EXCLUSIVE Patrick Kluivert opens up on his love for Geordie nightlife and ‘my man’ Craig Bellamy, why he QUIT AT 31 after a glorious career… before his brutal sacking as a manager in Turkey (days after we went to see him)
- Former Newcastle striker Kluivert has opened up on his love for Geordie nightlife
- He has also revealed why he ended his legendary playing career at the age of 31
- IAN LADYMAN reveals the GREATEST weapon a manager has against a journalist – Listen to It’s All Kicking Off
It was beneath a late autumn sun that, just a fortnight ago, we found Patrick Kluivert by the scorched banks of the Seyhan, with the grand Sabanci Mosque blaring back across Turkeyâs longest river. Little did we know at the time, but he should have picked up a prayer mat and waded through those shallow waters.
This was his first job in management, with Adana Demirspor, an ambitious club with a wealthy owner. The night before, Mail Sport had dinner with the sporting director, Alper Aslan, a lovely chap who spoke well of Kluivert. While we scoffed humous and the world famous Adana kebab, there was an engagement on a table nearby. Was, however, a divorce from Kluivert being plotted all along? It did not feel that way. Spirits were high and so were Adana, third in the Turkish Super Lig. Kluivert was just 145 days into his new role. He would not make 160.
Sitting poolside at the Sheraton Hotel the following afternoon, the Dutch legend, 47, barely looked a day older than the night, aged 18, he became the youngest scorer ever in a Champions League final, his winner for Ajax over AC Milan rocketing him to stardom. Now, he wanted to âfly under the radarâ.
âThe ambition is to go higher. I want to be in the Premier League, but I can get my kilometres here,â he said, unaware that this road was nearing its end.
A cat had jumped onto his lap and there she remained, listening intently to stories of a fabled career. âShe wants to be my girlfriend, yes?â he said, although the relationship would later end after he threw his arms in the air, wondering how his generation never won a World Cup or European Championship.
Legendary striker Patrick Kluivert spoke to Craig Hope about his career as player and manager
Kluivert has a particular love for the nightlife in Newcastle, having experienced it as a player
Kluivert spoke for five minutes on the psychology of footballers, including Mario Balotelli
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But, for now, all is calm. Mario Balotelli, his striker and fellow Sheraton resident, is out of town. Come on, then, who has the best room? âHim!â said Kluivert. âLetâs be honest, he has the penthouse!â
Balotelli, you assume, is perfect for a crash-course in management. Later that week, he crashed his car in Italy after returning home for knee surgery. Point proven, quite literally.
âHe is particular, special, all his coaches would say the same,â said Kluivert. âYou have to know how to handle him, but he is a fantastic person.â
Kluivert spoke for close to five minutes, uninterrupted and with fervour, on the psychology of footballers. Maybe the psychology of football club owners should be his next passion.
âTo get under the skin of the player is the nicest thing to achieve. But you have to speak to them differently, to tailor your communication, and that gives me fascination. But also, does the player have the football intelligence youâd expect? Because my level is probably a little bit higher, I have to make sure he understands me.â
What about discipline, any need for curfews to keep the likes of Balotelli in line?
âIâm not a police officer! The players also have to take responsibility.â
He was being modest when he said his level was perhaps a âlittle bit higherâ. Kluivert, the player, stood for pedigree, excellence.
âYou can say that, but I wonât, I donât like that,â he said, and he was not being confrontational. âI played with the best players in the world and I hope that I was one of them, and that they would say the same about me.â
Kluivert was hailed as the best volleyer of a football by Mail Sport columnist Graeme Souness
Kluivert was not âs***â at Newcastle – which then manager Graeme Souness had no problem telling some of his players at the time – netting 13 times in his one season at St Jamesâ Park
He said there was a great camaraderie at Newcastle describing Craig Bellamy (pictured hugging the Dutchman) as ‘my man’
Mail Sport columnist Graeme Souness did not see peak Kluivert when he managed him at Newcastle, but recognised his innate ability. Souness had told me to say hello and remarked that Kluivert was the best volleyer of a ball he had ever seen. It made the recipient smile.
âWow, thatâs good, because he has seen a lot of players! Even Shearer! It was a pleasure to work with Graeme. He was such a warm person, very honest. If youâre s***, heâd say so!â
Kluivert was not âs***â at Newcastle, either, he just wasnât the same player who had returned 25 goals in three straight seasons for Barcelona. He netted 13 times in his one season at St Jamesâ Park, including the winners in the 5th and 6th rounds of the FA Cup against Chelsea and Tottenham. So good was his header versus the former, it was used in the movie Goal! the following year.
âThey have to pay me royalties, no? Ah, I have only happy memories. Itâs a great city and I love to see what is happening now. We had a good team, too, you know, and a great camaraderie. (Kieron) Dyer, (Jermaine) Jenas, Bellamy⊠my man, Craig! The restaurants, the nightlife⊠Stereo, Julieâs, Osborne Road.â
The 3am boys and the 3am venues. Kluivert, though, had been lured to Newcastle by the people. It is the stuff of folklore on Tyneside, the night St Jamesâ rose to applaud the Barcelona striker when he was substituted having scored in a 2-0 Champions League win.
âI thought, âWow. What is going on?â. It gave me goosebumps, a special feeling. The home crowd, doing that for me? In that moment, we had a connection. I have such a warm heart for this club.â
But, in truth, Kluivertâs body was beginning to run cold, even at 28. Heâd had a decade at the very top. There were later spells at Valencia, PSV and Lille, before retirement aged 31. The irony is that he looks like he could still play now.
âI join in the rondos. And those volleys? Theyâre still spot on. But the long runs, forget it!â
He accepts with good grace the subject of his decline.
âIâd had lots of little operations on my knees, which is never good. If things are not going the way you plan in your head, itâs hard. When I was into my 30sâŠâ
He admitted he gave up playing football at the age of 31 because he ‘could not be bothered’
The Dutchman has four sons, and three of them have followed their father into football
He sighs, before candidly admitting: âI could not be bothered. Itâs the most beautiful game there is. But when you start it early and play at the top, and youâre mind feels at the top but you know your body is not, itâs not a good feeling. But come on, Iâm very happy for my career the way it is.â
And so he should be. It was in 1995 that Kluivert came from the bench in the 70th minute of the Champions League final with the game against Milan goalless. What followed was beautiful.Â
âBeautiful? No, it was super ugly!â he booms. The cat stirs but stays to hear the story of the goal that changed Kluivertâs life.
âFrank Rijkaard played me in and I managed to poke the ball, with the top of my toe, through Rossi and into the corner. I stood up, ran away and felt all the players hugging me. If you see the footage, I am hitting the players off me, because I couldnât breathe! A boy, scoring the winning goal in the Champions League final, you can imagine what that does to you.
âWhen we came back to Amsterdam, the airline brought my mother to the steps of the plane. The door went open and there she was, âWaaahh!â. I was crying like a little child!â
He became the youngest ever scorer in the Champions League final to help Ajax win the trophy back in 1995 – a goal that rocketed the striker into stardom at the age of 18-years-old
His mother, Lidwina, passed away earlier this year. She had played a part in that goal.
âBefore we left for Vienna, she took Louis van Gaal by his face and said, âListen. I know what youâre going to do (start Patrick on the bench), but Iâm telling you, my son is going to scoreâ. Luckily, he listened!â
Kluivert was reunited with Van Gaal at Barcelona in 1998.
âIt was like stepping into a bath of warm water. Rivaldo and Figo either side of me? It was easy! If you make the right run, they just put it there for you.â
Later, there was Ronaldinho, his favourite team-mate. But only one La Liga in six years?
âI scored lots of goals, we got far in the Champions League, but I really would have appreciated more titles. Maybe it was because of the others, Valencia, Real Madrid⊠the Galacticos were good!â
An even greater mystery is how his Holland team did not win anything. But he must get sick of that question?
âYes, I do!â he bellows, and so his feline friend departs. âBut itâs a fair question. At the World Cup in 98, everyone I speak to – everyone! – says, âYou were the best teamâ. We felt that as well. It was our time.â
Kluivert scored for Holland in their 2-1 win over Argentina at the 1998 World Cup in Marseille
He said he felt Holland ‘should have won’ the semi-final, but they fell short against Brazil
Hollandâs 2-1 quarter-final victory over Argentina in Marseille, in which Kluivert scored, is one of the most iconic World Cup matches ever.
âAbsolutely. The colours of the jerseys, the stadium, the sun. Two red cards. And Bergkampâs goal, phwoar. That goal, it runs over the whole world, man.â
Where were you when he pulled the ball from the sky?
âI was running into the box, shouting for it! He was like, âNo, no. Iâm putting it in the net, my friendâ. He could have pulled it back! I said, âOK, good job, well done!â.â
And so to a semi-final with Brazil.
âWe should have won. 1-0 behind to Ronaldo. Then, right at the end, the cross from Ronald de Boer comes towards me. I thought, âThis is mineâ. Boom! 1-1.â
This is a question asked later, but if he could pick up his phone and watch any of his goals right now, which would it be?
âThe header in the semi-final. I love that goal.â
Holland, though, were beaten on penalties. Kluivert was due to take the fifth but it never got that far. Two years later, at Euro 2000 in the Netherlands, Kluivert was the only scorer in a semi-final shootout defeat by Italy, having missed one of two Holland spot-kicks in normal time. The Dutch had also lost on pens at Euro 92 and Euro 96.
âAlways penalties. I donât know why. We deserved a trophy. Itâs a bitter feeling.â
Yes, Patrick, we know that feeling.
Kluivert has four sons. Three of them are footballers.
âIf weâre making a family 5-a-side team, Iâm still outfield, just! Quincy, my oldest boy, heâd be in goal. Justin (24) is at Bournemouth. Reuben (22) is a defender in Holland. Then I have my little one, Shane, who is at Barcelona Under-17s.
âItâs funny, when we play in the garden, itâs so competitive. Iâm sweating my ass off! They want to show their skills, to each other and to me. But they get on so well, always connected even though theyâre not always together. For me, that is the most important.â
Justin recently scored his first Premier League goal but Shane, in time, could be the best Kluivert of them all?
âHe âcouldâ be. He is the most dedicated. For a father, and also my father, it is so beautiful to see. I didnât push them, either. They fell into it. Itâs not easy, because they have âKluivertâ on the back. It gives an extra dimension, an expectation.â
They could just go with Shane or Justin on the shirt?
Kluivert was fired by Turkish club Adana Demirspor on Monday after a draw and a defeat
âWhat? No, I like it there! Theyâre handling it well.â
Kluivert was taking his coaches to dinner that night but, before leaving, he joked about my own managerial prospects. Iâd told him I had a crunch fixture in charge of my sonâs Under-8s team, who had lost 5-1 last time out.
âOh, you could get sacked?! If you donât win the next one⊠âSee you, dad!â.â
While we won the next one, Kluivert and Adana drew and then lost. He was sacked on Monday with the team in fifth. Maybe it will be management that finally ages him.
IT’S ALL KICKING OFF!Â
It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.
It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify
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