Football Daily - In Focus with Jay-Jay Okocha

Episode Date: January 4, 2025

From Paris, to Bolton – Premier League legend Jay-Jay Okocha sits down with Dion Dublin in this Football Daily special. The former Nigeria international opens up about that move from Paris Saint-Germain to the Premier League with Bolton Wanderers. He chats to Dion about adapting to life in England, his relationship with Sam Allardyce and his determination to prove himself in the Premier League.

You get a phone call You get a phone call from Sam Allardyce How did that phone call go? What did he say to you on that phone call to convince you? Well, I would say that the phone call came at the right time He made his intention clear

He told me how vital I would be for the team. But I have to admit I didn't do my research, you know, because I never really heard of voting. But for the fact that I wanted to play in the Premier League, you know, and that was my opportunity to come to England. JJ, it's great to see you, mate. Thank you. It's great to see you.

Haven't seen you in a long time, but thank you very much for this time here. I just want to, I want to find out about you. I don't care about this film. I want to find out about, you know, the way you were

and your career at Bolton and your time in England. Can I start with players that you played with? Because you've played with the best in the world. What players rank at the top of the tree? Defenders, forwards? Defenders, let's start with defenders that you played against. Well, defenders, I would start with the national team, you know, because as they say, charity begins at home.

So, I played in an area where we may be up to date the best team that Nigeria have produced. And I will start with one familiar one that you know, Celestin Babanjaro. Yes. He was quite young, but great talent. And Taribo West. Yes. Taribo West. Wow. We had one big lad, Uche Okechukwu.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He played in Turkey. He didn't really play in England but he was a great player and of course at little lad on the left side, Simon Charlton. What I like about these players is that they are honest players. Nothing better than having honest players in your team who put their life on the line for the course. But they all had quality as well? Oh, definitely. They're all top players, they're all great in their own positions.

Moving forward, midfield, because you played a lot, you kind of played, where would you say your position was? Because we never knew, playing against you many times, we never knew where you were going to be and what position you were playing in. So where was your best position?

Well, I mean, my best position is just behind the striker. OK. You know, but I think it's always good to be able to play two or three different positions. And my understanding of the game is that if I'm still, I'll be easily marked. So I always like to have the freedom to change positions. So, yeah, that was why I was a bit difficult to predict. But I played with some great talents in midfield. The likes of Ronaldinho, even a younger Ateta, Sando Lissé. I was also yn y teater yn ifanc. Roeddwn i'n ffodus iawn o gael y rhai hynny o amgylch.

Felly, a oedd gennych chi'r rôl 10? Oherwydd rwy'n gweld chi fel wynger, a oedd gennych chi'r pwysigrwydd a'r sgiliau. Mae gennych chi'n cyfnodol o ran, yn fy marn, well as your skill and you know you're known for in in my eyes and players talking about speaking about jj they'll go oh yeah remember that piece of skill you used to do the first person to do that piece of skill where you rolled the ball over you know and everybody tried it in the training ground were falling over trying can you remember the piece of skill of course i I created that. I'll never forget it. I was comfortable doing it because I know that if I get the ball on the wing, no player will ever think that my intention would be to go past through that tiny space. space, you know. So, yeah, I was good at dribbling, you know. My strength was whenever I have the ball,

I decide what I want to do, you know. I'm in control whenever I have the ball and I had the confidence also to try things. But I would say that for me, when I was young, I was comfortable playing on the side, Ond byddaf yn dweud, pan oeddwn i'n ifanc, roeddwn i'n hyfforddus yn chwarae ar y sôl.

Roeddwn i'n cael cyfle i wneud chwarae ar un-on-un. Yn syth. Yn syth. Yn syth. Oedd hi'n ddangosol, JJ? Oedd hi'n ddangosol i chi, y sgiliau, neu oedd hi'n dod o rhan o aelodau teulu? natural to you the skill or did it come from family members or no it was natural to me because as a kid i was just on the street trying things out you know playing so that freedom was what i transferred as a professional in nigeria back home in nigeria yeah back home in nigeria you know and when i started playing as a professional, I started remembering those things.

And of course, you have to, as a player, have an identity. And I knew that that could be my identity, that could be my advantage over other players. So, coming from Nigeria, naturally talented, a lot of naturally talented kids in and around you. You're loving your football, you then become professional and you enjoy your football again and then you get a phone call.

You get a phone call from Sam Allardyce. How did that phone call go? What did he say to you on that phone call to convince you? Well, I would say that the phone call came at the right time because I was out of contract at Paris Saint-Germain because

I wanted to go to a new place and preferably Premier League. So, I would say that the call came at the right time and he made his intention clear.

He told me how vital I would be for the team. But I have to admit I didn't do my research because I never really heard of voting. But for the fact that I wanted to play in the Premier League you know and that was my opportunity to come to England. So no research, no research on Bolton, no research on Sam? No research at all you know but I mean he spoke well you know he convinced me and I felt wanted and that was key for me. And also us being colonised by the British, I wanted to raise my kids here in England as well.

So that gave me the opportunity also to think of my family. So it was a big family decision as well as just a football decision? It was, I would say it was a big family decision as well as just a football decision? I will say it was a football decision and I had to convince my wife because my wife was in love with Paris and she never heard of boating so she was like how can we leave Paris to boating to not even London? You know what I said? I mean, that's where my career is taking us to. And I'm a football person.

I don't care wherever I find myself. I'll make it home. You know, I'm surely all about football and not the lifestyle. So I said that it will be the right decision and that will give us opportunity, of course, after my career to move to wherever I want to move to.

But I said, it's my career first and then our lifestyle. Hello, Gary Lineker here. Join myself, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards for The Rest Is Football, the essential podcast for football fans. We'll be bringing strong opinions on all the latest stories from the Premier League and indeed the wider world of football in a show that combines topical debate

with the most outrageous tales from our own careers. Will Liverpool have enough to win the Premier League this season? Will Real Madrid's new Galacticos era be a success? Why did Gaza bring an ostrich to training? The rest is football. Listen on BBC Sounds. So when you get there and you see the training ground I'm not finished yet I'm not finished yet

When you get there to the training ground to the ground you realise where you are what's your initial thoughts then? You've probably got a coat on as well well that's where it gets interesting because um when i got there i was only shown the stadium which is lovely they didn't take me to the training ground and this stadium you know it's it's uh fabulous you know it's it's wonderful so i'm like oh okay that's great

and after i signed and now went to the training ground and i saw that we didn't even have changing room we were changing in cabin and i was like oh god are you sure that this is the right decision? You know, but of course, the damage had been done already. I've signed, you know. I said to myself, you have to face the music, you know, and that was when I realised that Bolton had never played in two seasons in a row in Premier League. You know, that I'm up for a different challenge now because I was used to challenging for the title. Now it's all about surviving.

But, I mean, at the end of the day, it turned out great. It turned out amazing because you are known for playing, in this country, known for playing for Bolton mainly. Had a bit of time at Hull as well, but your time at Bolton, you kind of, I don't know, your legendary status within the Premier League came from those times. But you played with, you know know your squad of players was just outstanding it really was yeah i mean um we struggled my first season you know because um that's 2002 2002 2003

season because um i met players that gained promotion with Sam. Okay. And their mentality was different. Yeah. You know, I could tell they were just happy being in the Premier League. Oh, I see. But my mentality was not just to be in the Premier League. It's to compete.

You know, it's to try and win something with bolting so we always have a section before the season uh one-on-one with the coaching staff actually what do you think it's achievable you know for the season so my first season i was like if we can finish top 10 and they all started laughing. No way! So that was when I realized that, okay. Okay, different places. I'm in a different place now. And it's all about maintaining our Premier League status.

And after we survived the first season, we had to bring in better players because we could have struggled again if we had kept those players that came up with him. Because they've done their bit. They worked hard. They're fantastic players, but we need to get them up. So the players and the manager, I mean, the players that came in, you're talking about Hierro, Anelka,

Campo, who else was there? Pedersen, just all basically world-class. El Hadj Diouf. El Hadj Diouf as well. Idi Nakata. Oh my gosh. Stelios. So, and I think that was where my influence came in. Okay, so you felt more comfortable then? Exactly, you know, and I could attract players. So these players started coming to us because they realised that, okay, we've got some quality here and automatically everything changed. And people were not really taking notice of what we were doing because they were still seeing us as that relegation candidate.

As Bolton. As Bolton. And we started proving them wrong by competing, by playing some good football. We changed a bit of Sam's football philosophy, which is the quickest route to the goal, you know. And also with time, we could understand how he wanted us to play, you know, and where we can come in with our natural abilities. Yeah, we got the balance right. Did you go and speak

to Sam about this your relationship was with Sam was good did you get a chance to chat we had a wonderful relationship

you know and some things he was not comfortable with you know what like he didn't really

want us to keep the ball in our own half and play and play you know he wanted us to keep the ball in our own half. And play. And play, you know. He wanted us to get it up there as quickly as possible and then try and put pressure and win the second ball. And I could understand his philosophy

because you have to make do with what you've got. Gotcha. And when we started bringing in more quality and you really are careful for God. Yes. Mae'n rhaid i chi wneud gyda'r hyn rydych chi'n ei gael. Pan ddechreuom i ddod â'r gwaith mwy, fe wnaeth Uri Jo Kef, un o'r chwaraewyr gwych, a gwneud pethau newydd. Felly, fe ddechreuom i'w cymryd yn dda iawn. A oedd hi'n deall hynny?

Oedd hi'n dweud, «JJ, mae'n rhaid i chi wneud hynny» neu, «JJ, mae'n rhaid i chi wneud hynna' neu mae'n rhaid i chi wneud hynna?'' Neu, oedd yn dechrau dweud, ''Rwydwch i i fynd i'r rhan a chwarae ychydig, neu...?'' Oedd yn dda? Nid oedd. Roedd ei neges i mi bob amser yn glir.

Yn ein hanner, ''Cleidio''. Yn ystod y gwaith olaf, ''Rwy'n gallu ddweud wrthych beth i'w wneud, rydych chi'n chwarae'r pethau eich hun, ond dim ond yn ystod y gwaith olaf.'' Os oedd yn ei ddweud, you're a very creative player, you do your own stuff, but only in the final thought. If he had his way, I don't think he'd want me in our own half at all. I wouldn't want you!

But I mean, I also understood where I could dribble and where I could keep things simple. Absolutely. Do you have favourite places that you played in this country? Grounds or players you played against where you scored a lot? Well, well, Old Trafford is always special. Anfield is always special. And then Highbury then, you know, was also like a... It was tight, wasn't it?

Tight, yeah, a cage fight, you know, which was good for us because we don't keep position and one or two passes were in their own 18-year-old. So, yeah, Newcastle, of course, great atmosphere there. So those are the stadiums. Were there certain players that you really enjoyed playing with and you had good relationships with and you just seemed to know where each other were? Well yeah, I would say Campo. You know, because when he came in we tried to initiate the attack through him and he's got some good vision, some good passes. So I started getting on the ball more. So, yeah, I love playing with him. And was your ambition always to, when you were in the Premier League,

was it always to not leave a legacy, but did you know what you were leaving behind, JJ? Because your skills and wing play and unusual football, a lot of people think about you when we think about that time no i to be honest i wasn't thinking about that you know um my initial thought was just to show that i can cope with my style of game you know because the impression we had about Roedd y syniadau y gwaith yn y Llewyrdau yn ddiddorol iawn. Roedd chwaraewyr fel fi yn gallu penderfynu yn y Llewyrdau. Felly, roedd fy nghefnogaeth yn dweud y gallwn chwarae mewn unrhyw le. Ac hefyd, wrth gwrs, newid y syniadau y mae pobl yn ei chael am bolton.

Roeddwn i'n chwarae gyda chi am llawer o amser pan oeddwn yn chwarae i Villa. change the impression people have about Bolton. I played against you many, many times when I was playing for Villa and you did a couple of things I can't show because I need to stand up to show people. You took a free kick once, you were going to curl it with your right foot and then you stood straight on and you curled it on the inside of the wall. I can't explain it. Well, I'm sorry. I mean, it has to go down as a mistake from you because you set up the wall and I saw that the wall wasn't properly set up you know so when I saw the gap you know I had to I mean it was a risk as well but that was your game wasn't it that was my game I mean I love taking risks you know I see things differently yeah and um as long as it's it brings success then I'm okay.

And I'm also willing to take the blame if it goes wrong. So you're happy to take the responsibility? I have to be different, I have to make an impact, I have to add value, you know, and if you're normal you can do all these things. So JJ, do you know you have this kind of, not a cult following, but you have a status within that era of football and people just look back at your clips all the time and they're always watching your old skills and trying to...

Do you know you have that here in this country? Not really, but it's great. I mean, I've always wanted to leave my foot stamp, you know, wherever I go. I wanted to be remembered, you know, and if I'm remembered, yeah, that's for me a job well done, you know, because I think it's all about the next generation as an African player. It's all about who's coming next and you have to make sure that you leave the door wide open, you know, whilst you're there for the next kid to have the opportunity. Absolutely. But you've done that, JJ, you've done that.

I just want to ask you quickly about yourself. What are you doing now? What's keeping you busy? Have you got lots of businesses or...? Well, I do a lot of ambassadorial work, but of course, I'm a businessman now, which I enjoy. You know, my destiny is in my hands. I don't have to go to training camp anymore. You know, I'm enjoying life. Yeah. And that's doing everything you want to do? Exactly. And of course, doing a bit for football as well.

Brilliant. And for the next generation, I would imagine too. Definitely. I mean, you have to give back, you know, and that was one of the reasons why I moved back to Nigeria, because we need help. You know, here in England, you have proper structure in place and everything is automatic, but that's the type of thing that we are trying to set up back home. It is a tough challenge, but I'm enjoying every bit of it. Good for you, JJ. It's great to talk to you. You are a Premier League legend, sir, and I'm glad I got a chance to play against you and know you as well.

So thank you for your time and good luck in everything you're doing, sir. I wish you all the best. Thanks for your time and good luck in everything you're doing sir I wish you all the best take care