was like thank fuck that's not our Alan's so that caused havoc that did that was all over the paper and I think the lads were locked up for over 24 hours man but they didn't do no wrong you know what I mean it was just a bit of a banner I think it was a bit of a stitch up that the papers were there see when your referees obviously the people say referees are biased and that did you ever sense that that a certain referee would support a different team we'd give a little bit extra I think it was I think we knew who was not on our side but we didn't get many good decisions I think it was it was probably Ben it seems to get fucking worse it seems to get worse people are just brazing now getting fucking penalties and sending off it's hard to that's why I think for the old fun games definitely they should bring in foreign referees I think that would be a great idea I'm surprised that hasn't happened before now even English referees or Welsh Irish well maybe not Irish that would be worse I can't believe I haven't tried that how was it see when you see that Lenny is a good friend and then you see him getting sacked from himself and then you see videos of him is that hard to see it was hard when I got sacked in 2012 I didn't speak to Lenny for three or four years because of that it's a shame because we were really tight we were really good pals and it was only when he got the bolton job did we get back in touch with each other so we're not best mates now we wouldn't go for a pint together but when he got sacked I sent him a text and he's got me number and I said if you need a chat give us a shout and then you see the video of him steaming now you don't like that he's a good person deep down it is sad but again flourish it went through the 9 in a row and then going for 10 the wheels seemed to have just fell off felt it completely from just being kind of no one near us people saying rangers are 5 years 10 years ahead you've got to give Gerard he came in and done what a job he done but the wheels totally felt I think rangers could have won the league at 9 in a row as well though I think it was Christmas time and then it went to Dubai and they kind of fucking went missing we were scoring a lot of last minute goals but the 10 in a row the wheels just they just seemed to have fell off I don't know if it was the pressure we're getting close to the 10 in a row but I think it was more than 20 points when they lost the league by it was amazing how quick it happened remember looking at the results and they've lost again and they lost games that you didn't expect them to lose it was like the wheels properly come off quickly it was a great job at Celtic the first time we were in it was a great job I think they did and then they came back again Celtic fans don't really forgive either no I got asked about Lenny last night and it's amazing how many of them have got negative things to say about them because listen he had a great career as a player and like you say a first time round he done good things as a manager so to shame that some of them have that negativity towards them some of them won't but obviously some of them will even Scott Browning that as well when he lost that season he's probably the best for me anyway the best captain Celtic's ever had you the trophies that he won and what he's achieved I think people will recognise that more maybe 10 years time when they look back I thought it would have been nice for Browning to have stayed on and been around the club in some capacity as a coach coach in the 23s stepping up the first team coach in a couple of years time I thought he's got a lot to give on and off the pitch he's a great lad to have an address and I know I've worked with him it's a shame that he's gone Aberdeen because I would have liked to have seen him being kept around Celtic in some capacity I think he'll probably go back I would like to think he'd go back because I think he'd be great in some role he's a leadership man when you met Big Billy McNeill and that Danny McGrane how hard was it for Big Billy McNeill? I just great lad, Big Billy Danny McGrane, Bertie Old Bobby Lennox got to play a lot of golf for Bobby Lennox and Stevie Chalmers they're just legends aren't they you could sit and listen to them all day John Clark was the kick man when I played when I was coach as well legends of the game and legends of the club and just great to sit around them and just be around them and listen to their stories Big Billy man Tommy Burns was another one he's a great bloke proper football man, Celtic through and through just great knowledge of the game Is it good to have the old school players around the stadium all the time? I used to share a desk with Danny McGrane I couldn't understand the fucking word he was saying I didn't know put Danny and Peter Bearsley round the table that'll be interesting just great to have them around the place I think it's great that the club does keep those legends around the club in some capacity because if you've ever done well for Celtic you know yourself the fans will back you 100% but they don't fucking forget either if you've done anything wrong you're totally getting burnt they're not daft they don't fuck about that when you did, were you not a hydro there as well with Celtic? a few weeks ago there was Martin the gaffer was there Sutley, Henric, John Ortson, Johan, Mielby, Jackie McNamara, Loubo, Stillion myself it was like 14,000 people in the hydro I don't know if any of the clubs would get that even if you're man United I don't know if they get 14,000 people in a one venue they sit and talk X players talk shite it was phenomenal Celtic fans just love it the same as the Rangers fans I think there was 14,000 there but there were probably 13,500 there just there to see Henric How do you feel doing something like that I'm fine with stuff like that I'm more nervous sitting in front of you than I was I was in front of 14,000 people being out of view as you've got What do you think looking back at your career? I look back with some great memories travelled the world met some great people played against great players played with great players every now and again I'll get the medals out and have a little look at them and polish them up a bit if you'd have said to me at 16 you're going to play 500 games you're going to play for Newcastle Bowl and Nassan Villa Glasgow Celtic Leeds United your country at 16 when I was in that hospital bed was there any player you'd have loved to have played with I would love to have played with Maradona he was Maradona he was a kid growing up Brian Robson he was another one of mine when I was a kid growing up Glen Orle when I was a kid growing up I used to watch but you look at the likes of Messi and that now Ronaldo was lucky enough to play against him but just phenomenal players but not all in all happy a lot of trophies a lot of memories playing the world class players for any footballer that's all you have a dream of get a cap for your country you ticked a lot of boxes I would have liked a 20 caps for my country obviously the career is over you've got a phone call to do the boxing event where I met you how was that experience I enjoyed the training didn't particularly enjoy the sparring had a look at some of your videos on your sparring do you not spar with Beats? I thought you did I bet he can bang Beats he's six feet old and he can scrap he's been sparring for years the lad I fought Simon Webb I didn't pull gloves on five weeks before me fight didn't know how to stand or anything so it was all new to me but I enjoyed the training it was five or six weeks intense I loved that but once I started getting hit I thought I was Muhammad Ali when the pads were out but then soon as someone starts hitting you back it's a different game I fought one lost one I'm staying at that I know you're getting back in the ring at the start you say you're nervous it's sparring because every man thinks they can fight but when you hit the pads it sounds good but when you're up against someone who hits back and moves it's a different ball game but I just like to see the experience of pushing myself to the limits plus I'm getting paid it feeds my kids and it was just a great experience it promotes my name, promotes my brand your ring entrance was something else I was fucking tired you ripped the bollocks a little bit to keep them in your ring waiting because apparently the lights were so warm it just tires your opponent out so my coach Andy McCart was saying everything's fucking percentages I'm just going with the flow but the time I got through the ring I was shattered I did it through really hard but then I was fucked after the two minutes in the nervous energy it was just waiting so long it was a great experience met some great people it's not like walking on an eyebrow on that ring I thought fuck me it's just me and him now I was shitting myself but listen like you say great experience my missus had a great night because you come in the dressing room after the game after the fight and you had your top off so she was sitting in the top listening and she was buzzing what about we'll touch on your book again how was that experience for you putting it all in do you know what it was like it was a little bit therapeutic if you want getting a lot of stuff off your chest that you'd bought a look for a long time I never wanted to do one I didn't really want to do it and then all the lads had done it still Ian Petroff, Lenny had done it Jackie Mack had just done one and I just thought you know what maybe it's time that I do one I'm getting on to 50 so it was good I've enjoyed doing it I'm pleased it's out I'm pleased it's done and dusted he's asked us to do another one but I'm not sure if I've got one in this what about working people buy your textbook Tomo Amazon going into waterstones hopefully try and get it in the Celtic shop in the coming months more cry publishing's website but Amazon's been going really well you can have some good feedback on it do you still get to the games the Celtic did it give you free tickets no do you know what I've not been back since I left but one of the directors has just invited us up next month so I'm going up to the Dundee game in February end of February so I'm looking forward to going back I've not really fancied going back but I just feel you know I've been away long enough now I'm looking forward to it yeah it's your home you start a bit better with that kind of experience because of what happened getting sacked in 2012 that's why I've kept out the way of it type of thing but listen but somebody who's fucked up Yn look who says that anyway do you ever know moving at an incline or was it just an excuse to get rid of you probably just an excuse and all that stuff that was in about me divorce and stuff like that and the drink driving I think it was a culmination of all those things I just kept out the way for a few years but listen it's 10 years down the line now so time to go back for giving, for getting brilliant listen for coming on today brother I've thoroughly enjoyed that good luck with the book thanks pal cheers mate thank you