THE PLAYERS LOUNGE

DUNCAN FERGUSON SEBASTIEN BASSONG SHOLA AMEOBI

How did you find living in Majorca after hanging up your boots at Everton in 2006?

It was nice – I went out for six months and ended up staying for four years. But I had to start working. You think you’re an old man when you retire at 34; you think you’re for the knacker’s yard and you’re going to lie on the beach for the rest of your life! That’s not the case. I realised I needed to pull my finger out, so I got through my badges, began working in an academy and recruiting for them, really liked it, and that led me into football again. I wanted to come back to England and kick on with coaching. I phoned Moyesy [David Moyes] at Everton because we fell out in our last meeting – I refused to shake his hand when I walked away and I regretted that for four years, as I always wanted to return to Everton. I said sorry; that I should have been man enough to shake his hand. We met and shook hands, kissed and made up. He said, “Go to the academy and learn your trade.”

Then you coached at Everton until 2022, moving up to the first team in 2014...

I loved it. I played for Everton for 10 years, in two spells, and coached for another 10 or so – it was a long association. I moved down to Liverpool when I was 22 and left at 50 or 51; I can’t count that far, but it was a long time!

Was the highlight being caretaker in 2019 and beating Chelsea in your first game?