Good man - there was a game against Liverpool, at Anfield I'm sure. Play restarted with our goal kick. Ramsey was playing in midfield, so you would think he would be in, you know, midfield. Instead he had strayed miles forward near the sideline where our bench was. At the restart they nicked it and scored. The entire time he had his back to the play and didn't even know what had happened.
He then turned to the bench and shrugged his shoulders in exasparation with a 'what's going on?' look in his face. The irony of this appeared to be lost on him.
At that moment, had I been near him with a gun in my hand I might very well be a guest of his majesty as we speak.
On that bus I was told 'anyone who doesn't think Aaron Ramsey is world class is a ****ing idiot who knows nothing about football'. I did politely point out at one point that the only person on the bus who disagrees is also the only one who is an Arsenal fan and watches him every week
I told him to see me again after Ramsey had spent a year at Juventus.
I don't think he ever got over the Shawcross tackle. He looked a really good player when he was young but after that injury he just never wanted the ball in midfield. He turned into a bad David Platt.
Sad, but the decision to withdraw the contract offer was one of the best decisions we had made in years and brought us outright ridicule in the media. And on buses in Leeds
I think you're being too kind to him Peter
Not sure that giving the ball away in midfield with stupid flicks and backheels and the refusal to recognise his defensive responsibilities had anything to do with the injury.
His problem seemed to be that he wanted to play in central midfield while playing like a no. 10. He didn't seem to realise the two roles are very different. And he wasn't good enough to be a no. 10.
It is only a hunch, but I think the backheels and flicks were part of his nervousness at being in possession in central areas. He is rare in that he tries the most audacious things when his confidence is at its lowest. It is a disturbance in the brain, a lack of decision making.
He saw Frank Lampard make a name for himself by scoring goals and never doing any midfield work. I suppose he thought it was a good gig