'It's a mess' - Tony Cottee's verdict on former club Everton - video Dailymotion

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We meet Tony Cottee, who speaks on his new charity venture, his football career, players to watch this season. Plus he gives his verdict on former club Everton.

Transcript

00:00So, Tony, just tell us a bit about the charity that you've become an ambassador for, obviously,

00:06you know, quite an interesting one with the motor neurone disease.

00:10Yeah, nice to meet you, Charles. It's called Challenging MND, obviously motor neurone disease.

00:20It's a disease that I've been aware of for quite a long time and I think, you know, a

00:24lot of people sort of know about it, but it's just something that sort of I felt that I

00:31could maybe contribute towards, you know, I've got a friend of mine, a guy called Steve

00:35Redgewell, who's a big West Ham fan, and he sort of said, like, you know, do you want

00:39to sit down, have a little chat, see if there's something you can help out with? And I thought,

00:43yeah, and then I had a chat, met Alex Gibson, the founder, and, you know, we got on really

00:48well, and Liana as well, who's the CEO, and, yeah, we had a lovely chat, a nice cup of

00:55tea over in Brentwood, and, yeah, we felt it was something that, you know, I could perhaps

00:59be involved in and put my name to, and, you know, I mean, obviously, I can't work miracles,

01:04I know that, but I think it's just nice sometimes just to, you know, with the awareness and

01:09just, you know, doing some fundraising events and, you know, for me, giving my time and

01:14turning up, and there's a ball on November the 23rd, as an example, and I'm going to

01:20use my skills as an auctioneer to try and fleece everyone out as much money as possible

01:24to go towards the charity and obviously make as much difference as we can, but I think

01:29I was particularly sort of drawn to Rob Burrow, really, and Kevin Sinfield, and, you know,

01:37the two rugby boys and their relationship they had, and to watch what happened over

01:41the course of the two years, and, you know, that sort of bond they had together and that,

01:45and I think that sort of struck a chord in me. I know it's rugby, but, you know, with

01:49football as well, you know, it could happen to anyone, and, you know, it's not a nice

01:54disease, and it's just, if I can help in any small way, Charles, you know, I'll do my best

01:57to do that, and it's, you know, it's great to be an honorary patron.

02:01Well, you've answered a few of my questions in one there, mate. In terms of your career

02:07highlights, I mean, you seem to be a bit of a cult hero wherever you went. Obviously,

02:11you know, you are before my generation. I've done my bit of...

02:13You're too young to remember me, Charles.

02:15Yeah, just about. But, I mean, in terms of your football career, quite a long time as

02:21well, was there a sort of favourite period of your career where, you know, you really

02:27sort of enjoyed it and you really were happy with how things were going?

02:31Yeah, I think, I mean, I was very fortunate to play for three, you know, big Premier League

02:35clubs, West Ham, Everton and Leicester as well, amongst other clubs, you know, that

02:40I played for. I played for my country, et cetera, you know. So, you're right, I had a

02:45wonderful career, 20 years spanning. And, you know, I think it's only when you've retired,

02:51really, that you can sort of take stock and look back and sort of reminisce, really, on,

02:55you know, where the good times were and that. And, you know, although I enjoy playing at

02:59all my clubs, I think my best spell, really, as a player was probably my first spell at

03:03West Ham. I was only a teenager playing with Trevor Brookings and Billy Bonds and Frank

03:09Lampard Senior and, you know, some wonderful players at the football club. And I don't

03:13think you quite appreciate it at the time, but it probably was my best spell, the most

03:18productive in terms of the goals and that. So, yeah, it's sort of hard to say, in a way,

03:22that the first spell was the best spell. But, you know, you've got to be honest and realistic

03:26about things. And although I scored goals at, you know, Everton, I went back to West

03:30Ham, I scored goals for Leicester, I think that first spell back in the 80s, it was a

03:34great time to play football. It was very primitive, very basic, and there was a lot going on off

03:39the field, as I'm sure you're well aware of. You know, it wasn't just about football,

03:44the other stuff that was going on, but, you know, the pitches were horrendous and, you

03:49know, it was just, there was something special about it. And I think those of you that, you

03:54know, that are old enough to remember that, not yourself, Charles, obviously, but, you

03:57know, if you're from that generation, I think we look back with great fondness to the 80s

04:01and I had a great time there as a West Ham player.

04:04Yeah, and getting the England call-up, do you sort of recall, you know, getting the

04:09news and how was that for you at that time in your career? You know, such a massive

04:15achievement. I mean, you know, sometimes you look at squads that players get into an

04:20England call-up and you're lucky to get one appearance. I mean, you got seven, it was

04:23a fantastic time for you. What was that sort of like for you at that time?

04:27Well, I just missed the Mexico World Cup, which was 1986, which was the famous Diego

04:32Maradona handball World Cup and, you know, England had done really well. So, for me to

04:37get in the squad for the start of the following season, September, was always going to be

04:41difficult and there were so many great players in the squad at the time. You know, they got

04:46quarter-finals in 1986 and obviously in 1990 got to the semi-final. So, you know, there

04:51was a lot of good players around, the likes of Lineker and Beardsley, Clive Allen, Mark

04:55Hapley, Kerry Dixon, Mick Harford, good centre-forward. So, it was really hard to get Steve Ball and

05:00no-one at walls. You know, there was good players there and for me to get in the squad,

05:04I remember I got an official letter, no mobiles in those days, no emails. It was just an old

05:09school letter and I remember John Lowe, the West Ham manager, calling me in and saying

05:13congratulations. You know, but I'd been in the first team for three years, been banging

05:18the goals in. So, you know, I think I was really pleased and proud of that fact and,

05:23you know, although again with my England career, I look back and think perhaps or maybe I should

05:28have won more caps, but I still won seven caps and it was an era where it was hard to

05:33win caps. There was a lot of good English centre-forwards. There was only one or two

05:36subs. You didn't have the 15 subs they have nowadays. So, it was a lot harder to win England

05:41caps. So, I look back and, you know, I'm very proud of the fact that they're sitting up

05:45over my shoulder and, you know, there's seven England caps for me to look back with great

05:49pride about really.

05:52And in terms of the new Premier League season, obviously excitement's been building and we're

05:56back into the swing of things now. You know, it sort of is a bit of a rollercoaster until,

06:01you know, the start of next summer. Just in terms of a standout player for you,

06:06you may be looking at throughout the season. Obviously, Phil Foden had a brilliant one,

06:10and you can claim that player of the season last season maybe didn't back it up at the Euros.

06:15But in terms of a player, who do you sort of think could be a standout in terms of the

06:19top flight this year?

06:20Well, I'm always a big champion for the English and British players, Charles. So, yeah,

06:25Phil Foden's someone I'm looking forward to seeing this season. And the other one for me

06:29is Cole Palmer because I think he was sensational at the Euros. I couldn't believe that he didn't

06:34get a starting place in that team because he'd been so good for Chelsea last year. And

06:39he just looks such a laid-back character. He doesn't look like anything phases him. You know,

06:44even if he was playing in a World Cup final, I don't think he would even be worried about that.

06:48And, you know, in terms of penalties, he looks as ice-cool as anyone I've seen taking penalties. So,

06:54I'm looking forward to seeing Cole have another good season. And, you know, ultimately,

06:58we want over the next couple of years, we need Cole Palmer, we need Phil Foden and all the other

07:03good youngsters that are coming through, Kobe Maynard, etc. You know, we need those boys to

07:08keep developing over the next couple of years because, you know, as a proud Englishman,

07:12I want us to try and do well with the World Cup in 2026 coming up. And, of course, the Euros

07:17are going to be in the UK in 2028 as well. So, I think there's a couple of really good

07:21opportunities for England to, under a new manager, of course, but, you know, to hopefully,

07:25you know, win that elusive trophy that we've been waiting so long for. But Cole Palmer is

07:29the one for me, you know. We all love the Premier League and I'm looking forward to seeing him.

07:33I'd better mention Jared Bowen as well as the West Ham boy, you know, another Englishman.

07:36I want to see how well Jared does after a fantastic season last year. It'd be nice

07:40to see him getting another 20 goals. And just on Everton, I mean, a lot's going on,

07:47you know, you had a great spell there as well. A lot's going on in terms of their situation

07:51financially and, you know, the last few years, they've been nowhere near the sort of standards

07:55that they were and it's been a bit of a fall off. They're obviously going to the new stadium

08:00next year as well. What are your thoughts on what they've been through, what they're

08:04going through and, you know, a bit of a shame really for Everton. What are your thoughts on that?

08:10Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, just there's been a lot of mismanagement. I think off the

08:14field, there's been mismanagement and certainly on the field as well. There's been a lot of

08:18money spent on players that, you know, in my opinion, aren't good enough for Everton Football

08:22Club. You know, the last three or four years have been really, really, five, six years have been

08:27heavy spending by the club, you know, and not that many of the players that the big money was spent

08:33on have been wise investments. And, you know, we always talk about recruitment and recruitment's

08:38the most important thing in football. You've got to get the signings right. Obviously off the field,

08:43you know, there's been all the well publicized problems, you know, obviously the points deductions

08:48and that. And there's a, I think there's a chance of another points deduction coming up as well,

08:52which won't help things. Disappointing start to the season as well. I haven't seen the highlights

08:56yet. I haven't had time. But, you know, obviously losing at home to Brighton is not a good start

09:01for the season. And, you know, I think it's just so important that come the end of this season that

09:06Everton Football Club give Goodison Park the send-off it deserves, really. You know, it's a

09:11fantastic stadium. It's a historic stadium. It's been down for years and years. I had a great time.

09:16All my goals were scored there. And, you know, I want to see the stadium being given the send-off.

09:21It deserves. And the one thing we don't want is give the stadium a good send-off and then,

09:26of course, be playing championship football in, you know, in Bramley Dock next year. That doesn't

09:30do anyone any favours, you know. So there's a, it's a bit of a mess. I've got to be honest. It's

09:34got to be sorted out. They need to take over to go through whoever that, the new owners might be,

09:39need that as quick as possible. And you need, you know, just as importantly, if not more importantly,

09:44the players on the pitch have got to step up and get the results. They've got a good manager.

09:47Sean Dicey's a good man, good manager. And, you know, I'm confident they'll stay up. But

09:53I do think it's going to be another rollercoaster season for Everton, which no one wants to see

09:57that. We want to see Everton, you know, doing what West Ham have done over the last three or

10:00four seasons, which is pushing and playing in Europe, really. And, you know, there's a lot

10:05that needs to be sorted out, but I'm confident they'll get there eventually.

'It's a mess' - Tony Cottee's verdict on former club Everton

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