Some Golden Soft Sombrero Moments with Mark Bosnich Bosnich on being labeled one of the best goalkeepers in the world… Diegos: "Mark, you have been described as being one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Does this label put pressure on you, or do you thrive on the high expectations? Bosnich: "A little bit of both actually. I've never said it about myself but other people have said it. What it does sometimes, is that people become over critical of you. Once you start putting labels like that on people, the media and fans expect perfection and think of nothing less. So in that circumstance, it can create its own little problem. If you really want to be the best at something you really have to be able to put up with things like that. If you have that sort of expectation surrounding you and you're able to cope with the pressure, you may be worth that tag if you're worth your salt." Soft Sombrero Moment 1997
Diegos: "Recently you were involved in the Socceroo training camps in England. What was the general mood amongst the players and what effect did El Tel have on the Aussies? Bosnich: "Seeing I'm talking to The Four Diego's, we should call Terry, 'El Diego' should we? No seriously, it was excellent. We had a great three days down in London, and the mood and spirit were very good as it always is. 'El Tel' instilled his own unique touch to the whole camp. The team talk we had on the first night was really inspirational. He made it very simple. It encompassed the way he wants us to play and how he operates. I can definitely say that it certainly struck a chord with each of the Aussie boys. Considering that the Aussies don't suffer fools too easily, I can tell you that everyone in the room was very impressed, and speaking to some of the home based players, they were similarly impressed. We are talking about a guy who has been around a long time. He is one of the most experienced coaches there is and also one of the best in the world. So we are not talking about someone who is just in it for the money. Venables is a man of true class and genuine pedigree." Soft Sombrero Moment 1997
Diegos: "There is a rumor going around that you enjoy the television program "Fawlty Towers". What's your favourite episode?" Bosnich: "My favorite episode was the ninth one! There were only eight made. The ninth one if you didn't know was shot in September 1996 at White Hart Lane. I don't know if you guys saw it? I was the star of that one." Diegos: "With regards to the 'Basil Fawlty, Don't mention the war salute' you gave at White Hart Lane on that fateful day, at what point did you realize that people were not taking it in the spirit it was intended?" Bosnich: "Probably when I started seeing snipers forming on the ground. No seriously, there were 60 or 70 press people after the game when normally there's only about 9 or 10. I realized then that I had made some sort of impact." Diegos: "Is it true that when you got back into the change rooms, and you realized that you may have to make an apology, that you rang the BBC live from the toilet?" Bosnich: "What happened was, after the game the Villa coaches made it known to me that Tottenham was a Jewish club. I honestly thought that they couldn't seriously believe that I had intended something malicious by my actions. When I saw the press corps afterwards, I realized that there was a problem. When we were leaving the ground on the team bus, I was listening to a football focus radio show on my walkman and discovered that their talkback was jammed with callers about my rendition of Basil Fawlty. I thought some of the comments made by callers were ridiculous, so I went down into the toilet on the club coach and rang straight through to the show, aired my views and gave my side of the story." Soft Sombrero Moment 1997
Diegos: "At the recently ended match fixing trial in England, you were asked to be a character witness for your good friend, John Fashanu. In my mind when you are a character witness, your main aim is to create a good impression with the jury. What steps did you take to impress the jury? Did you wear your special suit? Were you especially well groomed? Did you wear your special cologne etc.?" Bosnich: "Actually it was quite funny. I was actually a witness for the prosecution would you believe. Unfortunately for the prosecution, I ended up like a character witness for John, because he is a very good friend of mine. To impress the jury...well first impressions count a lot, so I went down to London to get myself some nice threads and after that I just put on my smile and tried to be as honest as possible." Diegos: "The other two accused, Bruce Grobbelar and Hans Segars, are goalkeepers. Have you found that since the accusations came out, that there has been a new scrutiny on goalkeepers, especially those who are a little eccentric and out of the ordinary like yourself?" Bosnich: "A little bit, especially from crowds who like to use anything to wind you up. I have to put up with a little innuendo concerning myself because obviously when John stayed with me, Aston Villa didn't have the best of seasons, so that was a little difficult at times. At the end of the day, when you have got nothing to hide and you know the real truth, it doesn't really concern you. But it's not nice to defend yourself against things you shouldn't be defending yourself against. Looking at it closely, I've seen the facts, I've been in the courtroom and heard everything, and in my opinion, I can't see how they can be convicted. All it is circumstantial evidence and the word of a self confessed liar against three highly respected footballers and one respected businessman. At the end of the day, these things are different to everyday life and now there is a re-trial. Unfortunately for the people involved, they are going to have to go through another six or seven months of hell when they should be sitting at home enjoying their retirement." Soft Sombrero Moment 1997
Bosnich on Gareth Southgate… Diegos: "As we all know Gareth Southgate, your team mate at Aston Villa, missed the critical Euro 96 semi final penalty that prevented England from progressing to the final. Did you comfort and sympathize with him or did you, like a true fair dinkum Aussie bag him and give him heaps?" Bosnich: "We bagged him the first day he was back at training. We adopt a policy in our team that if any player has got a problem, instead of leaving him alone, we just bag him so much that it suddenly not a problem anymore. As you probably gathered it's a bit of a small town atmosphere in our team." Soft Sombrero Moment 1997 |