Having helped Blackburn to finish sixth in your first full Premier League campaign in 2005-06, you must have thought English football’s not so hard?
I arrived at Ewood Park at a great time. They were on an upward trajectory and the gaffer, Mark Hughes, was very good to me. The club was run well, so it was a fun period. We had players like Tugay – he could literally play with a cigar in one hand, the game was that easy. Brad Friedel was a superb goalkeeper, Morten Gamst Pedersen was outstanding and Robbie Savage brought the energy – he couldn’t lift a weight in the gym, but was never afraid to fight. Craig Bellamy was brilliant as well. They don’t make personalities like these any
