Premier League

FORMER Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has revealed that he used to “worry” about Jack Grealish.Lambert, 54, spent three years with the Villans between 2012 and 2015.
Paul Lambert admitted he was stunned by Grealish’s response to a ‘misdemeanour’Credit: EMPICS Sport
Jack Grealish made his Aston Villa debut at the age of 18Credit: Reuters
Shortly after he arrived at the club, then-16-year-old Grealish was promoted to the first team.
However, the winger was not deemed ready for the Premier League and subsequently went out on loan to Notts County.
After returning from Meadow Lane, Grealish established himself in Lambert’s squad.
However, the manager was forced to pull him aside on one occasion to discuss a “misdemeanour”.
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Recalling the incident during an exclusive interview with Ladbrokes Fanzone, Lambert admitted that he was stunned by the winger’s response.
He said: “Jack always had a side to him in his locker which we all know about. He would sometimes try and push the wrong kind of buttons with me, but I’d seen it all before, so I knew the pitfalls.
“You’re swimming with sharks at times, as a football manager, and I didn’t want him to go off the rails, because I could see a huge talent there. 
“One week I had to pull him into the office for a misdemeanour, which was fine in the end. I’m not going to say what that misdemeanour was, but the biggest takeaway from it was his response.
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“He was only a baby really, in footballing terms, at the time. You’ve got to remember that as a manager; it’s about how you nurture talents like that.
“I did worry for him a little bit, at a young age. That’s not through any fault of his own, though; that’s just the way the environment is when you’re young… it can derail you, but I just didn’t want to see him – or any young kid – derail.
“Especially when you’ve got such a talent like Jack; when your career is finished, you want people to talk about your antics on the pitch, not off it. 
“I’d seen it first hand, so many times; I played with plenty of young kids who I’d probably say were more talented than myself, but for some reason or another, just never made it.
“I didn’t want that to happen to Jack. I always knew the talent was there; what’s important for Jack is that he’s managed by someone who can keep him on the straight and narrow, and he’s in a great place right now in that sense, with Pep Guardiola at Man City.”
Grealish left Aston Villa in 2021 to join Manchester City in a record-breaking £100million transfer.
He has since made 112 appearances for Pep Guardiola’s side.
The winger has also amassed 35 senior England caps. More

ALAN SHEARER has revealed he owns shares in a fitness company and secured Newcastle’s former team doctor a job at the organisation after the pair were sacked.Newcastle’s all-time record scorer Shearer, 53, took over as manager of the Toon in April 2009 as he looked to save them from relegation.
Alan Shearer owns shares in the company SpeedflexCredit: Getty
Shearer got former Newcastle team doctor Paul Ferris, right, a job at SpeedflexCredit: PA
After taking the job, he brought in ex-Newcastle team doctor Paul Ferris, 58, as the pair had a strong relationship from Shearer’s time as a player.
But less than two months later the Magpies icon was axed after Newcastle were relegated from the Premier League.
And Ferris, who had given up becoming a lawyer to take on the role, was also given the boot.
But Shearer ended up making amends by getting Ferris a job at Speedflex – a company he part-owns which “offers safe and effective, high intensity but low impact HIIT training in a variety of formats”.
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Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Shearer, who is also a successful football pundit, said: “I’ve got a share in a company called Speedflex, a fitness concept machine.
“A good friend of mine who was the physio at Newcastle United, Paul Ferris, left many years ago and decided he wanted to be a lawyer.
“He went right into it, did six years and was about two or three months off completing his course and becoming a lawyer – he was actually ready to go onto the bar.
“I got the Newcastle job – and I liked him that much because I’d spent that much time with him with my injuries – that I asked him to come into Newcastle with me as the head of the medical department.
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“He had a huge decision to make, he was six weeks away from completing his six-year course and he left it and came in with me to Newcastle.
“Of course, he came in for two months and that was it (they were sacked) – he couldn’t go back.
“Then my friend was looking for somebody to help him with the company Speedflex and I asked him (Ferris) to go over to America. So he is now chief executive of the company Speedflex.
“So I managed to get him back in, otherwise I’d have felt so guilty.”
On the Speedflex website, Shearer is pictured using the company’s equipment.
Former Manchester United, Coventry, Aston Villa and Leicester striker Dion Dublin is also on the site, alongside presenter Ben Shephard. More

IAN WRIGHT has recalled the emotional moment he was told to leave Arsenal.The former striker left Highbury in 1998 following a sensational seven-year spell.
Ian Wright left Arsenal in 1998 – shortly after the Gunners won the doubleCredit: Getty
Arsene Wenger flew Wright out to Paris to tell him about his departureCredit: AFP
He scored 185 goals in 288 appearances for the Gunners and established himself as a club legend.
However, then-manager Arsene Wenger and vice-chairman David Dein called time on Wright’s Arsenal career just two years before the ex-England star planned to retire.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Stick to Football podcast, the ex-England international opened up about the moment he was told about his departure.
He said: “I remember David Dein calling me and saying ‘me and the boss are in Paris, come and meet us for a chat’.
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“The naivety of me was like ‘ah yeah I’m going to see the boss and Mr. Dein, it’s cool’.
“And so I go and see them, I walk into the room and as soon as I sit in the room and see the boss’s face and I see David Dein almost welling up, I thought I’m out the door.
“I didn’t expect to leave because I was always going to retire in 2000.
“So then I went to West Ham, then Forest on loan and then Celtic.”
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Wright then went on to explain why his move to Burnley felt like a “full circle” moment following his devastating Arsenal exit.
He added: “But it was when I got to Burnley with Stan Ternent, he was the first coach – when I was at Palace – who really used to sit me down and draw it out what runs you’re meant to make, why you have to hold the ball here, why you have to hit the target – all this sort of stuff.
“He said ‘I know it’s not going too well at Celtic, I’ve got a good bunch of lads here. I think if you come I think we can do it.’
“I went there and it was the best six-seven months of my career. It went full circle for me because all of a sudden you’re back down to getting changed in not-great changing rooms, it was like proper football.
“The thing with it was the players and the camaraderie of that, for me to end. I had four clubs in one season, just getting ready to leave. And so by the time I finished we got promotion at Burnley.
“This was why I got such a nice vibe with Burnley, they gave me something at the end. Because the way I got hit at Arsenal – even when I left Palace – I didn’t instigate any move, it all happened so quickly.” More