Someone's been cutting about the north of Glasgow for 20 odd years with a pair of Franck Sauzee’s boots. Now would be as good a time as any to hand them back in, if they don’t mind.
The big man is coming back to Hibs for the first time in 20 years next week and will feature in a charity match for the Hanlon-Stevenson Foundation. I’d bet he could still do a job in Lee Johnson ’s backline. Sauzee’s the best I’ve played with. Nobody I knew could lace Le God’s boots. But I at least had the honour of cleaning them when I was a youngster coming through at Easter Road.
That was until I lost his precious Copas on a trip home to Springburn one weekend. My pals back in Glasgow wouldn’t believe me when I told them part of my job was polishing the Frenchman’s footwear. Against my better judgement I decided to take the boots home with me one day.
We had no game at the weekend and I finished on the Friday before heading back west so I sneaked the Copas with ‘Sauzee 4’ on them into my bag. I was on the books at Hibs but was still kicking a ball about with my pals when I went home so I took Franck’s boots down to Springburn Park and wore them and the look on my pals’ faces was priceless.
That was me a hero with all the boys. But I left them outside my mum’s front door for an airing that night and when I got up on the Sunday morning someone had nicked them!
I’d lost Le God’s precious footwear and my stomach was collapsing all the way back to Leith. He wouldn’t be fobbed off with a spare pair either - Franck wanted his Copa’s for training and the truth was someone in the north of Glasgow was cutting about with them on their feet!
I was in the bad books and Franck kept the whole angry act up hours to make sure I didn’t get off lightly. But he was too much of a gentleman to genuinely be p****d off.
He was a class act on and off the pitch. When he became manager for a short spell Franck stuck by me. I’d agreed a bumper five-year deal but before signing it I broke my leg against Dundee.
Sauzee was one of the first to visit me in hospital and assured me the contract was still on the table even though I wouldn’t be playing for over six months. The fact he’s not been back at Easter Road for 20 years since he was pretty harshly sacked is a travesty.
But he’s held in the same esteem as club legends including the famous five and Pat Stanton. Getting him in to meet the players at HTC will be a masterstroke from Johnson. I know the manager likes to get people from different walks of life in to give inspiration talks.
But nobody will be better than Sauzee and I wish I could be in that room too listening to his words of wisdom. Franck was in the side that 21 years ago yesterday beat AEK Athens 3-2 in extra time at Easter Road.
It’s the best atmosphere I have ever seen at that stadium. We’d lost 2-0 out there in a game delayed by the September 11 tragedy.
Nobody gave us a chance back at Easter Road but we battered them. Paco Luna scored twice to take the game to extra time then in the last minute he struck fresh air when he was just yards out.
They scored twice in extra time meaning David Zitelli’s late strike for us wasn’t enough. It remains the best game I’ve ever been involved in at the ground - and Franck as always was the star man.
Twenty-one years on we’re getting as many of that team back together for a charity match in aid of the Hanlon-Stevenson Foundation. The training regime for that game has started already, I’ll be in peak condition ready to make my usual appearance as an impact sub for the last 10 minutes!
Hibs head to Ross County this weekend in decent form and the Staggies have been struggling a bit so if this side have aspirations of finishing third they need to go up there and win. I’d start Mykola Kukharevych up front again. He was excellent against Aberdeen and looked like he had a decent understanding with Martin Boyle.
That leaves the problem of where to fit Harry McKirdy in. It’s a big squad and when you think about some of the guys still to come back in like Kyle Magennis and Kevin Nisbet then there’s real competition for places. Johnson has a few big decisions to make but these are good problems to have and I fully expect HIbs to win in Dingwall.
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