I thought Abbey was calling me from the Brits, but it was Jose!
IT WAS Tuesday afternoon when my phone began to ring and an unfamiliar number flashed up. I’d spent the early part of the day at home, watching the rolling news bulletins and had a laugh at Jose Mourinho’s press conference. He had been asked, before Tottenham’s Champions League clash with RB Leipzig, whether his side could do what Barcelona had done and sign a striker outside the transfer window, given their emergency predicament. ‘I wasn’t aware of that possibility,’ said Mourinho. ‘I don’t think it is possible… Peter Crouch!’ Me being me, I tweeted, ‘I’m ready, Jose’, with the hashtag #thereturn complete with a robot emoji. That was the last I thought of it, until my phone rang. Ordinarily, I would not have answered. The fact it was a FaceTime call, though, made things a bit different. My initial thought was that it was my wife Abbey, who had gone to the Brits. I assumed it was her showing me what she was going to wear for the ceremony. But when I answered, it wasn’t Abbey staring back from the other end, it was Mourinho, sitting in his office with a glint in his eye. ‘Are you ready, then?’ Jose was laughing now — almost as much as I was. ‘Peter! Come on! We need you! We need you!’ Tottenham’s press office had my number and had given it to the manager. As much as I would love to answer his call, however, I concluded — given the refuelling I’ve done since entering retirement — that it might take me a little longer than normal to recapture full fitness. It’s with regret to say, then, that I won’t be scoring any Premier League goals in the near future, though it was a pleasure to speak to Mourinho. I would love him to be the man who delivers the first Tottenham trophy since 2008. Of course, the result against Leipzig was difficult, but he’s bedding in at Tottenham and the amount of injuries he’s dealing would hamper any side. He needs time to put his stamp on things and that will only happen when he has all his options available.