The Big Interview

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.

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PART ONE of this interview with Stiliyan Petrov – which is one of my favourites in this entire series – covers a lot of ground, from picking up rifle shell cases from the snow, to the dangers of not being close enough to Henrik Larsson when he wins a header.

Not all of you may know that Stiliyan took an enforced break in the early years of his career as a pro to serve in the Bulgarian army for 18 months. He tells it here, and connects the lessons he learned during that time with the footballer and the man he would become.

At Celtic, he had to adapt to a new country and a new language. How he improved his English is a story matched by very few of the guests we have had on the podcast.

So grab yourself a burger, and enjoy the first part of a fascinating interview with a remarkable man.

So, after speaking to Pablo Zabaleta for the latest podcast, the Man City defender kindly signed an Argentina shirt for us. And you have the chance to win it. Here’s what you have to do….

Just scroll down and put your email address into the ‘Subscribe’ box directly underneath this post. That means you’ll be on the Big Interview mailing list (If you’re already on the mailing list you don’t need to do anything).

On Thursday, we’ll email you a Zabaleta-related question. Hit ‘reply’ to Thursday’s email with your answer, and we’ll announce a winner on Friday.

And if you don’t win, don’t worry. You’ll now be on our mailing list and will have the chance to win more goodies in the future, submit questions to our guests and get the latest podcasts sent directly to your inbox.

Good luck!

Graham

I FIRST interviewed Pablo Zabaleta at his tiny flat in the suburb of Didsbury at the start of his time in Manchester. The Argentine has now made over 300 appearances for the club which he joined just before Sheikh Mansour’s takeover in 2008.

He also scored the forgotten goal of English football. 2012. Final game of the season. Edin Dzeko equalises against QPR in the 92nd minute. Then, “Aguerooooo” seals the title with the famous last-minute strike. Pablo opened the scoring that day and told me that at half-time, with the score 1-0, he thought HE would be the “hero of the day, the hero of the city!”

He is fascinating on those final few moments of the 2012 season, revealing how the injury-time news that QPR were safe from relegation changed everything in City’s favour and helped Aguero to claim his place in history.

We cover a lot in this conversation, starting in 2005 at the Under-20 World Cup, which Argentina won. Zabaleta was captain and a little Argentinean kid called Leo Messi had joined up with the squad the previous month. We play Pablo this video of him scoring (jump to 7:10 for the goal) in the semi-final against Brazil and reflect on the achievements of that golden generation of players, including Angel Di Maria, Aguero and Messi.

Pablo also speaks emotionally about Dani Jarque, his former teammate at Espanyol, who died of heart failure in 2009. Andres Iniesta paid tribute to Jarque in the 2010 World Cup final after scoring the winning goal, when he took off his Spain top to reveal the message: “Dani Jarque: Siempre Con Nosotros” (Dani Jarque: Always With Us).

Pablo talks about how the role of right-back has changed under current manager Pep Guardiola and his motivation to remain “part of the club even if they can spend £50-60m on a right-back”.

Enjoy

Graham

As president of Real Madrid – and as an influencer while out of that office – Ramon Calderon was inside some historic deals: Cristiano Ronaldo to Madrid being chief amongst them. In this, the second part of my interview with him, you’ll hear the story of that transfer, and also a whole bunch of other decisions, made by him and by Florentino Perez, the man he succeeded and who would return to power at the Bernabeu, with Ramon Calderon as a frequent critic.

You’re going to hear very nice things said about David Beckham. You’re going to hear about Predrag Mijatovic and the need to delegate. You’re going to hear about how two goals in the last 20 minutes of a football match can restore one’s faith in a higher power.

I hope you like it.

Graham