An exclusive interview with Nikos Dabizas .
This interview took place over zoom on Friday 24th April.
Nikos and I began by discussing him signing for Newcastle United.
Before then moving on to him playing under three different managers, becoming a derby-day hero, competing in the Champions League.
As well as his thoughts on Newcastle United in the present day.
(ED: This epic interview covers a lot of ground and has been split into three parts. The first part went up on Monday, this is the second of the three, with the third and final part to come on Wednesday. Our thanks from The Mag to The Armchair Fan for this top quality interview with Nikos Dabizas)
How did you feel when Kenny Dalglish left the club after only two matches of the 98/99 season?
It was a shock as we’d just drawn with Chelsea at Stamford bridge after drawing with Charlton at St James’ Park on the opening day of the season, so it was a shock and none of us expected that. For some reason it happened but it was a big shock for the players. It came out of the blue. Who knows what led to the board making that decision.
How did Ruud Gullit differ as a manager to Kenny Dalglish?
He was a lot more involved in the training sessions, he had the tactical knowledge from the Italian League and from being player-manager at Chelsea. He was vocal, he was very aware of the tactical aspects of the game that he was trying to bring to the club. I think he was lacking man-management skills in terms of how to treat the players individually as every player is different and you need to have the skill to man-manage everyone in the group. Tactically he was well-equipped but at man-management, he wasn’t the best.
When he came in, I was a regular for him and I played in ninety-percent of the games including against Man Utd in the Cup final which we lost, but Man Utd won the treble that year. Over the summer, we then signed four central defenders and all of a sudden I was training with the reserves, Stuart Pearce was the same as well as Rob Lee. It was really aggressive with no element of respect towards the players. I was in the Greek national team, Rob Lee was a national player as well. I assume it was part of his plans to build a youthful squad but that didn’t happen for him and football is all
about results.
Issue 123 – June 1999
A lot of senior players have subsequently come out and said they felt isolated from the first team under Ruud Gullit. What was the dressing room like when he was in charge?
It was a tricky atmosphere because it felt like the group wasn’t united and that’s the most important part. It felt like we weren’t a family. Of course we are all individuals fighting for our place but that has to happen in a specific way to be part of a team and a part of the first eleven. When the manager is not managing people collectively and individually then a rift is there and that cannot help the team to get results and inevitably that happened as we didn’t have the commitment and the balance to get the right results as a football club. I think if you have the tactical knowledge but the psychological aspect of the game is missing then the unity of the group isn’t there.
When we beat Tottenham in the 1999 FA Cup Semi-Final, did you as players believe our name was on the cup having lost the previous year’s final?
It was difficult to think like that because we were the underdogs. Man United had won the Premier League. We played them right before the Champions League final when they beat Bayern Munich with the famous Solskjaer goal to win the treble. You need an element of luck and things to go your way because we were the underdogs. We did have the belief inside us but the footballing world was saying Man Utd were favourites and no one could blame them for that. We were very unlucky in those two years to play against the Premier League champions and the European champions so there was a big gap to bridge. We did try but we didn’t have that element that was missing, you need a little bit of luck and things to go your way but it didn’t happen and it wasn’t meant to be. The next season we went to Wembley again in the semi-final and played much better than Chelsea but Poyet scored out of the blue and they won 2-1, that’s the type of luck you need but once again it wasn’t to be.
When Sunderland were promoted in 1999, did it come as a surprise just how important the Tyne-Wear derby is to the region as a whole?
Yes, I didn’t have any idea about it at first because they were in the Championship for my first two seasons at Newcastle so it was a surprise but I realised as soon as the fixtures came out for that year that the most important topic and every discussion was the game against Sunderland. Straight away, I felt the importance of it.
How did the players feel when Alan Shearer and Duncan Ferguson started on the bench at home to Sunderland in 1999?
It was a surprise. I was actually rushed back into the team because for the first few matches of that season I was training
with the reserves and playing for them but we had a huge injury crisis so Ruud asked me if I was available to play because I was transfer-listed and on my way out but I said “yes of course, I will honour my contract and play”. It was a shock because you need your leaders on the pitch and Duncan and Alan were the major strikeforce for us so it was a huge surprise for everyone but that was his decision. It was the most difficult decision he took and ultimately the worst possible one because it didn’t help at all and after that he left the club. A young lad called Paul Robinson was playing and that decision had nothing to do with football, it was something different. It was very strange.
Would Newcastle have been relegated had Ruud Gullit been in charge for the whole of the 99/00 season?
You never know but the fact that the club was not united and we didn’t have that collective approach to our commitment on game day meant it was inevitable that we wouldn’t get the basics right. We were lacking the basic elements. Who knows what would have happened but it was like a civil war. If the captain of the team and the manager don’t have a good relationship then it is like a civil war within the club and how can you survive in a civil war, it’s not possible.
How did Sir Bobby Robson bring about such a dramatic improvement after a disastrous start to that campaign?
I think it was his personality and his man-management skills. He drew a line under what had happened previously and allowed everyone to start from scratch. Everyone was equal, he said every single player in the club starts from zero, from the same starting point. He said the players who deserved their place would be his first eleven. It was actually very basic and simple stuff, he didn’t have to do magic things. Just by being himself and having that aura and his charisma. His personality helped us a lot and that speaks volumes about what kind of manager he was.
It wasn’t just at Newcastle, Sir Bobby was a football manager and ex-player with a British personality. It was special, the British culture is a little bit different to European culture but he went on to be successful as a manager in three different countries – Spain, Portugal and Holland. He was successful in three top leagues as well as with the England national team and Ipswich. That success across his whole career makes him so special. It wasn’t by accident, luck or coincidence, it was pure testament to his calibre as a person and as a manager. He is no longer with us in a physical presence but he’s left a legacy behind not just in football but in society in general as well with helping people through his charity. That is unique and he left a legacy behind.
Issue 126 – September 1999
Which manager would you say you learned the most from in your career?
Man-management wise was Sir Bobby, he was so talented at managing people. He didn’t study that or have a degree in it, it came naturally, it was in his genes, his DNA. He was so human. He would get so close to you, know what to go against you or go with you. He was so charismatic. His man-management skills were the most important thing and the influence that I kept from him.
When we were top of the league in December 2001, did the squad genuinely believe we could go on to win the title?
Oh yes! We did, we had that feeling and self-belief. Even if we conceded two, we’d score three but if we conceded three then we’d score four. We never wanted to just win 1-0 or take a draw. Whoever we were playing against, we were always on the front foot and that’s what Newcastle United is all about. It wasn’t easy for us as defenders because we were exposed in most situations (laughs) but it was a pure joy to be a part of that team, facing all of our opponents with one direction – to go against them, go against them, go against them! But we didn’t have such a large squad and when Craig (Bellamy) was injured, we didn’t have the necessary depth in the squad to replace him and I think that was a turning point. The first eleven that we had on a matchday could face anyone but the league is a marathon and we needed bigger depth to our squad. We played Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-final and were so much better than them. We drew 1-1 but had chances to win at the end. If we’d had Craig Bellamy at one-hundred percent then maybe we would have won. Our first eleven could go against anyone but we needed three, four or five players on the bench to replace them as well.
(ED: Our thanks once again to Nikos Dabizas and The Armchair Fan, the third and final part of this epic interview will go up on The Mag on Wednesday, the first part went up on Monday)