Playing 260 games & scoring 37 goals, (inc the wonder goal v Grimsby Town) for The Foxes in a career spanning 1996 - 2004....
Muzzy Izzet is truly a Leicester City legend.
Playing in European Championships & World Cups for Turkey, Muzzy has a wealth of footballing knowledge.
LTID: How did you get into playing football & from what age?
MI: As a family we always had a football around the house much to the annoyance of my mum.
She used to tell me that I chased a ball around the house in my baby walker.
From about the age of 3 my dad used to take me to the park, it was my dad who really got me into football.
LTID: Who were the first teams that you played for as a child?
MI: My first team was St Matthews in Bethnal Green where we used to play on Weavers Field from about 7/8 years old.
They told me I was good & I stayed there till I was about 11 when I moved to St Thomas Moore in Bexley Heath,
It was around this time I was spotted by a scout from Charlton & I signed schoolboy terms with them.
A couple of years later whilst still with Charlton I moved to Senrab which also coached players like John Terry, Sol Campbell & Jermain Defoe.
LTID: Did you always want to be professional footballer & if you hadn’t what career path would you have followed?
MI: When I was growing up West ham were my team, and I used to go along to watch them.
This was when they had players like Trevor Brooking in the side.
When I used to watch this team I always dreamed about one day being out there playing, so I guess it was what I always wanted to do.
LTID: When you were starting out which footballer was your hero & why?
MI: Most of the West Ham team I grew up watching. West ham have always played football they way it should be played and the team that included Trevor Brooking, Alan Devonshire & Billy Bonds were all like hero’s.
But if I had to choose one it would be another ex hammer Tony Cottee, and as fate would have it I would end up playing alongside him many years later for Leicester City.
LTID: Which club did you dream about playing for & why?
MI:The club I supported as a child – West Ham.
LTID:Your first professional team was Chelsea for who you signed as a schoolboy. Do you ever look back & wished you stayed at Chelsea?
MI: Not really. Although I had mates from Senrab that were with me at Chelsea I couldn’t seem to break into the first team.
Chelsea was a team going through a lot of change when I first arrived and managers came and went: Porterfield, Webb, Hoddle.
I never knew where I was with Hoddle, one week he’d say I was good, the next week the opposite.
I was getting very frustrated in the reserves and asked Glen for a loan move.
He told me no one was interested but after the next reserve game told me a club had come in for me... the rest as they say.....
LTID: How do you remember your time at Leicester City?
MI: Wow, it was like a roller coaster. Within 10 games of my arriving we were at Wembley and looking forward to Premiership football.
There was always something happening, a Cup final, Europe, they really were fantastic times.
The end of course wasn’t so happy, but I like to remember the early days.
LTID: Over a long playing career for LCFC you played in many memorable matches but which was YOUR favourite & why?
MI: On a personal level, not one you might expect. For me it was the first time I went back to play at Upton Park as a professional.
It was amazing being back as a player where I had once been a supporter.
I stood on the pitch with all these fans watching me just like I had stood in the crowd as a kid watching the Brookings & Bonds et al.
I don’t remember the score but I don’t think we (Leicester) won.
LTID: Whilst you were at Leicester, who was your best mate on the playing staff & who didn’t you get on least with?
In the Martin O’Neill days there was an amazing team spirit.
The spirit you saw on the pitch continued off the pitch. If we went out the invitation went to all the team. When we went out we went out as a team.
Everyone got on well at that time but I really got on well with Neil Lennon, Steve Guppy & Frank Sinclair who I knew from my time at Chelsea.
LTID: What was Robbie Savage like to play alongside & is he like his on pitch personality off the pitch?
MI:I got on well with Sav. But I agree he is one of those players you love at your team but not when he’s playing against you.
He has done really well for himself wherever he has played. & he looks to have a future media career ahead of him.
But what people don’t realise with Sav is he’s a very insecure person and the brashness you know him for is his way of hiding this fact.
But I think he’s a top bloke.
LTID: When Martin O’Neill left for Celtic there was a lot of rumours that you would follow him North of the border even quotes attributed to you as saying “only an idiot wouldn’t consider joining Celtic”. Was there any truth in this & if so why didn’t you go?
MI: I don’t remember saying that but it was a long time ago! I may well have been misquoted because I think I would have said that if a club the size of Celtic asked after you, you would have to listen.
There were a lot of teams interested in me after Martin left but I believe the fact that I stayed at Leicester says it all.
Plus I am a very homely person, and don’t believe that the grass is always greener (pardon the pun) and was very happy at Leicester. I was happy to be a regular in a team, look I always believed I was one game away from being dropped, that was what they taught you at Chelsea to keep you on your toes, so to be a regular at Leicester made me happy.
LTID: Glen Hoddle was your manager at Chelsea, Martin O’Neill obviously at Leicester. Two different types of management style I would imagine?
Which style did you prefer & who would you rate as the better manager?
MI:They certainly were different! Martin O’Neill gave me my big break and could see things in me that Hoddle couldn’t.
I never knew where I stood with Glen, he blew hot & cold with me. I knew where I stood with Martin.
I would pick Martin 100%
LTID: After we got relegated at the end of the 2003/4 season you are quoted as saying “I Love this place – it’s just a shame we couldn’t stay up because you never know I might have been here for longer” Did you say that & if LCFC had stayed up would you have stayed longer.
MI: I would defiantly have stayed, yes! I was on a good contract with the club at that time, along with the likes of Matt Elliott & others.
We had taken a deferral & cuts on our wages, which we understood, after all we were on good wages compared to other staff within the club, and towards the end it was very hard times as you know, with administration etc. I didn't feel that if I stayed I would have got that money back. But I stayed loyal for a long time.
LTID: Why did you eventually choose Birmingham, a team similar to Leicester in size & ambition.
MI:I spoke to a lot of managers in those last few years, but I went of gut feeling. Steve Bruce, who was then Birmingham manager was a great guy and was trying to put together a really good team. He had myself, Sav, David Dunn, Melchiot to name just a few but was blighted with bad luck with injuries.
I got injured after just 10 games & missed a lot of the season, Dunn also got injured and was out for the whole season.
Steve only got his first choice team together for a few games at a time before someone else seemed to get injured.
If that team had stayed injury free and had gelled as we thought it would it could well have been another Leicester.
LTID: You will be mostly remembered for your bicycle/overhead kick v Grimsby Town in November 2002, 9 years before Rooney tried but failed to better it.
Whilst you did get credit for a great goal, do you feel that goals scored by players at so called ‘big’ clubs will always get more attention and press coverage
because say it was Man Utd rather than Leicester City?
MI: History would seem to bear this out. If a player does something outstanding & he’s with one of the big clubs it can get blown out of all proportion.
It’s the nature of the beast & something players learn to live with. As a player though, these are, to be honest, the teams you dream about playing for.
LTID: Silly next question, but was that THE best goal you have ever scored?
MI: I think so yes. Other goals come with more pressure. The penalty you are expected to score.
Goals you have time to think about add pressure to the moment.
This type of goal does look spectacular. If they come off you end up looking brilliant if they don’t you can end up looking like a fool on your backside
LTID: You were overlooked by England but chosen to play for Turkey (as your dad was born in Turkey) & you played for them in European & World Cups.
Do you think if you had been playing for a ‘bigger’ club then Leicester you would have been chosen for England duty?
MI: These days probably yes, as Capello has less English players to choose from, and he has shown he is willing to pick players from ‘non fashionable’ clubs
like Bolton if required so I think if I was playing for Leicester in the Premier League now I would fancy my chances of being picked.
It’s the same with Steve Guppy, like you say probably the most gifted natural left sided player in England at the time but he played just once for England at senior level.
Back in the days you refer to though, Gazza was still in the England team as well as Paul Ince, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, and the likes of Gerrard & Lampard were coming through – and that’s some competition.
LTID: Would you have chosen England over Turkey if both had approached you?
MI: If England had approached me at the same time as Turkey, yes I would have chosen them of course.
LTID: When you retired you went into coaching, do you have any aspiration to go into full time management?
MI: No, defiantly not!! Its too hard and too pressurised. You need to have a hardness as a manager, something that Neil Lennon for example, has in bucket loads.
He is great in front of the camera & is mentally strong and he will do well.
LTID: Alongside fellow ex Fox Steve Walsh, you run a soccer academy. If you could give one piece of advice to youngsters starting out now what would it be?
MI: Never give up!
It’s hard to make it in football. Not every footballer coming through the system will be a Paul Gascoigne or David Beckham & not everyone will make it.
You know it takes a lot of hard work, dedication & yes even a lot of luck.
A lot of people will tell you your not good enough on your way up but you have to be strong & believe in yourself.
LTID: You are running the London Marathon this year for the Charity Wishes4kids of which you are a patron. How did you get involved with this charity?
When I was playing football professionally I was always involved with visiting the hospitals to see the children at Christmas etc.
It was something I always felt at comfy doing. I had a knack of getting on with the children and their parents & I guess I knew I would always want to do
some sort of charity work when I retired.
One night, I got a call from Peter Jones, a local ref, who said that there was a little girl called Louise in hospital who was very poorly & she wanted to meet me.
I said I would check my diary & see when I was available, but Peter informed me that it should 'really' be THAT night.
I went straight down to the Leicester Royal Infirmary & met Louise for the first time.
That was when Peter told me that he worked for Wishes4kids and Louise’s wish was to meet me.
It was a tough when I finally met her and I have to be honest it shocked me and I ended up being really affected by Louise & if I’m honest ended up crying.
I was introduced to Russell who ran Wishes4kids and he helped me to see Louise as much as I could in the time she had left.
Louise & myself became good mates even though she was only 11 or 12 and we developed a bond and after she sadly passed away some 3 months later Richard asked me to be Patron for the Charity I had no hesitation in saying yes.
This gives you all the information about my charity run and also has a link to my Just Giving page where you can sponsor me on run the marathon.You can also gift aid your donation so that more goes to the charity. Don't be put off by thinking you have to donate large, any amount you can donate no matter how small or big is very much appricitaed. Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.
copyright Leicester 'till I Die 2011
* ASK MUZZY *
Ever wanted to ask a City legend a question?
Well now you can with Ask Muzzy.
Each week 1 question will be chosen and sent to Muzzy to answer.
Just click on the 'Ask Muzzy' picture above & fill out the form
So whether you want to ask what was his favourite game, favourite player or whatever you want to ask now is your chance!
aulo Sousa was one of the first management casualties of the season & looking at results since it seems that the Club were vindicated in that decision, Despite this do you believe football managers are given enough time these days to make their mark on a new club?
