Langt og interessant intervju med vår helt Solano

[Asbjørn]

I'm waiting for Nobby Solano in Classroom One at Newcastle United's academy. Perched on a chair next to me is a skeleton dressed in a black and white striped shirt and shorts.

The door bursts open and in walks Nobby, nodding at my bony companion.

"See what's happened to Alan Shearer since I left," he grins, hand extended in welcome.

Despite the sheeting rain outside which is drenching a miserable city under a slate grey sky, Nobby is sunshine itself. Nobody rains on his parade now he's back where his heart never left.


The bitterness of being forced out by Sir Bobby Robson is still very real and lives deep inside him, but a totally unexpected call to return to St James' Park has produced much to smile about. Optimism abounds once again in a grateful player.


"I can't believe my luck," Solano told me, eyes bright and passionate.


"With all due respect to Aston Villa this is a different proposition entirely.


"This is my club and my fans and both have been so good to me since I arrived in England almost eight years ago.


"And the squad I'm now part of is probably better, stronger, than the one which took us into the Champions League last time.


"When everyone is fit this is a top-notch bunch of players who really do excite me. We have quality all over the park.


"I looked at the players I'd be playing with on the day I signed and I was hugely impressed. Take the newcomers - Emre is so strong, and has such a footballing brain.


"He's Turkish and he played in Italy's Serie A - that combination tells you how tough he is mentally and able to cope. He's such a nice man too. We call him Benny - you know, after the small cartoon cat!


"Scott Parker came to Newcastle from Chelsea, which underlines his ability, and Michael Owen - well, we all know what he can do.


"He's so like Alan Shearer as a person. A terrific pro who loves to score goals. We have two of the very best up front. I know Alan Shearer's game inside out and I hope to help him get Jackie Milburn's goalscoring record. I've come back at just the right time for that!"


Solano recalls the transfer deadline day swoop for him under the cover of Owen's trumpet-blaring unveiling at St James' Park.


While the world's attention was diverted Nobby slipped in through the back door. Again he smiles at the memory.


"Oh, it was out of the blue all right," he admitted. "All the talk had been of me going to Liverpool. Then on the very last day of business my agent told me about Newcastle.


"I was ecstatic. I'd never wanted to leave and now I could go back. I thought I'd played my last game for Newcastle. A marriage appeared over for good.


"I went to see David O'Leary and stressed that if it was true about United he must let me go. Villa have a big history but it's in the past.


"Newcastle are a huge club in the present with a massive following. They may not have won a trophy for many, many years but still 50,000 Geordies pour into St James' Park every home game. Which other club can command that sort of following?


"It doesn't happen in Italy or Spain. I was talking to Albert Luque, who won the Spanish League with Deportivo la Coruna, and he confirmed that they could only fill their ground if they were in the top four. Newcastle are unique.


"I've had such a relationship with the supporters. All the time I was at Villa they let me know how much they loved me. David O'Leary understood the pull.


"I left Birmingham at 3.30pm with my agent in the car. I was up here at 8pm for my medical and had signed my contract by 10pm. I wasn't going to have any arguments with this club. I just wanted to join.


"I'd watched Michael Owen's reception at St James' Park on Sky Sports that lunchtime and that brought back to me what I'd missed.


"And the signing of such a player made me realise how serious my old club were. I expected him to go back to Liverpool, but here he was in a black and white shirt."


Solano was frustrated at arriving on Tyneside injured and admits that frustration turned to fear when there was talk privately of him perhaps needing an operation.


"I pulled my thigh muscle in training with Villa," Nobby explained. "I thought I'd be all right for the Manchester City game, but all of a sudden I was struggling.





"There was a lump in my thigh - probably an old bit of bone - and there was talk it would require an op. That worried me because I was so keen to get going again for Newcastle.


"But after what seemed like an interminable wait I made my debut in the derby victory over Sunderland, and it was all sunshine again.


"A tremendous atmosphere and a terrific game was a marvellous welcome home present."


When United can add Luque and Kieron Dyer to their available pool of players, Solano is convinced he can finish his career in English football on the ultimate high - helping United to win a trophy which they haven't achieved in his lifetime.


"I honestly believe that's possible, even probable," he told me. "I have a two-year contract with another year's option and, if we can get an even break on injuries, the talent is unquestionably here to win something, maybe the Carling Cup or the FA Cup and maybe this season.


"I've been blessed and to help give Newcastle fans what they deserve before I finish would be heaven. The perfect way to bow out."


My ambition is to one day manage Peru


Nobby solano has been capped 78 times by Peru - despite repeated objections by Sir Bobby Robson - and reveals he now wants to manage his country.


When he finishes playing for United within the next three years Solano will return home to become a coach.


"I may play at first when I go home but I want to be a coach because we have so much talent," he told me. "There's as much as in Brazil or Argentina it's just that the young people have a poor mentality.


"The immigrants were the worst of the Spanish people, the lazy ones. Whereas when England colonised Australia and New Zealand they provided something positive, it's sad that it was not the same for Peru.


"I want to switch on our young footballers, to make them hungry to win things. That's why I want to become a coach and to progress through the ranks of our leagues. I want to manage Peru and then return to Europe as a coach in my own right."


I ask him, having brought his brothers to England, if it is good to return to a poverty stricken country.


"It is if you have made money and kept some," he explained. "We will be all right."


Robson never understood Solano's passion to play for Peru, despite having been an international manager himself with England.


"I guess he thought we were no-hopers, not having qualified for the World Cup finals since 1978 and 1982," said Nobby. "But it had always been my dream since a boy to play for my country and I was extremely proud to skipper them. You have to try and make a success for your nation. People look up to you and expect it.


"I was the first footballer from Peru to play in the English Premier League and that was huge news back home. I carried the flag, I still do.


"The Premier League now receives even greater exposure in South America. Christian Bassedas retired when he went back to Argentina after playing for United - and he's the top commentator for Fox Sport.


"People back home get up to watch me play for Newcastle live on TV with a 6.30am or 7.30am kick-off. That's how keen they are."


Solano, however, has quit the national side and there's no way back.


"I've told them I don't want a phone call for the next couple of years - I want to concentrate everything on Newcastle United.


"I want to make a big success of my return."

Little Nobby the defender

Can you believe it? Nobby Solano, no taller than a stalk of wheat, used to play as a central defender back in Peru.

And he was a right-back when Newcastle United signed him in 1998 and shipped him over from South America.

It was only here, in the brief reign of Kenny Dalglish, that Solano was converted out of defence to a right winger where his silky skills, full range of vision, and astute touch and weight of pass made it look as if he'd been to the manor born.

Solano learned his skills in street football - "there were no nice parks where I lived just two stories of 200 houses."

He quickly became street-wise and when he joined Alianza realised everyone wanted to be a centre-forward, so he said he was a centre-half to get a game.


"I was very small but I played as a libero and could see all the play," explained Nobby. "And I could pass the ball well from the back.


"I got my first pro contract as a 17-year-old in 1992 with Sporting Cristal who played me at right-back. I stayed there, with an occasional switch to left-back, during all my time in South American football even at Boca Juniors.


"It was only when I signed for Newcastle that they pushed me further forward. I'd always liked to attack so it was a natural progression."


His dream of playing in England was realised when his agent sent a tape to Dalglish, who liked what he saw.


"The big rumour was that Arsenal were going to sign me, but Newcastle came in first and that was it," said Nobby. "I was on my way to the other side of the world."


Blanked by Sir Bobby


Bobby Robson blanked Nobby Solano, refusing to give an explanation for repeatedly axing him before selling United's fan favourite to Aston Villa.


It annoyed and frustrated Solano who couldn't understand what he'd done wrong to turn United's boss against him.


Even now Solano's face clouds as he recalls the reasons behind his exile in the Midlands.


"We'd never had an all-out row - my mam had taught me to respect my elders come what may and I did that," said Nobby. "However, I kept asking him why I wasn't being picked and why, on the few occasions I was, I was inevitably subbed. I wanted to know what part of my game he didn't like and wanted me to work on, but I never got an answer.


"Of course as manager it was his right to pick the team he wanted but he could have told me in advance that I wasn't playing. Communication is very important. Did you think he would have shown the same lack of respect to Alan Shearer? I don't think so.


"All I could see was Newcastle buying the likes of Lee Bowyer and Darren Ambrose and Bobby saying absolutely nothing to me. I couldn't understand what was going on. I was angry and disillusioned because I felt that I'd never let Newcastle down."


Solano can pinpoint the precise time Robson (above) turned against the great provider for Shearer.


"I'd scored the winner in the first leg of the Champions League qualifier away to Partizan Belgrade and I felt pretty good about it," he said. "Then for some reason Robson left me out of the opening league game of the season at Leeds without a word of explanation."


A snubbed Solano finally snapped when he was axed from United's 16-man squad for the derby at Middlesbrough in October of 2003.


"I'd rather have stayed behind and trained with Tommy Craig's reserves if I'd known I wasn't involved," explained Nobby. "I'm not the sort of player who is happy to sit in the stands and pick up his wages.


"However, that's all in the past now. I've got a fresh start under a new manager."


A privilege to play top pro football

Newcastle may have been under an intolerable spotlight, fighting a crippling injury list and suicidal results, but Nobby Solano doesn't subscribe to millionaire superstars buckling under the strain of playing football.

"I don't feel pressure," he insisted. "Pressure is what my dad had to endure back home. He was a taxi driver with six kids to feed in a country which is economically bankrupt and corrupt. Fighting to keep his family alive and put food on the table - that's pressure, not training a couple of hours a day and playing on a weekend. That's a privilege.

"All I ever wanted to do as a kid was play football and I'm blessed that I had enough talent to come to England and to Newcastle in particular.

"Of course at a big club with 50,000 fanatical fans you have to be mentally tough. Things will always be black or white - fans in despair or on the crest of a wave. That's part of the game and has to be accepted. I've learned that.

"However, it's not the pressure of ordinary life wondering where the money is coming from and if you can protect your family.




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"As a footballer if I give everything for Newcastle the fans will accept me. We have a bond and playing is a joy. Peru is so different to England in terms of lifestyle. We are a poor country with many problems - I had no education. I'd never been to university or even college. But I have learned so much just by living over here and for that I'm eternally grateful."


That gratitude - financial as well as educational - has seen Solano ship money back home to his extended family throughout his time at St James' Park.


"I am proud to be able to look after them," he said. "It is what any son would do. I may have my own life and my own family now but I would never forget my upbringing.


"My dad Albino was in the Peruvian Navy - he travelled all over the world and used to tell us stories about Liverpool - before he became a taxi driver and mam Janet brought up half a dozen kids. Despite a very tough life they are still alive - dad is 75 and mam 65.


"They tried to give us as much as they could but by the time I was 10, I was working as an apple picker after school to earn some money for the family."


Nobby brought over his three brothers to escape the breadline and live and work in England - one is in Liverpool and two in London.


However, money has continued to wing its way back to Lima for his two sisters and many of his 17 nephews!


Nobby had a passport and work permit problem during his first stay in Newcastle but is now a UK citizen, qualified through the length of time he's lived in this country.


"That's brilliant for me and for my kids, who were born over here," he smiled. "My son, three, is a Geordie and my little girl, eight months, a Brummie."


Blowing my trumpet


If times get hard for Nobby Solano he reckons he's going to get out his trumpet, an old hat to collect the coppers from the passing public, and join his pals outside of the Monument Metro station!


Nobby has become a personal friend of Eddy and the guys from APU, who play Peruvian music around the city.


"I love music and these guys have been playing in Newcastle for around 20 years," said Nobby. "They come to my house. My three-year-old isn't kicking a football, he prefers music.


I play the Congas as well as the trumpet and I love the Salsa. So if things get tough, I'll get out an old hat and go down to the Monument where the fellas play sometimes and join in. It would be cool."

[Joakim]

Hvorfor poster du hele denne forbanna lange reportasjen her? Hvorfor ikke bare poste linken? Jeg synes det er mye enklere å lese det fra originallinken fremfor å lese det i forumet.
Det er greit med små nyhetssaker. Men denne er altfor altfor lang.

[Asbjørn]

Hvorfor poster du hele denne forbanna lange reportasjen her? Hvorfor ikke bare poste linken? Jeg synes det er mye enklere å lese det fra originallinken fremfor å lese det i forumet.
Det er greit med små nyhetssaker. Men denne er altfor altfor lang.

Er du sur for at også Solano nevner skader? Nå er ikke jeg her inne for å tilfredstille deg. Men du får ha en god dag.

Håper du kommer i bedre humør når du ser denne linken.

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/newcastleunited/news/tm_objectid=16346336%26method=full%26siteid=50081%26headline=face%2dto%2dface%2d%2dnobby%2dsolano-name_page.html

[Paul Andreas]

takk for intervjuet Asbjørn. Det var helt topp. Håper du får tak i flere!

[Mack]

Jeg likte at du beskrev Solano som vår helt.

[Benson]

Orket ikkje lesa heile intervjuet, men veldig kjekk lesning

[Joakim]

Hehe, jeg har faktisk ikke lest intervjuet. Så jeg klaget ikke på at han nevner skader. Jeg klager på at du poster hele det forbanna lange intervjuet i forumet. Jeg synes det er unødvendig.
Men det er nå min mening.

[Benson]

Så hvorfor klage så jævligt når du ikkje ein gang gidder å lese intervjuet :roll:

[Asbjørn]

Hehe, jeg har faktisk ikke lest intervjuet. Så jeg klaget ikke på at han nevner skader. Jeg klager på at du poster hele det forbanna lange intervjuet i forumet. Jeg synes det er unødvendig.
Men det er nå min mening.

Grunnen til at jeg postet hele var at det var meget interessant etter min mening. Langt ifra noe forbanna innlegg. Så fort Solano åpner kjeften sitter jeg som et tent lys. En ekte helt som har kommet tilbake.

[Bad Religion]

"We call him Benny - you know, after the small cartoon cat! "

Hehe genialt........ :lol:

[Mack]

Grunnen til at jeg postet hele var at det var meget interessant etter min mening. Langt ifra noe forbanna innlegg. Så fort Solano åpner kjeften sitter jeg som et tent lys. En ekte helt som har kommet tilbake.

Da er vi i alle fall 100% enig i en ting.

[Erlend Simonsen]

Hvorfor poster du hele denne forbanna lange reportasjen her? Hvorfor ikke bare poste linken? Jeg synes det er mye enklere å lese det fra originallinken fremfor å lese det i forumet.
Det er greit med små nyhetssaker. Men denne er altfor altfor lang.

Er du sur for at også Solano nevner skader? Nå er ikke jeg her inne for å tilfredstille deg. Men du får ha en god dag.

Håper du kommer i bedre humør når du ser denne linken.

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/newcastleunited/news/tm_objectid=16346336%26method=full%26siteid=50081%26headline=face%2dto%2dface%2d%2dnobby%2dsolano-name_page.html

tihii :lol:

[Joakim]

Jeg skjønner at du fant det interessant. Og det er ingen grunn til ikke å være lutter øre når Solano åpner kjeften. Jeg er helt helt enig i det. Men jeg synes dette intervjuet var så langt at det blir plagsomt å bla i evigheter for å komme forbi det. Jeg synes det er klart, klart bedre å lese det fra originalkilden, enn å lese det på forumet. Blir mye mindre oversiktlig, og mye mindre skrift. Mye bedre med en link og noen ord om hva Solano sier for å vekke interessen til folket. Dessuten, så lenge du sier at Solano er intervjuet burde folk være smarte nok til å åpne linken og begynne å lese. Solano har alltid noe fornuftig på hjertet.

[DanMan]

Strålende intervju med hele Newcastles godklump!  
Likte også godt det han sa om Emre, eller "Benny" om dere vil.  :lol: