 Welcome to Trophy TV, today I'm joined by Steven Peenar, what a footballer. Steven, thanks for coming on. You're welcome, thanks for having me. Oh, pleasure. We've had a little bit of fun here, having me and Trattangerry connected. Bo, we're done, we're done. Have you been coping with lockdown? To be fair, it's quite relaxed here in Amsterdam, so you're allowed to go out. But yeah, it's quite difficult. There's no football, but the kids are keeping it busy and doing a lot of homework. It's been quite fun. I've just seen you cooking on Instagram, it looked quite nice actually. Yeah, it's my dad to cook today, so they asked me to make a curry. Very nice indeed. Can I take you back to when you joined Everton? Obviously you were at Borussia Dortmund. How did the Everton move come about? Yeah, it was quite weird because I was away with Dortmund on the training camp pre-season. We came back, so I had a chat with the manager at the time, Thomas Doll. He's like, yeah, I really want you to stay, because he just took over, he was there for three months. We had a good chat and I was quite pleased. We got a few days off and I drove back to Amsterdam on my way back to Amsterdam. I got a call from my agent and he's like, yeah, what do you think about Everton? I'm like, what are you talking about? I just had a meeting before, a day before with the manager and everything is good. He's like, yeah, I've got him on the other line, seems like Dortmund agreed already. So it's only up to you and I'm like, wow, it's not possible because what are you guys busy with? And then he asked me, do I like it? I'm like, yeah. For me it's for any kid that comes from South Africa to play in a Premier League. It's a dream come true, so I said to him, yeah, I don't have any boots with me, so I'm in Amsterdam now. He said to me, yeah, if you say yes and you agree to go alone for a season, you can fly to Liverpool and I was like, okay, but I don't have anything with me. And then he's like, okay, we'll book the flight and that's how it came about. I was in Amsterdam and I just got on a plane from there and then went over for two days and that's how it came about. Yeah, I think it was Nuno Vellanteo was playing left back at the time. Fadi got a ball in the middle and he tried to pass it to him and I just flipped it on for Nuno. And Nuno went down the left and he just laid it back in and I came in sliding, so I was quite pleased to score my first goal. I was actually wondering when it was going to come and yeah, it eventually came and I was quite pleased. Yeah, it was a good result. You're synonymous with the Bayna, as we call it, Bains and Peanard on the left hand side. Was that just natural with Leighton Baynes, that link up? Did you just both kind of on the same wavelength? Yeah, when I was at Ajax, I had it with Atom Tbilisi also, players that I feel more comfortable with players that like to attack. So for me it's easy if people are moving off the ball or so I can lay the ball wherever I want and it makes it easy for me and obviously with Bains it's being so fit and just like going forward. That helped a lot because at least at a time we always played with one striker. So it's kind of tough if you just have to get a ball and play into the striker. You never know if you might hold it up or lose it and we're on the back foot again and have to defend. So it made it easy for me when someone is always giving you an option so Bains was always doing that. Also Nuno was the same and Lescott played it for a couple of times. Also left back I had to always shout it and just move, I'll give you the ball, don't worry you'll get it. So yeah, I think with Bains it became more natural because even when we were training the manager always used to put us in the same team. So it's not just in the games or in training that we stand opposite each other. We were always in the same team to keep it going and it was just getting better and better so it became natural. But I must say he was always on my case about me helping out the training as well. If I have to go forward it's kind of tough but with teams we have to help each other. If you go forward I have to sometimes stuck in. If he gets a winger it's a bit tricky and you know we double up. So it was, you know, I had to switch on as well but it was good to have him behind me. I think that's what Os Evertonians loved about you Fydel. You show it such a skillful player but prepare to really work hard with that. Something that you had from South Africa growing up in that way or was it something that you developed through time and having someone like David Moyes on your case? No, I think I developed it when I came to Ajax, when I first joined Ajax in 2000. I came, they scouted me in a tournament, we played in a Gronigran tournament, one of the famous tournaments in Holland. I was almost selected player of the tournament and when I joined Ajax the manager of the time was Jan Alder-Rinke. He was the manager of the second team and he pulled me in the first day I came. He said, listen, I've seen you played in the tournament, I've seen videos when you played for Ajax Cape Town. I got all the reports from the scouts. There's only one thing I have to tell you. Without the ball it's like we played with ten players so I need you to work hard. I want you to be part of the team. I know what you can do with a ball but I want you to start to learn what to do without the ball. You have to work for the team and that stuck in my mind and he even gave me his famous quote. He was like, when you tie it you must just think of a lion chasing you and I'm like, but that doesn't sound right. He said, then you run for your life so when you lose the ball you have to run for your life. That just stuck with me and I just developed and I was quite fortunate. I was still young as well. I wanted to learn so and it just stuck with me forever. What was it like cos I like coming from Ajax going to work for David Moyes cos we were like a hard work inside as well. We did have some good players but you coming into that. Did you find working under David Moyes easy or was it a tough task? No, I'll say it was easy because if you come from Ajax, the culture in the club, if you give two wrong passes, you hear the coach shout it, you're not normal. Even the supporters of Ajax are the same. If you give three wrong passes in the same, they start whistling. So that was for me, it was kind of even more strict and disciplined and he gave us a lot of freedom as well. First thing you have to do is this is my way of working. It's hard working work we are team and the rest will follow. So as long as you know how to work hard, then you won't have a problem with me and that's quite clear for everyone. So I think there was also the power of the team that kept us going. You come into the team, I would say probably David Moyes' best period as Everton manager. We were good under him all the way through once he established the style, but you come in in 07 and them teams, you know, with Ykubu in it and moving forward. Like you said, you mentioned Les Scott and Kaill and Artheta. What was a good team to play in for you? Yeah, it was definitely a good team to play in because we knew some games that we had to just roll up your sleeves. Sometimes you don't have the ball when you play the likes of Arsenal, but the manager always said, if you believe that you give 110%, you can come away with a result. Even though sometimes it didn't look easy on the eye, but we had to do it. The manager started getting the football into the team and it became easier. So when we played against other teams, we also enjoyed the ball more. Also, the signing that the manager brought in was also good players coming in to help what was there. And that obviously made it more easier for us as a group. Looking back, the O9 season, FA Cup final, obviously that year we lost Ykubu, Artheta, Jagie Elke, and even Victor and Ikubu was in and out at the squad as well. And we still get to the Cup final and we haven't had a defeat. I know it's hard to say, but if we would have had the Yach and maybe Jagie Elke, we'd have been able to beat Chelsea. Yeah, it's hard to say because we played against a really good team. If you look back at how the players went out, we just got on with it. We knew we missed some important players in a team. But we also wanted to win it for them as well and for the supporters because they helped us all the way to get to the final. We tried our best, but at the end of the day it wasn't enough. But definitely, like you said, the players that came in to replace them did everything that we could to try and win it. But yeah, it wasn't meant to be. Can I bring you to when you left because that broke my heart? I don't mind saying it wasn't happy at all. I mean, how did that come about, the move to space? Yeah, it was kind of strange as well because I was talking to the manager a lot because my contact was running out. We had a lot of discussions at the time about getting a new contact and I was quite clear. I told the manager, look, this is what I want. He came back to me and said, listen, I can't give you that. And I said, okay, fine. This idea, you're going to have to sell me before the season starts or if you come up with a better contact because I don't want to leave. But at the end of the day, we were getting closer to January and the manager said to me, I think it's fine. I think I'm going to sell you because we're not meeting anywhere. I was disappointed to get it to year that because I really wanted to stay. I didn't want it to go anywhere, but we couldn't reach an agreement. For me, I had six months left on my contact and just on the day he came to me and he said, we agreed with Chelsea to go and I was like, oh, I didn't hear anything about that. But at the end, Tottenham came in as well and for me to make the decision was between the two clubs, what's right for me and to be fair, a lot of my friends, family members all support us. I thought it was just the right move to go there. Were you pleased that I haven't come back in? The day before, I was actually, I know the last day of the term, so we were playing Wigan. The night before, the physio was texting me and Phil never was texting me, what are you doing, fans are coming back and I was like, you guys don't have any power. Obviously, I knew the manager was behind it because Phil won't just text me out to the blue. And the physio as well don't text me. I was like, oh, wow. They said to me, yeah, listen, are you willing to come back? I said, for me, I've never had any problems leaving the club. So there's no hard feelings. If you guys want me to come back alone, I'm open to come. And yeah, the day of the game, the manager texted me and he said, listen, I just agreed a deal for Louisa Hart to join us first. So we're trying to push to get you in a deal so we can make a swap. And then you come this way. And then my agent called me, he's like, yeah, the QP, I'm knocking the one that went and answered, and I'm like, no, I don't want to go to other clubs if everything is coming in. I'd rather go back to a place where I know the team, I know the city for me. And actually, when you come back from an injury, you want to play. You want to be in a place where you feel comfortable not coming back and you still have to learn the players, your surroundings again. So yeah, I was happy when the manager called me a few hours before and I had to push over the line so I did everything that I could to go back and it worked out well. It was a great night that we beat Manchester City 1-0, the elevates signed, and then when we come out the ground, we hear that your deal had gone through as well. It was a very nice day, a very nice day indeed. And then you've only had to wait kind of 10 days for your first goal since coming back against Chelsea. Yeah, actually, when the deal went through the night before, I think it was about just half past 11, I rushed back home from the stadium. I went straight back, packed all my stuff in the car. As soon as it was four in the morning, I drove up to Liverpool. I was like, I just want to get started again. I don't want to still wait another day in London so I drove back up to Liverpool on my own early in the morning and even the manager was surprised to see me actually showing up so quick. And I just wanted to get the ball rolling again, start training that few days with a fitness coach just to get into it again. And then I told myself, I just want to play everything out the last couple of months of frustration of being on a sideline, just go out and enjoy it. My first game back against Wigan, I think I played quite well the first game. That gave me the confidence and second game against Chelsea at home was the only way for me was to... I told myself also before the game, if I score, I'll go crazy. It's the only way how you'll get a supporters back onside to support you. You went, a lot of people were down about that, but I just told myself I'm going to go out and enjoy, put everything in to get them back on board again. And now, lucky in the first few minutes, I could score. So that was a good way to pay them back and say I'm sorry and go on with it. The whole week leading up to the United game, the manager didn't say one way to just let the guys just be... Even in training, we didn't do anything. We just went out in training and just played five against five. Nothing, he wasn't coaching, didn't say anything. He could see the players were really hurt. There was a big opportunity to get into the final and it was disappointing at the end. In the United game, you just mentioned, obviously you scored a massive goal in it, which was another weird game because I thought we played really well. Twice it happened, we were playing the game, playing really well. One minute we were 3-1 down, and the next minute we were 4-2 down, and it was almost scratch your head as how they'd got away from us. Yes, it was one of those games because we started a game also. We went out, we knew the manager came in before the game and said, listen, they have to win. You guys, this is almost like one of your last games of the season. You just have to go out and put a decent performance on, no pressure, just go out and enjoy it. We knew they have to come, because if they don't win, the city will win the league. We went out and first 20 minutes I think we scored, then we were leading, controlling the game, and then they came back just with two quick goals and we were like, whoa, what's happening? I think it went through one second off when they came back out, but you could see the guys still hurt from the previous game. We just pulled it together and we were like, listen, we've got nothing to lose, let's just play free and go in and just play and enjoy the game. All of a sudden, I don't know, we got a second win coming. The gear just went up and we just pushed and went on. It ended at 4-4. Great little goal by you. Cost the United the league as well, that really, when you look back. Some of my friends were not so happy. No, no, I was going to say, you've got a few Magnitre fans, it's me too, you wouldn't have been too pleased, but what can you do? Yeah, it was a good season after that, and then me and after that, the wheels came off. What do you think went wrong for them? Was it just the fact that the first season we still had David Moyes' defensive mind set? And then obviously we know... I think, like I said, he didn't change a lot his first season. I think the second season he wanted to be more between his thing and his ways. Sometimes he did work, sometimes he didn't. There's some games where we will come in and the manager will say, I think you guys played really well and we were like, you know, you were shocking. You were as a player, you want someone to come in and be straightforward, which will tell you off not how it is. And the player started like one game, then another game, then another game, and something is not right here. But then again, like I said, I think the manager wanted to implement his way of playing, his way. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. But football, it happens. The wheels came off was the best way you described it. That was exactly what happened. Were you impressed with the appointment of Carlo Ancelotti? Yeah, definitely. Obviously Marco had it tough. The supporters were on his case. Football is not how you play. When it's not going your way, the only thing you need is results. It doesn't matter how you play. The results are not coming. Obviously the owner wants a big name. The supporters want someone who will come in and shows personality in front of the group. You need someone who will look up to and respect. But Carlo, coming in, was a good role of the dice. You put someone there, the players will come out. He's managing everything. I think some of them still can't believe it. One of the best managers in the world is Everton. He's out there. Obviously the players are eager to learn because if you look at his records, he's the only Champions League player he's on. I think it was a good piece of business from the club. It's definitely showing their intentions to try to build and get into Champions League themselves. I suppose with the owner. Great appointments and hopefully fingers crossed. We'll do something moving forward. I'm going to let you go and enjoy your curry that you've made. But listen, Stephen. Stephen, thank you so much for taking the time out your day to speak to us. Absolutely delighted to speak to you. Hopefully we'll do it again when there's some actual football. Big thanks there to Stephen P and R, taking time out of his day to speak to us at Toffy TV. If you want to see the full interview of this, get over and join us on page in 45 minutes of pure chat with Stephen P and R. Give this video a thumbs up. Subscribe if you haven't. Get over and join us on page in. See you later.