he was doing an after dinner talk here in newzealand-fantastic

hes such a down to earth bloke-and now hes not playing he can let a few of his oponions fly!

on craig bellamy"yes he realy was an annoying little shit"

the interviewer was pretty amazed that his dad only just retired"the folk of the northeast will understand this-me dad started work at 7am till 6pm down the factory for 50 years-he loved the crack and on the weekend he drank-still does-to this day me mam picks him up from the club with his tea on the table-and if its not there me mams in trouble!!"

he bemoaned the fact theres alot of overpaid very average players in the premiership,recounted that famous scrap between him and keane(he called him an irish #### apparently-keane said "how many fucking trophies you won?" big al says"aye fair point!"

when asked if he thinks crouch will overtake charlton in the int.goal stakes he smiled and said an emphatic NO!

He also just returned from australia where he was coaching some kids-and he noticed a very able 14 year old keeper-so he organised penalties and thought"ill have a blast meself"
the young kid couldnt contain his excitement"shearers taking a penner aginst me"
anyway shearer went to the spot and HAMMERED IT! the kid amazingly saved it and big al went up to congratualte him.....
he'd broken the kids hand!!!!
big al said luckily the kids mam and dad were alright about it!!!

overall a great night and a great priveledge to be in the presence of my football hero and a real legend.

he also reiterated his decision(s) to turn down MAN.U-hes one of the few pro.sportsmen to fulfill his dream-infact one of the few people period.

his dream was always to pull on the no.9 shirt for NUFC,to captain the team he watched as a child and to captain england.

and he did it-and anybody he got a glimpse of his testemonial can testify-that love of the people far outweighs any trophy he could have won with man.u or any other glamour club.

loyalty is a rare rare thing in football today.