Saturday 31 January 2015 11:44, UK
Alan Stubbs picked the best 11 players he has played alongside in his #One2Eleven on The Fantasy Football Club.
The rock solid defender enjoyed an 18-year spell as a player, largely spent at Bolton, Celtic and Everton, and won two Scottish league titles and two Scottish league cups.
Now Hibernian's manager, the defender has gone for a 4-4-2 formation, and here are the stars who made the cut in a team that has a real Celtic and Everton flavour...
GOALKEEPER: Nigel Martyn
In goal it’s a really tough one because I played with Nigel Martyn and Tim Howard. Unfortunately, and he’s not going to like it whatsoever, I’m just going to sway on the side of Martyn. He was a great goalkeeper. I wouldn’t have said there was a real weak point in his game just a real good eight out of 10 keeper. I thought he was top drawer.
RIGHT-BACK: Seamus Coleman
At right back I’ve just gone for Seamus Coleman. He was a very quiet lad when he came over from Ireland and it was like it was the biggest sweet shop he’d walked into. He’d never seen anything like it before. His enthusiasm to learn and improve was unbelievable and he was always one to ask questions. 'How can I have been better? Where should I have been?' He was a breath of fresh air.
CENTRE-BACK: David Weir
David Weir wasn’t the quickest but he read the game really well. Where we weren’t quick over 10 yards with pace, we were very quick in the head. That’s why he would be there. He’s Mr Reliable.
CENTRE-BACK: Marc Rieper
The other centre-back would be Marc Rieper, who I played with at Celtic. He is a real leader and a winner. He used to have a bit of a dodgy back. The amount of times he’d come in and be lying on the treatment table not being able to move. I can’t repeat exactly what he used to say but in his language and the way he was describing it, it was always hilarious because he’d say it as it was - ‘my back has gone again’ - and the lads would take the mickey out of him, but he was a great lad.
LEFT-BACK: Leighton Baines
The same could be said of the left back. This was a tough one because I played with a guy called Nuno Valente. He was a Portuguese international but unfortunately he’s been pipped by Leighton Baines, who I perceive as being one of the best left backs in the game at this moment in time. He’s got a great football brain. When you’ve got the amount of assists Leighton provides a team in the final third, for me he’s right up there with the best.
CENTRE MIDFIELD: Paul McStay
I wanted to put Paul Gascoigne in but unfortunately I played with him at the end of his career. I didn’t play with him when he was at his prime otherwise he would have been the first on the sheet . So I’ve gone for Paul McStay. I would have loved to have seen him play in the Premier League but he chose not to. He was a one-club man. A very intelligent player. He always looked like he was playing in second gear. He was just a brilliant footballer but a genuine nice guy.
CENTRE MIDFIELD: Thomas Gravesen
We go from a genuine nice guy to an absolute barn pot in Thomas Gravesen. He was probably one of the most gifted players I’ve ever played with. Discipline wasn’t in Thomas’ vocabulary I’m afraid to say. He spends his time on the tables in Las Vegas. He’s got his own account. Maybe we’ve got it the wrong way round and he’s got it the right way round!
RIGHT MIDFIELD: Paolo Di Canio
This guy was another one who was very outspoken and outgoing. Ability-wise he was incredible. Paolo lit up the dressing room. When you ask people if you were marooned on a desert island what would three things would you take with you? I can honestly say Paolo’s first thing would be a mirror. He would always be grooming himself. He was absolutely a brilliant man. One of the best trainers I’ve come across. On the pitch he was a magician, changing the game in an instant.
LEFT MIDFIELD: Lubo Moravcik
On the other side I’ve picked Lubo Moravcik. On his left or on his right foot he had the best technique I’ve ever seen. He’d pluck the ball out of the air and from 60 feet put it on a sixpence. His first touch was incredible. Technically, if you wanted a player to have everything, Lubo had it.
STRIKER: Henrik Larsson
Moving onto my strikers, I’ll start off with Henrik Larsson. You used to look up all the time and the only thing you’d see was Henrik’s movement, pulling off defenders and running in behind. He was quick and he had everything. He was a God when he left Celtic.
STRIKER: Wayne Rooney
Talking about someone who’s got everything, Wayne Rooney was a freak I’m afraid to say. He’d come to training with us when he was about 15 or 16 and Walter Smith was reluctant to bring him up too early. One day towards the end of the season Wayne came in and we had a look at him. He was a really shy lad. He's certainly not shy now but he was then. The next minute we bought him onto the training pitch and he starts training and you’ve got senior international players and first team players thinking: ‘Who’s this kid?’ Players were bouncing off him. He’s one of those players that come around once in a lifetime but still he gets questioned. All I would say is look at his goal-scoring record.
