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 Ray Lewington - Part Two
You went to Fulham after Watford, and are now assistant manager to Roy Hodgson. How do you like being an assistant manager as opposed to being a manager, and how do you enjoy working with Hodgson?
First and foremost, I have no preference as to whether I am a manager or a number two, you can slot into both. Being number one and in charge, like I was at Fulham, Brentford and Palace, the only real difference is the pressure you put on yourself. If you are committed and giving it 100% then your title is irrelevant. You are giving it everything you can and working hard all week in the hope of getting a result on the Saturday. The main difference is that your name isn't on the television or splashed all over the papers. The staff do everything at Fulham to back Roy up, but it's just that Roy is the face and the man that holds the responsibility.
If I got offered a manager's job that was attractive to me I would put consideration into it but I am also as comfortable being a number two or number three. If you have a massive ego and want to be a number one all the time it is harder, if you don't have the big ego then it is simple to slot into any position.
I'm very happy at Fulham, and Roy is a decent bloke to work for. Roy actually does a lot of the coaching himself even at 62 years of age, at least 75% of it. I chip in with my bit and Mick Kelly looks after the goalkeepers. It is quite strange and Roy is in the minority of managers in respect of doing most of the coaching himself.
How much of a part to play did you have in taking Heidar Helguson from Watford down to Fulham?
I recommended him. He was easily my most favourite player at Watford, he has a fantastic personality. I actually think, although I still haven't been given a proper explanation, is that I refused to sell Helguson. I never regretted that decision even though it probably cost me my job. I recommended him to Fulham because I thought amongst better players he could do well.
He had an indifferent time at Fulham though and he picked up a few injuries which meant he never got a good flow of games. Since Fulham he has been a bit chequered as well again because of injuries. He is a fantastic lad though. I think the thing that appealed to the Watford fans and appealed to me was his never say die attitude. Wherever he was playing he would still do something for the side.
I think that maybe Helguson is one of those players that is too good for the Championship but not quite up to Premiership standards.
I actually think he is a little bit better than that. Heidar is one of those players that needs constantly patting on the back and 100% backing. I think going the other way and rollicking him goes the other way with him. The trouble with H is that he is technically a good player, but he sometimes lets his heart rule his head and will be running at 100 miles an hour trying to control a ball, which even Pele couldn't do! If he just slowed down a touch and let his technical ability take over then he would have been a far better player. But he wore his heart on his sleeve, never gave anything less than 100% and was always the first name on the team sheet.
What went wrong with Scott Fitzgerald? He seemed to have one pretty good year then has not really been seen since.
Scotty was bought from non league, came in and the adrenaline was flowing. It's a little like when a team gets promoted and they are buzzing at first, but then the standard wears them down and it becomes too tough. That is what happened with Scotty. He made a big jump to come to Watford from non league, endeared himself quickly with the Watford fans and scored some goals. He had some good qualities, but also had some glaring weaknesses.
We couldn't make those weaknesses any better try as we might, and in the end the adrenaline wears off and he got a bit more used to it, but then found out the level was just a bit too high for him. I was surprised he didn't do better at a lower division. He had that natural goal scoring look about him where he would just pick up space in the box and knock one in.
How would you say you got on with the Watford fans in your time at the club?
I think they were always really good to me. Wherever you go and whoever you are there are always going to be one or two that don't like you. But by and large they were tremendous towards me. I have no complaints with the Watford fans at all. Even in the week leading up to me being sacked, there were one or two groans but no demonstrations or anything like that that you see. I really appreciated there support whilst I was there.
We put the opportunity out to people to give us the questions for this interview, and the biggest thing we had was people sending us messages asking us to thank you for steadying the ship through a very difficult time.
I have bumped into a few Watford fans since I left, and 90% of them have been really nice and said 'Thanks very much' etc. As a manager, you do expect criticism and you have to deal with it, but by and large my time at Watford was really good and the fans gave me great support, and I would like to pass on my thanks to any Watford fan reading this.
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Ray Lewington with Roy Hodgson
at Fulham
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F o o t b a l l |
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Favourite Ground (apart from The Vic) |
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Anfield |
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Toughest Opponent |
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Brian Horton |
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Best Ever Player |
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Johan Cruyff |
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F a v o u r i t e s |
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Favourite Food |
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Roast Beef and all the trimmings |
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Favourite Drink |
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Bitter |
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Favourite Music |
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Elton and Rod Stewart |
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Favourite Holiday Destination |
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Italy |
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Favourite TV Show |
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Frasier |
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Favourite Film |
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The Eagle Has Landed |
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What team do you support? |
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Chelsea |
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Desert Island Woman |
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Nigella - so she can cook me my roast! |
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