Genghis Khan has got a very bad reputation, not unlike myself. But he was quite innovative in lots of things he did." FFT is sat in Joey Barton's office, just off the M4-M5 junction - when we set off for Bristol on this sunny day, we couldn't have predicted that the interview would begin like this. Over the years we've chatted to numerous Football League managers, but none have talked at length about a fearsome Mongolian ruler barely a couple of minutes into our conversation.
Barton has always been different, though. On his desk at Bristol Rovers' Quarters training ground sits Jack Weatherford's best-selling book, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. It would have been incurious of us not to ask why, and we sense he's not disappointed when we do.
"It's the second time I'm reading it," he explains. "It's fascinating - I'm obsessed with world history. He was the first person to unite the Steppe tribes, plus there were his tactics around siege warfare. They also figured out how far a horse could run. Say they could run at top speed for 28 miles, they'd put a staging post with men and lots of horses at 26 miles. So I get a message, jump on a horse and ride as fast as I can for 26 miles, pick up another horse and keep doing that so the message gets relayed across the empire. They were in Vienna - if it wasn't Genghis, it was his sons. They say about 70 per cent of the world's population can relate their DNA back to the Mongols." Barton has always been a juxtaposition, a mesh of contrasting personalities, and it's perfectly illustrated on one side of his office.
On the wall is a UFC photograph, a nod to the more combative elements of his character, which have spilled out at various moments during his long career in football, often to his detriment. Below it, a cabinet full of copious books, tapping into his more cerebral side.
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Over the Top with Brian Clough - The legendary former Derby and Nottingham Forest manager was a columnist for FourFourTwo from 2001 until his death in 2004 at the age of 69 - not all of his forecasts came true, though he was never short of an opinion...
The legendary former Derby and Nottingham Forest manager was a columnist for FourFourTwo from 2001 until his death in 2004 at the age of 69 - not all of his forecasts came true, though he was never short of an opinion...
"THE PLAYERS DIDN'T SEE KEVIN KEEGAN'S 'MELTDOWN' AS ANYTHING NEGATIVE. WE LOVED HIM FOR HIS PASSION"
The Geordie recalls King Kev's rant, shares his love for Ossie Ardiles and reveals what it's like to cross the Tyne-Wear divide
"HODDLE HAD BEEN PLAYING FOR MONACO UNDER WENGER, SO WE COULDN'T BELIEVE IT WHEN HE JOINED SWINDON HE WAS LIGHT-YEARS AHEAD!"
The tireless winger opens up on playing in his dad's shadow and making the wrong kind of headlines at Sunderland...
"I'M PROUD TO BE THE FIRST AFRICAN IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE - BUT LOOK WHO CAME LATER"
FFT chats to the three Boy's A Bit Special stars of Issue 1: first, a humble hotshot on rejecting Arsenal and being 'Nuddy'
AROUND THE GROUNDS
Rangers' in-form keeper tells FFT he has his sights set on a Three Lions recall
WHY MESSI'S ARGENTINA HAD TO GET 'WORSE' TO CONQUER WORLD
The Albiceleste didn't have their most talented squad in 2022, and their star wasn't at his absolute peak - but 4-4-2 helped them to win anyway...
WHY 1999 WAS THE FINEST MOMENT FOR 4-4-2... AND SIR ALEX FERGUSON
Manchester United swept to a famous Treble thanks to the management skills of their legendary boss - and a formation that suited them perfectly
HOW THE 4-4-2 BECAME BRITISH FOOTBALL'S MOST ICONIC FORMATION
A system of playing inspired the name for this very magazine - on these shores, for numerous reasons, it's football heritage
FINDING DIEGO
A little over a year before his untimely death at the age of 60, Diego Maradona was managing Mexican second-tier side Dorados de Sinaloa - FourFourTwo went deep into drug cartel country to track him down
RESPECT
That's what women's football demands more than anything. Its status has grown exponentially during FourFourTwo's lifetime, but finally the long and arduous battle for recognition is starting to pay dividends
