Jim Duggan's TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR site

GARY MABBUTT INTERVIEW

One of the most enduring stereotypes in football is the true ‘gentleman of the game’. Every era has its figures who seemingly can do no wrong in either the media or the public’s eyes, even for fans of opposing clubs. Stanley Matthews was one, so was Tom Finney and latterly Bobby Moore (though Scottish supporters would no doubt have a choice thing or two to say about that).

It’s therefore a measure of the current age that there are so few of that ilk in the modern game. The stakes have been raised to such an extent that few supporters can like any other player who doesn’t play for their team. Come to think of it, footballers aren’t really liked by their own fans these days, a resentment based in part on the massive wages earned by even mediocre talents.

There is one notable exception, however. Though he may have now retired, Gary Mabbutt was and still is an immensely popular character, respected for his play on the pitch and his professionalism and demeanour off it. After a career at Bristol Rovers and of course Spurs, during which time he earned a healthy number of England caps, Mabbutt remained a hero for many and a figure of respect for others. Even Arsenal fans would give him grudging praise. It came as no surprise that when he finally called it a day as a player, Mabbutt should become a respected pundit and more recently one of the FA’s advisors on their much-publicised ‘video panel’.

A successful career, international caps, honours and an unrivalled reputation in the game. Sounds like little has gone wrong for Mabbutt. Even when the odds were against him, as with his battle against diabetes, he came up trumps. Not that he will put down his success to anything other than plain hard work. “If you have the talent, at some stage luck may deal you a good hand, if you do not work to get the talent then all the luck in the world will not help you. A famous quote goes: ‘It's amazing, the more I practice the luckier I seem to get’ and that’s true for me.”

What also undoubtedly helped in Mabbutt’s life in football was his family. His father was a professional and brother Kevin also went on to make a living out of the game. It was the classic case of growing up in an environment where a football was a permanent presence. Gary grew up as a West Ham fan (funnily enough with Moore as his childhood idol), excelled at schoolboy level and before long, the scouts started to pay attention.

Despite this and an early breakthrough at Bristol Rovers, it seemed that Mabbutt might be one of those perfectly talented players who, for whatever reason, might miss the boat at the top level. Famously, he had to send off letters to clubs asking for trials. When opportunity finally knocked, Mabbutt was left with a difficult dilemma. “Before joining Spurs I had spoken to Ron Saunders who was the manager of Birmingham City who were then in the 1st Division, he saw me as being part of his plans for the new season and could virtually guarantee me a first team place. I then spoke to Tottenham and Keith Burkinshaw told me that I may not get into the first team for a couple of years. I still choose Tottenham!”

It’s easy to see why. Spurs might be currently doing the best to become a carbon copy of Wimbledon, but at the time (1982-83) they were one of the big five and poised to launch a challenge to Liverpool’s dominance. Mabbutt was brought in as a utility player, a hard working squad man to complement the midfield talents of Hoddle and Ardiles. It was this adaptability that marked out Mabbutt as such a valuable addition to Burkinshaw’s emerging squad. “I enjoyed playing in midfield as I was able to be involved in all aspects of play, I also enjoyed my time as a central defender but as I only started a game as a striker once against Birmingham City and scored both our goals in a 2-1 victory, that seems to win on a goals scored to games played ratio.”

Early on, life was good at Spurs. Mabbutt swiftly became a crowd favourite, even getting his own official fan club, and bagged his first medal when Tottenham won the 1984 UEFA Cup. A call up to the national side soon followed, with 16 caps eventually ending up on the mantelpiece at Chez Gary. Plenty of commentators said there should have been many more. “I certainly wished I had played more,” says Mabbutt, “but it is not up to me to say if I should have. I really enjoyed being involved in International competition: it was different from the domestic scene and yes, all the players got on pretty well. I still believe that it is as big an honour now as it has always been.”

Doing well at a big club, an international career spreading out ahead of him: everything seemed set for fair for Mabbutt. Just as it all seemed Burkinshaw would lead Mabbutt and Spurs to greater glory, however, the club’s tendency to shoot itself in the foot reappeared with the manager making a bitter exit, famously remarking ‘there used to be a football club over there’

It is perceived as a defining moment in Tottenham history, a key event when the club turned into a business and began its long decline. Mabbutt had first hand experience of the issues that forced Burkinshaw’s departure and the key players involved, saying, “The players saw it exactly the same way. Keith was not prepared to be the coach only and not have a say in the then other managerial areas (i.e. contracts). He felt that his position was being undermined.

“In reality Irving Scholar was ahead of the time in his visions of the future, although all of the players were disappointed to see Keith leave in such circumstances. Irving was a true Tottenham fan and I believe that everything he did was for the good of the club [but] after implementing the turning of the club into a PLC, the business side moved on too quickly and we tried to run before walking.”

It was to set the tone for virtually the remainder of Mabbutt’s 15 years at White Hart Lane. Managers and players of proven quality came only for a lack of stability to undo all the good preparation. Mabbutt feels the best squad was David Pleat’s nearly-side of 1987 “In my opinion the squad that had been assembled by David had the potential, (if it had been kept together) to challenge for the title.”

The title, of course, never arrived, though Mabbutt had plenty of chances himself to earn honours elsewhere. “In 1987 my contract ran out at Tottenham and I was approached by Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Lyon in France. I had some very attractive offers and in the end it was a choice between Liverpool and staying at Spurs.

“Whilst I was tempted by the Liverpool offer, we had just come third in the league, made the semi-finals of the league cup and the final of the F.A. Cup and most importantly I really did enjoy playing for the club and so did not want to compromise the pleasure that it gave me.

“Kenny Dalglish the manager at Liverpool told me that he wanted to sign me, John Barnes and Peter Beardsley. I was the only one he didn't get: who knows, if I had gone I might have been the Celtic manager!”

Instead of going onto great things with Liverpool, Mabbutt played through a frustrating time at Tottenham. The FA Cup was landed in 1991 under Venables (including the famous semi-final win over Arsenal: ‘It felt exactly the same for the players it did for the fans’), but despite much promise neither El Tel’s nor subsequent teams could make the breakthrough.

“During my time at the club we would generally go out and buy some of the most talented and best players available, we would then try to mould the team around these players. Although this was great for the fans who were served some exciting entertaining football, I do not think that it helped with the continuity of the side or it's consistency.

“On the other hand George Graham (at the time with Arsenal) had a team formation and system that was getting consistently good results. If he needed a player he would go out and purchase a player who fitted into the team mould. Whilst the entertainment was very questionable the trophy's rolled in.

“I believe that we were perhaps too cavalier in our approach and that George was too conservative. A nice happy medium seems to me to be the answer to achieve success with style.

With Spurs, however, it was always as much to do with behind the scenes politics as boot room tactics. Mabbutt claims that the spat between Alan Sugar and Venables ‘had no affect on the team directly, the fact that we were on the financial pages more than the sports pages was missed by most’. A diplomatic answer, and Mabbutt is similarly nifty when it comes to discussing Tottenham’s recently departed chairman, but he still makes his mark:

“As anyone associated with the club should remember, we were in a dire financial situation when Sir Alan arrived at the club and with his business acumen the club is now on a sound footing, (I am talking financially: on the football front there is plenty of room for improvement).”

Having played under eight managers while at Tottenham (‘Gobsmacked after about a week’ was Mabbutt’s reaction to the arrival of Herr Gross), his departure in 1997 angered many fans for the way it appeared to be handled by the club. You have to be careful what you say in this regard since Sugar successfully sued the News of the World and Alan Mullery for casting aspersions, but if he is displeased about it all, Mabbutt will only comment “I got no more than I had expected.”

It’s Mabbutt’s unstinting loyalty, coupled with his talents as a superbly composed defender that turned him into such a popular figure at Spurs. What price such devotion to duty today? Spurs fans hoping for a similar level of commitment from Sol Campbell will be disappointed by Mabbutt’s comment that he expects the skipper to leave. Similarly, his assessment of the current Tottenham vintage is a frank, but honest one. “I watched the West Ham game this season and the only time I thought something was going to happen was when Stephen Carr got the ball. It is a sad reflection of a Spurs side that our most creative player was a right back (albeit a very good right back)!

“One of the main problems is that the game has gone through some immense changes over the last few years and other clubs have adapted a lot quicker to the new demands of the Premiership game both in the board room and on the playing field.”

Mabbutt is in full agreement with those Tottenham fans who feel the ‘Spurs way’ is not part of the current regime’s philosophy, but won’t be drawn on a return to the club in a management or coaching capacity. “I really think it is unfair to answer this sort of question when a manager is already in that position. However I have turned down six managerial jobs over the last 18 months, but you can never say never!”

For the time being, Mabbutt has forged a successful career that mixes media work with various roles, including a position of significant responsibility on the FA’s video panel. There’s a lot of misleading reporting concerning the panel and its more controversial decisions, so Mabbutt is keen to set the record straight.

“There is a panel made up of 12 advisors. Three are chosen every week to give their opinions on any incidents that happen that week. You never know who the other two are and you are sent the videos of the incidents individually at your home.

“Our job is to watch the incidents and to then give a written report as to what you see and to then write a report as to what action you feel should be taken. You then send them back to the F.A. who look at the reports and then make their judgment. You never sit and discuss any incidents you just give your individual opinion.

So far so clear, but many fans thought what is the point of having a panel if its decisions are over-ruled as in the Gary McAllister incident when he was sent off at Arsenal? Is this a valid view? “Because of the individual reports it is impossible to know if the video panel's opinion's were overturned or not, as I may have said one thing and the other two panellists another and because you do not have any knowledge of what the other panellist's have said it is impossible to know. This was just a media story that tried to undermine the advisory panel.”

The concern is that it can all be taken too far and you’ll have a whole raft of decisions affecting games after they’ve taken place. Shouldn’t we all just realise that players and refs are human and that mistakes will be made? Mabbutt counters. “You have to make players accountable for their actions and if they are involved in off the ball incidents, cheating, spitting etc then they deserve to be retrospectively punished.”

The video panel could have come in handy when Mabbutt had his face re-arranged by John Fashanu’s flying elbow a few years back. Asked what he thought of the ‘accident’ now, he replies “WHAT ACCIDENT!”, but Mabbutt still steadfastly defends the reputation of his fellow players. “Not all professionals buy their homes from 'Country Life' magazine, the majority of players in the 2nd & 3rd divisions earn a fraction of their premiership comrades and like most battle to pay the mortgage.”

So what do the players honestly think of the supporters? “All fans can be fickle and they all like to hurl abuse at opponents even if some do it under their breaths. Even so, Mabbutt’s career started at a time when players earned a decent living but could still identify with the supporters. Nowadays, even mediocre players enjoy millionaire status. Have the financial rewards gone too far? “I say Good luck to the players today, as long as they give 100% every game I have no problem how much they earn, they are worth what the club agrees to pay them.”

An answer you may, or may not agree with but it’s difficult to fault Mabbutt’s perspective having survived all the best and worst that football can throw at a player. He played with world cup winners in Klinsmann and Ardiles, as well as Hoddle, Gascoigne and Lineker (‘the last player to be picked for a training ground five a side game, but the best finisher on match days I have played with’), thrived under managers like Venables, Pleat and Burkinshaw – and ‘enjoyed’ a lively relationship with that man Gross: ‘the best manager for giving the whole team a headache’. He’s enjoyed a better relationship than most with the media saying “The only time that I would refuse an interview was if I or the club had been turned over badly by a particular journalist or newspaper.” It’s safe to say, though, that it’s the fans who had the best relationship with Gary Mabbutt – a true gentleman of the game.