Good interview with Matty

[Saint Garrett]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2337026/Matt-Le-Tissier--The-Footballers-Football-Column-Andy-Carroll-15-goal-season-striker.html

 

MATT LE TISSIER: It was a strange decision for Saints to sack Adkins... mind you, Cortese is a strange man but I don't think the fans will have too many complaints now

 

A one-club man, Matt Le Tissier's Southampton career was defined by sensational strikes, final-day survival scrapes and an almost perfect penalty record. He was the first Premier League midfielder to score 100 goals, yet was capped just eight times by England. In his first Footballers' Football Column, Le Tissier reflects on a successful return to the top flight for his beloved Saints, cleaning Joe Jordan's boots and turning off the swear button in the Sky Sports studio...

 

I don't want it to happen that way, but I've got a funny feeling England will qualify for the World Cup through the play-offs. We haven't got that many players to choose from any more, unfortunately. The good players that we do have are automatically in the squad because there aren't that many options.

Looking back now to when I was in contention for England squads and the amount of attacking midfielders and centre forwards we had around then... Gazza, Teddy Sheringham, Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley, Ian Wright, Stan Collymore, Les Ferdinand. You just reel off those names and now you look at it and go: 'Right, we've got Wayne Rooney'.

Roy Hodgson hasn't got a lot to choose from. He's got Andy Carroll, who with all the will in the world is not a 25-goal a season man. In fact, he's probably not a 15-goal a season man. We're having to pick someone in the squad who's got one Premier League goal as an attacker in Danny Welbeck.

It was surprising to see Rickie Lambert miss out recently, especially given the forwards who have pulled out injured from the last couple of England squads. He was the joint-top English scorer in the Premier League this season with Frank Lampard after scoring 15 goals, so he can find himself a little bit unfortunate not to have been called up.

 

 

If you'd have asked any Saints fan at the start of the season if they'd have taken 14th place they'd have bitten your arm off. It was a strange decision to sack Nigel Adkins, but we're going to have to get used to strange decisions coming from Nicola Cortese, our strange old chairman. But as long as things go well on the pitch then I don't think too many people will have many complaints.

Mauricio Pochettino made a slight change in how far we were pressing up the field in terms of getting the ball back in certain games, but I didn't think they were playing that badly when Nigel got sacked. I think Pochettino was quite fortunate in that he inherited a team that wasn't low on confidence and not in a bad run of form, which is not how most managers get to take over football clubs. So from that point of view he had a bit of a headstart.

The club was in a bad way when we were forced to sell the likes of Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale. We're not in that position any more and I would like to think that if a player didn't want to leave Southampton and if the club didn't need the transfer fee then we can keep hold of our better players.

I know that there are some big clubs sniffing around Bale after the season he's just had, and that's completely understandable. I hope he stays at Spurs for another year. I think he could make a real name for himself if he could fire Spurs into those Champions League places - they're within touching distance. It would be great for him if he could do that and show a bit of loyalty towards them.

But if the transfer fee is ridiculously high like the figures that have been bandied about, is it going to be too difficult for Spurs to turn down? Especially when they're buying a new stadium - it might be that financially they have to do it.

Alan Ball made a massive difference to the way I played football. If you look at the 18 months that he was manager and compare that to the rest of my career in terms of stats, goals per game and assists per game, Bally was in charge for 66 games, I scored 45 goals. I missed two of them, so 64 games.

 

That's because I had a manager who believed in me and played me where I was most useful. And that was the difference between me being a player who was going to contribute to the team every week and one who was played out on the right wing where I could fit into the team and occasionally I would score a goal. And occasionally I'd get dropped. That was the difference.

Being an apprentice was a good grounding. I cleaned Joe Jordan's boots - he wasn't the biggest tipper at Christmas, let's put it that way! Although I never told him that.

To put it in perspective, you've got kids now in the reserves of football clubs who are earning more money than I was earning when I finished playing, Which was only 11 years ago - it is not a whole lifetime ago.

 

You take away a boy's desire by giving them too much too young. And that's why a lot of times kids will come through, look decent and all of sudden they're on 10 or 20 grand a week and the levels of their performance go down.

You've just given them a four-year contract on twenty grand a week - what do you expect? I don't mind people earning great money, just give it to them gradually when they've earnt it, not before they've done anything.

The best thing about The Dell was the crowd. The crowd being right on top of the pitch. It was the weirdest thing, because I knew I was going to score the last ever goal there. I had a feeling. Manager Stuart Gray told me on the Tuesday: 'Whatever happens you're going to be on the pitch at the end'. And as soon as he said that, all that went through my mind for the rest of the week when I was going to sleep at night was: "I'm going to score the last goal at The Dell".

 

Chris Marsden had a shot just after I scored which Alex Manninger tipped over the bar. I was very relieved. I think if Manninger hadn't tipped it over the bar, I would have been there tipping it over the bar!

The worst thing about not scoring THAT penalty? It wasn't that Mark Crossley saved it. When the rebound came out to me, I put it over the bar from seven yards. I thought to myself: 'How the f*** have I done that?'

 

Swearing was the thing that worried me the most about going on television. Still being involved in the banter with the lads on the panel but having to make sure you didn't let out a sly f-word, or something. But you get used to it after a few goes and when you walk through the studio door, that's it. The swear button goes off.

I don't feel comfortable wearing ties. I'm a bit more of a relaxed guy than that. When I wasn't under contract with Sky, I was doing it on an as-and-when basis, they didn't really have any say over what I would wear. When Rodney Marsh got sacked and they offered me a two-year contract, they said to me then that they would really like me to wear a jacket and tie. So I said: 'Let's compromise, I'll put a jacket on and no tie!', and they said: 'Fair enough'.

 

Occasionally I'll put one on to please my grandmother, who likes me to look smart, bless her. Or a couple of times someone has donated money towards charity when I've been at a dinner and they go: 'I'll give a couple of hundred quid towards charity if you put a tie on'.

In the early days when I worked with Frank McLintock, he was watching Arsenal versus Charlton. The teams came out at five to three and he's writing them down as you do. As he was writing Charlton's team down, he looked up in all seriousness - he didn't realise what he'd said - he looked across at Charlie Nicholas and said: 'Charlie! What's Dennis Rommedahl's first name?'

 

[Frank's cousin]

Bet he's got some great anecdotes! Nice to see a quite light hearted and non heavy interview. Even his NC comments are totally fair... Nc does make strange decisions, but so they are working so no complaints... would be really great if now that things seem quieter, if somhow, just somehow, these guys could get on - both afterall want the best for teh club, and that is all that should matter.

[Dibden Purlieu Saint]

Good article. Playing golf with him in September, so looking forward to that!!

[once_bitterne]

Couldn't do a whole interview without getting in a dig at Cortese tho could you Matty....

 

You're a 'strange old' former player. Most club legends would be grinning from ear to ear if there club had gone from bottom of L1 to where we are now.

[Mowgli]

Couldn't do a whole interview without getting in a dig at Cortese tho could you Matty....

 

You're a 'strange old' former player. Most club legends would be grinning from ear to ear if there club had gone from bottom of L1 to where we are now.

 

Lol. I didn't read it like that. Cortese is strange compared to the traditional Chairman but maybe he's showing us how the role should be performed. Adam Blackmore said at the time of Nigel's sacking that in the private sector you always give the incoming manager a decent chance of success by appointing him when things are going well rather than have hime face a crisis of confidence from day1! Its so obvious when you think about it. In the main I love the way Cortese honours contracts right to the end (Dickson, Richardson, Butterfield, for example), - it means players are more inclined to honour the contracts that they sign.

 

Don't want to make this a Cortese thread though. MLT has some cracking stories to tell and that last goal at the Dell was real Roy of the Rovers stuff. Coming from behind to beat Arsenal was something in itself but the game wil always be remembered for 'that goal'. I lost count of the numberof times that Matt saved the club single handedly. The Great Escape year stands out with his route 1 goal at Dellhurst Park! But more than anything was a game against Wimbledon at the Dell where we needed a win but he just failed to perform on the day and Wimbledon hammered us for 89 minutes. Then Matt steps up with a free kick and lobs a curling shot up and and around the keepr who went ballistic. Great days.

[sir woody]

Do youth players still have to clean boots? A shame if not. I like the era of young footballers not having much money and being taught to respect the established pros and work hard etc.

 

Still NC and MLT can get over everything as we need MLT back at the club in some capacity. It's been over 10 years and I still miss him.

 

Agreed

[benjii]

Strange "column"... more a weird stream of consciousness.

 

Still, Matty is a legend.