THE DAY JAMES MADE ME SO MADD
Swanson knew Leicester star was destined for big things when he grabbed prized No 10 shirt off him
SOME players are blessed by a belief that they were born to wear their favourite, fabled No 10 shirt. A few might even be capable of backing up such brashness.
Danny Swanson discovered the depth of James Maddison’s desire to snare the jersey number of his destiny in the summer of 2015, on the first day of Coventry City’s pre-season.
Swanson was not in any way precious nor overly protective of his squad number.
However, after spending the second half of the previous season on loan at St Johnstone, he was anxious that everything was just right for a clean-slate chance to impress new boss Tony Mowbray. The 18-year-old Maddison had other ideas, as Swanson discovered on his return to Sky Blue Lodge.
‘I went into the changing room and there he was with the No10 on — my top, my training kit,’ recalls Swanson.
‘I walked over and was like: “What are you doing?” He said: “Oh, the gaffer said to pick one up”.
‘I said: “Oh, so you just picked mine and didn’t even ask?” I thought: “All right, okay, and just got on with it”.
‘But the pure arrogance, eh? To be fair, that’s kind of worked out for him! It’s probably helped him get to where he is. He just believes in himself.’
Maddison isn’t simply one of the
many top-class players
Swanson looks forward to watching again when the English Premier League resumes this week.
For Maddison has been a source of constant fascination and admiration since they shared a dressing room, initially under Steven Pressley, when Swanson signed from Peterborough in 2014.
And the pair are still in contact, a connection that copped Swanson a generous gift last season — almost making up for nabbing his kit and, ultimately, place in the team all those years ago. But more of that later.
Now rated at upwards of £70million as Manchester United eye the Leicester star, Maddison was a spindly 17-year-old Swanson feared for in League One combat when he first set eyes on him.
In fact, he feared for him going on to the first-team training pitch at Coventry on day one in the job.
‘What I first remember was the size of him,’ recalls Swanson. ‘He was so light.
‘It was my first training session there and I looked over as he came out and was kicking the ball around.
‘Over the years, people will have said about me being small. But it wasn’t just his height, it was that he was so thin. He was just like a little boy.
‘And he was, obviously, only 17. This wee guy must have been about eight stone and I thought: “He can’t be training with us”. But he was. There was another lad there, a stronger version but just not as good. And I thought: “I’d take the other guy first”.
‘League One can be tough. So I really wondered about that. You just thought: “He’s not ready for men’s football”.’
Maddison’s league debut, as a substitute, was Swanson’s second game in a team featuring Andy Webster, John Fleck and Jim O’Brien — a 2-1 League Cup loss to Cardiff City.
Maddison made 18 appearances in his first campaign, nursed along by Pressley then Mowbray.
Behind the scenes, Swanson and Maddison were good for each other.
‘The second thing that struck me about him was the way that he manipulated the ball, the way he took the ball on and used it,’ explains Swanson.
‘It’s something that I actually probably learned from him. Crazy, really, because I was 27 or 28.
‘He came from what is well known as a really good academy. I’d never been brought through like that, never been told to play between the lines to get them on the back foot.
‘I just kind of learned all that on the way. With him, I could tell: “He’s been well taught how to do this”.
‘Because he could do it all in one movement. I was thinking: “This boy is going to be really special”.
‘He was always really good at riding challenges and not getting hurt. He knew what was coming before it actually happened.
‘He dealt with it like he’d played his whole life. That blew me away — and he’s pretty much blown everyone else away now.
‘He’s always been one for scoring goals and assisting. He’s taken that into the top league and, under Brendan Rodgers, he’s only going to get better. It’s scary.’
That’s now an accurate description for the thoughts of Premier League goalkeepers and defenders when Maddison is gifted the chance to emulate hero David Beckham at a set-piece opportunity.
Aberdeen fans fondly remember
Maddison’s dead-ball stoppage-time winner against Rangers in September 2016 during his Pittodrie loan spell.
He continued to specialise at Norwich City before netting three times directly from a free-kick in his first season in the top flight with Leicester last year.
The pick of his 2019/20 heroics was the stunning eighth goal as Leicester ran riot at Southampton.
Beckham may have been the inspiration behind Maddison’s love of the set-piece art but Swanson put in many of the hours that helped hone the technique.
Swanson reveals: ‘He loved staying out there after training. He wanted to be a specialist.
‘Believe it or not, I started to tell him and teach him how to take free-kicks.
‘I couldn’t take them myself — and here I was telling this lad! I always remember we were doing free-kicks after one of the sessions and I must have been doing okay with them.
‘I was thinking: “This boy is way better than me, why is he wanting to listen to me?” ‘But he just really wanted to learn, so we did it after training a lot. But, then, I have noticed he’s got his own technique now that’s been practised over the years.
‘It’s a set thing he does and works for him. When he steps up and takes them now, you know it’s hitting the target no matter what.
‘The fact he was always one who wanted to stay outside after training tells you what he’s like.
‘He may have come across as flash back then but that has never stopped him grafting and learning.
‘I had lots of good chats with him. He listened a lot to me. I remember sitting next to him as we travelled in Italy in pre-season and he was asking me all about my career.
‘Asking me what it was like playing against Celtic and Rangers, saying that’s amazing.’
Swanson isn’t the only person who can peer behind the image and see a
The word swagger is a good one. He has plenty of that about him
class act off as well as on the pitch. There’s the family of tragic Norwich fan Sophie Taylor, who died at the age of five from bone cancer and with whom Maddison formed a close bond.
He paid tribute by having special football boots made in her honour to be worn at the European Under-21 Championships of 2019.
‘He was in her life a lot and really got involved in helping her,’ notes Swanson. ‘James is still close to his own mum, too, and is a proper nice guy. A lovely boy.
‘Yes, he does have this bit of arrogance and he had it at Coventry when he had the wristbands and was boy wonder. But not in a bad way. It’s just the way he is. He wants to express himself.
‘Listen, he probably loves himself a wee bit. He’s had the teeth done and all that. But he deserves to spend a bit of money on whatever he wants.
‘I think sometimes players need it, things that make you stand out a wee bit and get people to take notice. Then you can produce it.
‘The word swagger is probably a good one for Madders. He’s got loads of that about him.
‘Look, I sometimes cringe when I see a lot of social media stuff. He’s very active on Instagram but that is good for the fans.’
Swanson will be watching on Saturday lunchtime when Maddison’s Leicester seek to maintain their Champions League qualifying hopes with a top-flight restart tie at Watford.
The Foxes have been attempting to secure him on a new contract but Manchester United fan Swanson would love to see him move to Old Trafford — and link up with another of his former team-mates.
Swanson was at Hibernian with John McGinn and believes that would make the perfect midfield pairing for United.
‘I’d love to see those two players together at Man United,’ said Swanson. ‘I love watching Madders now. He’s become pretty strong and more physical.
‘He went to Norwich and I was thinking it would be hard for him but he took it in his stride easily.
‘At Leicester, he’s top boy.
James doesn’t have the lightning pace but, upstairs, he’s ahead of everyone.
‘Ever since the first time I saw him, he’s been very clued up on how to move the ball and use both feet and now he’s doing it among the elite.
‘I’m delighted for him. And, to be fair, he’s looking after me. He’s got a Puma deal and I’m past buying boots for myself now.
‘So I sent him a message on Instagram asking him: “What size are those ones, pal?”
‘Then, what do you know, two pairs were sent to St Johnstone a week later for me.
‘I wore them all the time last season. That was class from him.’