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The Smell of Football

Page 26

by Mick 'Baz' Rathbone


  “And I have to say that despite the fact that we were fighting at the bottom of the table to keep Halifax in the league, when he took over as manager it was the most enjoyable period of my career. Training was fantastic, he was so positive and the club became a happy place and he had a great knack of lifting people.

  “His team talks were legendary; he was so upbeat. ‘Listen lads, I’ve had this team watched three times and we are definitely, definitely going to beat them.’ Then straight after we’d lost, ‘Forget about that lads, I’ve had next week’s opposition watched and we are definitely, definitely going to beat these!’.

  “He just made us all aware how lucky we were to be footballers, he took all the pressure off us. We didn’t get the results that Baz deserved and ultimately we were relegated, but really it wasn’t his fault and he’s always telling me that he could have been one of the all-time great managers!”

  COLIN MURDOCK

  Captain at Preston North End

  “Working with Baz at Preston was like a breath of fresh air. Football can be an arduous and tough life at times, but Baz had a wonderful human touch and this fantastic way of building players up and making everyone feel special.

  “We laughed a lot about his fear of Trevor Francis, but a lot of players suffer from these anxieties in football. It’s not really talked about, there is a stigma attached. You’re not allowed to show any fear or admit nerves. So by joking and laughing at himself he was actually providing great support to many, many players.

  “And of course he was such a funny guy, almost like a medieval jongleur, constantly entertaining. This made him much admired and very much loved by all the players, so much so that the entire club used to gravitate to the physio room much to the chagrin of the manager.

  “He was so much more than a physio, but when it came down to that side of things he was incredibly conscientious. This was not a guy who would preach about getting fit, he actually went out and trained with the players and did it with them. You cannot underestimate the respect he gained for that.

  “I remember one season when David Moyes was manager we went on a mid-season trip to the Lake District. It was the middle of winter and about minus 15, and we were divided into two groups to go mountain biking – one in the morning and one in the afternoon. But Baz being Baz, he decided to go out with both groups, morning and afternoon, in just shorts and a T-shirt. Each session was about three hours long, and I remember him coming back from the second one covered head to toe in mud, he looked like he was going to die of hypothermia. He went to bed for the rest of the evening.

  “I always felt that he would go on to achieve great things and he did that with David at Everton. But I am just pleased to say that I know him and am proud to call him a friend.”

  STEVE WATSON

  Player at Everton

  “I was at Everton when Baz came to the club, and I remember when David Moyes told us he was bringing in a new physio. He said, ‘And he’s fitter than any of you lot’. We all thought he was joking but then Baz turned up and he soon showed us it was true.

  “He was nothing like any physio I’d ever had before. The thing about injuries is there are of course certain medical procedures that you need to go through, but the key is keeping players motivated, to stimulate them and help them to keep believing. Baz was brilliant at that. He was just such a positive guy, his all-round personality meant you could never stay down for too long. He’d lift you up and you’d inevitably come back fitter than you had been before you got injured.

  “He was just brilliant with everyone. I remember one game against West Brom at the Hawthorns, I got a cut on the head which eventually needed six stitches. So Baz is walking me off and Moyes being Moyes he starts screaming, ‘What are you doing, why are you going off?’ I said, ‘Well the ref ’s told me to,’ and Moyes has gone crazy, ‘Fuck the ref, fuck the ref.’ A lot of people wouldn’t have known how to handle it, but Baz just cracked up because he knew how Moyes was, that he was just so wrapped up in the situation, and we went off to get the stitches in.”

  DUNCAN FERGUSON

  Player at Everton

  “I remember the day he first turned up at the training ground – he was dressed like a bag of shite. He was top to toe in denim, and I said to him, “Oi pal, this is Everton Football Club, not a building site.”

  “With his bald head and grey sideburns he was also the oldest looking 40-year-old I had ever seen, but he was a great physio and a top bloke. I had a lot of injuries at my time at Everton, but he was always so positive. He kept my spirits up through the long, hard days when it seemed like I would never get fit.

  “When he arrived at Everton I was having a lot of problems with my sciatic nerve, but Baz found a specialist and found a cure and that probably extended my career by a couple of years. He wasn’t just a great character, he knew what he was doing and all the boys appreciated the job he did.

  “He was also the fittest physio I had ever come across, but most of all he was just a good fellow and so hard working (well, he had to work hard with me there didn’t he?) and I can’t ever remember him having a day off.

  “Because we worked together so much Baz became a good friend of me and my family. We invited him to several family functions and that tells you all you need to know; we don’t invite just anyone, you know – it’s a very select crowd!

  “The only problem was that in all those years at Everton he never sorted out his dress sense – it was still denim jackets and ripped jeans. What a nightmare.”

 

 

 


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