The former centre back has been reflecting on his time with the Blues and how the freedom he was given to work through injury issues changed his career
Martin Keown said he ‘probably shouldn’t have signed’ for Everton given the scale of an 11th hour bid for his services – but that the move made him a better player.
The centre back played more than 100 games for the Blues before securing a move to Arsenal, where he went on to be a key player in the club’s success of the late 1990s.
That move was built on his displays at Goodison Park which, in turn, were built on a DIY training plan due to back problems. The way the club dealt with his issues proved crucial in his later success – something that may not have happened had he instead taken up a last minute offer from Aston Villa.
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Keown, speaking on That Peter Crouch Podcast, said he had difficulty when he arrived at Everton due to the competition he was providing to Kevin Ratcliffe.
Given what happened in the final stages of his transfer, he almost did not agree on the move to Merseyside. He said: “I probably shouldn’t have gone to Everton, as Aston Villa were offering me really low wages, but they were claiming it was the best offer.
“And then they offered three times more money on the last day, and I was like, well, where’s this come from?”
But Keown’s move paid off – partly, he said, due to the patience and freedom Howard Kendall provided to enable him to work through his issues once the manager returned to the club.
He said: “Howard was brilliant for me. Again, trusted me, believed in me, pushed me. But in that period at Everton, I had a chronic back injury. And I was in agony with my back. I’d go home and lie on the floor.
“For two years, I was doing this. I was playing for England and I couldn’t stand up straight if I bent down. So I went through all that period at Everton, somehow managing to get on the pitch.
“But strangely… less was more because I had to pick and choose. I couldn’t run around like an idiot anymore. I couldn’t make all these tackles. I became more like a Rolls Royce. And I thought, and then suddenly these rave reviews, what’s happened to Keown, his performances are getting better, he’s picking and choosing, he’s more calmer. I was in agony, but it made me a better player.”
Keown’s issues prevented him from training with his first team colleagues in the week, instead opting for a bespoke mix that included cycling and boxing.
He said: “I used to run on the beach, down at Freshfield Beach, Formby, round on the beach down there. We’d be on a bike, I went to the spit and saw, there’s boxing clubs… We’d go in a front room, they’d ring a bell. I did that, and then turn up, and Howard used to say, you don’t have to train Martin, just do what you do every week. And that was what happened.”
