No-one knows the field better than newly slimmed-down Razor Ruddock. Ahead of tonight’s match with Denmark, we gate-crashed his house for a quick-fire Q&A in his reduced-calorie kitchen.
Declan Rice has come out and said that he's swapped fish and rice as his pre-match meal for four pancakes. Wow. What was your pre-match meal?
“When I first started playing, there was little nutritional education and so basically you could have anything you want. I used to have a lasagne before a game in the early days, but I think that’s a bit too heavy now I look back. But Rice talking about having four pancakes. I mean are they the thin pancakes or the American pancakes? The American pancakes are very sort of fattening and stodgy. Now the English pancakes are very thin. I hope that Rice is having the English pancakes, I could understand that.”
What are your thoughts on England so far?
“It's early doors, we’ve only played two games, but we’ve not lost. If you lose the first game, then you're already in that sort of knockout football. So I think after winning the first game you can relax a little bit and take the leads off and let the players take their handcuffs off and let 'em go for it.
Can we win it? Yes we can. But other teams feel the same. Other teams have got great players and they want to win it as well. So it is tough, but I think England are better when it comes to knockout competition. So in the later stages I think we'd be fine.”
Do you believe the Jude Bellingham hype?
“Listen, he’s only been doing it for a couple of years. I believe the hype. But look at Dele Alli, the hype. He was going to be one of the greatest players that the world's ever seen. So Jude's got to do it for 10 years to be an absolute superstar game. He's got to be played away. I think the best thing about him off the pitch is that he's very, very soft. When he speaks, he speaks sense. He's not a party animal, so I don't think we’ll be seeing him in the papers in trouble. I think he's got great family and friends behind him. So I think he'll go and be one of the greatest.”
Jack Grealish is a big personality in the dressing room. You were a big personality in the dressing room. Do you think England are going to miss him not being there?
“I think they are. I don't think he'd have played the early stages, but I think in the later stages when you’ve 10 minutes ago, you bring Jack on. When Jack keeps the ball for five seconds, you consolidate the pitch, get the team and you get organised. Plus he gets free kicks. If you want to slow the game down, Jack's the perfect man to bring it on. So I think we will need him in the later stages to come on and calm the things down.”
Obviously, this is probably Gareth's last tournament. Are you a Gareth Southgate fan?
“I think we've got to be Gareth fans. I think it's a fourth tournament in a row. Is it? I'm not sure, but I did hear. I've heard that if we get to the quarter finals, it's Gareth Southgate’s 100th game in charge, which surprises me. I mean a lot of England managers have never been in the quarter finals four competitions in a row. And if he does it, he's the manager to do it. I mean, they haven't done it with any other manager, so for Gareth to get into four quarter finals in a row and get 100 games in is pretty impressive. You've got your take your hat off to him. If I was him, I’d fancy the next World Cup. I’d want to stay for that.”
Gareth has been accused of playing it too safe at times. Do you think we'll see a change in the way he puts his team out towards the last stages of the competition?
“Yeah, I hope so. But the thing is I think every manager’s the same. The way football is, when you're an England manager, you're under so much stick that everyone's watching you. Everyone wants you to mess up. If you're manager for a lesser team, you've got less to lose. But the England manager has everything to lose. So I can understand the way Gareth does it, but in the later stages of the competition, I'm sure he'll take the shackles off and let his team play.”
Do you think we might see Gareth as United manager?
“It’s a crazy situation United. I think they'd already made their mind up they were going to replace Hag and all of a sudden they win the FA cup and say “Oh no, we got to keep him for a little bit”. But I mean I’m sure a lot of teams will want Southgate and it would surprise me if United don’t start the bid. I think he'll be the bookies favourite to be the next United manager.”
You were known as a hard man when you played. Does that type of player still exist? And if so, who's England's hard man?
“Well, I think I was a hard man. I suppose I'm a bit spiteful as well, but I think you've got to be able to play first. You've got to be able to do both jobs. I'm not such a bad player. I could play football, but I can mix it up as well. I'm sure there are players out there who are similar. We've got Rice, he's a magnificent leader for me. Walker's a magnificent leader as well and I'm sure they can put the boot in. You've got to play with your head, not your heart. When you get tired and things are going wrong, it's easier to put your foot in and get yourself in a bit of trouble. So you need to call on head at them times. And I think Rice and Walker have got that.”
Best player you've ever played with?
“Glenn Hoddle was the greatest thing I've ever seen as a young lad. Hoddle was unbelievable. I mean, you’ve got the Johnny Barnes, the Redknapps and the Theos and Ian Wright’s. I mean, those guys are absolute superstars to play with. But Hoddle was just that far in front of everybody else. I mean, Hoddle was doing what David Beckham was doing 30 years before David Beckham, but better, and when people could hurt you. He used to be able to look after himself and play. I think he only got about 50 England caps. If he was French, he'd have 200 caps because he was just a major footballer and lovely man as well. The greatest player I've ever seen.”
