Alan Smith

I only scored about six goals over those three seasons, something ridiculous, when my confidence fell off a cliff for various reasons and it was a miserable time.

Those last three years, that's the exact opposite of how I would want my career to end, which I did finish early with a knee injury at 32.

But I always still think about those years and wish I could change them.

Wish I could have just changed my mindset and my career path.

Wish I could have done something different to get out of that rut.

Because it was a really miserable time that dragged on and on.

You know, we're talking three seasons and that's a long time.

The only highlight was scoring the winner in the Cup Winners' Cup final against Parma in 1994.

And then the following summer, I had to pack up.

So it certainly wasn't the way I would have wanted to go.

But, you know, as a whole, you look at your career and you think, oh, so lucky to have earned a living out of football and the lives that you have, the times that you experience, you know, so lucky.

So you can't think about the bad times too much.

You can't put it in anybody, though, can you, Jamie?

You can't, mate.

You can't.

Because you've got to enjoy doing it, being in the corner.

Absolutely.

And I think being a footballer today, there's no excuse if you've got the talent for not succeeding, really, is there?

When you get to a certain stage, we've all seen the size of the backroom staff.

You've got everything laid on for you, haven't you?