team mates
Best mate? I probably have two – Luke Murphy and John Brayford. We’re part of the Audi A6 car school. I’m their chauffeur and they buy me coffees. They give me banter – by falling asleep every day. I look after them. I’m the senior pro. Last to buy dinner? Probably Lucas Akins. You can’t even get any shower gel out of him. I wouldn’t call anyone tight. I’d call them sensible. Worst dressed? Liam Boyce. Wow, he’s got some bad gear! He wears an orange hoodie that’s about four sizes too big with the hood up, but he’s a great lad and he’s funny, so he carries it well. It’s just different, I’d say. He’s getting value out of this orange jumper and I tell him it’s bad. He’s got a blue one as well. He must have them in about five different colours. I don’t know where he gets them. Dressing room DJ? It’s normally the kit man, Matt Brown. He plays everything – old classics, the lot. He took over on the music when Jackson Irvine left. Jacko was good. He used to play house and stuff. If it were me, I’d probably get on some decks and try to make my own tunes for the lads. Always late for training? Nobody turns up late for training. If you’re late, the gaffer will not be happy. If we’re in on Tuesday and off on Wednesday but need to be in on Thursday, the gaffer will say: ‘you’ve had 48 hours to get in today’, so noone is late. Teacher’s pet? Jake Buxton. He’s just a great guy. He tells us what the gaffer says. The gaffer tells him anything and he passes it on. They’re both straight up and it works like a gobetween. First on the dance floor? That is Kyle McFadzean. He bends his knees and does a twist. He gets so low and he loves it. It’s the quickest I’ve seen McFadzean move! On a night out, he is sharp out there and he’s got that one twister move. I’ve got some moves, too, but I’m not the first on the dance floor, though I can do the caterpillar! Most likely to disgrace himself? I don’t think we have anyone who would disgrace himself. Maybe a practical joker – probably Luke Varney. He’s 24/7, 100mph, just lively. He doesn’t have a rest, doesn’t give anyone five minutes. He pretended to one of the lads he was the manager of another club during pre-season – that kind of thing. FIFA king? To be honest, the lads play Fortnite these days. I think Joe Sbarra and Jamie Allen are the best. The two smallest men in the dressing room. Those two are quite funny characters. They’re funny when they speak but they don’t speak that much. Worst tattoo? I don’t really look at them – I’m not in to tattoos. Luke Murphy and John Brayford probably have the best ones. Luke’s had his sleeve done and John has John Lennon on his leg. Those two are my favourites – and they’re from my A6 car school, so I’ve got to stick by them. Best manager in the future? Probably Lloyd Dyer. I’d be the manager and he can be my assistant. He’d bring his pace, he’d show people how to run and he’s just a motivator. We’d bring out the best in the lads.