.png)
23 hours ago
5
I served you many times in The Tally Ho pub in Dundee in the early 1990s. You were always a gent. How did your reputation as a hard man sit with you when, for me, you clearly differ from that in real life? Fionan Lynch
I’m not a hard man. I’ve always tried to be nice to people but sometimes I’ve been backed into a corner and got myself into a wee bit of trouble. I played the game aggressively but I don’t think I was even the toughest in any of the dressing rooms I’ve been in. I don’t see myself as a tough guy. But it’s followed me everywhere. A night to gain a reputation and a lifetime to get rid of it.
And I do remember the Tally Ho. It was a good pub. Karaoke on a Tuesday. All the YTS lads would pile in after we’d done our jobs, mopping the floors and all that stuff. We were from all over Scotland and all got moved into digs. We were 16, man. What do you do? Right to the boozer. There was no proof of ID then!
Any regrets from the Rangers years? Denny
Oh Christ, aye. I never gave myself the best chance to break through at Rangers. I wasn’t training. An amateur player would have been training harder than me. I just wasn’t dedicated enough. I thought I’d made it. Football was easy to me. I’d never had an injury, I came through at Dundee United and I was ripping it up. But then you start to get injured. You’re going on nights out, you’re not playing and it all starts to mount up. There’s a wee bit of trouble creeping into my life now. I’ve got massive regrets that I never gave myself the best crack at it because I was a Rangers boy, I supported Rangers when I was younger, but there is always a silver lining. If I’d cracked it at Rangers I wouldn’t have come to Everton.
In the early 1990s I went out in Falkirk and got significantly inebriated. I said to my friend I thought I was possibly the drunkest person in the world. Then we went into a club and bumped into you, waving two crutches in the air and grinning from ear to ear, and I realised I wasn’t even the most drunk person in Falkirk. Is it true that you were barred from going out in Glasgow and Dundee, so you had to go out in other Scottish cities while injured at Rangers? Matt
I can’t remember going out in Falkirk very often. My mates did run the doors out there so it’s possible I went out in Falkirk once or twice. But it wasn’t true that they didn’t want me going out in Glasgow. I didn’t like going out in Glasgow. I wasn’t a Glasgow boy so I tried to keep to my own area. Maybe I was barred from a few boozers in Stirling at the time so we decided to try Falkirk! Most of the people in the central belt support Rangers or Celtic. I was young, I was tall, people recognised me and I was a target.
I understand your anger at not being supported more by the Scottish Football Association, but do you regret not playing more for Scotland for the fans? Martin Scott
Yes I do, and for my family as well. My family are proud Scottish. I had five caps when the incident happened [an on-field head-butt that led to an SFA ban and three-month prison sentence] and played another two games. I didn’t want to go back but my dad forced me. “You can play, have a go,” he’d say. But my heart wasn’t in it. The same guys who gave me the 12-game ban were shaking my hand before the game and wishing me good luck. They’d knocked the stuffing out of me but, looking back, it is a massive regret. I should have been big enough to play for my country. Everybody knew it was wrong what they did. But at the end of the day people just look at records and I’ve got seven caps and no goals. A player of my level? That’s ridiculous. It’s the biggest regret of my career. I was bitter, I was upset and I blamed everybody. The SFA were wrong in what they did to me. They had their hearing and gave me a 12-game ban before I went to the trial. So I was guilty before I went to court. And then when I came out of prison they asked me to serve that 12-game ban. I served one or two games before going to prison, missed all those games when I was in prison, and when I came out the SFA asked me to serve the remaining 10 games. I felt that was really harsh. I took them to court over it and won my case. The judge said it was double jeopardy.
Who is the greatest Scottish footballer of all time? Carl
My idol was Davie Cooper. Left winger, good-looking fella, black hair, I loved the way he wore his socks! Obviously Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness and Denis Law are the boys but Davie Cooper was my idol so I’ll go with him.
Why did you feel a connection with Everton more than any other team you represented? Yasser Ali
I was the most successful here. I spent the most time here. I had 10 years as a player here and 10 years as a coach. I’ve spent my time in the city and I’ve got on great with the scousers. Scotland was tough for me at the time, the sectarianism wasn’t good, and I came here and it was freer. And I was a bit of a scallywag as well. The fans took to that. I initially joined on a three-month loan but wanted to stay after a week. I hadn’t kicked a ball but I loved it!
Do you wish to return to Everton in some role in the future? If so, what do you think that would be? John Evans
I’ve got a dream and you don’t give up on your dreams do you? I’ve had a taste of being Everton manager before and I want another go at it. I believe I should have been the manager when Frank Lampard got it. I understand why they hired him but I thought I should have been the manager from that January to the end of the season. They asked me to go for an interview, so I thought I had a right good chance. I never asked for the interview and of course that put me in a bad position when Frank came in. I can’t sit next to him in the dugout when I’ve gone for his job. It’s not a good look and that’s one of the reasons I left. It never happened for me but hopefully it will happen again, but I know I’ve got a long way to go in my career to get to that.
Given it’s the end of an era at Goodison Park, what’s your most enduring memory of the stadium? Matt Kirby
The Chelsea game as a manager was incredible. I wore Howard Kendall’s watch, my sweatband and I had murder over the suit. Nothing to do with tactics; the directors were screaming at me not to wear a suit. A representative of the board met me coming off the bus and said: “You’re not to wear that suit during the game, just leave your tracksuit on.” I was told I was only taking one game so my head was on the block and I thought: “If I get pumped here 5-0 I’m getting kicked straight out the back door.” I’d been an assistant, done my badges and I was getting put in against Chelsea. If I’m a condemned man then I’m putting my suit on! Coming out of that tunnel, the directors wouldn’t have been happy, but that was probably my favourite moment. Obviously scoring your first goal against Liverpool is always nice as well.
Can you remember what you said to referee Pierluigi Collina after he disallowed your goal against Villarreal in the 2005 Champions League playoff? Simon Holly
Yes. “Cheating bastard.” He said he didn’t understand me so I ran after him shouting: “Bastardo!” He understood me all right. It was a disgrace what happened to us.
How often do you speak to Carlo Ancelotti? Olly
I message him regularly. We have a thing going where I message him before big Champions League games. I tried it once at 7.45pm to see if he’d answer me and he did! He must have been walking down the tunnel at the Bernabéu answering me! I just wish him all the best because he’s working. He appreciates it. He keeps on inviting me over to Real Madrid. I went once before but I haven’t got round to going back.
Duncan, I cried (with sadness) when you signed for Newcastle. Have Everton ever made you cry? Adam
A few times, aye. I cried when I came back for the first time after I’d retired and went out on the pitch with Tony Bellew. And after we’d saved ourselves from relegation against Coventry in 1998. We were crap. We were really lucky to stay up on goal difference that year. I was the captain, the talisman, and I felt all the pressure. I was physically sick before the game. I spewed up in my house, getting into my car and in the car park when I got to the game. After the game I went down the tunnel and broke down.
Is it true you once had a £20,000 pigeon loft and do you still race pigeons? Jonathan Allan
That is true. It was unbelievable. Once I had a few quid I converted the pigeon loft. It had a conveyor belt that collected the droppings. All I had to do was push a button and the droppings would be taken outside. It had underfloor heating, a tiled roof, the lot. It was better than my house! It was like a sauna and the pigeons would be lying there with their wings up. They couldn’t race, they wouldn’t come out the loft! It was about 40ft long. I still keep pigeons but I don’t race them any more. I like looking at them and petting them. Keeps me calm.
after newsletter promotion
You were known to put the fear of God into defenders, but which defenders did you find the hardest to go up against? Stephen Roberts
Big Sami Hyypiä for Liverpool, definitely. Tall, big as me, not the quickest but he could read the game. I was a leaper and if you were much smaller than me I would destroy you in the air; you had no chance. But Sami was a big lad. There were other old-school ones like Gary Pallister, Tony Adams and Martin Keown. They were all tough. [Marcel] Desailly at Chelsea as well.
Who was the best player you played with and why? John Maher
I’ve got a soft spot for Wayne Rooney because he’s a scouser and a bluenose. I played with him at a young age when he obviously wasn’t quite at the peak of his powers but you could see where he would get to even then. He was a fantastic player at 16. If I can put two in I’d say Alan Shearer was the other one who I thought was top, top, top. Wayne could do it all. I’d say Wayne had more clubs in the bag. Alan was more of a goalscorer but he was technically very good as well. He could take the paint off that ball. The two were world class.
You played for many different managers. Which one understood you most and got the best out of you? David Hayes
Howard Kendall. Walter Smith, God bless him, was a gentleman and a very good guy. You’d run through brick walls for him. Howard was the same and I loved Howard. He made me captain and I’m so glad he did. A lot of people never saw that in me but luckily for us he did, because that was the season when we stayed up on the last day. I think that decision saved us. I played my best football under him, I wasn’t injured, I only got one red card in the whole season, which was good for me, so I only missed three games. I was player of the year and scored 11 goals for a team that was bottom of the league. Howard was a great guy.
Given your various run-ins with refs when you played, would you have been able to adapt your physical game in today’s environments with stricter refs and VAR? Tom Cupples
I obviously wouldn’t last long, let’s be fair. There was a lot of off-the-ball stuff as well. You used to flatten boys off the ball, squaring up to players when the ball was away. I would have to adapt otherwise I’d just be racking up red cards. But there is no contact now and people know there’s VAR so if you put a hand on their shoulder they’ll fall over. I think they need to get a rule in with VAR that, if you don’t see it within 30 seconds, then move on. It’s not clear and obvious.
From seeing you on TV recently you seem to be a more content person these days. Is that true? Mark McClennon
Not really. I felt bitter against the press in Scotland for what happened to me so when I came down south I thought: “Fuck it, they’re all the same.” And I couldn’t be bothered talking to the press, I just wasn’t interested. As I’ve got older I’ve softened on that, plus, because I was working as a coach and a manager as well, I had to start doing press. So if it looks that way it’s probably because I softened my position on the media work.
If you could relive one day in your life and change how it went, what would it be and how would you change it? David McAllister
I know you’re probably thinking the prison thing but I would say the biggest regret I’ve got in my life is touching booze. I should never have touched that. My dad didn’t drink. He did when he was younger but he stopped. Where there has been booze in my life there has been trouble, off the field. And I think the booze got me my 10 operations. I never understood that at the time.
How do you reflect on your management career so far – what has been your most proud moment and what is your biggest regret? Tom Nelson
Leading out the Blues for the first time against Chelsea was the proudest moment. The next game was at Old Trafford. It was freezing, lashing down with rain, and I’m stood there in December with just a white shirt on. I never felt a thing. My blood pressure must have been through the roof.
But as a manager I’ve picked two really tough jobs. Dynamo couldn’t have saved Forest Green Rovers but when results aren’t there people start to abandon you. I didn’t know where Forest Green was. They were not my players. They were bottom of the league. This was late January. They had no chance of staying up but I thought, after speaking to the guy, I’d get the rebuild for next year. But promises, promises …
When I went into Inverness they were bottom with one point. I took us 19 points above the automatic relegation place and into a playoff, where a refereeing decision against Hamilton killed me. It’s not put me off. I improved Everton and Inverness. I lost my job at Inverness through administration – you couldn’t make it up.
-
Big Dunc: The Upfront Autobiography by Duncan Ferguson is published by Century (£22). To support the Guardian order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply
