want to talk the job – or myself – up: ‘Oh, the captain’s role is vital, look at me.’ But as I got older I realised that there was more to it than that. The captain’s role isn’t just important; it is vital. And it isn’t just an English tradition. Look at the great captains inItaly and Spain – Maldini, Dino Zoff, Zanetti, Raúl, Puyol. They’re inspiring leaders. When, say, the Barcelona captain has to leave the pitch before the end of the game, he puts his armband on the player who is taking the job for the rest of the game. During the last World Cup, the Dutch captain, van Persie, put the armband on Arjen Robben’s arm when he was being substituted.
Bryan Robson, Steve Bruce, Cantona – great captains I played with. They led in different ways. Robbo led by example, in the way he was physically demanding, and in his attitude to training. He was also a really good guy, and liked a drink. Brucie was very friendly, and great with the families. He always had a nice way about him, always had time for you. He was good with tickets, if you needed a few extra for family or friends. It was almost a political role. Brucie dealt with it very well, and he’s brought that into his management. Cantona led by his presence more than anything else – his charisma. A captain doesn’t have to be loud; Eric rarely said a word.
In my early years at United, there was a players’ pool, and each of us would get about £800 out of it at the end of the season, for the work we’d done for the in-house magazines, the club videos. It was before all these things were built into the players’ contracts. We were all on decent money, and eight hundred quid wasn’t going to make or break us. So one time – we were in the dressing room – we decided to put all the cheques into a hat, and the last cheque out whoever’s name was on it he got to keep all the cheques. To save face, we all put our cheques in, except a couple of the younger players – I think it was Becks, and Gary and Phil. They opted out; they were new on the scene and didn’t have the money to spare. But Scholesy and Nicky Butt put their cheques in. Last name out wins all the money – great crack in the dressing room. Lads sweating – and I was fuckin’ sweating; I used to think of that sort of money in terms of the amount of pints it wouldbuy me. I think I was the third last name out, so I got a run for my money. But the last cheque out – Eric Cantona. He’d won about sixteen grand.
He came in the next day. There was plenty of banter.
‘Eric, you lucky bastard.’
‘Fuckin’ money to money.’
He’d got somebody at the club to cash the cheques. He’d split the money in two, and he gave it to Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, because – he said – the two of them had had the balls to go into it when they really couldn’t afford it. The two lads took home about eight grand each – which upset me even more.
But I just thought, ‘What a gesture.’
Nobody else would have done it.
Stuart Pearce was captain when I was at Forest – a brilliant, brilliant captain. I loved the way he played and trained, and he was the captain of England at the time. I’ve been lucky when it comes to people leading by example. Stuart defended me a couple of times. There was once I was having issues with my contract at Forest and I was getting a lot of criticism. Brian Clough had said that I was being greedy. He was trying to put pressure on me through the media, trying to get me to sign a new contract. There were comments from some of the players in the dressing room – and it wasn’t banter.
I remember Pearcie saying, ‘Listen, lads, are you all happy with your deals?’
They all went, ‘Yeah.’
And he went, ‘Well, fuckin’ leave him alone.’
When I became captain of United, I knew if I made a balls of it I’d have no one to blame except myself. I’d learnt from Cantona, Stuart Pearce, Robbo, Brucie. I found the off-the-field responsibilities –
Bryan Robson, Steve Bruce, Cantona – great captains I played with. They led in different ways. Robbo led by example, in the way he was physically demanding, and in his attitude to training. He was also a really good guy, and liked a drink. Brucie was very friendly, and great with the families. He always had a nice way about him, always had time for you. He was good with tickets, if you needed a few extra for family or friends. It was almost a political role. Brucie dealt with it very well, and he’s brought that into his management. Cantona led by his presence more than anything else – his charisma. A captain doesn’t have to be loud; Eric rarely said a word.
In my early years at United, there was a players’ pool, and each of us would get about £800 out of it at the end of the season, for the work we’d done for the in-house magazines, the club videos. It was before all these things were built into the players’ contracts. We were all on decent money, and eight hundred quid wasn’t going to make or break us. So one time – we were in the dressing room – we decided to put all the cheques into a hat, and the last cheque out whoever’s name was on it he got to keep all the cheques. To save face, we all put our cheques in, except a couple of the younger players – I think it was Becks, and Gary and Phil. They opted out; they were new on the scene and didn’t have the money to spare. But Scholesy and Nicky Butt put their cheques in. Last name out wins all the money – great crack in the dressing room. Lads sweating – and I was fuckin’ sweating; I used to think of that sort of money in terms of the amount of pints it wouldbuy me. I think I was the third last name out, so I got a run for my money. But the last cheque out – Eric Cantona. He’d won about sixteen grand.
He came in the next day. There was plenty of banter.
‘Eric, you lucky bastard.’
‘Fuckin’ money to money.’
He’d got somebody at the club to cash the cheques. He’d split the money in two, and he gave it to Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, because – he said – the two of them had had the balls to go into it when they really couldn’t afford it. The two lads took home about eight grand each – which upset me even more.
But I just thought, ‘What a gesture.’
Nobody else would have done it.
Stuart Pearce was captain when I was at Forest – a brilliant, brilliant captain. I loved the way he played and trained, and he was the captain of England at the time. I’ve been lucky when it comes to people leading by example. Stuart defended me a couple of times. There was once I was having issues with my contract at Forest and I was getting a lot of criticism. Brian Clough had said that I was being greedy. He was trying to put pressure on me through the media, trying to get me to sign a new contract. There were comments from some of the players in the dressing room – and it wasn’t banter.
I remember Pearcie saying, ‘Listen, lads, are you all happy with your deals?’
They all went, ‘Yeah.’
And he went, ‘Well, fuckin’ leave him alone.’
When I became captain of United, I knew if I made a balls of it I’d have no one to blame except myself. I’d learnt from Cantona, Stuart Pearce, Robbo, Brucie. I found the off-the-field responsibilities –
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