davieG Posted 7 November 2014 Posted 7 November 2014 When Wes Morgan arrives – he’s late, of course, when you interview a Leicester City player, they’re always late – he parks up his new grey Porsche and strolls into the shop, his shop, a new tattoo emporium on the roadwork-stricken Belgrave Gate, writes Lee Marlow. His frame fills the door. 6ft 1in tall, 14½ stone, built like a tower block. You wouldn’t fancy your chances against him at 3pm on a Saturday. Westley Nathan Morgan has lived a life, too. He was born, in 1984, in the Meadows, Nottingham. “As a kid, I saw it all,” he says. Gangs. Fights. Drugs. Knives. Guns. If you walked the streets where he was born, this wasn’t anything special, he says. This was just life. I make the mistake of suggesting the Meadows was not the roughest area of Nottingham. Big Wes rears back and arches his eyebrows. He looks almost offended, as if there’s a perverse pride to be had, coming from the roughest part of Nottingham. “Aw, I don’t think there was much in it, mate, really – the Meadows, St Anne’s, Radford. They were all pretty bad. A lot of bad things happened.” But not to you? “Well, I got caught up in a few things,” he says, euphemistically. “But I always had the football. I saw some bad things. I have good friends who have done bad things.” They’re in jail today, he says. But not him. “No. I escaped because of the football,” he says. “Even when my friends got into trouble, they knew I played football. They protected me. They didn’t want that for me.” Wes had a way out, an escape route that would take him away from the crime-ridden inner city Nottingham estates and to the promised land, down the A46 – to Leicester. Imagine that. Today, he’s playing Premier League football. On good money and captain of a club where he wants to see out the rest of his career. “I love it at Leicester,” he says. This is his story. WE'RE downstairs in a former hair-salon-now-tattoo studio in Belgrave Gate, Leicester. This is the Blue Ink Studio. It belongs to Scott Tynan, a former Nottingham Forest apprentice goalkeeper. Scott, a Scouser, was a trainee at Forest with Wes. It was 12 years ago, says Scott. Forest kept Wes on but let Scott go. Wes went on to play for his home town club for the next decade. Scott became a tattoo artist. Scott’s doing well. Two studios in Liverpool and one here. “This one opened a couple of weeks ago. He gave me the chance to get involved and I was pleased to.” So far, so good, he says. It’s a good fit. Wes is covered in tattoos. He got his first one when he was 16. “It was rubbish,” he laughs. “But I reckon I walked around with my sleeve rolled up for the next two years!” Both of his arms are covered in a sleeve of tattoos, a theme for each arm. One arm, strength. One arm, family. “I might get some more,” he says. “I guess I’ll be spending a bit more time here from now on...” You might think the well-paid Leicester City captain won’t need to work again when he retires. The well-paid City captain insists he will, though. “I’m not on Manchester City money, you know. I’m on a good wage now at Leicester, in the Premier League. But I wasn’t at Forest.” He was their longest-serving player, the rock of Forest’s defence. But Forest treated him dismally. “There were players on the fringe of the side who were on more than me,” he says. He doesn’t play football for the money, he says. He never has. “But when that happens, it gets to you.” At Christmas 2011, Morgan’s Forest contract was running out but the club refused to offer him a new deal. “When they finally offered me a deal, it was pretty poor,” he says. This was January, 2012. Word got round that Wes Morgan might be available. Nigel Pearson, the manager at Leicester City, made his move and it all happened quickly, he says. Overnight, Wes Morgan turned from red to blue. Was he worried about the rivalry? “Not really, no. I didn’t think there was that much of a rivalry. I had a few questions like that when I came to Leicester, and I went with it – ‘I’m sure the fans will be okay,’ stuff like that – but I didn’t think it was a big issue.” It’s my turn to arch my eyebrows. “Is that not right?” he says. No, it’s not right, I say. This “no rivalry’’ stuff is a myth propagated by Forest fans. You wait until we knock them out of the cup 4-0, or end their promotion hopes on the last day of the season. They seem to care about us then. “Yeah, fair enough,” he says. “I’ve seen that for myself.” IF YOU'RE looking for a detailed breakdown of Wes Morgan’s time at Forest, then you’ve come to the wrong place. This is the Leicester Mercury, after all, not the Nottingham Post. Here’s a quick synopsis: Morgan was at Forest from 2002 to 2012. In 10 years, he played 403 games for 10 Forest managers; a combination of The Good, The Bad and The Grouchy. “They seemed to alternate between easy-going and, erm, fiery,” he laughs. From Joe Kinnear, always laughing and joking – “Joe was all about the banter” – to Billy Davies. Davies, it’s fair to say, was never “all about the banter”. “Billy was always good to me, but we had a few run-ins. I had my hands round his throat once. We had to be separated. But it was after he came at me.” He came at you? But you’re twice his size? “Ha, do you think that would bother Billy Davies? It only happened because we both cared. We cleared the air and he didn’t hold a grudge.” Wes Morgan settled in quickly at Leicester. He knew a few of the lads – “I played with Paul Konchesky at Forest, for example,” he says – and two things became apparent immediately. Training was better. There was a step up in class, he says. “It was more intense, higher quality. I was a bit surprised about that. We were in the same division, after all.” Although there was a good atmosphere at the training ground, lots of laughs, lots of jokes, scratch the surface and it seemed a bit “cliquey’’. “I think the club was going through a bit of a transitional period,” he says. “Nigel had been re-hired after Sven’s dismissal and you could see he was trying to put his thumbprint on the club.” In what way, exactly? “I think there were perhaps too many players there.” A big squad, with a lot of players not playing, is not always a good thing, he says. Different factions start to form. “You could see a bit of that at Leicester. You could see some of those players weren’t his players. It’s taken a while to sort that out – but this is his squad now. No question about that. “When I came here I spent the first few games on the bench. I was raring to go, but he was playing Sol Bamba or Sean St Ledger and Matt Mills at centre-half. “I had a word with the boss one day and he said: ‘Take your time, be patient – get used to the place. Your chance will come’.” Wes made his City debut away at Norwich on February 18, 2012. He’s missed just two league games since then. “I’m 30, but I feel good. My legs are good. I’m fit. I want to keep on playing for as long as I can.” Here? “Yeah. I love it here. I don’t want to move.” HE FEELS settled at City, he says. There are no cliques at the club today. “I’d say I was close to Jeff Schlupp, Nuge, Konch, Kingy – but we all get on.” Winning the Championship last year – “and the way we did it, too, the way we played,” he says – is the highlight of his career so far. “I remember that game against Derby, the Sky game, at home. We killed them that day.” There was a bit of a wobble at the end of last season, though. What happened there? “Yeah, it was, literally, a bit of an end-of-season hangover,” he laughs. “We knew we were up the weekend before that Brighton game – and we went out and celebrated.” A lot? “Well, more than we’re used to. I think it showed in that Brighton game.” City lost 4-1. There was an established drinking culture at Leicester during the Brian Little and Martin O’Neill eras at the club – is there now? “No, but we do go out,” he says. “I think that’s important. I can’t drink like I used to drink – I’m not sure I’d want to – but we still go out, yeah.” How different is playing in the Premier League, compared to the Championship? “It’s not as physically intense,” he says. “We’d quite often have two games a week last year. Physical games, too. But I’d say the Premier League is more mentally exhausting. Me and Liam (Moore), we come off at the end of the some games and we look at each other and we’re like: ‘Mate, that was mad’. You have to be on it for 90 minutes.” CITY started well this season, drawing tough opening games against Everton and Arsenal and then seeing off Manchester United 5-3 in a match that was gloriously retold on the back page of every national newspaper the next day. “The manager sat us down before the game and said we’d be playing 4-1-3-2 and that we were going to have a proper go. “I remember looking down their team sheet and seeing all the names – Falcao, Rooney, Van Persie – and wondering if we weren’t being just a little bit too ambitious.” It seemed like he might have been right, at first, as United cantered to an early lead. “We felt the pressure, but I don’t think we ever lost confidence.” You know what happened next. “We had a few that night, let me tell you,” he says. I was a Man United fan as a kid. My dad supported Man United. To beat them like that – I’ll never forget it.” And yet there’s been a bit of a wobble since then? “Yeah, although, apart from the Swansea game, I don’t think we’ve played that badly. “Too many people had an off day at Swansea. We didn’t perform. I don’t know why. It happens sometimes.” They all knew it, too, he says. He knew, walking down the tunnel to the away dressing room, they’d get both barrels from the manager that afternoon. They did, too. “He was right to have a go. We let him down. It wasn’t good enough.” (This interview took place before the West Brom game last Saturday) It’s time to go. He has bills to sort. Things to arrange with Scott. “I enjoyed that interview,” he says. Yeah, we don’t get to do this enough with the City players. It’s good to know a bit more about you, where you’re from and what you’re like. Big Wes agrees. You should sit down with Vardy, he says. “Mate, he’s got all the best stories.” Over to you, Leicester City... Read more: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Leicester-City-captain-Wes-Morgan-City-Forest/story-24422966-detail/story.html#ixzz3IP4BdVX3 Follow us: @Leicester_Merc on Twitter
lgfualol Posted 7 November 2014 Posted 7 November 2014 Good interview. He sure loves that tattoo parlour.
babylad92 Posted 7 November 2014 Posted 7 November 2014 I wonder if he'd grab Nige round the neck? someone needs to organize a bout between morgan and pearson it wud be ****ing ace
Captain... Posted 7 November 2014 Posted 7 November 2014 Good read that, Can we have a better thread title please though, I nearly didn't bother reading it because I was expecting the same repeated arguments about Wes. It was only when I saw it was from Mr G I read it.
Sir Fynwy Posted 7 November 2014 Posted 7 November 2014 I lived in the Meadows for 4 years, it was an interesting place, the Warrington bomber lived on the corner of our road (we found this out the day a tactical police team arrested him) and my next door neighbours were violent drug dealers, we never had any trouble but we kept out of any of the shit. It certainly wasn't as bad as St Anne's in my opinion, far too many Meadows residents love the reputation of the place.
KFS Posted 7 November 2014 Posted 7 November 2014 Fvck me, commas, everywhere, sounds, like, an, itv, documentary, so, dramatic
UpTheLeagueFox Posted 7 November 2014 Posted 7 November 2014 I don't approve of violence but it was a shame he didn't knock some common decency into Davies.
sylofox Posted 7 November 2014 Posted 7 November 2014 Would have been nice if he had asked "Do you think the bad form since Man U is down to Nige" next weeks headline. Nige's hands round wes's throat. lol
Brainy Posted 7 November 2014 Posted 7 November 2014 Very, very, interesting, incitive read. Intriguing, very intriguing. Thanks, Leicester Mercury. Top class, that.
shade Posted 7 November 2014 Posted 7 November 2014 yeah **** commas they take the piss takes too long to type what ur saying with them mercs must have taken two hours to type that others wud have taken 10 mins max what about those ****íng semi colons mate? do my nut in.
davieG Posted 7 November 2014 Author Posted 7 November 2014 Good read that, Can we have a better thread title please though, I nearly didn't bother reading it because I was expecting the same repeated arguments about Wes. It was only when I saw it was from Mr G I read it. Fair point, now attention seeking if a little sensationalist. Sorry about the comma Kentfox
KFS Posted 7 November 2014 Posted 7 November 2014 Fair point, now attention seeking if a little sensationalist. Sorry about the comma Kentfox I've worked it out, I'm reading on my phone so everything has jumbled into a big mess. Still, I'll leave it there to see what whit lurks tonight.
StanSP Posted 7 November 2014 Posted 7 November 2014 Sounds like there's some unfinished business there i.e. Wes could have finished him there and then. Billy Davies is/was always a cvnt so probably deserved it. And plus, Wes says Davies came at him too any way. Love that he feels settled here. I get the feeling he feels more wanted here and probably much more happier here too.
Rich Fox Posted 7 November 2014 Posted 7 November 2014 He would not be able to withstand a Pearson headbutt
shade Posted 8 November 2014 Posted 8 November 2014 He would not be able to withstand a Pearson headbutt a pearson headbutt can split atoms. true story!
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