Voll Blau Posted 3 October 2014 Posted 3 October 2014 Mercury reader’s will be treated to an exclusive first look at Leicester City legend Steve Walsh’s new book in Saturday's newspaper. The former Foxes captain has given us a sneak preview of his autobiography, Walshy’s 50 Shades of Blue. Steve has promised to deliver an explosive “warts and all” book, which will be published in November to coincide with his 50th birthday. On Saturday, the Mercury will publish the first of three exclusive extracts from the book. The other two extracts will run on Monday and Tuesday. The book is set to be published next month. Each one exposes some of the 49-year-old’s biggest secrets. In Saturday's edition, Steve lifts the lid on his relationship with former Foxes manager Peter Taylor and his move to Norwich City. He said: “I will, for the first time in public, tell all about what really happened when I left the club I loved. “I don’t want to say too much at this stage but people should be assured that it will be a brutally honest warts and all account of what really happened with Peter Taylor when I left Leicester City. “I have also got a lot to say about what went on off the pitch as well and much of that is very entertaining too. “I just hope the Leicester City fans will have as much fun reading the book as I have had putting it down on paper and remembering the times - particularly the good times I had at this great club.” Steve, who served the Foxes for 14 years, is a hero to the King Power faithful after scoring the goal which gave City victory over Derby in the 1994 play-off final. The autobiography has been ghost-written by author John Brindley, who has penned the life stories of former Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday winger Terry Curran and former Sheffield United defender Tony Kenworthy. He said: “Steve was a great subject to work with because he was good fun and honest. “What also made my job easier was that he had such a good recollection of events both on and off the pitch. “Other people I have worked with have had a few problems remembering the exact details but Steve was spot on.” John said he got to write Steve’s life story after sending him a speculative text. He said: “I had just finished Tony’s book so I sent Steve, who I knew, a text asking if he knew anyone who wanted their story telling. “He sent me a text back saying he did. It went from there and I then spent a year with him getting all the notes for the book. “It is a pretty good read even though I say so myself.” Steve’s 50th Birthday bash and book launch is due to have celebrity guests, including ex Leicester City players, some of whom will be taking part in a question and answer session. Detroit Soul, a Soul and Motown band and comedian Jimmy Bright will also be on the bill. For more information on this event ticket go to www.kkongevents.com or email [email protected] or call 01162 160 631. Read more: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Steve-Walsh-exclusive-Read-extracts-Leicester/story-23033940-detail/story.html#ixzz3F4RmGaL2 Follow us: @Leicester_Merc on Twitter | leicestermercury on Facebook Read more at http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Steve-Walsh-exclusive-Read-extracts-Leicester/story-23033940-detail/story.html#z0BCCuIf6pPuvVfi.99 http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Steve-Walsh-exclusive-Read-extracts-Leicester/story-23033940-detail/story.html#ixzz3Ez0srvpv Looking forward to reading this.
Les-TA-Jon Posted 3 October 2014 Posted 3 October 2014 Awful name. Why didn't he just call it: 'Walshy' or something like that?
Alf Bentley Posted 3 October 2014 Posted 3 October 2014 Will the artist formerly known as "Another of Walshie's Women" (AoWW) get a mention?
Sir Shep Posted 3 October 2014 Posted 3 October 2014 Walshy's nearly 50! Anyway I've got his autobiography Here, there, everywhere.
Jace Posted 3 October 2014 Posted 3 October 2014 Generally I tend to only read a book once every 10 years think this will be the next 1
Freesolo Posted 3 October 2014 Posted 3 October 2014 Walshy's nearly 50! Anyway I've got his autobiography Here, there, everywhere. That books nearly 20 years old and he was still playing at the time, this new release sound a lot more promising
LCFC Rennie Posted 3 October 2014 Posted 3 October 2014 I do love the guy, but whoever came up with the name needs their head checking.
ROB-THE-BLUE Posted 4 October 2014 Posted 4 October 2014 Will the artist formerly known as "Another of Walshie's Women" (AoWW) get a mention? Matt Elliott's wife...
davieG Posted 4 October 2014 Posted 4 October 2014 By Steve Walsh I honestly thought I could become Leicester City’s new manager, working with Tony Cottee. Some folk would take a look at my lifestyle and scoff at such a view. But I knew what I had to give and that was 100 per cent commitment to the club and the fact we would have both been totally accepted by that dressing room. Who knows what could have been? The odds were stacked against us because of our lack of managerial experience and our lack of qualifications, which we were both more than willing to put right. We made our pitch on the idea we could keep the dressing room together – even more vital after such a successful manager had just gone. But even the circumstances of our meeting with board members, including chairman Martin George, told the story. It was at Luton Airport, with George about to go on holiday, which hinted to us he was going through the motions. Nevertheless, I think they were impressed with our professional presentation and several new signings we could put in the frame, including striker Chris Sutton. Yes, I had my personal run-ins with him but he was a quality player and a physical force who could have done us a great job. I would have knuckled down under (Peter) Taylor. I knew no other way and my heart was still with Leicester City. Taylor himself praised the way I worked that pre-season and could see I was injury free and ready for the new campaign. But I never thought he was honest or up front with me. I played in all the pre-season tour games in Holland as Gerry Taggart was injured and he gave me the very strong impression I’d done well enough to be first choice in that match against West Ham United early in the Premier League campaign. As late as the Monday before the game, he reassured me this was still the case but come the trip to Upton Park, Taggart was restored to the starting line-up and I was only on the bench. I came on as substitute and got one last memento to mark what turned out to be my final ever appearance for City – the shirt of future England skipper Rio Ferdinand, who shortly afterwards broke the British transfer record with his £18 million move to Leeds United. Things were not looking good for me, either on the training ground or on the pitch. To be honest, I found Taylor’s methods too basic. More like a school teacher than a football manager in his manner, all he could come up with were five-yard training drills, better suited to teenagers than top professionals who’d been there and won medals. But in my mind, they were often too demanding for our new signing Ade Akinbiyi – and I’m not kidding. I don’t want to have a go at a great guy who ran his heart out for Leicester City but his £5 million transfer from Wolves highlighted everything that started to go wrong. Talent-wise, he wasn’t in the same league as Emile Heskey, yet he wasn’t the worst of Taylor’s signings – I think midfielder Junior Lewis, in particular, would have struggled to get a game with many lower division sides. When Taylor’s staff weren’t telling me about the next club who were supposedly interested in me, he was threatening to run me up and down the stands. I felt he was trying to punish me, to push me out the door – something I recognised from previous managers with other players. Some folk may think my view of Peter Taylor was sour grapes. But later events proved he was the wrong man for Leicester City. He took over a very good side with plenty of cash in the bank and managed to squander all of it and send the club into crisis. In all, he reportedly spent £26 million, and bought very badly. What the fans may not know is that he also increased the wages of moderate players very dramatically. In my view, Taylor wasn’t comfortable with big personalities at the football club because he wasn’t a big personality himself. He kicked Collymore, Cottee and I into touch as fast as possible. Okay, no harm in putting an emphasis on youth, but his team needed balance and experience, for me, in such a demanding league. Instead, he let it slip through his fingers when we could all have added another season’s value to our squad. The penny finally dropped when Taylor announced his 18-man squad for the Uefa Cup tie against Red Star Belgrade – and I wasn’t in it. If I couldn’t even make the 18 for such an important game, I had no future under this manager. Had Taylor been a man, he would have chatted things through with me properly. Had he argued my better days were behind me because of all the injuries, I would have accepted it. I would have known I was valued and respected but time had caught up with me. But he did none of that. Instead, he passed the buck to others to tell me about other clubs being interested and I believe tried to make my life as miserable as possible. My mind was a complete mess. Even Nottingham Forest was suggested as a club that might be interested in taking me on. How on earth could I play for them after all those years with the Blue Army? When I went for a trial at Wolves and saw a young Joleon Lescott, later to play for England, looking impressive in training, it was yet another twist of the knife. Here was a young guy at the beginning of his career with everything to look forward to; very suddenly, I felt I was at the end. Read more: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Peter-Taylor-drove-club-loved/story-23043573-detail/story.html#ixzz3FAIYxeev Follow us: @Leicester_Merc on Twitter | leicestermercury on FacebookRead more at http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Peter-Taylor-drove-club-loved/story-23043573-detail/story.html#xA8oRe5GovEcO6wL.99
RedSoxUK Posted 4 October 2014 Posted 4 October 2014 To be honest, I found Taylor’s methods too basic. More like a school teacher than a football manager in his manner, all he could come up with were five-yard training drills, better suited to teenagers than top professionals who’d been there and won medals. But in my mind, they were often too demanding for our new signing Ade Akinbiyi – and I’m not kidding. This stuff is comedy gold
Freesolo Posted 4 October 2014 Posted 4 October 2014 To think Taylor blew £26m in 2000, Thats got to be £45m easy these days, destroyed what MON built on peanuts
davieG Posted 6 October 2014 Posted 6 October 2014 INTRO: STEVE WALSH was widely recognised as the life and soul of Leicester City on and off the field during his tumultuous 14 years at Filbert Street. But he wasn’t always the boisterous, fun loving character that has since made him a lifelong hit with a generation of Foxes supporters. As he explains in his soon-to-be-launched autobiography Walshy’s 50 Shades of Blue, the young man, who first arrived at Filbert Street back in 1986 as a £100,000 signing from Wigan, was recognisable only from his early reputation as an injury-prone hard man that quickly followed him to the East Midlands. Instead he was a shy, introverted character who initially found it difficult to adapt to moving to a First Division club and competing for a place with John O’Neill alongside former England defender Russell Osman in the heart of the City defence. I’D LIKE to say I got goose bumps walking into Filbert Street for the first time but that honestly wasn’t the case. I was coming to Leicester completely blind. I knew nothing about the club other than they were in the East Midlands and in the top division where I wanted to be. The only link I’d had was collecting a few football cards with Leicester players on – although, the great Gordon Banks apart, I didn’t know too many names. Frank ‘Elvis’ Worthington and Keith Weller headed the list of recent legends I was to get to know, along with Birchy, but had very little knowledge of when I arrived. I remember leaving the M6 in Bryan (Hamilton)’s Mercedes, seeing a sign saying M69 to Leicester, then driving along the long Narborough Road. I kept looking for the Filbert Street floodlights as we drove past Frank Berry scrap metal trains and feasted my eyes on the ‘Statue of Liberty’ monument at the top of the building on the corner. Then there was the iconic Bentley's roof, from which I later saw fans watching us in action. The ground itself was much bigger and better than I was used to although I’d had a brief taste of the big time playing at Maine Road and Wembley. Our talks were almost comical but the way most football clubs probably did their business. I was in and out of the manager’s office four or five times trying to strike a deal with (Gordon) Milne. (Wigan’s) Graham Barrow told me to talk to them but sleep on it for 24 hours before I made a decision. Agents were still fairly new to the game and I didn’t have one, which didn’t help. All I had to go on was that Wigan promised to put both David Lowe and I on the same money as the highest paid player if we signed our new deals. It was pure guesswork, but we didn’t expect to get much more than £150 a week. The way it worked was this: Milne told me what the club was prepared to offer and jotted a few figures down on a piece of paper; I said my piece and he threw the paper in the bin and started again. After a while, the bin was almost full to overflowing with useless scribbled notes. I was playing games as I'd have happily signed for nothing. I know that’s easy for me to say, having later earned some good contracts as a footballer, but the financial side meant nothing at the time. I wanted to play with and against the best players in the land. My first City deal, however, was a good one. I signed for a fee of £100,000 on a four-year deal at £300 a week going up by £50 every year. I also got a £3,000 a year signing on fee and £10,000 to relocate, which was great. Checking into the Holiday Inn, I lived the high life before realising £10k would run out quickly that way. From there, I moved to the Du Val Hotel on London Road, where I stayed for most of my first year at the club, before buying a house in Barwell, Hinckley. It was a friendly place where I got to know owner Mick Navarro, a massive drinker and gambler, mad on his horse racing, along with his brother Willie. Among the other tenants was goalkeeper Paul Cooper, who joined City from Ipswich Town. He took me under his wing and became a good mate. I’ll always remember my first day at Leicester City. Our Belvoir Drive training ground was out of action and we were working at Leicester University on a really hot day. It was a fantastic feeling knowing I was a First Division player. We all went on a three mile run in the Uni grounds. Very good at sprints and hill running, I always struggled with long distance running and three miles was a *****g long way for me, believe me. Also, as the only person I really knew at the club was manager Bryan Hamilton, I felt more than a little out of my depth. Settling into the club wasn’t easy. Walking into a new dressing room for the first time is quite intimidating and certainly was for me. I could handle myself on a football pitch but was quite shy and withdrawn off it. I hated not knowing anyone and felt really embarrassed. That’s just the way I am until I get to know everyone and come out of my shell. I wasn’t the life and soul of the party from day one. Training was fairly simple with a lot of five-a-sides in which Hamilton and Milne sometimes took part. Milney loved a five aside and that’s about all he did. That was as close as they got to being a partnership. Read more: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Steve-Walsh-quiet-lad-arrived-Filbert-Street/story-23046606-detail/story.html#ixzz3FMQSyIfb Follow us: @Leicester_Merc on Twitter | leicestermercury on FacebookRead more at http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Steve-Walsh-quiet-lad-arrived-Filbert-Street/story-23046606-detail/story.html#UlBK7X4Bs1U2w0WC.99
davieG Posted 7 October 2014 Posted 7 October 2014 Walshy’s 50 Shades of Blue: The O'Neill years By Leicester Mercury | Posted: October 07, 2014 The glory years: Martin O'Neill, Steve Walsh and John Robertson Comments (0)Despite his well publicised admiration for Brian Little, Foxes legend Steve Walsh has no doubt about the best City manager he ever played for. His captain-manager relationship with Martin O’Neill was at the centre of the club’s glory years. In the last exclusive extract from his soon-to-be launched autobiography Walshy’s 50 Shades of Blue, he recalls that time. There was a drinking culture in our side that O’Neill generally encouraged. We were like a pub team, I used to say, but probably the best pub team ever. He was quite old fashioned in his outlook and saw the social side as good for our team spirit. We were usually sensible enough to drink at the right times and ensure it never affected our performances on the field. We, however, took things to another level in our preparations for the final after O’Neill took us away to Tenerife for a week as we had a fortnight’s break between the 2-2 draw at Southampton and Wembley. I swear we never missed a night’s drinking. How we got away with a 1-1 draw in the final at Wembley after all that I will never know. Boro were full of foreign stars but no great shakes as a team. Best-known players in their ranks were Brazilians Juninho and Emmerson and Italian ‘silver fox’ Fabrizio Ravanelli up front. From a City point of view, it’s interesting to recall Nigel Pearson, now our manager, was at the heart of their defence. O’Neill played his hand by giving Swedish defender Pontus Kaamark a man-to-man marking job on Juninho which proved a genius tactic. There was never going to be a goal feast as I swear some of us used the 90 minutes plus extra time to sweat off our drinking from the previous week. I had a good game, restricting Ravanelli to two or three chances. He came with a big reputation but wasn’t the most hard working of strikers, so I was always on his tail. Their biggest threat was probably Juninho running free with the ball but Kaamark did a really good job to ensure he was never given an inch. Extra time was the last thing we wanted after our thirsty build up and, even worse, we went behind within five minutes. Lenny halted a run from Juninho but the ball fell to Ravanelli and this time he drove it into the back of the net. We were operating on empty but no way were we going to give in without a fight. Mark Robins came on as sub and I was pushed into attack for the closing stages. The switch brought us our reprieve with just a couple of minutes left. I got my head to a Robins cross to send it back across goal where Heskey headed against the bar. Claridge went in with several Boro defenders in the scramble for the loose ball and Heskey got the final touch to give us another chance. What a relief that was to get away from Wembley without being beaten after our below par performance. Boro may have felt gutted at losing their lead so late but my thinking was clear; if we could hold them to a draw in the state we were in, only one team was going to win the replay at Hillsborough ten days later. I honestly felt that, after the disappointment of my earlier matches at the national stadium, I was now coming of age at Wembley as a player performing well on the biggest stage. I was very proud to win the Alan Hardaker Trophy for being man of the match. The Hillsborough replay was one of the most memorable nights of my whole career as we lifted a major trophy for the first time in 33 years. We were feeling in better shape and, although we again needed Kaamark to do his special job on Juninho, always looked more likely to score than them. Best chance of the 90 minutes fell to Heskey who was denied by the woodwork for the second time in the tie. He struck his shot perfectly and it beat the goalkeeper only to rebound back into play off the inside of the post. That was bad luck but we still backed ourselves to win. I had Ravanelli well and truly in my pocket and he never had a kick. We were defending very comfortably and the only side who ever looked like breaking the deadlock. The golden moment came 10 minutes into extra time. Garry Parker floated over a free kick from just inside the Boro half to the middle of the penalty area where I went up for the ball with Nigel Pearson. The incident has been much talked about considering Pearson’s Leicester connections now but, honest Nigel, I didn’t foul you. All I did was put my arm across him and head the ball back across goal for Claridge to steer his volley into the net. Read more: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Ffff/story-23055009-detail/story.html#ixzz3FSnXL2af Follow us: @Leicester_Merc on Twitter | leicestermercury on Facebook Read more at http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Ffff/story-23055009-detail/story.html#XLjhXqWr9gzDi0Se.99
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