“PALACE ACCEPTED A BID FROM JUVE – I’D HAVE BEEN FIGHTING ZIDANE FOR THE NO.10 SHIRT”

You were at Carlisle when Michael Knighton was the owner – what was that like?

He was famous for juggling a ball on the pitch at Manchester United, then a few weeks later he bought Carlisle instead. We had a fantastic team around that time, including Rory Delap, Paul Murray, Scott Dobie and myself. But after Knighton made himself manager, it all went downhill. We travelled down to Crystal Palace and he booked us into a hotel room together for the night. I was a nervous 19-year-old, so that was a bit weird.

You decided to sign for Palace, even though Alex Ferguson wanted you. Why?

I thought I would have better opportunities to play at Palace, and the way Ron Noades was running the club really impressed me. He was