EXCLUSIVE Jason Manford Interview (Part 2): Balotelli, 1-6, The Poznan, Richards And MORE!

Jason Manford is one of the most popular comedians in the country and is currently in the middle of a nationwide tour. Also a passionate Manchester City fan, Jason kindly gave up his time to talk to me about all things Blue!

Part 1, where Jason discusses Carlos Tévez, the FA Cup, our season so far and plenty more is here.

View From A Blue: How brilliant was the 6-1 victory over Manchester United?!

Jason Manford: It’s sort of a double-edged sword for me, because I had a bet on 5-1 at 350/1 and would have been able to retire! No, but seriously, it was absolutely brilliant and well deserved. I don’t think the scoreline flattered us – we could have had eight or nine the way we were playing. As soon as I saw Jonny Evans in the starting line-up, I had a little chuckle to myself. Jonny Evans marking Aguero – are you having a laugh?! Darren Fletcher against Silva – come on now!

VFAB: Have you got a favourite goal from the six?

JM: Silva’s goal when he nutmegged the defender and then the ‘keeper, that’s always funny. It doesn’t matter how old you are, 5 or 35, professional or amateur, any nutmeg is embarrassing. Especially when the goalie cost as much as he did!

- Jason is performing at the MEN Arena on Wednesday 16th November. To purchase tickets, please click here.

VFAB: What are your views on Mario Balotelli?

JM: I love him. I think he’s brilliant. What would you rather have: half a dozen Balotelli’s or 500 Alan Shearer’s – turning up, doing a job, scoring goals, playing well, but effectively a bit boring on the pitch. Every so often, you just need something. Adebayor running down the pitch to celebrate in front of the Arsenal fans, even El Hadji Diouf being a pantomime villain, Joey Barton being a ******** – you need these people. It makes the game a bit more exciting, otherwise you’ve got 22 robots running round a pitch, coming off, saying the exact same things, managers terrified of slagging the referees off – it just becomes this watered down business instead of an actual emotional game of football.

Every so often, you need to Balotelli to go “you know what, I’m going to backheel this”, or try an overhead kick. And that one he scored against Aston Villa was a brilliant piece of ingenuity. The ‘keeper didn’t know it was going happen, nobody else knew it was going to happen.

VFAB: Everyone talks about his ‘moments’ but he’s a hugely talented player, isn’t he?

JM: At the end of the day, he’s a 20 year old man in a foreign country, away from his parents and hanging around a load of mates, earning ridiculous sums. When I was 20, I was at university and nearly killed my best friend with a helium canister. Basically, he’s a student on a budget. Now, we don’t have a go at students for having a laugh, but for some reason, there’s this idea that footballers are supposed to be some sort of influential figures and role models. But if you’re a parent and you’re letting your kids have footballers as role models, then I suggest you pick a different role model!

- Jason Manford Live, Jason’s brand new DVD, is available to order from Amazon here.

VFAB: You mentioned Silva’s goal before. Is he your favourite current player?

JM: My favourite current player is Micah Richards. He’s the one I have most affinity with because he just feels like one of us playing the game and even though Silva’s been absolutely spectacular this season, I just feel a sort of connection with Richards. I get the impression he’s excited to be there and he’ll do everything for the Blues.

VFAB: Do you think he should be playing for England?

JM: Why on earth is he not playing for England? I mean, I just don’t get it. Apart from Rooney, I don’t think any other United player would get in our team and they’re the current champions. I think Chris Smalling played right back at one point, and there’s Phil Jones and Glen Johnson ahead of Micah. It’s an absolute joke. He’s the best right back in the country by a country mile and if he’s not in the England team for the next ten years, then they’re having a laugh.

VFAB: Have you got any favourite player from the past?

JM: Paul Lake was a hero of mine when I was at school and obviously Georgi Kinkladze, Shaun Goater and Paul Dickov. I’ve had quite a few actually, Nicky Weaver as well. They’re the ones you get on the back of your shirt.

VFAB: Do you reckon we can win the Premier League this season?

JM: I think so, we’ve got enough quality players to be the invincibles. The difference with us and someone like Arsenal, when they went through the whole season unbeaten, is that we’re Manchester City. And it doesn’t matter if you change the chairman or Moonchester, at some point we’re going to get knocked out of a cup by a balloon! That is just the Manchester City way.

VFAB: If you were performing in Manchester, would there be any more talk about football than if you were elsewhere?

JM: Yeah definitely. I have a bit more of a laugh. The thing with the rivalry between City and United is that it’s only serious below a certain IQ level. You get some idiots who want to kick off about it, but generally it’s just mates. We’re mates all year round and then for two days a year, we hate each other. That’s the way it’s always been.

After the 6-1, I was in Merseyside that night so obviously I was among people who were well up for it and it was great! I’ll generally have some ribbing and fun and games but City are front page news these days as well as back page news, so you can talk about it anywhere.

VFAB: Your new book is out as well. How much would a non-City fan struggle to understand it?

JM: There’s a couple of chapters about City but what I’ve done is focused on the football aspect of it, not just the City element. So yes, I’ve talked about how we weren’t allowed anything in the house that was made by Sharp because they sponsored United, but then someone sent me a message to say that they weren’t allowed anything by Samsung because their dad hates Chelsea.

But it’s more about the family side of football and the fact that football is a bonding process between men; men who don’t necessarily hug or kiss or show affection to each other or even say nice things to each other, but suddenly a goal goes in and you’re hugging someone you would never normally hug. It’s an important thing, especially between working class men – it’s an important device to keep us together.

- Jason’s fantastic new autobiography, Brung Up Proper, is available to buy here.

VFAB: Talking of celebrations, what do you make of the Poznan?

JM: I’m over it. I loved it last season – I joined in and got involved. I’ll be honest with you and I know it might upset a few people, but I’m over it this season. I went through the stage of just putting my coat on backwards and then just jumping up. I buy the seasons tickets for my brothers and my dad, so there are five of us and it costs money. I therefore want to face the pitch the whole time. I don’t want to turn my back at any point and I’ve just got a feeling that at some point someone’s going to get an equaliser moments into the Poznan and we’re all facing the wrong way. I don’t mind other people doing it, but I’ve stopped doing it.

VFAB: Can you pick your best XI from any players you’ve seen for City?

JM: Well it’s hard with this current squad because you’re tempted to name the current XI. I’d stick Kinkladze in there, Andy Morrison, Paul Lake, Nicky Weaver as well. That’s hard because obviously Joe Hart’s fantastic, but I’d go with the current XI plus those I mentioned.

Many thanks to Jason, who kindly gave up his time to talk to me. If you have any comments about what Jason has said, feel free to post below.

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