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MY DAY AS THE DELL BOY Dave Merrington was pushing for me to be given a chance in the Southampton first team soon after I was 17. I had only played a couple of matches in the reserves following my goalscoring exploits in the youth side but he clearly felt I had improved sufficiently to warrant an early opportunity at senior level I was included as a substitute against both Chelsea and Oxford but my full call-up came straight out of the blue. One of the first-choice strikers, Danny Wallace, had been struggling with an injury and on the morning of a home game against Arsenal he had to undergo a fitness test. I had been names in the first-team squad and at around 12:30p.m. I was tucking into my pre-match meal of fillet steak at the Southampton Park Hotel when Chris Nicholl came over to my table and said simply, 'You're in.' I was just 17 years and 240 days old and I made my debut on 9 April,1988 against Arsenal in what was then the First Division. It all happened so quickly I didn't have much time to take it all in. That wasn't a bad thing in many respects because it meant I was not too overcome with the nerves beforehand. But the one big regret I did have about such a late inclusion was that my mum and dad were at the other end of the country and did not have time to travel down to see my first senior game. i phoned them, of course, and they were thrilled to bits. One Special person was there to see my debut, though. I had recently started seeing Lainya and she tool her seat in the stands. She was not too interested in football but I think she was keen enough to see what I was getting up to on a Saturday afternoon. The moments building up to the kick-off were a bit of a blur and I remember shaking like a leaf when i run out to the pitch. I was still feeling pretty nervous when the unthinkable happened. After 5 minutes a cross came over from my team-mate Andy Townsend and I just managed to get in front of the Arsenal's Michael Thomas to get my head to the ball. I thought I had placed it too close to the goalkeeper, John Lukic, but it squeezed through his legs into the back of the net. I was overcome with excitment. Every single goal I have scored in my career has been special but that first one will always stand out. One thing I had not considered beforehand was how to celebrate in front of so many people so I just ran around for a while flapping my arms about and savouring the moment. The rush of adrenaline was so great it kept going through the rest of the game. After 33 minutes, Colin Clarke provided a centre from the right and I stood down through a crowd of players to score with another header. We were moving into fantasy football territory now. I should have scored a third soon after the start of the second half but Lukic saved my shot. After 49 minutes another chance came my way. Again i thought I had fluffed it. My first shot from Colin Clarke's pass hit the underside of the crossbar but I reacted first and volleyed in the rebound. I don't think I realized the enormity of what I had done to begin with. Gradually it began to sink in and I became drained of all energy. I think the nervous tension of the occasion finally got to me and I could hardly raise a gallop as the second half were on. I was substituted with about ten minutes to go. The thing I remember most was the noise of the crowd as I went off. I had managed to shut it out for most of the game while I concentrated on playing but to hear my name echoing around the Dell was a fantastic sound. So this was what professional was like! My YTS apparenticeship days did not last for much longer. Within a week of my goalscoring debut I was called into Chris Nicholl's office and the manager told me he wanted to offer me my first pofessional contract. I learned at a later date that Newcastle had been making inquiries about me and were waiting to snap me up when my apparenticeship was over but I was completely unaware of that at the time. Technically I was a free agent but I did not want to leave. I was happy on the south coast and so was determinded to get the best deal I could when I went to see Chris Nicholl. I didn't have an agent or a representative to help me in those days but I knew what i thought I was worth so I set out my demands and stuck to them. |