Source: Northern_Echo
Campbell keen to prove a point to Spurs boss
WITH all eyes on Darren Bent against his former club at the Stadium of Light this afternoon, another member of last season's Tottenham squad will also be aiming to impress his former boss.[LNB] Fraizer Campbell spent eight months at White Hart Lane under two different managers, Juande Ramos and Harry Redknapp, and enjoyed his time in the capital.[LNB] He still has friends at the north London club, but it is not his time playing under either of his bosses at Spurs that made him the player he is today. More than ten years at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson did that.[LNB] Gone are the days of Academy players having to clean and polish the boots of the first team squad, but he still had the honour of spending plenty of time on the Carrington training ground with the likes of Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo.[LNB] Perhaps the biggest influence a young player at United can have, however, does not come from those he passes to or receives passes from, more from the man at the top.[LNB] Campbell, who moved from Old Trafford for £3.5m in the summer, remembers being called to Ferguson's office for the first time, along with some of his team-mates, as a newly turned pro.[LNB] I probably met Sir Alex when I was ten when I first signed schoolboy forms, but I can't really remember. Not at all, said Campbell. I do remember when we were going on tour somewhere, though, and we went into his office to have a meeting and he scared the life out of us. Really he did.[LNB] One time, when I was a bit older, when I first started to train every day, he got us all in the office, talking to us, and then at the end of the meeting he said to us if any of you are messing around.' He then opened his drawer and there was a massive knife in it.[LNB] You'll get this!' he said.[LNB] Ferguson's comment was clearly tongue in cheek, but offered a further insight into the managerial style of a man renowned for giving the hairdryer treatment to underperformers and kicking a football boot at David Beckham.[LNB] That afternoon taught Campbell always to respect his managers, while Ferguson also taught him the need for hard work, which has stood him in good stead at Sunderland.[LNB] He has helped me enormously.[LNB] I have learned that if you have respect and understand your managers then it helps you in the long run,[LNB] said Campbell.[LNB] He was always keen on players doing extra after training stuff like that. If you get that into you at an early age then it helps you progress as a professional.[LNB] Now I will stay behind in training and do some gym work, shooting, whatever you need really. If you are a winger, like I have turned into in recent weeks, then your crossing or free-kicks need to be worked on.[LNB] You do get stuck in a rut sometimes when you are at a club for so long, even at Man United. It was hard but I wanted to make something of my career and I felt this was the best thing for me to do.[LNB] Campbell never expected to return Old Trafford once he had been told to head to Tottenham on the last day of the summer transfer window in 2008. He knew he was going to be moving on loan somewhere, just not White Hart Lane.[LNB] The 22-year-old had concluded talks with Steve Bruce, then manager of Wigan, about a temporary switch when he was informed he had to form part of the £30.75m deal that took Dimitar Berbatov to United.[LNB] Alex Ferguson had said I could go and speak with whoever,[LNB] said Campbell. Funnily enough I was sat with Steve Bruce, chatting with him. I was on international duty with England Under-21s, and then the Berbatov thing came through. It all went crazy. I ended up walking away from those talks and heading straight to Tottenham.[LNB] All they were waiting for was a fax from United. I was in a hotel reception somewhere, with my dad, Keith, and my uncle. I didn't know what the hell was going on. I just said to Steve sorry for what has happened'.[LNB] Within 15 minutes of his Tottenham debut he had created the winner for Bent in the UEFA Cup tie against Wisla Krakow. With the exception of two goals against Liverpool in the Carling Cup and his first Premier League strike in a defeat to Fulham, he found opportunities rare under Redknapp.[LNB] If you are brought in by one manager (Ramos) and he goes then the new manager can come in with new ideas and that's what Harry did,[LNB] said Campbell. I still enjoyed my time there, I played in Europe and they have great players to learn from.[LNB] Any experience was a learning experience really. I had to learn how to force my way into a team, be patient.[LNB] Every manager wants different things.[LNB] I don't look back on that year frustrated. I remember those times when I am not in the team now, I have to make sure I work that little bit harder in the future.[LNB] I would have loved to play every week down there but I would like to think I learned things. I have nothing to prove to Harry, but scoring would be nice.[LNB]
