team mates
Best mate at the club? Matt Bloomfield. He’s someone I room with and the best pro I’ve ever come across in my career. He’s a fantastic player, never misses a day’s training and he works so hard. We share a lot of the same interests. Last to buy dinner? Only because he never pays the fines, I’ll have to go with Adebayo Akinfenwa! He does what he wants to on that basis, so he probably likes to keep his money in his pockets at the dinner table. Worst dressed? Dan Scarr. He tries to have a real go, but he wears these schoolboy sized tracksuits. They’re far too tight, especially in the legs. Extra-small boy tracksuit is what we call him. Dressing room DJ? That’s myself actually. I always put the music on before games. I’ll play all sorts. A lot of the boys love their hiphop and R’n’B, so I start off with that and then I get a few different tunes lined up before the match. Always late for training? Adebayo Akinfenwa. As I said, he doesn’t pay any fines and he just turns up when he wants to. But he does the business on a Saturday at 3pm, so I guess we can’t complain too much. He can’t train every day but he’s in no rush, even when he is here! Teacher’s pet? Matt Bloomfield again. He’s like a member of staff. He might as well have a black jacket on. He loves a chat with the manager and the assistant – it’s like he’s the gaffer’s son sometimes. But he is the club captain. First on the dance floor? We haven’t had many nights out, but I reckon there are a couple who fancy themselves as dancers. Anthony Stewart reckons himself. He’s quite flexible. Eberechi Eze also has lightningquick feet on the pitch, so I reckon he’ll have a move or two in the locker. Most likely to disgrace himself at a Christmas party? Craig Mackail-Smith. I will have to leave it at that, but I have my reasons. I can’t say any more! This year we had a night out and then went to the Christmas market so that was interesting. FIFA king? Surprisingly, I don’t think many of us play FIFA any more. We’ve got quite an old squad and not many young lads, so I don’t think there are many about in the team. I’ll go with Akinfenwa because he’s endorsed it. I have no idea if he’s any good but I can imagine he would be. Worst tattoos? Most of the lads have quite good ones, to be honest. It’s hard to pick one from the current group. Paul Hayes, who left at the end of last season, had some absolutely terrible ones. He had two that were just awful. It’s hard to describe them. Likely to make the best manager? Matt Bloomfield has done all his coaching badges, as has Marcus Bean. Both talk well about the game and know football inside out. They do coaching in the week, too, so I reckon they’ll be quite successful if they want to. I’d love to be a goalkeeping coach. Not a manager!