Revista de la Liga with Graham Hunter

On Wednesday, at Celtic’s Lennoxtown training complex, I caught up with the mighty Harry Kewell, now a coach for the Glasgow giants.

When you think of Harry, you picture a footballer of elegance, intelligence, lethal effectiveness. And the great Leeds United side he played in was his perfect domain, surrounded by formidable talents such as Alan Smith, Lee Bowyer, Gary Kelly, Mark Viduka, Michael Bridges, Robbie Keane, Robbie Fowler and not least David Batty. Yet for all their sophistication, those men would battle it out in training – with regular flare-ups, and be willing to go to war for each other come Saturday.

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In part two of my Big Interview with Domènec Torrent, there’s more on those glorious Camp Nou days, including Barca’s famous treble of 2008-09.

Domènec grabbed the chance to assist Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich with both hands, and discovered that it was a myth that club legends interfered with team management there. He also busted the myth that Frank Ribery and Arjen Robben would be difficult charges. In fact, Arjen was a joy to work with and thrived under Pep. As if fated, Bayern were drawn against Barca in the 2015 Champion League semi-final, and held their own in the Camp Nou until a late error let Messi in. Then Bayern made the fatal error of chasing the game and ended up losing 3-0. The fans’ passion and improving players of quality such as Raheem Sterling made Domènec’s time at Manchester City a thrill, and he maintains that winning the English top flight is harder than claiming the Champions League. Domènec now can’t wait to get a new managerial role, and I wish him good luck with that. Whoever employs him will have made a wise move.

Enjoy.

Graham.

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As part of the post-Kobe earthquake rebuilding job Stuart Baxter was allowed to sign Danish superstar Michael Laudrup. They gained promotion but the experience drained him of every ounce of energy.

Stuart speaks of his love of South African football, especially at Kaizer Chiefs where he won the double in his first season. Fate seems to have stood in the way of him making it big in Blighty. Circumstances denied him key roles at Manchester United and Celtic, but he had the honour of working with Hoops legend Henrik ‘Henke’ Larsson when they were both at Helsingborgs. He brokered Henke’s loan deal to Manchester United where Sir Alex Ferguson adored him.

This is a fascinating Big Interview. Just fascinating.

Graham

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The English game suited Uwe Rösler, and in part two we hear about how he loved the spacious Maine Road pitch and how the home fans made him feel invincible.

Paul Walsh was a great guy to be around and he was also the perfect partner up front. There was also Steve McMahon, Peter Beagrie, Niall Quinn, Nicky Summerbee, Nigel Clough, and, of course, Georgi Kinkladze – the maestro. If you made the run, he would find you with a pass.

You’ll hear about what it’s like to score a brilliant goal in a Manchester derby at Old Trafford. There was also the agony of relegation, when City played out a draw against Liverpool, not realising that a point wouldn’t be enough to save them.

We chat about Pep Guardiola’s Bayern and City revolutions, and we hear about Uwe’s current managerial role at Fortuna Düsseldorf, where promotion to the Bundesliga is the target.

Thanks, Uwe

Graham

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Being the son of Scotland and Nottingham Forest legend Archie was normality for Scot Gemmill when growing up, but having Brian Clough critiquing your performance for a Sunday youth side was downright surreal in anyone’s book.

Despite his initial self-doubt, Gemmill jnr. went on to play for Cloughie at Forest and nowadays he realises the spell the great man cast on him when he coaches footballers. He learned to play like you mean it, like you are competing in the last game you will ever play.

Also in part one: indie gigs and New York, New York.

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