On the Saturday, I would turn up for a home game at about 11am, and in my early years I would also train myself before games. Everything said from then on until the players left to start the game was confidence filling, with no negatives at all. Unfortunately he was injured and out of the game but he delivered a once-in-a-lifetime speech to the team, quoting Nelson Mandela. We won the game 5-0 and to this day I am sure Ric believes his speech drove the lads to that famous result. In my early years at Stoke, we were always the underdogs, and the atmosphere was off the charts, never mind who we played.

Source: BBC February 13, 2026 13:43 UTC