Robert Pires’ on-field impact at Aston Villa may have been minimal, but a club rule during his spell meant he drew the ire of the players.
Released by Spanish side Villarreal at the end of the 2009-10 season, Pires joined Villa on a six-month deal in November 2010 and took the No. 8 shirt.
He was then-Villa boss Gerard Houllier’s first signing as the former Liverpool manager sent out an SOS amid an injury crisis at the club.
Pires immediately commanded respect within the Villa Park dressing room having won two Premier League titles as an Arsenal player and the 1998 World Cup with France.
However, at age 37, he was unable to move as freely as he once did.
Marc Albrighton, who had broken into Villa’s first team as an academy product that season under Houllier, lifted the lid on Pires’ impact within the club.
“To be fair, he was one of the nicest guys, he was brilliant,” Albrighton told the Undr The Cosh podcast.
Unsurprisingly, Albrighton conceded Pires’ ‘legs weren’t what they were’, but claimed the Frenchman knew just as much.
However, the World Cup winner quickly became the centre of attention during team meals.
Albrighton opened up on one of Houllier’s key dining rules and, unfortunately for most of Villa’s squad, it left them hoping time would speed up.
“Houllier had a rule where you can’t leave the table until the last person had finished eating,” Albrighton said.
“So, obviously being English, you’d yam your food down and you’re back in your room. There’d be a barber upstairs or a guy selling DVD’s in the hotel.
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“Pires had come in and he was taking his time over his food, because that’s how he’d been brought up. Everything was slow.
“He’d be like, ‘You can go, carry on and go.’ But Houllier was like, ‘No, you can’t leave until he was finished.'”
Pires went on to make 12 appearances across all competitions for Villa and scored only one goal, a sweet first-time strike against Blackburn in a 3-1 FA Cup victory.
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Villa ended the 2010/11 season in ninth, buoyed by the arrival of then-record signing Darren Bent in January as he scored nine goals in 16 games.
Although Pires hoped to remain at Villa Park for another season, he was let go by the club in May 2011.
He later came out of retirement in September 2014 to play for Indian Super League side FC Goa at age 40.
Pires hung up the boots for a second and final time in February 2016 after he was released by FC Goa a year earlier.
