Of Lakey... but a leading role
it’s the same now, but you do get so close to them and their families that there can be a sense of loss.
“Especially with the managers because of how I get to know the families.
“They stay in contact – I had a text off Michael Laudrup the other day saying how pleased he was we stayed up – because you develop bonds.”
Lake knows himself what’s needed having played in Australia after his release from Swansea, staying with a family originally from Townhill – John and June Lamb – who he will welcome back to the club for the game against Manchester United for their 50th wedding anniversary. It’s clear the home from home welcome he received has had an influence.
He has opened his family’s doors on Christmas Day (“My two boys thought it was their present when we had three players for Christmas dinner”) and accepts texts in the middle of the night.
“I had five from Roque (Mesa, Swansea’s new £12m signing) before he got on the plane to come here,” he smiles, quick to mention others in the club’s offices offer him valuable support. “It is 24 hours, but I don’t mind it as long as it means we are successful. I’d go anywhere at any time.
“If Paul Clement rung now and told me to pick a player up from Scotland I’d be in the car straight away without thinking. I love the club and I’d do anything.”
From great bonds come great pleasure.
“Matchdays are special,” he says. “Being with the families, going to the dressing room, helping people put a smile on faces.
“I sometimes go into the manager’s office and look after people.
“I opened a bottle of wine for Sir Alex. I was shaking at the time, mind. Brendan (Rodgers) had told me ‘Lakey, this cost us £250 a bottle’, so in the end I invited him to open it just in case I tried and the cork ended up half way down.”
Wembley and promotion was his highlight, running onto the pitch to embrace hat-trick hero Scott Sinclair, another player close to Lake and who remains in contact, while also receiving a call from the brother of another player he had looked after, Besian Idrizaj who had died of a heart-problem 12 months earlier at just 22.
There will be more players to show around, to share stories with about the club’s history and the city, joining them on first meals so there isn’t a sense of loneliness when first trying to settle in.
Not that anyone will tease information out of him.
“My two lads don’t even find out off me,” he laughs again. “The first day Ferrie came down before he signed I was showing him around town and he told me he wanted a McDonald’s. I said I couldn’t take him there, that there’d be too many people but all he wanted to eat was a burger with mayonnaise.
“As we were sat there, a mate of mine came over when Ferrie had gone off and asked who it was. I said it’s just a cousin of mine from Holland and changed the subject. The following day Ferrie’s picture was all over the papers after the deal went through and I had my mate on the phone calling me all sorts for lying to him.”
But as he says, for all the fix-its for the footballers, the biggest thing Lakey offers – as well as his smile – is trust.