Mauchlen's Birthday – Former Fox On Milne's Negotiation Tactics & Living With McAllister
Scottish midfielder Mauchlen earned himself a special place in the hearts of Foxes supporters with his never-say-die performances. To mark his birthday, we revisit an interview with the determined middle man and allow him to reflect on the biggest talking points of his stay at Filbert Street...
Heading south of the border
"I was apprehensive to start with, coming down to England. There was a lot of speculation about me going to Glasgow Rangers. Jock Wallace was trying to sign me for about three months in the summer, but then Gordon Milne showed an interest in Gary McAllister and myself. He invited us to the hotel at Glasgow Airport and sat us down and chatted with us both individually. He had an offer written on a note of paper! He asked me to have a look at it, take 10 minutes to see if it was acceptable, and he also said he'd got a flight booked for 5pm. He was getting on that flight and, if we hadn't agreed to sign, then that was the last we'd see of him!"
First impressions in England
“The standard of football in England was better. I had to work really hard with first touch and stuff like that. When I first came down here, I was a bit rough at the edges. Gordon and Gerry Summers worked hard with me doing extra sessions after training. They worked on things that they could see needed to be fine-tuned to get me in the first team. I’d watch Gordon in five-a-sides. You could see his brain working and his first touch and I’d think: ‘I need to sharpen up here!’ After we’d signed, Gary [McAllister] and I watched Leicester beat league champions Everton 3-1. Gary Lineker had just signed for Everton. The money Leicester had got for selling Lineker had bought me and Gary to Filbert Street. I looked at Gary after that game and said: ‘How the hell are we going to get in this side?’ It was quite daunting!"
A generous landlord
"I was the elder statesman out of the two of us. I was 25 and Gary was 19, but it did help me having a team-mate. Socially and privately, it probably helped Gary more because he was younger. I was married with two kids as well, so I had family with me and we bought a house. Gary asked us if I could put him up for a couple of months while he was looking for a flat and that couple of months turned into 18 months! He got free board for 18 months out of me, so he owes me one!"
Becoming a fans' favourite
"I could go clubbing, you could find me a little bit tipsy with a few beers in me, and that was acceptable back then. That's what formed my relationship with the fans. I had a great rapport with the fans. That was maybe also because of the way I played. I was always 100 per cent, fully committed and the fans loved me for that. If I met them in the supermarket or the local pub, we would talk. They would maybe respect that I've taken the time to have a chat but they would then give me that back at 3pm on a Saturday."
Pleat's impact
"I'm totally grateful to Gordon Milne for bringing me to this great club. I still work for the Football Club, as you know. The respect I've had in the city has been phenomenal and it still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up when folk stop me on the street because I'm an old boy now. The guy I'm most respectful of is David Pleat and that might shock a lot of Leicester fans because he didn't take us to where they wanted to be [...] What an influential character and his knowledge of the game is second to none."
Ali on Walshy
"Pound for pound, I'd pick out Walshy (Steve Walsh). He could save you in games and he could win you games. If you were struggling with 15 minutes to go, he could go up top and play centre forward. He found it so easy, just getting on the end of things, and he could terrorise centre halves as much as forwards tried to do to him. They didn't do that very well! Walshy gave you everything. He could be the last man standing to get a 0-0, or he could go up to rescue a game. His commitment to the Football Club... he maybe overcommitted at times, but he was brilliant in a Leicester City shirt."
Leaving the Foxes
"After Pleat went and Gordon was in charge, Graeme Souness wanted to sign me for Glasgow Rangers. I‘d missed out on going to Rangers a few years earlier and I was very keen to go. Gordon didn’t want me to go. I was captain and on the coaching staff. He said: ‘We’re struggling in the league, your motivation is great around the dressing room, you are a big personality about the place, you’re well thought of and I would hate to lose you, but I’ll talk to the chairman’. He did, but the chairman wouldn’t let me go. I’d been at the Club for eight years and I thought I’d got a two-year extension so I would qualify for a testimonial but it didn’t work out. When Brian Little came, I wasn’t in his plans. Simon Grayson came and I went to Leeds. I was doing well there but I ruptured my stomach, so that killed the Leeds deal. I played against some great players when I was at Leicester. These included [Kenny] Dalglish, [Ian] Rush, [Alan] Hansen, [Mark] Lawrenson and [Bruce] Grobbelaar at Liverpool, [Glenn] Hoddle and [Chris] Waddle at Spurs, the great Everton side and [Peter] Beardsley at Newcastle. These were fantastic, really talented individuals. Great memories. We had some good players too. In one of our sides we had McAllister, [Russell] Osman and Robbie James, who was a great player, a good pro and a likeable guy. I played 273 games for Leicester, had been captain, had a great rapport with the Leicester public and have some great memories."