Don’t ask Neville Southall if he thinks Wales can win the Euros unless you want to get called a “nugget”. FFT wishes it had learnt this before speaking to the legendary former ‘keeper ahead of this summer’s tournament.
“Why not?” Demands the former Everton man, arguably the best goalkeeper in the world in the late 1980s. “I’ll tell you what I’ve been telling all the other nuggets that have asked me this. We’ve got something hardly any other team has - somebody who can change a game in ten seconds.”
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FFT resists the temptation to ask how Wayne Hennesy plans on doing this - Big Nev isn't to be messed with when he’s in this kind of mood. The man who won 92 caps for his nation without making it to a major tournament is, of course, talking about a certain Real Madrid forward.
“Gareth Bale can do nothing for 89 minutes, then all of a sudden, he’ll score two goals.” Southall tells FFT before the launch of his new book Mind Games. “You can't buy that. It’s in you or it’s not. He loves playing for Wales too, so he’s a different player for the national team. As long as we’ve got him, we’ve got a chance of doing something.
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“I think Gareth will enjoy this tournament,” Southall continues. “He knows it’s probably his last Euros, looking at the way things are going for him. He needs to relax, enjoy the occasion and be the player he’s supposed to be.
"We look solid, with a good spirit. We have some good young lads with a bit of pace about them. Gareth feels a sense of responsibility for those younger lads, too. He wants to lead by example. He’s the best we’ve had for a long time. I didn't see John Charles play, but Bale is as good as you get.”
Whether Wales pull off an, erm, Wales, and reach the semi-finals again at Euro 2020, Southall believes their star man has a huge decision to make after the tournament. And it’s happiness, not cash, Southall is urging the nation’s all-time top scorer to side with.
“A lot of people in Spain and England have written him off,” Southall tells FFT. “If he does well this summer, Real Madrid are going to have a big decision to make. They might have to start picking him, or his value might shoot up and he’ll have to sell him.”
Southall feels choosing the right manager to work with will be key to getting the best out of the final throes of a glittering career.
“I think sometimes, managers and players have to understand each other and I think, from what I have read, he was never Mourinho’s type of player,” Southall muses. “Harry Redknapp would have loved him if he was still at Spurs. With the national team he’s with a manager, Paigey, who understands him.
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“His career hasn't gone great for a couple of seasons, but he’s been caught up in the political side of football. I hope he has a great Euros, bins Madrid and goes to a club where he can enjoy himself and play. I’d love to see him at Everton. He just needs to find the right place. Money can be an issue but, at this stage in his career, he might realise there is more to his life than money. The respect of what he can do on the pitch is what he needs to think about.”
Mind Games by Neville Southall is out now (HarperCollins, £9.99)
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