Being entrusted with looking after Gazza, let alone being his close mate must have been a difficult prospect for even the hardiest of football hard men, so the fact that it fell to mild-mannered future Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder makes the revelation even more surprising. But during the young Geordie's spell with his home-town club, it was Roeder who was appointed minder as well as being the club captain, which must have been something like attempting to make a bull behave in a china shop. For all the pranks - including Gazza putting a kettle whistle up Roeder's exhaust pipe and making him spend £400 on an unnecessary service - the pair remained great pals, and the wayward genius probably missed the calming influence of his former captain as he tried his best to throw his talent away in later years.
