Joleon Lescott - GONE

[Villan For Life]

Joleon Lescott opens his heart to Henry Winter in a searingly honest interview at the end of a tumultous week for the defender at Aston Villa

A lover of the quiet life, Joleon Lescott is having an unwelcome noisy month or two. So much has been said and written about the Aston Villa defender, who first fell out with fans during an FA Cup tie away to Wycombe Wanderers and then enraged more when a photograph of a £120,000 Mercedes was posted on his Twitter feed moments after the 6-0 thrashing by Liverpool on Sunday, that it is sometimes difficult to separate fact from fiction.

So it’s best that the 33-year-old tells the story. Sitting in a coffee shop near his home yesterday afternoon, Lescott prefaces his narrative with the words: “I’m a Villa fan, and defeats and bad performances are hard to take — it hurts.” He had offers to leave Villa last month but stayed on to fight against relegation.

“There was some genuine interest from LA Galaxy in January. But for me to jump ship . . . I don’t want that to be my legacy. I’d prefer us to go down and me be a part of that than, ‘Oh, he left in January, spent six months and felt it was not his responsibility.’ There’s the possibility of staying up. We could go from being one of the worst teams in Aston Villa’s history to one of the greatest if we stay up.”

Anyway, back to recent events. “Wycombe was a strange one. I was on the bench with Brad Guzan, talking about the game, things, and I must have smiled at some point. When Wycombe scored, our fans got upset, and banged on the back of the dug-out, shouting and swearing at us, saying: ‘You don’t care.’ I said: ‘I’m on the bench, what do you want me to do?’ It escalated from that.

“Getting on the coach afterwards was quite intense. Security said we had to walk straight through and not stop. Some of the Villa fans, not all, were shouting abuse and it’s a shame because kids were there wanting autographs. Fans are entitled to get angry but they’ve got to respect families have travelled down from Birmingham. We weren’t allowed to sign autographs because fans were being aggressive.

“I was made a scapegoat for a result I wasn’t involved in. For the next game against Crystal Palace, when my name was read out, I was booed and I was captain! Why was I booed? I didn’t play against Wycombe. If I can’t smile on the bench, then there’s a problem. The goal was taken away from me but I headed the winner against Palace. It was a subdued celebration because of the fans booing me, and we hadn’t won in a while.

“Last weekend we came up against a very good team in Liverpool. With Daniel Sturridge and [Philippe] Coutinho back in there it was going to be difficult. I remember playing with Dean Sturridge at Wolves and him telling me about his nephew Daniel, who is blessed with great feet and the ability to do things most players can’t.

“Six-nil is very embarrassing, and it’s hard to take. Our confidence is low anyway and when you go 1-0 down, it’s harder to pick yourself up. It doesn’t excuse the second-half performance, which was outrageous, one of the worst I’ve been involved in. We weren’t even out there. They had four shots in the space of 15 minutes and scored four goals.

“What happened afterwards was an honest mistake. I was driving home and got a call from my brother [Aaron, his agent and a former Bristol Rovers defender], saying: ‘What have you done? Have you just sent out a tweet?’ ‘No, I’m driving home.’ I was on my phone in the changing room, said goodbye to my family, put the phone into my pocket, got in the car, I didn’t lock my phone. It must have accidentally gone off, I don’t know how, whether you believe it or not. It’s not the first time I’ve put my phone in my pocket and accidentally dialled someone.

“I don’t own that car. I wouldn’t tweet that picture. A young player, a friend of mine said: ‘I’m thinking of getting this car, what do you think?’ ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘it’s a nice car but be careful because the insurance might be high.’ That was the only reason the picture was on my phone. Whether things have gone well or not, I’d never tweeted [after a game]. There was no comment on the tweet. Just a picture. I don’t see why people don’t believe it was a genuine mistake.

“My brother said: ‘It’s been retweeted and the fans are going off. It doesn’t look good.’ I said: ‘I’ll be home in an hour and I’ll address it then.’ By that time because I hadn’t deleted it straight away or commented straight away, everyone had blown it out of all proportion. With results and the performance it wasn’t great timing.

“I can take the criticism of on the field. I’m a grown man. I can look in the mirror and know I’ve worked hard in my career. I don’t get carried away by criticism or praise. But the reaction was intense. People had a lot to say. Pundits, critics — these people act like they’ve never made a mistake before.

“That was frustrating when people who’ve been in the industry like Stan [Collymore, the broadcaster and former Villa striker] comment. I don’t know him personally, but we’re from Birmingham way, so we have respect for each other. There was an issue with Stan in the Euros [2012]. He used to direct message me and ask me for the [England] team [line-up] before it was out. ‘I can’t do that Stan. That’s not my style.’ ‘But players have done it before.’ ‘That’s not my style, I wouldn’t do it anyway, but, no disrespect, I don’t know you.’

“A lot of older pros, [who] I have a lot of respect for, who don’t feel the need to jump on it [his mistake]. Not everyone has got a clean record. For me to accidentally tweet a picture is not the biggest crime that a footballer has ever committed. But I can understand the feeling of the fans who feel let down.”

It escalated. “Something happened on Instagram. There’s a young fan who’s ill, in with Acorns [the West Midlands hospice], that I’ve done a lot of charity work with. I follow him on Instagram. He’s in a bad way. He put a post on his Instagram saying people to lay off me. I tweeted him, saying: ‘Don’t worry about me, mate, you’ve got enough to worry about than fighting my battles, so let it go.’ Fans who follow him messaged me. We were debating the game. So I tried to answer as many questions as I could, some not very pleasant, some very negative. It’s part of the game — I deal with that.

“There was one aggressive person, who sent a few messages. He said: ‘I’m going to come down to the training ground and carve you a new scar in your forehead.’ I replied: ‘I would love you to come down, please, please try that.’ I’ve had these scars since I was five. It’s not new to me to get this abuse. My parents, my kids and my wife don’t like to hear these things. So that’s upsetting to them, and that’s when I get wound up and so I replied to that.

“I’ve then seen in the press that I’ve offered a fan down to the training ground to fight him. It wasn’t like that at all. The paper’s not posting the message he put to me about wanting to carve me a new scar on my face, so just pick and choose what you want to print then. He sent a few more posts. I said: ‘Yeah, mate, whatever you want to do, I’m at Bodymoor Heath every day training. If you feel the need to come down there, not a problem.’

“I’d like to see what would have happened. I told the club. They were aware of the situation. I’ve got a lot of friends in Birmingham, friends from school, and they get upset. My family gets upset. So I have to defuse the situation. I tell them: ‘They’re not going to come. I’ve had it before. It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last time.’ ”

Lescott gets abuse about the scars at matches. “What can I do? I can’t go and jump in the crowd. My mum stopped coming to certain fixtures with certain teams because they used to give me abuse. She couldn’t deal with it. My dad as well stopped going to certain grounds.”

Lescott was coming out of primary school, only five, when he was struck by a car and dragged down the road. “I was run over. My mum was picking me up. She saw it. We never talk about that. I’ve got kids now and I know how upset I get when they fall over. To see that happen must have been hard for her. I am lucky to be here — and I am grateful.

“When I was in the hospital, recovering, there was a boy next to me, no scars, nothing, just a bandage round his head, a little scar above his eyebrow, and he had brain damage. He was on the curb and a wing mirror hit him. I got run over, and had scars and survived, and was mentally and physically OK. I’ve got the scars to show for it. Wow I was the lucky one. What happened has definitely driven me on. I have received a lot of stick in and out of football. But I enjoy what I do.”

It is why he privately raises funds for Birmingham Children’s Hospital. “They helped me out a lot when I was younger, when I was in the Burns Unit. They were a big part of me getting me through my situation. I give them donations. I don’t do it for the publicity. I am thankful for what they did for me and if I can help out, great. I’ve not [been front-page] — not before this week! I enjoy what I do. I know I am privileged to do it.”

That’s why he’s fighting hard to keep Villa up. He likes Rémi Garde, the manager. “He’s calm. He’s lost it a couple of times. He’s trying to create a non-French-speaking environment, the reason why he hasn’t lost it as much as he wants is because he doesn’t know enough bad words in English. It [dressing-room language] is an issue but it’s not the reason why we are bottom. There’s something wrong with the whole foundations, team, players. Is it one person’s fault? No. It’s unfair that fans chant they want the chairman [owner Randy Lerner] out. We’re the ones playing. He’s very calm, a very nice man. It’s a shame.”

He is used to meeting and overcoming adversity. He was rejected by Villa after a trial as a kid. He suffered a bad cruciate injury at Wolverhampton Wanderers. “There were players who had the same operation as mine who had to retire. I got through. I’ve had to work hard. I don’t think people realise the sacrifices footballers make. They just assume we get paid a lot of money so who couldn’t do it? If it was that easy we would all be doing it.

“People are made famous in life for not doing anything. I don’t really feel famous, no. I have enough people around me, who have been around me for 20 years, I could never act famous. My wife has been there since before I started playing, it’s coming up 18 years now, and it [him being famous] wouldn’t go down well with her.”
Joleon Lescott opens his heart to Henry Winter in a searingly honest interview at the end of a tumultous week for the defender at Aston Villa

A lover of the quiet life, Joleon Lescott is having an unwelcome noisy month or two. So much has been said and written about the Aston Villa defender, who first fell out with fans during an FA Cup tie away to Wycombe Wanderers and then enraged more when a photograph of a £120,000 Mercedes was posted on his Twitter feed moments after the 6-0 thrashing by Liverpool on Sunday, that it is sometimes difficult to separate fact from fiction.

So it’s best that the 33-year-old tells the story. Sitting in a coffee shop near his home yesterday afternoon, Lescott prefaces his narrative with the words: “I’m a Villa fan, and defeats and bad performances are hard to take — it hurts.” He had offers to leave Villa last month but stayed on to fight against relegation.

“There was some genuine interest from LA Galaxy in January. But for me to jump ship . . . I don’t want that to be my legacy. I’d prefer us to go down and me be a part of that than, ‘Oh, he left in January, spent six months and felt it was not his responsibility.’ There’s the possibility of staying up. We could go from being one of the worst teams in Aston Villa’s history to one of the greatest if we stay up.”

Anyway, back to recent events. “Wycombe was a strange one. I was on the bench with Brad Guzan, talking about the game, things, and I must have smiled at some point. When Wycombe scored, our fans got upset, and banged on the back of the dug-out, shouting and swearing at us, saying: ‘You don’t care.’ I said: ‘I’m on the bench, what do you want me to do?’ It escalated from that.

“Getting on the coach afterwards was quite intense. Security said we had to walk straight through and not stop. Some of the Villa fans, not all, were shouting abuse and it’s a shame because kids were there wanting autographs. Fans are entitled to get angry but they’ve got to respect families have travelled down from Birmingham. We weren’t allowed to sign autographs because fans were being aggressive.

“I was made a scapegoat for a result I wasn’t involved in. For the next game against Crystal Palace, when my name was read out, I was booed and I was captain! Why was I booed? I didn’t play against Wycombe. If I can’t smile on the bench, then there’s a problem. The goal was taken away from me but I headed the winner against Palace. It was a subdued celebration because of the fans booing me, and we hadn’t won in a while.

“Last weekend we came up against a very good team in Liverpool. With Daniel Sturridge and [Philippe] Coutinho back in there it was going to be difficult. I remember playing with Dean Sturridge at Wolves and him telling me about his nephew Daniel, who is blessed with great feet and the ability to do things most players can’t.

“Six-nil is very embarrassing, and it’s hard to take. Our confidence is low anyway and when you go 1-0 down, it’s harder to pick yourself up. It doesn’t excuse the second-half performance, which was outrageous, one of the worst I’ve been involved in. We weren’t even out there. They had four shots in the space of 15 minutes and scored four goals.

“What happened afterwards was an honest mistake. I was driving home and got a call from my brother [Aaron, his agent and a former Bristol Rovers defender], saying: ‘What have you done? Have you just sent out a tweet?’ ‘No, I’m driving home.’ I was on my phone in the changing room, said goodbye to my family, put the phone into my pocket, got in the car, I didn’t lock my phone. It must have accidentally gone off, I don’t know how, whether you believe it or not. It’s not the first time I’ve put my phone in my pocket and accidentally dialled someone.

“I don’t own that car. I wouldn’t tweet that picture. A young player, a friend of mine said: ‘I’m thinking of getting this car, what do you think?’ ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘it’s a nice car but be careful because the insurance might be high.’ That was the only reason the picture was on my phone. Whether things have gone well or not, I’d never tweeted [after a game]. There was no comment on the tweet. Just a picture. I don’t see why people don’t believe it was a genuine mistake.

“My brother said: ‘It’s been retweeted and the fans are going off. It doesn’t look good.’ I said: ‘I’ll be home in an hour and I’ll address it then.’ By that time because I hadn’t deleted it straight away or commented straight away, everyone had blown it out of all proportion. With results and the performance it wasn’t great timing.

“I can take the criticism of on the field. I’m a grown man. I can look in the mirror and know I’ve worked hard in my career. I don’t get carried away by criticism or praise. But the reaction was intense. People had a lot to say. Pundits, critics — these people act like they’ve never made a mistake before.

“That was frustrating when people who’ve been in the industry like Stan [Collymore, the broadcaster and former Villa striker] comment. I don’t know him personally, but we’re from Birmingham way, so we have respect for each other. There was an issue with Stan in the Euros [2012]. He used to direct message me and ask me for the [England] team [line-up] before it was out. ‘I can’t do that Stan. That’s not my style.’ ‘But players have done it before.’ ‘That’s not my style, I wouldn’t do it anyway, but, no disrespect, I don’t know you.’

“A lot of older pros, [who] I have a lot of respect for, who don’t feel the need to jump on it [his mistake]. Not everyone has got a clean record. For me to accidentally tweet a picture is not the biggest crime that a footballer has ever committed. But I can understand the feeling of the fans who feel let down.”

It escalated. “Something happened on Instagram. There’s a young fan who’s ill, in with Acorns [the West Midlands hospice], that I’ve done a lot of charity work with. I follow him on Instagram. He’s in a bad way. He put a post on his Instagram saying people to lay off me. I tweeted him, saying: ‘Don’t worry about me, mate, you’ve got enough to worry about than fighting my battles, so let it go.’ Fans who follow him messaged me. We were debating the game. So I tried to answer as many questions as I could, some not very pleasant, some very negative. It’s part of the game — I deal with that.

“There was one aggressive person, who sent a few messages. He said: ‘I’m going to come down to the training ground and carve you a new scar in your forehead.’ I replied: ‘I would love you to come down, please, please try that.’ I’ve had these scars since I was five. It’s not new to me to get this abuse. My parents, my kids and my wife don’t like to hear these things. So that’s upsetting to them, and that’s when I get wound up and so I replied to that.

“I’ve then seen in the press that I’ve offered a fan down to the training ground to fight him. It wasn’t like that at all. The paper’s not posting the message he put to me about wanting to carve me a new scar on my face, so just pick and choose what you want to print then. He sent a few more posts. I said: ‘Yeah, mate, whatever you want to do, I’m at Bodymoor Heath every day training. If you feel the need to come down there, not a problem.’

“I’d like to see what would have happened. I told the club. They were aware of the situation. I’ve got a lot of friends in Birmingham, friends from school, and they get upset. My family gets upset. So I have to defuse the situation. I tell them: ‘They’re not going to come. I’ve had it before. It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last time.’ ”

Lescott gets abuse about the scars at matches. “What can I do? I can’t go and jump in the crowd. My mum stopped coming to certain fixtures with certain teams because they used to give me abuse. She couldn’t deal with it. My dad as well stopped going to certain grounds.”

Lescott was coming out of primary school, only five, when he was struck by a car and dragged down the road. “I was run over. My mum was picking me up. She saw it. We never talk about that. I’ve got kids now and I know how upset I get when they fall over. To see that happen must have been hard for her. I am lucky to be here — and I am grateful.

“When I was in the hospital, recovering, there was a boy next to me, no scars, nothing, just a bandage round his head, a little scar above his eyebrow, and he had brain damage. He was on the curb and a wing mirror hit him. I got run over, and had scars and survived, and was mentally and physically OK. I’ve got the scars to show for it. Wow I was the lucky one. What happened has definitely driven me on. I have received a lot of stick in and out of football. But I enjoy what I do.”

It is why he privately raises funds for Birmingham Children’s Hospital. “They helped me out a lot when I was younger, when I was in the Burns Unit. They were a big part of me getting me through my situation. I give them donations. I don’t do it for the publicity. I am thankful for what they did for me and if I can help out, great. I’ve not [been front-page] — not before this week! I enjoy what I do. I know I am privileged to do it.”

That’s why he’s fighting hard to keep Villa up. He likes Rémi Garde, the manager. “He’s calm. He’s lost it a couple of times. He’s trying to create a non-French-speaking environment, the reason why he hasn’t lost it as much as he wants is because he doesn’t know enough bad words in English. It [dressing-room language] is an issue but it’s not the reason why we are bottom. There’s something wrong with the whole foundations, team, players. Is it one person’s fault? No. It’s unfair that fans chant they want the chairman [owner Randy Lerner] out. We’re the ones playing. He’s very calm, a very nice man. It’s a shame.”

He is used to meeting and overcoming adversity. He was rejected by Villa after a trial as a kid. He suffered a bad cruciate injury at Wolverhampton Wanderers. “There were players who had the same operation as mine who had to retire. I got through. I’ve had to work hard. I don’t think people realise the sacrifices footballers make. They just assume we get paid a lot of money so who couldn’t do it? If it was that easy we would all be doing it.

“People are made famous in life for not doing anything. I don’t really feel famous, no. I have enough people around me, who have been around me for 20 years, I could never act famous. My wife has been there since before I started playing, it’s coming up 18 years now, and it [him being famous] wouldn’t go down well with her.”

He was with his wife flying to New York, along with Lee Naylor, then a Celtic player, when there was an incident on the plane. “That was surreal,’’ he recalls. “It was not long after 9/11. All of a sudden, the pilot comes on and says: ‘I’ve accidentally pressed the hijack button and can’t land’. Wow. A minute or so later, fighter planes are outside and guiding us down to Nova Scotia where Swat teams came on running up and down the aisle, machine guns, we all had to sit there with hands up and then they said all clear. It was only later that I thought, ‘what if someone was really on the plane?’ ’’

It’s getting late in the afternoon, and Lescott gets up to join his family. What will he do if Villa are relegated? “I’d stay. I’m not going to leave.”

[Villan For Life]

He must have a really shit phone!

[Legion]

Thanks. You can go back to bed now if you like.

[dave.woodhall]

He must have a really shit phone!

Never underestimate a footballer's stupidity.

[cdbearsfan]

Article not too bad in fairness.

[aj2k77]

Nice one mate! Sleep in as long as you want tomorrow.

[cdward]

He does a lot of talking but doesn't really say a lot.
I get the feeling he doesn't like Gardes management style.
I still don't buy the whole Twitter thing.
He should move on and talk about how the team are going to bust a gut to win every game.

[Ads]

As suspected the commented which lead to him calling out the fan to BMH was highly scummy.

[Chico Hamilton III]

How does he manage to get a feel good article like this on the back of what he did last week? Did his agent/ brother write it himself? Fuck off Lescott

[Nev]

How does he manage to get a feel good article like this on the back of what he did last week? Did his agent/ brother write it himself? Fuck off Lescott

They're all pissing into the same pot, players, agents, the majority of the media. When someone speaks out, such as Mathew Syed (sic) did against Chelsea on SSN a while ago, it's as rare as rocking horse shit. That's why Lambert was being treated as some sort of fuckin' sage on 5Live last night.

It's a world built on an endless foundation of bullshit where vested interest comes above anything else, particularly the truth.

[Jimbo]

How does he manage to get a feel good article like this on the back of what he did last week? Did his agent/ brother write it himself? Fuck off Lescott

They're all pissing into the same pot, players, agents, the majority of the media. When someone speaks out, such as Mathew Syed (sic) did against Chelsea on SSN a while ago, it's as rare as rocking horse shit. That's why Lambert was being treated as some sort of fuckin' sage on 5Live last night.

It's a world built on an endless foundation of bullshit where vested interest comes above anything else, particularly the truth.

Well said, Nev. And the fans should just comply, behave and keep spending their money. Yet they're the only ones actually paying to watch it.

[The Man With A Stick]

We could go from being one of the worst teams in Aston Villa’s history to one of the greatest if we stay up

He can't be much of a Villa fan if he thinks that's the case.  I'm looking back misty-eyed at O'Dreary's 2005-6 team, we're that fucking bad. 

Even if this mob somehow pulled off the miracle I'd still think they're a shower of talentless arseholes.

[Toronto Villa]

As suspected the commented which lead to him calling out the fan to BMH was highly scummy.

And that's where the club if they had any kind of PR would come out in defence of the player. No wonder the players don't give a shit when the club doesn't have their back. The whole thing works in both directions. The "fan" tweet is nasty and deplorable.

[KevinGage]

See, even that is no defence.

Sadcase says something on the internet to get attention  So what?  Just look at some of the appalling comments left after fairly innocuous videos on youtube. 

Sascase says something sad on the internet isn't news.  Premiership footballer offering sadcase the chance to meet is news (or were they going to settle their differences with a spirited debate over a cup of coffee?)

It's one thing if someone says something like that to you face to face when you are out with your family and is genuinely threatening, quite another if you are offering an oddball out in front of an internet audience of however many thousands.  If Lescott is too thick to see the difference he's even more of a plank than I thought.

[Mostinho II]

The whole thing is sad. Media perpetuated bollocks aimed at further ridiculing of 'bottom club Aston Villa'. I bet those 'spoof twitter posts' were probably believed by a few people too and probably helped stoke the flames. The problem with social media is the only people that will be heard are the assholes who can be asked to write something on the first place, with nothing better to do. Like me now.