Ask Gary Mabbutt

“My strike partnership is going stale”

Cole and YorkeFor much of his career diabetic Tottenham skipper Gary Mabbutt was known as an old head on young shoulders. So what better player to offer advice to young pros as The Gaffer’s new Agony Uncle than the man who recovered from the humiliation of scoring an own goal in the 1987Cup Final to make cameo appearances in the England team, Blue Peter and The Queen’s Nose?

Dear Uncle Gary,
I have been with my strike partner for nearly two years now but recently things have gone a bit stale. When we first got together we couldn’t stop scoring. We could do it two or three times in the space of an hour and half, and in every possible way you could think of: 30-yarders; volleys; head. But recently it feels like the spark has gone. We haven’t scored in ages and when we do it is always rather predicable, mainly penalties or tap-ins. What can we do to recapture the spark?
Benni, from Blackburn

Mabbutt says: Have you considered new ways to spice things up? You could try some role-play. When I was having problems with my defensive partner Pat van den Hauwe at Tottenham in the early nineties we would often try acting through some fantasies to get things back on track. For instance Pat would like it if I dressed as Terry Fenwick and I’d ask him to wear a Steve Sedgley outfit, which was lucky as they both also played for Spurs, so Pat just had to get the numbers on our shirts re-printed in the club shop.

How about pretending to be your favourite strike partnerships, be it Dalian Atkinson and Dean Saunders or perhaps Brian Deane and Jan Åge Fjørtoft? It can be a lot of fun, and you’ll soon be scoring as regularly as I inject insulin into my veins!

Dear Uncle Gary,
I am a young pro and like a lot of people my age I have been considering trying stepovers. A lot of my friends are doing it and some have offered to show me how it works, but I’m a little scared. It looks good fun but I’m worry I might get addicted. My friend Ronny tried it a few years ago and he couldn’t stop, he was doing 20 in the space of just one dribble by the time he was 18. In spite of it all I’m still curious, can you help?
Dazzer Fletch, Trafford

Mabbutt says: Everyone goes through these sorts of temptations at some stage, but my advice would be to just say no. It may look cool and you may see people doing it in the media but that doesn’t mean it is big or clever. I can honestly say that I never touched a stepover in my career, but I was certainly aware of some players experimenting. My old chum at Spurs Paul Gascoigne liked them a lot and he was soon indulging in the harder stuff like backheels, Cruyff turns and cocaine. I stick mainly to insulin and well-timed sugary snacks, and it’s never done me any harm.

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