Spurs Legends

[Jordinho]

Matthew Etherington

Born in Truro, Cornwall, Etherington came through the youth ranks at Peterborough United after being spotted by Barry Fry playing for Falmouth Town under-14s. He made his debut in the Football League aged 15 years 262 days, in a 2–1 win at Brentford on 3 May 1997. He made a further two appearances in the following season but made his breakthrough into the first team in 1998–99 when he made 33 appearances in all competitions scoring three goals. He went on trial at Manchester United in July 1999, but at the end of December 1999, he joined Tottenham Hotspur in a deal that valued him at £500,000. He made a total of 58 appearances for Peterborough in all competitions, scoring six goals.

Etherington joined Tottenham Hotspur from Peterborough in a move that saw Simon Davies join the North London club as part of the same deal. He struggled to establish himself during his three-year stint at Spurs and, in 2001, spent two months on loan to Bradford City, where he made 13 appearances and scored one goal against Watford. Having only started five Premiership games since arriving from Peterborough in 1999, he handed in a transfer request in June 2002 saying that he had decided that his career would be best served away from Spurs. However, no transfer was forthcoming but he broke into the first team during the 2002–03 season, when he made 25 appearances despite a lay-off with an ankle injury. He scored his first Premier League goal in a 2–2 draw with Everton on 17 August 2002.

In August 2003, he joined West Ham in an exchange deal plus cash for Fredi Kanouté amid a formal complaint made to the FA by Peterborough at the valuation placed on Etherington, who would have benefited from a sell-off clause had it been greater than £500,000, the price at which Peterborough sold Etherington to Tottenham in 1999. Etherington made 51 appearances for Tottenham, 28 of these as a substitute, scoring two goals against Bolton in the FA Cup and Everton in the league.

Etherington joined West Ham at the beginning of their two-year spell in the second-tier of English football, playing the final season of the First Division and the first of the Championship. Etherington was a big hit at Upton Park, scoring several goals including a hat-trick in a 5–0 win over Wimbledon. He won the "Hammer of the Year" award in his first season at the club and played a huge part in helping the club get to the 2004 Championship play-off final by scoring in the 2–0 win over Ipswich Town in the play-off semi final second leg. Etherington played in the final as West Ham lost 1–0 to Crystal Palace. The following year, West Ham reached the play-off final again, with Etherington setting up the goal in the final against Preston North End with a perfectly timed cross which was scored by Bobby Zamora, which sent West Ham back into the Premier League.

He was a regular member of the team for seasons 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06, his appearances being more sporadic in the following three seasons. Etherington eventually lost his place in the starting eleven due to Gianfranco Zola's preference to play younger players. He completed 195 games for West Ham, in all competitions, scoring 18 goals, before being sold to Stoke City on 8 January 2009 for £2 million. He went on to have a successful season for Stoke which led him to win the player of the year award and signed a new four-year contract with Stoke on 11 July 2010.

Etherington started the 2010–11 season in fine form providing a number of assists from corners and left midfield. He scored his first goal of the season in a 3–0 win over West Bromwich Albion and followed this up by scoring a last minute equaliser against Emirates Marketing Project a week later and then scored another against Wigan Athletic. He scored the opening goal in the FA Cup Semi-final as City beat Bolton 5–0 clinching a first FA Cup Final appearance in their 148-year history. Etherington described the performance as the game of their lives. On 28 April in a match against Wolverhampton Wanderers Etherington torn his hamstring leaving him in doubt for the FA Cup Final. He did make the final as Stoke lost 1–0 to Emirates Marketing Project.

In the 2011–12 season Etherington was again the clubs only recognized left winger and he scored twice against his old club Tottenham Hotspur on 11 December 2011. After some indifferent performances he has admitted that his form has dipped since last season. He made his 100th Premier League appearance for Stoke against Fulham on 11 February 2012. Etherington lost his place in Tony Pulis' starting line up at the start of the 2012–13 season due to the signing of Michael Kightly which has restricted him to making cameo appearances from the bench. He regained his starting place in November 2012. However Etherington struggled with form and fitness throughout the campaign. He made 33 appearances in 2012–13 as Stoke finished in 13th position and the end of the season Tony Pulis was replaced by Mark Hughes. Hughes changed the teams style of play for the 2013–14 season, and whilst Etherington stated that they have adapted well, a lack of goals is still a concern. As the season progressed Etherington lost his place in the side to Oussama Assaidi. In March 2014 Etherington announced that he would be leaving Stoke at the end of the 2013–14 season.

Etherington appeared for the England Under-20 team at the 1999 FIFA U-20 World Cup, playing alongside players such as Stuart Taylor, Ashley Cole, Peter Crouch, Lee Canoville and Andy Johnson. However, the team failed to score a single goal in their three group matches, and finished bottom of their group.

 

[Jordinho]

Kevin Scott

Kevin Watson Scott was born in Easington, County Durham, and started out as a youth player at Middlesbrough. He was however released after just one season and began working at a paper mill whilst playing part-time for Durham City. Spotted by Saudi Sportswashing Machine manager Jack Charlton, he was part of a youth side that won the FA Youth Cup in 1985, playing alongside the likes of Joe Allon, Gary Kelly, Brian Tinnion and Paul Gascoigne. From 1984-1994 the central defender played 227 games for the Magpies with 8 goals.

Scott was also captain in Osvaldo Ardiles's disastrous 1991-1992 season, where they finish 20th and just avoided relegation. New manager Kevin Keegan handed the captaincy to Brian Kilcline, and United went on to win promotion as the division's champions in 1992–93. Scott scored two goals in 56 league and cup appearances. He played 18 top-flight games in the first half of the 1993–94 season, before leaving St James' Park in a £800,000 sale to Tottenham Hotspur and their new manager Ossie Ardiles.

When Ardiles was replaced by Gerry Francis the following season Scott lost his place in the team. He signed on loan for John Rudge's Port Vale in January 1995. He helped to shore up the "Valiants" defence, as an upturn in form in the second half of the 1994–95 season saw the Vale rise out of the First Division relegation zone. Tottenham went on to finish tenth in the 1995–96 season, though Scott rarely featured in the first team. Still a peripheral player in the 1996–97 season, he was loaned out to Alan Curbishley's First Division Charlton Athletic, though played just four games at The Valley.

Scott joined Norwich City in February 1997 for a £250,000 fee. Mike Walker's "Canaries" finished 13th in the First Division in 1996–97, and then 15th in 1997–98. Under the stewardship of Bruce Rioch, Norwich finished ninth in 1998–99. However Scott only played 33 first-team games in his time at Carrow Road. He played his last professional game at Feethams on a loan spell with David Hodgson's Third Division club Darlington in February 1999. A reoccurring knee injury put pay to any chance of comeback and he retired in 2000. Later that year he played numerous games for Northern League sides Guisborough Town and Crook Town.

The former centre back after retiring from the game spent some time out of football and began working at a Driving School in the north east. He then became a youth coach at first club Middlesbrough. It appears Kevin Scott is not half bad either with claims of a strong influence on former Middlesbrough youth products Adam Johnson, Stewart Downing and Lee Cattermole. Kevin Scott still coaches at the North East side as they look to gain a Championship Play-off spot.

 

[Jordinho]

Moussa Saib

Moussa Saïb was born in Théniet El Had, Algeria, and started his career with a club from the west of Algeria called Jeunesse Sportive de Tiaret. He then moved to Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie and helped them to win the Algerian League and the African Champions League in 1990.

In 1992 he joined French club Auxerre for an undisclosed fee. In his five seasons there he won the French League once in 1996 and the French Cup twice in 1994 and 1996.

In May 1997, Arsenal coach Arsène Wenger tried to buy him along with Swiss center back Murat Yakın in what would have been a "sensational" £7 million deal. however the deal did not succeed and Saib instead joined Spanish club Valencia for £3 million. He did not stay long before a relegation threatened Tottenham came calling and in February 1998 he joined for £2.3 million.

He helped us avoid relegation by scoring the decisive 6th goal in the 6-2 demolition of Wimbledon, but when George Graham took over the following season opportunities became sparse. When he flew off to join up with the Algeria squad while claiming not to be fit enough to play for Spurs, it was the beginning of the end for Moussa. The player had undergone a back operation at the end of 1998 and two months later, in January 1999, he played two reserve matches only for the new manager, who had arrived while he was injured, to tell him he was not fit enough to play for Algeria. He never really made it back into the first team picture … quite literally, as he didn’t get included in the team photo for season 1999-2000. Graham’s nickname of “Gadaffi” probably made his approach clear to Saib and his disciplinarian manner left Saib out of the side, with little chance of breaking back in. The main example of this was in not allowing Saib to don tracksuit bottoms in training when it was cold, because it was his rule that players were not allowed to wear them before December.

With little option other than to move on, the Algerian took a six month loan move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr in 2000 and featured for them in the World Club Championships. Some difference to playing in front of a handful of fans at Spurs reserve games … he was now showing what he could do in front of a handful of neutral fans in Brazil. He managed one goal in the tournament, five minutes from time against Raja Casablanca to give them their only win in South America. The transfer for £640,000 was agreed, but his stay didn’t last too long before he was on the move back to his previous employer Auxerre after about four months, before leaving to play for Monaco. Then he was loaned out to side Lorient, fighting to prevent relegation from the French first division, from January 2001 until the end of that season.

Next Saib moved to the United Arab Emirates to try his hand with Dubai Club but the spell proved very short and unsatisfactory for all parties. An even shorter spell followed with Dubai based club Al-Ahli with Saib staying at the club for only one month. The next month the 33 year old returned to his homeland and another of his old clubs JS Kabylie where he saw out the rest of his playing career.

Saib made the move into management in 2007 as he took over former club Kabylie and won the league in 2008, but after a promising start things tailed off and he was fired after a year and a half in charge of the Algerian side. He has also had short stints at Saudi Arabian club Al Watani and Algerian club ASO Chlef before taking over at JS Kabylie a second time on 27 June 2011. On 1 September 2011, JS Kabylie president Mohand Chérif Hannachi announced that Saïb was relieved from his duties as manager of the club.

Playing for Algeria he won the African Cup of Nations in 1990 and the Afro-Asian Cup of Nations in 1991 as captain. In 2004 he received the Algerian Ballon d'Or.

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Moussa Saib, what are you doing today?

At the moment, I do nothing special. I'm trying to manage my life quietly. I take my family life. I'm retired from the sporting life. Before, I was working for Canal Plus Maghreb. But as they stopped, I did not do anything. I have a daughter that I deal with. I often go out to eat with friends before returning home around 19:00.

In France, you shone Auxerre during the 1990s. What do you remember of that time?

This is my best time in the club. This is where I won all the titles. One of the most beautiful titles I won, the championship double-Coupe de France with Auxerre in 1996. It is not given to everyone to achieve the double.

Champions League was also a great memory ....

I remember very well. I was champion of France. I finished the best passer of the championship and played in the Champions League since at the time only the champion had qualified for the European Cup. We had made great games. It is an unforgettable experience.

After your visit to Auxerre, you passed through Valencia and Tottenham. Not a success ...

We can not succeed everywhere. I had a brilliant career at Auxerre. It is true that I had a bad patch in Valencia and Tottenham. But I regret nothing compared to what I've done in my career. I rubbed the greatest players and the greatest coaches. I also played in three totally different leagues (France, Spain, England). It's great for me.

Before signing Valencia, you almost signed for Arsenal. Can you come back on this episode?

It's simple. At the time Arsène Wenger, who was already the coach of Arsenal, came to see me in Paris. I was with my manager. At this time, in December, I had a year contract with Auxerre. I then signed a pre-contract with Arsenal. Everything was set in December in order to sign the contract on June. But it is the English climate that scared me. That is why I decided to sign Valencia because it is the same climate in Algeria. I was 24 years old. I tell myself that it was useless to go to England. I made a choice. Perhaps only in my career that I can regret.

During your career, there has often been obstacles between your clubs and the Algerian team. What do you think?

Yes, but it's normal. We must understand the coach of the club, since it is your employer and you pay. For one week, you are obliged to leave you. When you are a master piece of your team, it is not easy. I had a problem with because it was a civil Auxerre match with Algeria at the same time. It was then that Guy Roux told me that I could not go on selection. Finally, I went with Algeria and Guy had threatened me. Everything is back to normal after. At the time, it was not protected by the Federation but we came to the flag ...

Do not you regret not having played a World Cup?

Yes, but I played a FIFA Club World (laughs). Unfortunately, Algeria crossed a black series when I played in selection. It was difficult to qualify to the World Cup. But I still won the African Cup of Nations in 1990. Globalists 2010, they do not have African Cup (laughs).

You are arrested in the middle of Paris. Your rating has not changed with the public ...

This is great pleasure. When I played, I could not realize the impact I had on people. Even though it's been ten years since I stopped the high level, people still remember you. This is where I realize that I'm doing something in my career.

Most footballers gain weight once retired. Not you. ? What is your secret?

I train regularly. I make games with friends from time to time. I do not drink alcohol and I do not smoke either. I try to maintain a certain lifestyle.

Would you accept a return on the sports scene? In the Algerian football for example ...

Yes, why not? It should not be selfish in life. I played football for ten years. I rubbed three major championships. Not to mention my experience in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The problem are the instances in Algeria. Nobody asked me to Algeria while I'm ready to go. It is not I who will knock on the door. It's a shame, but maybe people do not want us.

http://www.football365.fr/guy-roux-comme-un-pere-625069.shtml

 

[Jordinho]

Kevin-Prince Boateng

Born in Berlin, Germany, Boateng started his career with the youth club Reinickendorfer Füchse and was with Hertha BSC from 1 July 1994, when he was just seven years old, to 31 July 2007. After emerging from the youth team set-up, Boateng played for Hertha BSC II for two seasons. He was promoted to the Hertha BSC first team squad in the 2005–06 season. Boateng made his first team debut in a 2–0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt in the second round of the 2005–06 Bundesliga season on 13 August 2005 at the Olympic Stadium, being brought on at the beginning of the second half. In two seasons he made 53 appearances and scored 5 goals.

Boateng signed a four-year contract with Tottenham Hotspur in July 2007. His success at the club was limited and he was loaned to Borussia Dortmund in January 2009 for the remainder of the season. Dortmund were eager to sign him permanently at the end of the season, but financial constraints prevented them from doing so.

Portsmouth signed Boateng on a three-year contract in August 2009. On 12 September 2009, he scored his first goal for the club against Bolton Wanderers and was named Portsmouth's joint Player of the Month. In May 2010, Portsmouth played Chelsea in the final of the FA cup. Chelsea won the match 1–0. During the match, Boateng fouled Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack, injuring Ballack's ankle and ruling him out of the impending World Cup. Boateng claimed that Ballack slapped him in the face prior to this, and that he apologised to Ballack personally for the tackle which left him injured. Boateng called the German media and the German national football team players hypocrites for backing Ballack whilst ignoring his slap on the pitch. Boateng also criticised Joachim Löw for protecting Ballack after he slapped striker Lukas Podolski in a German national football team training match the previous year.

On 17 August 2010, Boateng transferred to Serie A club Genoa, but immediately joined A.C. Milan on loan with an option to buy. Milan later signed him permanently, providing Genoa with a nice profit.

On 23 October 2011, Boateng came on as half-time substitute scored three goals in 14 minutes. Milan had been 3–0 down at half time, but went on to win the game 4–3. Boateng is only the second player in the history of Serie A to score a hat-trick after coming on as a substitute. The hat-trick was the fastest in Serie A since David Trezeguet scored a 10-minute hat-trick for Juventus in 2001.

On 3 January 2013, Milan was playing Italian Lega Pro 2 side Pro Patria in a mid-season friendly, when Boateng and several other Milan players were the targets of racist chanting from a section of the Pro Patria crowd. Boateng reacted by kicking the ball into the stands before leaving the pitch, being followed off by his teammates. The match was subsequently abandoned.

On 30 August 2013, AC Milan announced that Boateng had been transferred to the German Bundesliga club Schalke 04.

In May 2010 Boateng was cleared to play for Ghana by FIFA and attended training with the national side for the first time in the same month. Boateng made his debut in a 1–0 victory over Latvia in June 2010.

Boateng was part of the Ghana World Cup squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa by head coach Milovan Rajevac. On 23 June, he played in Ghana's game against Germany (for whom his brother Jérôme Boateng plays). Ghana lost the game 1-0. This was the first time that two brothers had played for opposing teams in an international match and been on the pitch at the same time. Boateng scored for Ghana with a left-footed shot from outside the penalty area in the fourth minute of a 2–1 win over the United States in the Round of 16 in Rustenburg's Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace on 26 June.

On 4 November 2013 Boateng came on as a 79th minute sub against Egypt and scored Ghana's only goal in the 89th minute as the Ghana Black Stars qualified for third-straight World Cup and secured qualification to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Boateng's brother, Jérôme Boateng, is a German international defender who, as of February 2014, was playing for Bayern Munich. Although they play for different clubs and different countries, they get on well and have posted pictures of themselves on holiday together.

Boateng's mother's uncle is the legendary football player Helmut Rahn. Known as "The Boss", he scored the winning goal for Germany in the final of the 1954 World Cup.

Boateng's uncle, Robert Boateng is a former professional footballer and Ghana international midfielder and played for African and Ghanaian giants Asante Kotoko.

Boateng's cousin, Nyan Boateng is an American football wide receiver formally of the New York Giants in NFL.

https://twitter.com/KPBofficial

 

[Jordinho]

Ryan Nelsen

Ryan William Nelsen was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. After attending Our Lady of the Assumption primary school and Newman College, he moved to the United States to play for Greensboro College in North Carolina in 1997. After spending two years at Greensboro and leading The Pride to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III championship match, only to lose to Ohio Wesleyan University, he transferred to Stanford University where he played his final two years of college soccer. He was named Stanford's Most Valuable Player as a junior and an NSCAA All-American as a senior while playing as a defensive midfielder. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science.

He played for Christchurch FC both before and occasionally during his time at college and university. In the 2001 MLS SuperDraft Nelsen was drafted fourth overall by D.C. United, with whom he spent four years in Major League Soccer (MLS). After emerging as a starter in 2002, Nelsen was named team captain in 2003, replacing Marco Etcheverry in that role, as well as winning the team's Defender of the Year Award and being named to the league's Best XI. He was named to the Best XI again in 2004, after captaining DC to its fourth MLS Cup. In four years in MLS, Nelsen scored seven goals and added five assists.

Nelsen was signed by Blackburn Rovers on a free transfer in January 2005, shortly after the completion of the 2004 MLS season. In the summer of 2005, after just six months at the club, Nelsen signed a new three-year contract after impressing manager Mark Hughes and helping to turn Blackburn's defence into one of the stingiest in the Premiership. Nelsen was successfully awarded a work permit on appeal after the initial application had been refused due to New Zealand being ranked outside the top seventy in the FIFA World Rankings. In the 2005–06, Blackburn qualified for the UEFA Cup with a sixth place finish, but Nelsen missed the last couple of games after breaking his foot in a 2–0 win at Charlton Athletic. Nevertheless, his performances since arriving in England prompted much interest from rival clubs including Portsmouth, whose bid for Nelsen was rejected by Blackburn.

Nelsen was dealt another blow before the start of the 2006–07 season, with a serious hamstring injury forcing him out until the new year. On his return to the team in an FA Cup fourth round win at Luton Town, he was immediately made captain. In July 2007, he signed a new five-year deal with the club up until the summer of 2012. He scored his first league goal for Blackburn with a header against Wigan Athletic on 26 April 2009 in a 2–0 win.

Nelsen signed a two-year contract extension with Rovers in late January 2011 which would keep him at the club until the summer of 2013. Under Steve Kean as manager, following the sacking of Sam Allardyce, Nelsen was relieved as team captain of Blackburn in favour of Christopher Samba, moving to vice-captain. Nelsen suffered a knee injury forcing him to miss the rest of the 2010–11 season. Following 2010–11 season, in which Blackburn avoided relegation, Nelsen recovered from the knee injury and made one appearance against Aston Villa in a 3–1 loss. After fully recovering from his knee injury Nelsen was released from Blackburn on the transfer deadline day 31 January 2012.

Nelsen was signed by Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer on 2 February 2012, to replace defender Sébastien Bassong who joined Wolves on loan. He was given the number 33 shirt. He made his debut for Tottenham on 11 February 2012 in the Premier League match against Saudi Sportswashing Machine, when he replaced Ledley King in the seventy-fourth minute. Nelsen made his first starting debut on 19 February 2012 against Stevenage in their FA Cup tie. He scored his first goal for Tottenham Hotspur on 27 March 2012 in the seventy-fourth minute of an FA Cup tie against Bolton Wanderers F.C. in a replay of a previous game, due to Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba having a cardiac arrest in the first tie. Tottenham Hotspur won the match 3–1 that day. On 25 May 2012, he was released by Tottenham with fellow January signing Louis Saha. He made eight appearances scoring one goal.

On 18 June 2012 it was announced that Ryan Nelsen had signed a one-year deal with Queens Park Rangers. He played his last match for Queens Park Rangers on 29 January in a 0–0 draw against English champions, Emirates Marketing Project, and was given a guard of honour by his team mates after the game. On 8 January 2013 Nelsen had accepted an offer to become head coach of Major League Soccer side Toronto FC. He started on 1 February in time for Toronto's pre-season. Nelsen won his first game as a head coach in the home opener against Sporting Kansas City in a 2–1 victory on 9 March, with both goals coming from newly acquired striker Robert Earnshaw.

Nelsen made his New Zealand All Whites debut against Poland on 19 June 1999. Although he has been selected to play on numerous occasions, Nelsen had not represented New Zealand between his last appearance in 2004 and 2008 due largely to a recurring hamstring injury. Nelsen captained the New Zealand U-23 squad for their first appearance at the Olympic Games against China. Although he was only available for the opening two matches as Blackburn had requested that he return in time to prepare for their opening Premier League game of the 2008–09 season against Everton. Nelsen captained the All Whites side as they qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, beating Bahrain in a two-legged playoff in November 2009.

On 15 June 28 years to the day after New Zealand made their first appearance in a FIFA World Cup Finals, Nelsen captained New Zealand to their first ever point in a FIFA World Cup Finals match in a 1–1 draw with World Cup debutants Slovakia. On 24 June, Nelsen again skippered the All Whites in a 0–0 draw with Paraguay, but New Zealand were knocked out of the group stages.

 

[Jordinho]

Andy Gray

Andrew Arthur Gray was born in Lambeth, England, and started out as a youth player for Crystal Palace. He was only there for one season before joining non-league team Corinthian Casuals and later Dulwich Hamlet where he was spotted by Crystal Palace manager Steve Coppell. Gray moved to Palace and quickly became a regular in the team, playing in the forward positions. In the 1985–86 season, Gray top-scored with 11 goals. However, after the signings of Ian Wright and Mark Bright, Gray moved into central-midfield, and his career came alight.

Gray then achieved promotion with Aston Villa and had a spell at Queens Park Rangers, before returning to Selhurst Park for the 1989–90 season. This proved to be a remarkable season, and Gray managed to secure himself a legacy that will survive in Palace fans' hearts forever. In the league Palace survived comfortably, and they found themselves in an FA Cup Semi-final against champions Liverpool, who were gunning for a league and cup double. Having led 2–1 at one point, Palace were 2–3 down, and were on the verge of leaving Villa Park with their heads down, before Gray jumped forward to head an 87th minute equaliser. Alan Pardew's goal in extra-time ensured that Gray and his Palace teammates would get to play in the FA Cup Final.

The final would be against Manchester United, and in the match Gray played well as Palace secured a 3–3 draw. In the replay, Palace were beaten by a single goal to nil.

The following season, Palace achieved far more than even the biggest optimists expected. The Eagles chased Liverpool and Arsenal until the end, but had to settle for third place in the First Division. As well as this, they picked up silverware, in winning the Zenith Data Systems Cup. In November 1991, Gray's play was rewarded with a call-up to the England team, and he made his solitary international appearance against Poland in a crucial qualifier for the EURO '92.

Gray left Palace at the end of that season, after their form slumped following the sale of Ian Wright, and went to Tottenham Hotspur for £900,000. His spell at Spurs would be less successful and, following a loan move to Swindon Town, he was sold to CA Marbella for an undisclosed fee. He made 33 appearances for Spurs, scoring 3 goals. He would round out his career with short spells at Falkirk, where he played in the 1997 Scottish Cup Final, Bury, and Millwall.

After finishing playing, Gray later went into management. He was appointed as the Head Coach of Sierra Leone in 2006. He stated he believed Sierra Leone could qualify for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, which they did not. One of the methods for achieving this was to tempt British-born players such as Nigel Reo-Coker, Liam Rosenior and Steve Kabba to accept call-ups to the Sierra Leone team. In 2005, Andy was voted in Palace's Centenary XI.

 

[Jordinho]

Hossam Ghaly

Hossam El Sayed Ghaly, born in Kafr el-Sheikh, Egypt, started out as a youth player at Al-Ahly. He broke into their first team squad when he was only 16 years old. He played regularly for Al-Ahly until he moved to Feyenoord Rotterdam in 2003, despite interest from numerous other European clubs such as VfB Stuttgart and FC Nantes. The transfer fee was said to be around €1.4 million.

After three troublesome seasons in the Netherlands, Ghaly joined Tottenham Hotspur of the Premier League on January 2006. Their rivals Arsenal had been interested before he signed a four-and-a-half-year contract at Tottenham. Ghaly was given the number 14 jersey and scored his first goal for Spurs in the UEFA Cup against Beşiktaş on 19 October 2006. During a game against rivals Chelsea on 11 March 2007, he gave Spurs a temporary 3–1 lead in the FA Cup. A week later Ghaly scored his only Premier League goal, in a 3–1 win over Watford.

A foul on Ghaly in the middle of the penalty box against Blackburn Rovers saw Jermain Defoe score a penalty kick which resulted in the game ending in 1–1 draw. Ghaly's second encounter with Blackburn however is remembered merely due to its affiliation with infamy. His future at Tottenham was left in doubt after he pulled off his shirt and threw it to the ground after being substituted during a Premier League match against Blackburn on 10 May 2007. Ghaly had been brought on in the first half after an injury to Steed Malbranque, and rebelled when brought off. The Tottenham fans were left angry at Ghaly's reaction, singing "You're not fit to wear the shirt" and he was disciplined by the club soon after.

He issued the following apology: "I am just so angry with myself," Ghaly told the official Spurs site. "I have always considered it an honour to wear the Tottenham shirt and I never intended to show any disrespect. I knew things weren't happening for me out there, my play was terrible and I could hear the crowd jeering me. I was so upset at the fans' reaction. I have enjoyed playing in front of the club's supporters all season and I felt I had given of my best all the time and played some decent football. It is always hard to accept being substituted after such a short period of time and I was upset and taken aback by the cheering. I am a player who plays with my heart. I know my reaction was totally wrong. I have apologised to the manager and I also want to apologise to the fans. I hope they don't judge me on this incident alone. I have tried hard for the club this season".

Nonetheless, he was not to play for the club again. He stated that he wished to leave Tottenham due to his frustration at being unable to play in central midfield. In July 2007, he was set to move to Birmingham City for a fee of £3 million (subject to work permit approval). However, on 3 August, Birmingham announced they would not be completing the deal after Ghaly objected to the training methods employed by manager Steve Bruce. In January 2008, Derby County expressed an interest in Ghaly. They agreed terms with Tottenham Hotspur and the player to take him on loan until the end of the season. Ghaly made his debut during Derby's 1–0 home defeat to Wigan Athletic on 12 January. After 12 games and the relegation of Derby to the Championship, Paul Jewell revealed he would not sign him as Ghaly wished to stay in the Premiership.

Despite not being given a squad number by Juande Ramos during his time at Tottenham, new appointment Harry Redknapp issued him with the number 15. On 2 January 2009, Ghaly was amongst the substitutes for Tottenham's FA Cup 3rd Round tie against Wigan Athletic at White Hart Lane. Whilst warming up and preparing to be substituted on late in the second half, Ghali was booed by a large amount of the Tottenham supporters. In light of this, manager Harry Redknapp decided against bringing him on. On 22 January 2009, Ghaly completed a move to Saudi club Al-Nassr on a three-year deal.

On 6 July 2010, Ghaly completed a free transfer and signed a three-year contract with his first side, Al-Ahly. There was a contest for his signature with arch rivals Zamalek also making an offer. He retrieved his number 14 shirt along with the captain's armband. In December, during an World Cup match, he became injured for six months which meant that he would not play for the rest of the season. On 2 July 2013, Ghaly was signed on a free transfer to a one-year contract with Belgian Pro League team Lierse SK, who is owned by an Egyptian business man. The Egyptian league was later suspended due to political instability.

 

[Jordinho]

Willem Korsten

Coming in at 250 posts, Willem Korsten. He was born in Boxtel, Netherlands, and started his youth career at N.E.C., sometimes erroneously referred to as N.E.C. Nijmegen. He made a handful of senior appearances for them before moving to Vitesse Arnhem in 1993. Playing as a left winger he made 75 appearances and scored 12 goals for them before going on loan to Leeds in early 1999.

Leeds decided to pursue a permanent transfer, but Tottenham also made a bid in the region of £1.5 million for the player, which was accepted. Due to injury, Korsten did not make his debut for Tottenham until December 1999 and made only nine appearances in the Premier League in the 1999–2000 season.

The following season he made 13 league appearances, scoring his first Tottenham goal in a 3–1 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield in April 2001. On the final day of the season, he scored two spectacular goals in a 3–1 win over champions Manchester United at White Hart Lane. The match proved to be his last as a professional footballer. In October 2001, due to persistent hip injuries, he was forced to retire at the age of 26.

Korsten returned to his former club, N.E.C. as a coach for its football academy. He played 5 games for Dutch lower amateur side SCV '58 from Velp in their 2002–03 campaign, but injuries forced him to quit the team early in the season.

In May 2011 Korsten returned to the game as player for Topklasse side Achilles '29. After winning the district cup east, Korsten scored the only goal in the final of the KNVB Amateur Cup 2011 on 18 June. He retired once again and joined the Achilles staff for the 2011/12 campaign as their assistant-manager.Korsten resigned at Achilles in March 2012 and joined N.E.C. as an assistant-manager for the 2012–13 season.

 

[Jordinho]

Carlo Cudicini

Carlo Cudicini was born in Milano, Italy, and is the son of the former AC Milan goalkeeper Fabio Cudicini, and the grandson of Circolo Sportivo Ponziana 1912 defender Guglielmo Cudicini. He started his professional career at Serie A side AC Milan in 1992, but struggled to break into the first team, and spent the 1993–1994 season on loan to Como, making six league appearances for the club. He switched permanently to Prato in 1995, and made 30 league appearances for the club, before moving again to Lazio in 1996.

Having only made a single league appearance for Lazio, he moved again in 1997, this time to Castel di Sangro, where his injury problems persisted. He made fourteen league appearances in a three year spell at the club, before being loaned to English Premier League side Chelsea for the 1999–2000 season. He was recommended to the Chelsea manager Gianluca Vialli by his friend, the Lazio goalkeeper Luca Marchegiani.

He signed permanently for the English club in 2000 for a fee of £300,000 and quickly dislodged Ed de Goey from the number one spot, being voted Chelsea's Player of the Year for the 2001–02 season, and the ITV Premiership Goalkeeper of the Season for the 2002–2003 season. After a bright start to the 2003–04 season, the old injury problems experienced in his Lazio days came back, leaving him unable to carry on his success from last season and unable to play for a large portion of the season. When Mourinho arrived in 2004 he signed Petr Cech who would displace Cudicini as the number one goalkeeper, with Cudicini only appearing sporadically afterwards. In 2006, both Cech and Cudicini suffered head injuries in a game against Reading; as Cudicini recovered sooner, and third-choice goalkeeper Henrique Hilário's form dipped, he briefly took over the starting role, until Cech returned towards the end of January 2007.

Cudicini left Chelsea in 2009, having made 141 league appearances for the club, and joined local rivals Tottenham Hotspur. His career there didn't get off to the best of starts as he suffered a broken wrist and pelvis in a motorbike accident in November that year, leaving him out injured for a long period.

At Tottenham, he remained second-choice or third-choice throughout his spell, and only made 19 league appearances for the club; first Heurelho Gomes, then Brad Friedel and Hugo Lloris kept him out of the team. He left the club in 2012, having made 19 league appearances. In 2013, Cudicini signed for Los Angeles Galaxy. Cudicini was released by Los Angeles on 26 January 2014 and has not played for any other clubs since.

Cudicini has been capped at Under-18 and Under-21 level for Italy, but never at senior level.

[video=youtube;SsZqZQgMMXg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsZqZQgMMXg[/video]

 

[Jordinho]

Øyvind Leonhardsen

Øyvind Leonhardsen was born in Kristiansund, Norway, and started his youth career at local club Clausenengen before he, as a 19 year old, moved to Premier Division side Molde in 1989. Two years later he was brought to Norwegian champions Rosenborg, where he won a league and cup double. This was the first of Rosenborg's 13 league titles in a row. Leonhardsen won the award as the best midfielder in 1991 and 1993. He was voted the Player's Player of the Year in Norway in 1994 and was part of the 1994 World Cup squad.

In 1994 he joined Wimbledon, where he made an instant impact. He scored 13 goals in 76 league appearances before moving to childhood favorites Liverpool in 1997 for £3.5 million. However, his joy was shortlived as Gerrard Houllier's continental revolution made him surplus to requirements and in the summer of 1999 he joined George Graham's Spurs for £3 million.

He went on to make 54 league appearances for Tottenham, scoring 7 goals. However, injuries took their toll and Leonhardsen was used as a squad member under then-manager Glenn Hoddle. In August 2002 he joined Aston Villa on a free transfer.

After one season at Villa Park he moved back to Norway to join FC Lyn Oslo, where he became the captain. He signed a two year contract with second level club Strømsgodset IF from Drammen in December 2005. Leonhardsen retired aged 37 after helping securing Strømsgodset IF promotion to Tippeligaen in 2006, and later securing a new contract in the top flight in 2007.

Now Leonhardsen is working as a youth coach in his former club Lyn Fotball.

 

[Jordinho]

John Gorman

John Gorman was born in Winchburg, Scotland, and signed provisional forms for Celtic in October 1964 while playing for Uphall Saints.

I remember cleaning the terrace and even one time painting the terrace. All of us, Dalglish, Macari, McGrain, myself, we all had to paint the barriers in the stadium, and big Jock Stein gave us a little bonus because we’d won the European Cup. It’s a completely different world now, we used to clean the outside toilets and pick up all the beer cans after we’d played Rangers, helping out the actual ground staff.

His one and only senior Celtic appearance came in a 4-2 League Cup victory at Hamilton Academicals in September 1968 - the same match Kenny Dalglish made his debut in.

We had the best reserve team that you could ever see. Players like George Connelly, Kenny Dalglish, Lou Macari, Danny McGrain, Victor Davidson, Paul Wilson…there were just so many very very good young players and every one of them went on to have a great career. I was left back at the time and it was difficult to get in the first team because they’d just won the European Cup. We were reserves to that team, and the year I left I was in the squad and travelled to Milan and got beaten in the final against Feyenoord – that’s how good they were so it was very difficult to break into the first team.

Fierce competition for a full back berth meant Gorman never had a chance to shine at his beloved Celtic and he moved on to Carlisle in September 1970 and was almost ever present in their one season in the old First Division.

I didn’t really want to leave Celtic because they were a big club. I was forced to leave in some ways because Celtic had already agreed a deal with Carlisle, but I went to Carlisle and I realised what a great club it was. I couldn’t believe what a great team they had and I managed to get player of the year 3 years out of the 6 years I was there. We also got promoted to the old First Division, which is now the Premiership which was an amazing feat for Carlisle. No disrespect to Carlisle but I don’t think that will ever happen again, and many of my friends who played there are still legends there and rightly so.

He signed for Tottenham Hotspur in 1976 before serious ligament trouble as a result of a tackle by Jimmy Case lost him his place. The injury caused him to miss the final part of Spurs' unsuccessful relegation fight in 1977, and all of Spurs' promotion season of 1977-78.

It was so frustrating because Leeds United, Saudi Sportswashing Machine and Stoke City had all tried to sign me and I had to go to a tribunal to get away and sign for Tottenham. I was loving it there and had 16 games under my belt and was doing really well and it was against Liverpool where I did a block tackle against Jimmy Case. It was a complete accident because sometimes you hear that Jimmy Case finished my career and all that but it’s not true. I had a big operation on my knee and I tried to come back about 6 months later and I done it again, except this time it was a lot worse. They had to put a big bolt in my knee and I’ve still got that in my knee to this day. I came back from that injury the following year and played with Ossie Ardiles, Ricky Villa, Glenn Hoddle, Pat Jennings, Steve Perryman, you name it – some really great players. I was doing really well considering I’d been out for so long, but the manager, Keith Burkinshaw, who was a good manager to be fair just said to me that I’d never be the same again. I was 29 and he asked me to be youth team coach and offered me the insurance money. It was a lot of money but I refused it because I said there’s nothing wrong with me and I still wanted to play. Ted Buxton, who was England assistant with Terry Venables at one time was the chief scout of Tampa Bay Rowdies. He’d watched me play and that’s how the opportunity to go to America arose. The Rowdies at that time were the second club to the Cosmos in America; we used to average 35-40,000 fans per game. Pele had just finished playing but players like George Best and Beckenbauer were still out there playing.

In 1979, he moved to the United States where he signed with the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the NASL. He remained with Tampa Bay for four seasons and was a 1979 Second Team, 1980 Honorable Mention and 1981 First Team All Star. In the fall of 1982, he moved to the Phoenix Inferno of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He played two seasons with Phoenix, the second after the team became known as the Phoenix Pride.

After that he moved back to England and took up coaching. Gorman played two League Cup games for Gillingham in 1986 in an emergency while he was youth coach at the club.

The transition was pretty easy because even when I was at Celtic when I was 18 years old I used to run my own team on a Sunday in the village I came from. We got new strips and I used to coach them as much as possible. I then got my first job in England at Gillingham as a coach and in actual fact played a first team game at 38 for the Gills. There’s nothing better than playing, but being a coach for an ex player is the next best thing. I always enjoyed recognising good players and improving good players. I feel proud that Ikechi Anya, who actually left the professional game for 2 years after being released from Wycombe, but it was only because I got in touch with him and I believed in him that I told him about Glenn Hoddle’s academy. Ikechi actually got back into the professional game and has recently played for Scotland. As well as that players like Russsel Martin, Roger Johnson, Mike Williamson and Sergio Torres have all gone on to bigger and better things since my time at the club. I’m extremely proud that so many players I’ve worked with and believed in have done so well.

Gorman's coaching career has often been intertwined with his longtime friend Glenn Hoddle, starting when Gorman became Hoddle's assistant at Swindon Town in 1991. With Hoddle as player-manager and featuring in most of the club's games, Gorman received plenty of the credit for this turnaround. So much so, that when Glenn Hoddle left to take over at Chelsea in 1993 he offered Gorman the chance to join him. His mind was made up when Town chairman Ray Hardman offered him the vacant manager's position; he accepted (a popular decision at the time) and looked forward to the forthcoming season in the Premier League, to which Swindon had just won promotion. However, it was not a successful first season in the top flight for the Wiltshire club, who did not win a league game until their 16th match and ended the season relegated in bottom place with just five wins and having conceded 100 goals from 42 matches.

We had a rotten run, so I took the squad out for dinner and some drinks on the Monday night to relax everyone. I broke all the rules, really. But on the Wednesday we went out and beat QPR 1-0. I remember our new signing Keith Scott scored early on, and then we had a player sent off, but we hung on to win. The fans went mad.

A promising start to the following season suggested that a quick return to the Premier League was possible, but a downturn in form dragged Swindon into the bottom half of the table and Gorman was sacked in November 1994.

Everyone talks about the fact we went 15 games without a win, and we conceded 100 goals as we went down. Those are the things people remember, but I only took over at the start of that season after Glenn left to go to Chelsea. I lost my captain when Colin Calderwood went to Spurs, and we had several other players out of contract. There was not much money about.

Despite being Scottish, he later rejoined Hoddle as assistant manager of the England team in 1996. After Hoddle's dismissal in 1999, Gorman became assistant manager at Reading.

We felt there was unfinished business. I felt I did as best as I could being Glenn's assistant. I think if England had beaten Argentina they'd have gone on to win it. But we'll never know. Glenn was an excellent manager and, given a bit more time, he possibly could have achieved something with England. It meant so much. It's the greatest honour in anybody's career to work at international level. I found it easy to be honest. I took it in my stride. I was a bit surprised when Glenn asked me at first, but I was there for three years and could have been there for longer because when they sacked Glenn they didn't want me to go. Obviously I got slaughtered up in Scotland, but it was an honour to be involved in international level at that time and the players who were there at this time. But England managers don't last long. Whatever Glenn supposedly said was just blown out of all proportion.

When Glenn Hoddle became manager of Tottenham Hotspur in March 2001, he became Hoddle's assistant at the North London club.

Well Glenn Hoddle wanted me to come in to give him some experience at his first job at Swindon. The Tottenham job was like a dream come true for both of us. I think Glenn and myself were unlucky because I know to this day that we did a good job there. My biggest forte which you probably know from the boys at Wycombe is working with individuals. So I helped players like Ledley King, Simon Davies, Matthew Ethrington, Anthony Gardner and even Robbie Keane. We spent a lot of time with them on the training ground and I’m very proud that those players’ careers went on leaps and bounds in the early parts of their career.

After leaving Tottenham in 2003 he was briefly caretaker manager at Wycombe but was passed over in favour of Tony Adams. He was taken on as an assistant to Andy Hessenthaler at Gillingham, and acted as caretaker manager after Hessenthaler stepped down before returning to Wycombe as manager after Adams' resignation in late 2004. After turning around Wycombe's poor form, the club finished the 2004–05 season strongly and only just missed out on a play-off place. At the start of the 2005–06 season, a new club record was set by going 21 consecutive league games unbeaten. Towards the end of the season it was announced that Gorman would be taking a temporary leave of absence for personal reasons, his wife Myra having died from cancer a few weeks earlier. However it was announced on 26 May that the club and manager had parted company permanently.

On 5 June 2006 Gorman was announced as the new manager of Northampton Town replacing Colin Calderwood. Calderwood was given the Nottingham Forest position after Northampton finished 2nd in League Two and were promoted. On 20 December, Gorman resigned citing personal reasons. He later attributed his departure to stress. He had been in charge for 22 league games, which saw five wins, with just one at home all season.

In May 2007 he became the chief scout at Southampton. Following George Burley's departure to become Scotland manager in January 2008, he was appointed joint caretaker manager, along with Jason Dodd. After a stint as caretaker manager, John Gorman was relieved of his duties after Nigel Pearson was placed in charge of the club on 19 February 2008. Gorman and Dodd both left the club in June 2008, following the appointment of new manager Jan Poortvliet.

On 30 December 2008, Gorman was appointed Assistant Manager of Ipswich Town, having previously been with the club 10 years prior in the same role. Gorman was released in April 2009 when Jim Magilton was sacked as manager.

On 8 June 2009, Gorman was appointed assistant manager of Queens Park Rangers, and thus reunited with his old friend, manager Jim Magilton, but left by mutual consent in December 2009 along with Magilton.

I’m not as nice as people make me out to be if I’m honest and there’s definitely a ruthless side to me. Obviously I prefer it the other way, helping people improve and getting on with people, but you can’t please everybody all the time. But I have to admit I did enjoy being manager rather than assistant manager funnily enough, because I had the last say. When you’re assistant manager there’s less pressure on you than the manager, but I used to put pressure on myself anyway. When you’re an assistant to someone like Glenn Hoddle, you’ve got to be a proper assistant. Too many times I see too many assistant managers who take charge and then all of a sudden people say ‘oh the training’s great now he’s taken full charge.’ Well, why wasn’t the training great before when he was supposed to be helping the manager as his assistant on the training ground??? Everyone looks at me, and just because I’ve been Glenn Hoddle’s assistant, Jim Magilton’s assistant, George Burley’s assistant, Brian Little’s assistant, Alan Pardew’s assistant, some big people and I enjoyed it. But at the end of the day I would have preferred to go on as a manager. But circumstances at Wycombe changed; Myra died and Mark Philo died and we went from flying to losing in the play-off final.

On 10 May 2010, Gorman was appointed Assistant Manager of MK Dons, under new manager Karl Robinson.

I heard Karl was a good up-and-coming young manager and they needed someone like me. It was a bit like Alan Pardew, who got the job at Reading because I came as his assistant. Let's not let Alan forget that. I reminded him about it the other night. And look how he has gone on to further his career. He wouldn't have got that stepping stone unless he had that experience with him.

On 2 May 2012, Gorman announced that he will retire from football at the end of the season after the Dons conclude their League One play-off campaign.

Painting is something I always wanted to do more of. I would like to think one day I could make a living at it and I am getting better at it with age. But knowing me and knowing football, I wouldn't mind doing a bit of scouting or consultancy work for a couple of days at a time. If I had wanted to continue coaching I could have stayed there [MK Dons] but I just need some time out of it, my hip was playing up and a few other things like that. But if wee Neilly Lennon picks up the phone and asks me to do a bit of scouting then I would be more than willing.

He used to draw caricatures of the other players that were printed in the match day programmes when at Spurs.

 

[Jordinho]

Gordon Durie

Born in Paisley, Scotland, Gordon Durie started his career at East Fife, breaking into their first team at an early age. After 81 appearances and 26 goals he moved to Hibernian as a 19-year old. Two seasons later he moved to Chelsea.

His spell with Chelsea from 1986 to 1991 yielded 51 league goals and a Second Division title medal. He joined Tottenham in 1991 and even had the honour of scoring the club's very first FA Premier League goal in a 2–2 home draw with Crystal Palace on 22 August 1992. In the 34th minute of the home match v Ipswich Town in 1992-93, Gordon had a groin injury that finished his season, ruling him out for seven months. When he came back Ossie Ardiles was the new manager and he was employed in a deeper lying role and even covered for Colin Calderwood in defence when he was sent off at Ipswich in September 1993.

---

GORDON DURIE paid the price for the verbal volley he unleashed at Ossie Ardiles during a Coca-Cola Cup tie last week when he was placed on the transfer list yesterday by the Tottenham manager, who is starting to display the sort of no- nonsense approach to management of which his own employer, Alan Sugar, would approve.

Durie, who was fined two weeks' wages for the outburst, will be leaving, however, not so much because of the obscenities he hurled at Ardiles when substituted in the match against Burnley at White Hart Lane as his alleged lack of commitment to Spurs' cause.

'The main reason for my decision is that Durie really does not want to play for us,' Ardiles said. His action spoiled the image of the game as well. We have to be conscious of that.'

Spurs could probably have done with the Scottish international, particularly in the absence of Darren Anderton, in today's top-of-the-table match at Old Trafford against Manchester United, who themselves parted company yesterday with Danny Wallace.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-ardiles-shows-durie-the-door-tottenhams-scottish-striker-goes-on-transfer-list-as-manchester-united-sell-wallace-to-birmingham-1510971.html

He then joined Rangers, where he was part of the side that won nine Scottish league championships in a row, joining after their fifth successive triumph in 1993. He also added further titles in 1999 and 2000 after Celtic had disrupted their winning run, before winding down his career at Hearts in the 2000-2001 season. Durie scored a hat-trick in the 1996 Scottish Cup Final to help Rangers beat Hearts 5–1.

Durie was capped 43 times by Scotland, scoring 7 goals.

Following his playing career, his first coaching role was in the Rangers Academy with the U13 group. In November 2010 he was appointed assistant manager of East Fife. On 1 March 2012 he was made caretaker manager at Bayview following the departure of John Robertson. Durie took the job on a longer term basis, but then suffered from ill health. He resigned in November 2012 due to this illness.

---

Durie, a former Scotland and Rangers star, described his collapse after the Queen of the South match as “frightening”. He said: “I took a turn after the match and on the night it happened I went through some tests to find out what caused it. Then I basically went through a whole MOT in the days after it to find out what was wrong.

“I had just come out the shower and felt strange. My right-hand side went into a spasm but I never passed out. I was still conscious right through it all so although it was all frightening, I never thought it was life-threatening.”

He added: “At first it was thought it could have been a stroke or something but gradually all the sinister stuff was ruled out. The week after it happened was a really worrying time but the test results put my mind at rest.”

Confirmation he did not have a terminal illness encouraged the East Fife boss to think about returning to work early – but a visit to the doctor last week convinced him to stand down.

He said: “I’m disappointed as I was hoping to be back sooner than this. It has been very frustrating.

“I went to the doctor last Tuesday and he changed my medication and said he thought it would be silly to go back in the next two months.

“There was a lot of uncertainty at the club and results weren’t good so it was the best thing for me to resign. It is a disappointment as it was my first managerial job – but your health comes first.

“I am just looking to get back to full health – getting back to normal.”

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/gordon-durie-tells-of-mystery-illness-that-forced-him-to-quit-role-1-2614578

On 2 July 2013 Durie joined Rangers coaching staff to work with the reserves and under-20s.

 

[Jordinho]

Stephen Kelly

Stephen Michael David Kelly was born in Dublin, where he played football for Belvedere before joining Tottenham Hotspur through their youth programme. He made his Spurs first team debut in 2003 and went on to make 37 Premier League appearances, scoring two league goals, against Birmingham City and Aston Villa, but was mostly an understudy to Stephen Carr and later Paul Stalteri. He was also out on loan at Southend, QPR and Watford.

Birmingham City were believed to be winning the race to sign the defender in January 2006 only for Tottenham to pull the plug on the deal because they had an injury crisis in defence. Kelly did join Birmingham, however, on 28 June 2006 for an initial fee of £750,000, possibly rising to £1.25 million depending on his success with the club. Kelly was the only outfield player in the 2007–08 Premier League season to play every minute of every game for his club.

On 4 February 2009, Kelly joined Stoke City on loan from Birmingham City until the end of the 2008–09 season. Stoke City had to wait for 36 hours after the January transfer window shut for confirmation of the deal. Kelly made his Stoke debut in their next game, a 2–0 defeat to Sunderland, but picked up a hamstring injury while on international duty which kept him out of Stoke's next fixture.

On 16 June 2009, Kelly signed a three-year contract with Fulham, making him the club's first signing of the 2009 summer window. Kelly said he was delighted to join the Cottagers and was looking forward to representing the club in both the Premier League and Europa League.

Kelly joined Reading on 11 January 2013 signing a two-and-a-half year contract. He made his début on 19 January in Reading's 2–1 away win over Saudi Sportswashing Machine at St James' Park, made his home début a week later against Sheffield United in a 4–0 FA Cup win, and soon afterwards, stated that "regardless of what happens now and for the rest of the season, coming here is the best decision I've made in football". Kelly started every game in what remained of the season, and the team were relegated to the Championship.

Kelly has won 37 caps for Ireland.

---

THE interview was scheduled for 2pm but Stephen Kelly was early. Footballers aren't on time very often and they're very rarely early. Waiting for them is part of the job. Waiting a few hours or waiting a day can be part of the deal with a footballer. On Friday afternoon, Kelly was already with the photographer standing at the top of Richmond Hill when I arrived.

An hour and a half later when he had told his story and I was trying to figure out what was the most remarkable example of this footballer's unusual dedication, it didn't seem so strange. There were so many images of his application: the teenager in his room doing his homework even though that day he had signed for Tottenham Hotspur; the boy with his coat wrapped tightly round him to shelter from the cold and the strangeness as he walked from White Hart Lane up Seven Sisters Road every week to study A-level biology; the bright-eyed kid in the Maynooth lecture hall who was engrossed by the sociology lecture even though he wasn't taking the course.

But it probably begins with the astonishing story of Michael Kelly. Michael Kelly never knew his birth parents. His birth mother was Irish but that was all he knew. When Michael Kelly was a baby, he was handed to a local priest who was asked to find a home for him. If a man's character is his fate then Michael Kelly's was already revealing itself. The priest knew of a couple whose children had just left home. They took Michael in, adopted him and loved him. Michael was mixed race, "a novelty in Ireland then," his son recalls.

"My dad was very lucky. He was adopted by a really loving family. Everyone knows what happened to a lot of people who went in to the system back then and I think, thank GHod that his parents took him in. They gave him a great life. His mam doted on him but he lost his dad when he was 13."

But Michael had security at home and he had love so he could deal with anything he encountered in the outside world.

His son isn't sure what his father had to deal with in Dublin in those times with but those who know him in Dublin football circles talk warmly of the imposing man who loved his family.

The baby Michael became an imposing man. Michael liked the security he found with his parents and he wanted that himself. He married his teenage sweetheart Bernadette when they were 17. Stephen Kelly liked the security that had been handed down through the generations too and he married Helga, his girlfriend since they were 16.

When he was growing up, Stephen Kelly absorbed these values. Nothing upsets him, he says, but he has always been driven to do more, not through anxiety but an eagerness to achieve. It might be a family characteristic -- his sisters are a teacher, a pharmacist, an accountant and a TV producer. "We never had pushy parents, they wouldn't force us to do stuff. They could be strict on us, but we always got the message that once we did our best, we'd be okay."

They knew, too, that they were different but sometimes others didn't. "It was never something that was brought to our attention. We kind of blended in, even though we don't look the same as everybody else and my dad stands out a mile. He's 6' 4", he's a big guy, But his name is Michael Kelly, he's from inner-city Dublin, he couldn't be more Irish. Every now and again, kids would say something but there was never anything too controversial. A lot of people don't know I'm mixed race."

A couple of years ago, one newspaper referred to Kelly as "perma-tanned", unaware that he was mixed race. "I've never really been offended by things before and I'm quite a laid-back person but it was sloppy journalism. If you're going to write something about someone you should know about their background."

He thinks racism is more of a problem in Ireland now than when he or his father were growing up. "With a lot more black people in Ireland now, I think there's more animosity."

The Kellys had certain values which they never lost. They liked to work and Stephen liked to learn.

By the time he went to secondary school at St Kevin's in Glasnevin, he was hooked. "People often get stressed out by school but I loved it."

You ask him what subjects he liked in school. He starts off with maths and biology, then remembers a few more, pretty sure he's rattling through the curriculum. "I really enjoyed school, especially when I went to secondary school. Primary school you just try and get through, don't you? But when I went to secondary school I absolutely loved it. I enjoyed being in every day. Funny, I enjoyed learning, I don't know what it is."

This desire for education has never left him. His parents would have liked him to stay in school and finish his Leaving Cert but Tottenham wanted him and Kelly, who had made the rounds of English clubs, wanted to go.

Clubs didn't do much for players who wanted more education in those days, but the Kellys were pretty insistent. That was how he ended up walking up the Seven Sisters Road every Tuesday to the College of North-East London for four hours of one-to-one biology tuition.

Some of his other classes were different. His tuition for business studies took place in a corporate box at White Hart Lane. In the end, he got two A-levels, with an 'A' in biology and another in business studies

Like many, he sometimes regrets not attending university. But while some will regret the lost years of wildness, Kelly would have liked the lectures.

He knows this because he attended a few. When he went to London, Helga stayed in Dublin and then studied in Maynooth. Kelly would visit her every week and attend Wednesday morning lectures.

"I was absolutely sucked in. She had one lecturer who was tremendous, he really sucked me in. I'd be there every Wednesday morning at 9 o'clock. I remember when she was graduating, he said to me, 'There was a time I thought you were one of the students because you were one of the only people there for the 9am lectures'."

The drive that had been with him since childhood pushed him on then. They will tell you Stephen Kelly wasn't the most talented player but nobody who ever saw him work is surprised he made it.

While others were content to wait for their chance at Spurs, Kelly wanted to be tested. The players who come through at a club are, he thinks, often seen as belonging to the club. He can understand the point of view as they have nurtured the players.

"In football, you will always have that point when you are tested and have an adverse situation," he says. At those moments, the attitude that had been spotted in Belvedere sustained him. He played against Southend and they asked him to come on loan. He went, he says, because "it was the opportunity to play against men all the time."

Roots Hall required certain values. Kelly had been raised in the Tottenham tradition and brought these smooth city ways to the Essex coast. In his first game, playing as centre-back, he picked the ball up off the goalkeeper, the Tottenham way, and went to hit a square ball to the other centre-half only to be told forcefully that things were done differently there. "It was rough and tough and I got a few lessons physically."

There were other loan spells, including one at QPR which saw him experience a play-off final at the Millennium Stadium. "Other lads my age at Tottenham were still playing youth team football. Other lads didn't want to make those decisions and were still in their comfort zone."

Kelly never felt comfortable in the comfort zone. He moved from Spurs to Birmingham -- "the best decision I ever made" -- because he wanted to be viewed as a senior player and not just someone who had come through the youth system, a perennial young player.

For Ireland, he went through underage sides with Brian Kerr who also called him into the senior squad. He made his debut under Steve Staunton and kept turning up.

There are other interests. His parents gave him a guitar on the day he left for London so he would have something to do and he has played it ever since. "I've got to a level where if I need to progress, I need to get some lessons." Recently, through his friendship with Damien O'Donohoe at Ikon Talent, which represents him, he's got to know Ben from Mumford & Sons. Ben has been to Fulham a few times and, Kelly says smiling, he might ask him for a gig yet. "Meeting the guys like that is great, though, because I really appreciate what they do."

Dedication, a man once said, is simply the ability to be the last man standing. Kelly has demonstrated this through his career.

At Fulham, he has always fought. Last season, Martin Jol came in with some new ideas and Kelly didn't appear to be among them. By the end of the year, Kelly, once again, was a regular. He hasn't played a minute in the league this season, despite signing a contract extension this year, but his character suggests that might change.

His dedication was tested again in the summer. He started three of Ireland's games in the qualifying campaign as well as the play-off in Estonia. Ireland have never lost when Kelly has played. The night before the play-off in Tallinn, he felt a muscle go.

He feared he had torn his quad, a fear that would be confirmed when he had a scan. But he postponed the scan and first played for Ireland when the unspoken code for many professionals is that you put your club first.

Before the European Championships, he broke his wrist. He knew what Trap could be like with injuries so he wanted to manage the news. "I didn't want the manager to find out I'd broken a bone. If the manager gets something in his head, it's in his head. He can be black and white with certain injuries so I didn't want to release it until I was back playing."

By the time the news was out, Kelly was playing with a cast. Yet, as the European Championships approached, he admits it was tough that Trapattoni knew his first team for months before the tournament began and he wouldn't consider changing it, no matter how bad things got.

"I'd never experienced that before and it's extremely frustrating. Last season, I was playing every week for Fulham and you think you've got a great chance of playing in the tournament. So for the manager to make it clear straight away that you don't was very difficult. I feel like I did enough to warrant a position."

As the tournament went from bad to worse, Kelly felt he had a chance. "I think towards the end people thought there would be changes but he stuck with the team and had no intention of changing it. That was frustrating. If the team had done well, then you could see why but the fact that we'd under-performed, you'd think would give him the opportunity to make changes. But he didn't and that was his decision."

Darron Gibson is one player who has found the disappointment of the summer too much to overcome. Kelly points out that he had more reason than most to be disappointed at not playing a minute in the summer.

He felt more sympathy with Kevin Foley than Darron Gibson. "It was hard what happened to Kevin. Darron didn't play when he was over there, that's the manager's prerogative. But there's a lot of us in that position, I think I'm in it more than anyone. I felt I played a huge part in the game that got us to the Euros in Tallinn. I've given a lot to the team. To be perfectly honest, if anyone is to feel aggrieved at not playing, I think I have the strongest case."

Kelly's approach is different to Gibson's. "It's not through my lack of conviction that I'm not annoyed. Of course I am. But the way I see it is, if you don't turn up, you can't play and the only way I'm going to get to play for my country is if I'm there."

Kelly knows he has a chance of playing against Germany. Trap might decide that Kelly's pace is an asset against the Germans' swift attackers. Even this logic sometimes frustrates him.

"I've had this everywhere in my career. I always get picked for the toughest game and I sometimes think, 'If I'm good enough to play in the hardest games, I can play in the other ones'. It is a compliment but I think it should be an asset in every game."

He admits that he found the constant suggestion that his club-mate Damien Duff might come out of retirement "strange".

"Every interview I do, people keep asking me about it and it's more coming from the fact that the manager's talking about it. As far as I'm concerned, Damien's retired. He's a really good friend of mine and he's made the decision for himself and for his family. I think it's strange that they keep going on about it. Not the media.

"The media keep going on about it because the manager's talking about it. I think it's strange that the manager and staff keep bringing it up. If they have any private conversations with Damien just leave it at that. I think it should be nipped in the bud. The speculation is ridiculous and it's been dragged on for no reason."

None of these incidents distract Stephen Kelly. He will be in Dublin this week, training as hard as he can, ready to take his chance if it comes his way.

He knows no other way. He has enough evidence from his family's history to believe that a man's character can be his fate.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/driven-to-be-best-he-can-be-28818302.html

 

[Jordinho]

Adel Taarabt

Adel Taarabt was born in Fes, Morocco, but a young age his family moved to a small town called Berre-l'Étang, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. He began his career at Lens in 2004, and played 14 games for RC Lens B in the Championnat de France amateur. He made one first team appearance for Lens during the 2006–07 season.

Taarabt signed for Tottenham Hotspur on a long-term loan on 2 January 2007 after the club offered to integrate him quickly into the first team to offer him maximum playing time. Within two months he made his first senior appearance in a Tottenham shirt, entering as an 87th minute substitute against local rivals West Ham United, which ended as a 4–3 victory. He made a second appearance in the 1–0 loss to Chelsea, again as a second half substitute, playing as a striker.

Tottenham signed Taarabt permanently on 8 June. Upon signing for Tottenham he was hailed as the next Zinedine Zidane. He scored his first goal for Spurs in a pre-season friendly against Stevenage Borough on 7 July. He made his first appearance of the 2007–08 season with Tottenham against Derby County in the 4–0 win on 18 August, which he entered at the 70th minute. At the beginning of the 2008–09 season he was not given a squad number by then manager Juande Ramos, though he was given his old number when Harry Redknapp took over team management.

On 13 March 2009, he joined Championship team Queens Park Rangers on loan until the end of the season. He scored his first goal for QPR in a 2–1 win over Bristol City. His loan spell was cut short after he suffered a knee injury which required surgery. Taarabt rejoined QPR on a season-long loan for the 2009–10 season on 23 July 2009. Tottenham confirmed in October 2009 that Taarabt could stay at QPR for the season providing that a Premier League club did not make a bid for him in the January transfer window. QPR were unable to make the transfer a permanent one because they could not afford the £4.5 million valuation placed on Taarabt by Spurs.

In March 2010, Taarabt was quoted in an interview as being sorry that he signed for Tottenham. He had said "The big mistake was to sign for Tottenham and not go to another club when I first came over". He stated that he wished he had signed for Arsenal instead but had opted for Spurs after Damien Comolli moved from being a scout at Arsenal to director of football at Spurs. He stated that he felt he would have been given more chances to play at Arsenal and was advised at the time not to sign for Spurs by his friends Armand Traore and Abou Diaby, who play for Arsenal.

Taarabt went on to state his intention to sign for one of the top clubs in Spain "I hope to be playing for one of the top four in Spain next season – Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia or Sevilla. I have contact with good teams and I know that they want me. Now I just have to hope they can agree a deal with Tottenham."

Adel Taarabt was to make his debut as a full Queens Park Rangers player as the club signed the Moroccan for a reported £1,000,000. The contract with Queens Park Rangers provides for Tottenham to receive 40% of future transfer profit, in addition to the payments already made. This was proved to be one of the bargains of the season as Taarabt went on to score 19 goals in 44 league appearances that season for the West London club (half of all his senior career league goals). With his unpredictable skill and reputation for never giving the opposition defence an easy 90 minutes Taarabt went on to win the Championship Player of The Year and gained a place in The Championship's best XI.

In the international match Morocco vs Algeria he picked up a booking and was lucky not to be sent off. In the return fixture Morocco manager Erik Gerets decided to drop Taarabt to the bench. Taarabt decided to not turn up to the international fixture and vowed to never play for his country again. However, several months later Taarabt wanted to play for Morocco again which Gerets reluctantly allowed but said that if Taarabt acted irrationally again he would not play for his country whilst he was in charge.

The 2011–12 season marked Taarabt's first real foray into the Premier League, for although having been featured in English football's highest tier as a Tottenham Hotspur player, he had never made a breakthrough into the Spurs first eleven. The start of the season held much optimism for both QPR and Taarabt, yet this soon gave way to speculation that he would move away, and his name was associated with the likes of PSG and Napoli. This was coupled with the arrival of Joey Barton in the August transfer window, who was immediately installed as captain at the expense of Taarabt.

These factors had the unfortunate effect of unsettling the player and he was unable to recreate his form from the previous season. By early November he had taken over 20 shots and none of these had resulted in a goal. Prior to this he had often let his temper get the better of him. During the 6–0 loss away to Fulham on 2 October he was substituted at half time, which apparently led to an argument with manager Neil Warnock. This attitude provoked criticism from his teammates, with Joey Barton being particularly vocal. Taraabt was again substituted at half-time for a poor showing in the 3–1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur and was subsequently left out of the side for the games against Emirates Marketing Project and Stoke City. During this period continued speculation linked him with PSG, and Warnock even admitted he would gladly accept an offer for Taraabt if the right offer came along. Still left out of the side throughout most of November, subsequent injuries to his teammates saw a recall, however, and he was commended for his performance in the 2–0 loss to Manchester United on 18 December.

On 11 July 2012 Taarabt signed a new three-year contract with QPR, keeping him at the club until June 2016.

Taarabt joined Premier League side Fulham on a season-long loan on 7 August 2013.

I spent all summer trying to remedy our problems, shifting certain players out, getting others with the right attitude in.

The close-season was a frustrating time for me as I spent most of it on crutches following a knee operation. With perfect timing, Adel Taarabt promptly got up to his old tricks.

He turned up late for our training camp in Devon so we sent him home. There were the usual excuses (from Adel) but we're not standing for it any more. There has to be a different attitude if Rangers are to return to the Premier League.

I know some of these players think they are better than this division but I've been down there and I know there are teams and players that will eat you alive if you are not fully committed.

My priority was to get rid of the troublemakers. Get rid of them before they got rid of us.

On 30 January 2014, Taarabt signed for Milan until the end of the season.

This is a big change for me. I have played in important clubs but none like Milan.

Tottenham, QPR and Fulham are good clubs but not as organised and as professional as Milan.

This is the great challenge in my career and I cannot wait to prove my quality on the pitch.

I hope this is a starting point for me. Milan has given me this opportunity and I want to make the most of it hoping that this is the start of a long path.

I am young and I have always been told that I have a lot of talent.

These club has given me confidence and I hope I can prove my worth.

He managed 4 goals in 16 appearances for Milan.

 

[Jordinho]

Danny Murphy

Born in Chester, Cheshire, Daniel Ben Murphy started out as a trainee at Crewe Alexandra. Murphy has always praised the role of Crewe manager Dario Gradi in his footballing education, considering him as his mentor:

He took me from boy to man. He taught me about tactics, where to stand, how to play the right way and he knocked some discipline into me. I was a bit precocious, a bit silly as a kid and he straightened me out.

Gradi always rated the footballing brain of Murphy, and used to send him on scouting missions even as a trainee.

Murphy scored on his debut for Crewe, coming off the bench as a 16-year-old to score the winner in a 4–3 win against Preston North End. Murphy generally played as a deep-lying forward for Crewe, scoring several spectacular long range and set piece goals.

Many top flight clubs had their eye on Murphy before his eventual move to Liverpool. Before he left, he helped Crewe reach the second tier of English football for the first time since 1896, as Crewe finished third in Division Two, before going on to defeat Brentford 1–0 at Wembley in the 1997 play-off final.

After signing for his boyhood club Liverpool in 1997, for an initial fee of £1.5 million, he made his debut as a substitute on the opening day of the 1997–98 season in a draw with Wimbledon. However, he did not break into the first team squad immediately and, after making just one league appearance for the club during the following season, he returned to Crewe for a successful period on loan, during which he helped save his old club from relegation. After the loan period ended, he looked set to be sold but he went on to become a first-team regular at Anfield.

Though naturally a central midfield player, Murphy often played as a wide midfielder due to the fierce competition for places. Murphy's career at Liverpool included a unique cup treble in 2001 (where Liverpool won the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup), a Premier League second place finish in 2002 and a second League Cup in 2003. He developed an uncanny habit of scoring the deciding goal in 1–0 wins against Manchester United at Old Trafford, a feat he achieved three times in four seasons (2000–01, 2001–02 and 2003–04).

Murphy signed for Charlton Athletic from Liverpool for £2.5m on a four-year contract in August 2004. In his first season at Charlton, Murphy struggled to recapture the form that he had shown at Liverpool. However, in the first three months of the 2005–06 season he emerged as a viable option for England once more, and also won the September player of the month award, scoring several goals along the way.

On 31 January 2006, Murphy was transferred to Tottenham Hotspur for £2 million. He appeared only fleetingly in the remaining games of the season. Murphy scored his first Tottenham goal in the 2–1 defeat of Portsmouth on 1 October 2006 after only 39 seconds of the game.

He scored his second goal for Tottenham when Jermain Defoe was injured in a pre-match warm-up against Saudi Sportswashing Machine; manager Martin Jol brought Murphy into a 4–5–1 formation. Murphy scored with a scissors kick which hit Steven Taylor in the face, deflecting it past goalkeeper Shay Given. After several months, the FA decided to take the goal away from Murphy and put it down as an own-goal for Taylor.

Murphy was unable to establish himself as a regular at Tottenham, but made clear later that despite reports in the media, there was no disagreement between him and Jol.

On 31 August 2007 Lawrie Sanchez took him to Fulham.

Murphy cemented himself as a regular starter, kept his place in the team throughout the season and scored six goals in 43 matches. One goal, a rare header scored on 11 May 2008, gave Fulham a 1–0 win away at Portsmouth and ensured their Premier League survival at the expense of Birmingham City and Reading; the goal was scored as manager Roy Hodgson prepared to substitute Murphy.

Ahead of the 2011–12 season, Murphy believed he could play a major role and declared himself "fitter than ever". After making forty-nine appearance and scoring seven times in all competitions, he was released by Fulham at the end of the 2011–12 season as he and Martin Jol, who had replaced Hodgson's successor, Hughes, could not agree on a contract extension. In his last season at Craven Cottage, Murphy created more goalscoring chances than any other player in the top-flight.

On 25 June 2012, Blackburn Rovers confirmed the signing of Murphy on a two-year contract. He was unveiled on 2 July 2012, wearing the same number 13 squad number that he wore throughout his career, therefore also taking Mark Bunn's number. Murphy cited moving to Blackburn Rovers was for first team football and believes it was the right time to leave Fulham after learning that there will be changes at Fulham. On 1 July 2013, Murphy had his contract terminated by mutual consent despite willing to stay at the club for another season.While at the club, Murphy was praised by manager Gary Bowyer for his assistance during Bowyer's management career at Blackburn Rovers.

 

[Jordinho]

Thimotee Atouba

Atouba was born in Douala, Cameroon, and plays as a left back. He broke into the first team for Mineduc at the age of 16. He then spent one season at Union Douala before moving to Swiss side Neuchatel Xamax as an 18-year old.

After two seasons there he spent another two at Basel before moving to Tottenham in 2004. His most memorable moment in a Spurs shirt was the long range winner at Saudi Sportswashing Machine early on in that season. He struggled to hold down a regular place in the side and was sold to Hamburg in the summer, his footballing genius never truly understood or appreciated.

He was later followed there by head coach Martin Jol and would follow him to Ajax in 2009 on a two-year contract. Suffering with injuries, he eventually lost his place to youngster Vurnon Anita.

In May 2012 he was invited to try out for MLS side Impact de Montreal, but later signed for Las Palmas instead. He only made a handful of appearances in his two years there and is currently without a club.

During his career he won the Swiss league and cup with Basel, Dutch league and cup with Ajax, the Intertoto cup with Hamburg, the African cup of nations with Cameroon and most important of all: The Emirates cup at the death star in 2008.

 

[Daisuk]

Haha, what a great thread. It's so hard to choose between who was the crappiest player for us. I have very fond memories of lots of the young homegrown lads though - especially Gerry Brady, who had a couple of really good matches for us (especially one FA cup match against Fulham, where his partnership with Carr was just excellent). Jonnie Jackson though, damn, has got to be one of the poorest footballers I've seen in a Spurs shirt.

 

[Jordinho]

Michael Brown

Michael Robert Brown was born in Hartlepool, but came through the youth ranks at Emirates Marketing Project. He broke into their first team squad at the age of 18 and within 4 years of his senior career had managed to play in all 4 top divisions. Division 1 and 2 and the Premier League with City and a spell on loan at Hartlepool in Division 3.

In 97/98 he was voted City's player of the season, but his performances wasn't enough to prevent them from being relegated to Division 2. He was a key member of the team that won promotion back up to the First Divison at the first attempt before finding himself completely out of the picture the following season. A short loan to Portsmouth and former City boss Alan Ball followed before Neil Warnock took him to Sheffield United. Initially a loan, it was quickly made permanent.

In his time at Sheffield United he started to add goals to his hard-tackling style, with 22 goals in 54 appearances in the 2002-03 season being his most prolific one. As his contract was nearing its end, Warnock stated he would look to sell him to the highest bidder and in January 2004 he moved to Tottenham. He played 19 times for us that season, helping us avoid relegation.

In the following season a massive influx of CMs like Sean Davis, Pedro Mendes, Edgar Davids, Hossam Ghaly, Danny Murphy, Michael Carrick and Jermaine Jenas saw his time on the pitch become limited. In January 2006 he was sold to Fulham.

At Fulham he was given the captaincy, but a change of manager after the 2006-07 season saw him once again as surplus to requirements. He was then signed by Wigan and manager Chris Hutchings. Hutchings was sacked not long after, but new man Steve Bruce kept faith in Brown alongside Cattermole and Palacios.

In 2009 Roberto Martinez took charge at Wigan and Brown was sold to Portsmouth. His first season there saw an FA Cup final appearance. He was a regular starter for them as their fortunes plummeted, but only until he was one game short of triggering a clause which would see him rewarded with a new and increased contract. Brown was offered a revised contract at lower pay but did not accept the offer and was released at the end of the 2010-11 season.

Brown signed for Championship club Leeds United on a one-year contract with the option of a further year in July 2011. During the pre-match warm-up for Leeds' FA Cup game against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, Brown kicked a ball into the face of pundit Martin Keown who was doing punditry pitch-side with Robbie Savage for ESPN's coverage of the game – he claimed that he had in fact been aiming for Savage.

New manager Neil Warnock signed him up for another year, on reduced wages, in the summer of 2012. On 5 April 2013, just days after the sacking of manager Neil Warnock, Brown activated an appearance-based clause on his contract to extend his contract at Leeds into a third year.

He was released by new owner Massimo Cellino in 2014, with Cellino deciding to retire his number, 17, as he believes it is unlucky.

Brown signed a one-year contract with League One club Port Vale in July 2014; manager Micky Adams also gave him the responsibility of coaching the reserve team.

 

[Jordinho]

Reto Ziegler

Reto Pirmin Ziegler was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and spent his youth career at several different clubs, including Servette, before breaking into the Grasshopper first team squad at 16. He helped Switzerland win the U17 European Championship in 2002.

Ziegler was in the summer of 2004 signed by Tottenham Hotspur to a contract initially meant to begin on 1 January 2005, when his contract with Grasshoppers expired. But the two clubs, reportedly by initiative of then-Tottenham sporting director Frank Arnesen, were able to agree to an immediate transfer, and Reto joined Tottenham in late August of that year.

Despite being just 18 years old, he soon made his debut and became an important member of the team under both coach Jacques Santini, who left in October after just a few months in charge, and his successor, Martin Jol. He featured mostly at left midfield but also played a few games as left full-back, often switching position with Timothée Atouba, another versatile left-sided player with the team at the time.

In the summer of 2005, he was sent on loan to Hamburger SV of the German Bundesliga, where he featured in 11 games and three UEFA Cup games, but was criticised by manager Thomas Doll for a poor attitude and rarely played more than a few minutes per game. He was recalled from the loan by Tottenham in January 2006, only to be put back out on loan, this time at another Premiership team, Wigan Athletic. He played until the end of the 2005–06 season, getting five starts and five substitute appearances in the Premier League and one start in the FA Cup, performing well but not spectacularly. On 31 January 2007 he joined Sampdoria on loan until the end of the season.

In May, Spurs brought in young left back Gareth Bale and Ziegler opted to sign for Sampdoria permanently on 3 July 2007. During his first season, he was in and out of the starting line-up and most of his appearances were substitutions. Ziegler finally managed to retain his place more regularly during the first half of the 2009–10 season.

Ziegler joined Juventus on a free transfer on 26 May 2011, having signed a 4-year contract. However, he has never played for them, but instead been sent out on loan to clubs like Fenerbache, Lokomotiv Moscow, Fenerbache again and Sassuolo.

He appears to have been released by Juventus in August and is currently without a club.

 

[Jordinho]

Nicola Berti

Nicola Berti was born in Salsomaggiore Terme, Italy, and started out at Parma as a 17-year old. In his debut season the club won the 1983–84 Serie C1 championship and gained promotion to Serie B. In 1985 he moved to Fiorentina. After three seasons there he was signed by Internazionale in 1988 for £3.6m.

In his first season at the club, Berti was part of a team which won the 1988–89 Scudetto by an 11-point margin, losing only twice. Berti himself contributed seven league goals from midfield. While at Inter, Berti was part of a team which won the UEFA Cup three times. He scored himself in both the 1991 UEFA Cup Final and the 1994 UEFA Cup Final.

After playing for Italy's under 21 team at both the 1986 and 1988 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championships, Berti made his debut for the senior team against Norway in 1988. He scored his first goal, against Scotland on his third appearance for the Azzurri.

He was included in the squad for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, where he played four matches including the third place playoff versus England which Italy won. In the 1994 World Cup, Berti was more established and played in every match on the way to and including the final. He represented Italy on 39 occasions scoring three goals.

In January 1998, Berti joined Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer. With Spurs in danger of relegation upon his arrival midway through the 1997–98 season, Berti helped the club to a 13th placed finish in the Premier League. After George Graham replaced Christian Gross as manager of Tottenham, Berti was allowed to leave the club and join Deportivo Alavés on a free transfer.

In 2002 he retired after spending a season at Northern Spirit in Australia.

He's also the subject of one of the greatest football songs ever:

My name is Nicola Berti
I'm aged around thirty
I come from a team in Milan - Inter!
When I walk down the street
All the people I meet
They say, Hey gorgeous, what's your name ?

and repeat

This is from an Italian interview from one of the times we played Inter a few years back:

What do you remember about his experience at Tottenham and how far can this team?

Tottenham have a fantastic memory. It is a very nice team that I really enjoyed playing. The first year with goals and assists us we are saved safely and I also won the affection of the fans. The next year, with the change of coach, are passed directly from the ownership of the grandstand. The coach did not like that I had to do an hour and a half drive every day to go to train and ended them. I still have fond memories and now I think that Tottenham can gamble on a par with almost all the largest in Europe. It 'a lady team.