Читать книгу Psycho Pat - The Autobiography Of Pat Van Den Hauwe - Pat Van Den Hauwe - Страница 7

After a few years in charge of Tottenham, I had assembled a reasonable squad of players that I believed was maybe two or three quality additions short of being capable of challenging for the League title.

One area I needed to strengthen was my defence and I knew that I would require a player who had played at the highest level and Pat came to mind as he had done so at Everton, playing in a Championship-winning team, and was used to competing and succeeding at that level. I also liked the boy’s versatility as he was comfortable playing at left or right back and also in the centre of defence.

I was surprised although happy that my enquiry to Everton came back with a positive response and we soon wrapped up the deal to bring Pat back to London.

Although things did not quite work out as well as both of us would have liked, I am pleased that he was a member of my FA Cup winning side in 1991 as he had suffered heartbreak in three previous FA Cup finals with Everton.

Off the field, I knew Pat was a bit of a lad but thought we would be able to work together, and that is how it was. Although he lost his temper sometimes and would give me that evil snarl that frightened so many opponents, he was quick to calm down and didn’t bear a grudge. There were a couple of periods when he went missing, but it was a measure of him as a player and a man that he had a conscience and learnt from the problems he caused me as a manager – problems I took full advantage of by going on and on about them to make sure Pat never forgot and never stepped out of line again!

I met Pat in a hotel in London recently and we spoke about his time at Spurs with fondness. I noticed that when he left the meeting he had a tear in his eye, which summed him up. He is a very genuine man, loyal and unaffected by fame.

Good luck, always.