Graham's Blog

SIGNING FOR Real Madrid would change everything for Steve McManaman. The move turned him into a league champion and Champions League winner, but it also transformed the way he played the game.

In part two, McManaman talks about reinventing himself as a holding midfielder to better serve a team which included the likes of Luis Figo and Fernando Redondo – a player McManaman still considers a great, even though injury crippled the Argentine’s career. There is also an appreciation of the roles performed by Ronnie Whelan at Liverpool during the 80s, and Sergio Busquets in the current Barcelona side; fine support acts to some of the biggest stars in the game.

Zinedine Zidane gets a mention, too, although not as you might expect. Listen to how this World Cup winner often looked lost during the early days of his Madrid career – before finding himself emphatically with a certain goal at Hampden – and why Claude Makelele was regarded as the most important player at the Bernabeu.

When Makelele left it was the beginning of the end for that Madrid team, as McManaman explains. He also knew that it was time to move on, and he knows how to tell his story. I think you’ll agree.

Hello and welcome to the first in the series of Big Interview clip shows. We decided to pick out some themes that snaked through season 2015-16 of The Big Interview, and see what our guests had to say on them.

Often in these interviews, players’ names come up and I have to divert from the questions I have in front of me and find out more about them. These are the mavericks – footballers who can get us out of our seats with one flash of genius.

Not many mavericks can tell you how they do it – but Chris Waddle can. The former England winger takes us inside the mind of a maverick – how he perfected the technique that made fools of defenders from the Sunday Leagues to the San Siro; and what it feels like when the pressure to entertain becomes a burden.

Who better defines this term ‘maverick’ than Paul Gascoigne? We’ll hear from three footballers who give us three different perspectives on the genius of English football in the 1990s: Michael O’Neill, who found himself taken under Gazza’s wing as a young player at Newcastle; then Alan Pardew tells us what it was like to man mark Gascoigne during the pinnacle of his career. Finally Waddle tells us what happens when Gazza has time on his hands and a box of eggs at his disposal.

And last but not least… Eric Cantona, who came into English football like a comet in 1992. Waddle knew exactly what was heading our way, having shared a dressing room with Cantona at Marseille. At Leeds United, both Gordon Strachan and Gary McAllister saw the impact the Frenchman had on the team that would win the title in 1992.

Enjoy!

Graham

THIS SECOND part of my interview with Stiliyan Petrov features a brilliant breakdown on the way Martin O’Neill has repeatedly made a team perform beyond the sum of its parts. At Aston Villa, Petrov felt both the warm sunlight and the shade cast by his old boss. He also talks brilliantly about his year-long campaign to win back the trust and affection of the Villa fans, and where that journey took him and the team he would eventually captain.

Then we get on to Stiliyan’s battle with leukaemia. He regrets that having worked so hard to “be somebody” as he puts it, his children now see him represented more for his illness and recovery than for his achievements on the football pitch. However, he also knows his story can offer support to others, and that he is in a position to materially affect the fight against cancer in this country.

I had never met Stiliyan before this interview and I found him an inspiration. His description of what he went through, and how it gave him a new perspective on life,  is unforgettable.

Stiliyan has a foundation through which he continues to take the fight to leukaemia. To learn more, and become involved in supporting Stiliyan through awareness and action, go to The Stiliyan Petrov Foundation

We’re delighted to announce a live recording of The Big Interview with star guest Neil Lennon on December 16 at Greenock Town Hall. The event – organised in conjunction with my good friend Martin Compston – is in aid of the Ardgowan Hospice.

The format is simple: a deep dive into Neil’s incredible life and career – Leicester, Celtic, Northern Ireland and more – followed by an audience Q&A. After the event, we’ll put out the recording for all Big Interview listeners. But if you can make it in person, we’d love to see you… and you’d be helping out a fantastic cause.

Buy Tickets