Footy Boots profiles Jochen Zeitz, CEO of leading sportslifestyle brand Puma.

To command an annual salary of £8 million a year, Puma’s 44 year old CEO Jochen Zeitz must be doing something right. Chief executive of Puma since 1993, Zeitz, is credited with transforming the fortunes of the German football boot brand, from being a loss making outfit to a global giant. Trained as a marketer by the American multinational Colgate-Palmolive, he speaks five languages, never wears a tie, keeps a holiday home in Africa, and flies his own planes.

Only this week, Puma revealed impressive 2007 sales figures, giving optimism for a successful 2008 (see article). Despite strengthening its position in the sports lifestyle arena, Puma still trails its German rival Adidas and America’s Nike. Both are five times its size, having quickly followed Zeitz’s “sports lifestyle” path. Can Puma thus ever catch rivals Nike and Adidas?
“Not interested in catching them,” he shrugs. “Whether you are three, two or one is meaningless. You need to be relevant and innovative; that’s what counts.”

Puma was founded by Rudolf Dassler, brother of Adi Dassler (Adidas) in 1948. When Zeitz joined, the company was in turmoil - it had slumped into loss after the glory years of making Pele’s football boots. “It was a mess, very bureaucratic, very traditional, very German-centric,” says Zeitz, frowning. “Our export manager could barely speak English.”

But the difficulties gave Zeitz the opportunity to rise fast. “We had three chief executives in two years, each one promoted me. Then we were taken over by a Swedish owner, who asked me to give a presentation about what I thought was wrong.” The presentation won Zeitz the top job. He was just 29. “Everyone thought I would only last six months.”

He started by laying off staff, closing unprofitable production lines and warehouses. By 1994 he had recorded Puma’s first profits since 1986. Three more years of retrenchment were followed by five years of investment. Most importantly, says Zeitz, the brand was repositioned. “Puma in the 1980s was a cheap brand. I said let’s become premium. Let’s bring fashion and style into play.”

And he made Puma cool with a series of gambles, such as pouring money into Jamaican reggae. “We are a sports brand but we want to be something else, too. Jamaica is perfect. There are athletes but also the atmosphere, the climate, the music, the lifestyle.” Design coups like the bodysuits worn by Serena Williams and the Cameroon football team kept Puma in the headlines.

The Beijing Olympics and European football championships promise a good summer ahead. Puma sponsors World Cup winners Italy. In addition, only recently Puma has been linked with a possible takeover bid for fellow football boot brand Umbro. Straight talker Zeitz however dismisses this possibility out of hand: “Too much blood, sweat and tears.” “Not sexy enough,” he says. Creating sexy business is Zeitz’s passion.

In this week’s Coke Column, Giles talks about his hopes for Arsenal (his boyhood team) and what he plans to do when he retires from football.

Hi everyone, we’ve had a good start to 2008 at Northampton. A six match unbeaten run was ended by a 1-0 defeat to Yeovil in a poor, scrappy game last week in which the home side scored the winner in the 94th minute. We didn’t get the ball down and play and it was a sad way to end our undefeated run and the manager was rightly unhappy with our performance. We bounced back from defeat at the weekend to beat Gillingham 4-0. I came off the bench to score - my goal took a deflection and looped over the keeper, but they all count! Gillingham weren’t really at the races and I think 4-0 could have quite easily been six or seven. Our new striker Adebayo Akinfenwa also scored a couple, which I’m sure would have been good for his confidence. He’s now scored 4 since he joined us. Adebayo is a good player from what I’ve seen so far. He has a good touch, holds the ball up well, and gets in the box and scores goals, so I’m sure he’ll be an asset as we try and finish as high as possible this season.

I’m going to watch the Arsenal v AC Milan Champions League game at the Emirates tonight. I can’t wait! I have been an Arsenal fan for as long as I can remember and I used to love Ian Wright, he scored so many goals. Once I went to one of his signing sessions at Covent Garden as a kid and he sort of stuck as my Arsenal hero after that. I was also a big fan of Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Dennis Bergkamp, and the speedy winger Mark Overmars. In the current crop of players, I really like Cesc Fabregas. I’m also really looking forward to watching Kaka. What a player! I always try and learn from players playing in a similar position to me, looking at their passing and movement, but sometimes I just watch some of the things they do and say wow! I suppose that’s why they amongst the best players in the world.

A lot of people seemed to think Arsenal would struggle this season without Thierry Henry. I think if anything, losing Henry has made Arsenal a stronger group of players. They are certainly playing well, and I really do think they can win the League. The FA Cup defeat at Manchester United was disappointing. I don’t know whether Wenger and the players maybe had one eye on tonight’s match. I’m hoping we can maybe sneak a 1-0 victory tonight and then hold on in Milan in a few weeks time.

It’s a long, long way off but people do ask me if I’ve ever had any thoughts on what I’d like to do when I retire. A footballer’s career is short compared to other industries, often less than fifteen years, so it is important to think about your post career objectives. I definitely want to stay in sport following my football career. My brother Jon coaches Under 10s football and it is something he is really passionate about. Maybe I will look to follow in his footsteps when I retire and do a bit of coaching!

I’ve got a game away at Hartlepool on Friday night so hopefully we can get a result there.

And up the Arsenal tonight!

Footy Boots profiles Herbert Hainer, the CEO of leading football boot brand Adidas

Herbert Hainer, 53, took charge of football boot brand Adidas in 2000. Although a leader in the sports retail world, the company’s headquarters are housed in a converted army barracks in Herzogenaurach, a tiny Bavarian town of 25,000 people that is also home to rivals Puma.

He is a proud Bavarian and has spent most of his life in the southern German region where he was born. Colleagues describe him as “down to earth”, which is fitting given his humble background. He helped out in his parents’ butcher shop from the age of 10 and then opened a pub in his home town while pursuing his dream of becoming a professional footballer. Eventually he gave up, joining Procter & Gamble, the consumer goods group that he left 20 years ago for Adidas.

As a child, Herbert Hainer supported 1860 Munich, the team his brother played in as a professional for 10 years and bitter rivals of Bayern Munich, Germany’s biggest football club. But Mr Hainer, chief executive of Adidas, has since switched allegiance to Bayern, the club in which Adidas has a 10 per cent stake and where Mr Hainer is also the deputy chairman. “I support Bayern now because I am so often there and they are so important for Adidas in terms of the brand and marketing,” he says.

His enthusiasm for sport verges on the fanatical but he never lets this get in the way of a point-scoring opportunity for his business. A digression about the English football team’s recent dismal performance, for instance, prompts a dig at Nike, which recently brought the English sponsorship deal through the US company’s £285m ($558m, €382m) purchase of Umbro. “It looks an expensive way of gaining the English team,” he adds.

This competitive streak will be put to the test in 2008 in what promises to be a memorable year for sport. The Olympics are to be held in Beijing and the European football championships in Austria and Switzerland. Throw in the African Cup of Nations in football, the Super Bowl and the NBA All Star event - all of which Adidas sponsors through the three stripes or its Reebok brand - and there is no doubting the importance of the next 12 months for the world’s second biggest sporting goods maker.

“This is a huge year for Adidas and we are aiming for record sales and profits. I do believe all the events are a window to showcase our brands,” Adidas’ sales are finally within spitting distance of Nike. Its estimated €10.5bn revenues for 2007 are close to Nike’s of $16.3bn, or €11.1bn.

His management style is also very different from the usual view of Germans as consensus-driven. “I am very direct. I tell people immediately what I think, good or bad. I am aggressive in getting things done. I am impatient. I don’t want bulls*****rs around,” he says.

Hainer believes the company has “become faster and more aggressive” over the past eight years, under his stewardship as CEO.

“I do believe that the company has in the past five to eight years become very professional in preparing for big events,” he says. The company has made a much bigger event out of the ball for each competition by, for instance, launching the World Cup ball at the draw six months before it started. The Teamgeist ball for World Cup 2006 ended up selling 15m, well above the 6m sold four years previously. There is a lot of drama around how we bring products to life. Since 2000 we are like a race car where every screw and piece is exactly designed to get us to top speed - and I have to oil the machine every day,” he says.

In this week’s Coke Column, Giles talks about scoring his first goal for Northampton and the romance of the FA Cup.

Hi everyone, I’m pleased with the way the last few games have gone. We got a 1-0 away win against Gillingham last week and then on Friday beat Leyton Orient 2-0 at home. Orient were flying at the start of the season and they’re still in the play off mix so it was a good result for us. I also scored my first goal for the club in my second home game. I felt unlucky not to score against Hartlepool a few weeks back so I was pleased to get off the mark against Orient. Poul Hubertz flicked on a header about 35 yards out and I pushed it on with my left foot to knock it past the defenders into the area, before flicking it past the keeper with my right foot from just inside the box.

That goal was for the gaffer and the physios really. I’m very grateful to Stuart Gray for giving me the opportunity to step up a level and putting his faith in me, and also to the physios for all their help in getting me back from injury. It was good to get off the mark, and I thought we played well as a team.

Our next home game is against Brighton and I don’t see why we can’t go out there, play with confidence, and pick up another three points. My fitness is improving match by match and I’m only going to improve my sharpness by getting out on the pitch and playing.

Who says the romance of the FA Cup is dead?!

With playing on Friday, I was able to watch the live FA Cup games over the weekend, including my old team Mansfield take on Middlesbrough. Mansfield did well, playing like that it’s amazing to think they’re at the bottom of League Two. They dominated play in patches, especially at the beginning of the second half and Mickey Boulding hit the bar. On another day, it could have been a different result.

I was really chuffed for my mate Richard Pacquette. I played with him at QPR when I was younger and he now plays for Havant and Waterlooville. He scored to put the non league side 1-0 up at Anfield and he called me straight after the game. What an amazing performance it was by the part timers, in the first half it seems with a bit more luck they could have gone 2-0 up, then it would have been interesting! But ultimately, in the second half, Premiership class told and Liverpool ran out 5-2 winners. Richard was certainly buzzing though, and the team rounded the weekend off by going to the Man Utd v Spurs game at Old Trafford.

Your questions:

Hi Giles, What do you think of the situation at Newcastle? Do you think it is a good move for Keegan to go back there and to bring in Dennis Wise? From Danny P

I think if anyone can turn the situation round at Newcastle, Kevin Keegan can. He did a good job last time, and he certainly knows the club inside out. I was a bit surprised when I heard Dennis Wise was going there. He seemed to be building something at Leeds and has brought quite a few players in during the transfer window, including Brad Johnson from Northampton. I guess the opportunity was far too good to turn down. I’m not sure exactly what role he will have, but I reckon the fans will appreciate him and the players will respect him, due to what he did at Leeds and the combative, never say die attitude he had as a player.

See you in 2 weeks!

In this week’s Coke Column, Giles talks about his return to first team football.

Hi everyone, well after a year out with injury, I’ve finally returned to playing first team football. I must admit it’s been one of the most frustrating year’s of my life, especially as I’ve been close to coming back on several occasions only to suffer a new setback. My year out of competitive football has had one positive however, in allowing me to spend time with my baby daughter, who had her 1st birthday last week.

I made my Northampton debut against Leeds United at Elland Road last week. We lost the game 3-0 which was very disappointing but I thought I did ok when I came on for the last twenty or so minutes, when we were already 2-0 down. It was quite a high tempo game and unfortunately I picked up a yellow card within the first couple of minutes of being on the pitch. Leeds are a decent side, they’ve obviously got all the facilities and infrastructure to play at a much higher level again and I think they’ll definitely be in the mix to go up at the end of the season. My mate Brad Johnson has gone there, and he made his debut against Crewe on Monday. I was sad to see Brad go but I think it’s a very good move for him as it gives him a huge possibility of playing at a big club in a winning side, and most probably playing in the Championship next season.

Following ninety minutes of reserve team football against Southend last week in which I wasn’t too happy with my performance, I made my home debut against Hartlepool at the weekend, my first ninety minutes of first team football since New Year’s Day 2007! When Stuart Gray told me I would be starting I was absolutely buzzing, and couldn’t wait for the match. We ended up drawing the match 1-1 which I thought was a fair result. However we need to start turning the home draws into wins, so we don’t get sucked into the battle at the bottom, as there are several clubs behind us in the table who have games in hand.

As far as my performance went, I was fairly happy with the first half. My touch and passing weren’t bad, though I did give the ball away on occasion. In the second half I was holding back quite a lot and not pushing forward as much as normal. It’s going to take about six to eight games to get back to full fitness and sharpness, so I hope people are patient with me. My game is about being box to box, I like to come back and defend, but I also like to push forward a bit like Steven Gerrard does for Liverpool. I’m going to have to play intelligently over the next month or so to conserve my reserves of energy for the full ninety minutes; there is no point me pushing forward, then leaving us exposed at the back.

I half expected to only play around sixty minutes on Saturday, but I think playing the full ninety minutes will be very beneficial in the long run. I nearly won the game for us in the last ten minutes, having a diving header well saved by the keeper, from a free kick. I got a bit of a bash on the hip when I went in for the header, but I’ve been icing that and I should be fine for the match away at Gillingham on Saturday.

Fingers crossed by the next time I speak to you we will have a few good results under our belts.

See you in 2 weeks.

In this week’s Coke Column, Giles discusses the January Transfer Window and how he spent his festive period.

Hi everyone, firstly I’d like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and hope you had a very enjoyable Christmas.

I was training on Christmas Day, in fact we played a small game which was good fun. After training I drove back to London to have Christmas Lunch with my partner’s family before visiting my own family in the evening. My baby daughter got lots of presents and was really spoilt! She’s probably a bit young to know exactly what is going on at Christmas but it’s going to be fun spending this time of year with her over the next few years. I got some nice presents, one of which being the new Pro Evolution football game for the Playstation 3. I’m sure some of the players will be dropping in to have a game over the coming weeks. Due to the fixture pile up over the holiday season, New Year is quite a quiet affair for a footballer. Myself and my partner spent New Year’s Eve out for dinner with Ian Henderson and his girlfriend.

Over Christmas, football clubs often put on pantomines or comedy shows for the players. This year our youth team put on a nativity type pantomine where they had a bit of a joke at the other players expense! I escaped pretty much unscathed but some of the other players had a bit of mickey taking including the Manager!

We got a very good result at Huddersfield at the weekend but unfortunately couldn’t hold on for a win against Millwall yesterday. I’m back on track fitness wise and am hoping to be available for selection next week, possibly after featuring in a reserve match on Monday.

The January Transfer Window opened yesterday and there has been speculation over whether Bradley Johnson will stay or go, with a bid being put in for him from a Championship Club. Brad is one of my close mates and although it would be nice to play alongside him, if he does move on I’m sure he’ll do really well and I’ll certainly be keeping tabs on his progress.

I don’t actually agree with the concept of having Transfer Windows. I don’t know of any other industry where people are only allowed to move jobs at given times of year. It must really frustrate Managers. I’m sure this is why we see inflated prices, because numerous clubs end up scrapping for the same players. People say January is not always the best time to buy as the player needs to adjust to his new surroundings mid season. Some of the big clubs don’t seem to buy in January but it seems that Chelsea, Liverpool and Man United may all look to strengthen their ranks. The only possible argument I can see for having Transfer Windows is that clubs know exactly when they can and cannot buy players, and it means there is not disruption to squads throughout the year. To be honest though, I don’t know if that argument really stands up.

Hope you all have a great 2008 and I’ll see you again in 2 weeks!

In this week’s Coke Column, Giles discusses his plans for Christmas.

Hi everyone, I’d like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and hope you all have an enjoyable time over the festive period.

The festive period is a bit strange as a footballer. We cannot really let our hair down and enjoy ourselves as much as other people as the matches come thick and fast. We got a good result as Nottingham Forest at the weekend and it would have been a great result had we been able to hang on and win. Hopefully that can be a turning point and we can start to move back up the table. With an away game to Doncaster on Boxing Day and a home game against Millwall on New Year’s Day, me and the rest of the lads certainly wont be indulging on Christmas Day or on New Year’s Eve!

We had our Christmas party on Monday which was good fun, and we did a bit of a pub crawl around Northampton. We were thinking of having a Fancy Dress theme but in the end we didn’t, which was perhaps wise, given some of the costumes that players seem to wear at different football club’s Christmas parties!

I’ll be training on Christmas Day, although my family and I will be having a traditional Christmas Dinner. It will be my first year in Northampton with my daughter Nevaeh, and partner Hannah, and I’m really looking forward to it. I think both Hannah’s and my family are going to pop in on Christmas Day so it will be nice to have everyone around.

As far as New Year’s Resolutions go, mine is to play more football! After my ‘Annus Horriblis’ this year, I’m hoping to stay injury free in 2008. I had a double hernia op in Manchester two weeks ago and felt pretty sore for a few days afterwards but I’m feeling better now and really want to push myself into contention for the New Year’s Day fixture against Millwall.

Hardly a Resolution but I hope both Northampton and England have a successful year. With Jose Mourinho ruling himself out of the running for the England job, I think the FA has picked a winner in Fabio Capello. He certainly has a good pedigree. He’s won titles at every club he’s coached at so why not give him a chance.

Anyway I’ll speak to you all again in 2008 and once again hope you all have a happy and healthy festive period.

In this week’s Coke Column, Giles discusses England’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008, who he thinks the next England manager should be, and his latest injury setback.

Hi everyone, the last two weeks have certainly not been the happiest for me on a footballing level both as a player and a football fan.

As I said in my last column, I thought England had performed poorly throughout the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign and I was slightly concerned about the way they were going to line up against Croatia. I thought tactics wise, Steve McClaren got it wrong and I’m unsure why he brought Scott Carson in for his first competitive start in a do or die game. I didn’t think England deserved to get anything out of the game and looking at the qualifying campaign as a whole we certainly didn’t deserve to qualify. It begs the question as to how do players who perform so well week in week out in the Premiership fail to reproduce that form in the national team. It’s a difficult one to put your finger on but I reckon the pressure to perform has a lot to do with it. Playing for your national team is the greatest honour to be bestowed on a player and each player is put under so much pressure by us all - the media, fans. I’m not using this as an excuse but it does seem that they are able to play without fear for their club sides but then it just doesn’t seem to happen at international level.

So who do I think can turn things around for England, motivate the players and try and get them to relax more when playing for England? I think the outstanding candidate is Jose Mourinho. He proved himself as being able to get the best out of his players at Chelsea and I think he would definitely command the respect of the England players. Plus he is a known quantity. Many of the players have worked for him before, know what he can do and what he has done. I would let him bring his own backroom staff in too. There is no point making him work with someone he doesn’t want to or hasn’t worked with before. In short, we need a manager and backroom team that are going to help make England a force in world football again.

If I had to go for an English manager to take charge of the national team, I would choose Harry Redknapp. He has done a fantastic job at Portsmouth, seems to get the best out of his players and is a straight talker.

Steve McClaren is of course not the only manager to lose his job in recent weeks. Billy Davies has obviously left Derby, and Chris Hutchings is no longer at Wigan. There’s also talk of Sam Allardyce being out of a job if Newcastle fail to beat Arsenal tonight and the possibility of Alan Shearer taking charge. That baffles me to be honest. Big Sam has only been at the club for a short time and he’s a very good manager. He worked wonders at Bolton and I think he needs to be given time to get the players to gel. I certainly don’t agree with all the talk of getting rid of him.

Northampton have been drawn against Millwall in the third round of the FA Cup. I’m expecting a difficult replay away at Walsall but I think if we get through that we’ve got a good chance of beating Millwall and progressing to the fourth round. Fingers crossed we can keep our cup run going but the league is obviously the priority so we need to turn things around and start winning.

I was hoping to be in the squad for the Walsall cup game last week however it was not to be. I played in a reserve game against Oxford and I was feeling much fitter, my touch was good and I was quite pleased with my performance. In the second half though I was struggling to sprint and was getting sharp pains in my hernia region. I’d been feeling problems in this area for a few weeks and was checking in regularly with the Doctor. I got taken off after 70 minutes of the match and after going to see the Doctor and Specialist it was decide I needed a hernia operation. As a result I have had to write the Coke Column at the beginning of this week. As you read this I will be in a hospital bed in Manchester recovering from the operation. I’ll be out a further two to three weeks but it’s better to get this sorted now rather than it get progressively worse if I came back and played with the problem.

Your questions:

Hi Giles, I can’t wait to see you in the first team shake up. I agree with you that Steve McLaren should never have been given the England job but do you think, considering players must be English, the managers should English as well. Also, please name the current League 1 Manager who you think would do the best job as McLaren’s replacement. From Jamie

To be honest I believe we should get the best man for the job whether he is English or not. It would be great if we had an outstanding candidate that was English but I think Jose Mourinho is the man that can turn the national team’s fortunes around. If I had to choose a League One Manager, I could only really consider our gaffer as I don’t know enough about the other managers. There are a lot of good young managers in League One but you get to know exactly how the manager’s work by being on the training ground with him every day and therefore I can’t really say how good other League One managers. All I know is Stuart Gray is a good manager, he commands the respect of the players and is supported by a good backroom staff.

Hi Giles, How far do you think you can go in football? For example, provided you stay injury free, do you think you could make Premiership standard, International? Good luck! From Paul

To be honest at the moment, I just want to get back on the pitch and play. Obviously every player wants to play at the highest level they possibly can and I’m no different. But it’s down to me to show that by performing well enough on the pitch and take the opportunities that come my way. It would be great to get into the Championship with Northampton over the next couple of years.

See you in two weeks!

In this week’s Coke Column, Giles discusses his continued recovery from injury and England’s struggle to qualify for Euro 2008.

Hi everyone, since I last spoke to you I have played two further reserve games. I have now featured in three games and I feel that I am starting to regain my match fitness and hope to be involved in the first team reckoning sooner rather than later. When returning from such a long injury lay off, it obviously takes time to regain that sharpness but I am confident that I can develop into a better player under the guidance I am receiving from the management staff at the club.

I played a full ninety minutes against Peterborough last week. This was my first full ninety since the turn of the year and it was a great feeling completing a match. The game finished 1-1 and although I thought I played ok, I was still a bit disappointed as I know I am a much better player than that. I felt I worked hard and felt fitter than in my first comeback game, which was pleasing.

I had another run out for the reserves on Monday night. We ended up losing 5-2 against a Norwich side which featured a number of the first team squad. By comparison, we gave a run out to quite a few of our younger players as the first team were preparing for the FA Cup 1st round replay against Darlington the following night. I thought I played ok against Norwich. I broke into the box on several occasions, which is an area of my game where I feel I can be a threat. I got a few shots on goal, one from about 12 yards out which the keeper pulled off a good save to push round his near post. Unfortunately after sixty minutes, the injury curse struck! A corner was floated over and I lost my man. I went for a diving header and got whacked full on in the face by a defender’s boot. I managed to head the ball towards goal and it was going in but one of our players back heeled it over the line to make sure. When I got up I had blood coming from the top of my head and under my eye. I was taken off and given seven stitches in my head and one under my eye which will probably leave me with a small scar. I’ve got a black eye at the moment aswell, so that’s the modelling career down the drain!! Still, it’s only superficial and if the manager feels that my fitness is now sufficient enough for me to be involved in the first team squad against Walsall at the weekend, I’ll be raring to go!

It will be interesting to see how we go against Walsall at the weekend, as we will also be playing them in the next round of the FA Cup. We got a good 2-1 win last night against Darlington in our replay. I’d actually drafted for this week’s Coke Column prior to the match that I thought we’d win 2-0 and we were very close to that scoreline, with Darlington scoring their consolation in stoppage time. Hopefully we can beat Walsall in the next round and draw a Premiership side in the third round.

I didn’t get a chance to see the Israel v Russia match on Saturday but I think England should count themselves very lucky to be in the position they are in ahead of tonight’s match against Croatia. I don’t think they’ve been good enough throughout the qualifying stages and probably haven’t deserved to go through, as they ultimately have had to rely on another game going their way. I’m not a huge fan of McClaren either. I didn’t think he was the man for the job when he was appointed and I’ve not seen anything so far to change my mind. As a proud Englishman I really hope he can prove me wrong and take the lads all the way at Euro 2008 next summer in Austria and Switzerland. I actually thought Scolari should have got the job. If McClaren ends up leaving after tonight, which I don’t think he will as I can’t see England not qualifying now, I’d go for someone like Jose Mourinho to replace him.

I’ve heard England may line up 4-5-1 tonight with Gerrard, Lampard and Barry in the middle and Joe Cole and Beckham/SWP on either flank, with Crouch ahead of them. I personally think this is a bit defensive and would put either Defoe or Bent up front with Crouch to give him a bit more support and firepower. If it’s not working, then we look to change it. I would also start with Cole on the left, Beckham on the right, and Stevie G and Lamps in the middle. I know Gerrard and Lampard can’t seem to play well together but I feel that Lamps is so consistent for Chelsea and scores for fun that we can’t not play him as he adds a goal threat from midfield, and Gerrard is Gerrard isn’t he, he’s always going to be in my team! My prediction for tonight is 2-0 to England. Fingers crossed!

Speak to you in two weeks when hopefully I’ll have fully completed my comeback from injury.

Your questions:

Hello Giles, I was wondering what is your reaction on Augustin Binya’s (Benfica)’s harsh tackle on Scott Brown (Celtic) in the UEFA Champions League?
As a player, have you suffered from a similar challenge before? And in your opinion, does the stud configuration have an effect on such challenge?
From Phantomclf

I thought it was a shocking challenge to be honest and a six game ban was about right. Only Binya will know whether or not he went into the challenge with the intent on breaking Scott Brown’s leg, but the lad’s amazingly lucky to come out of the tackle unscathed. Luckily I’ve never been on the receiving end of a challenge like that and hopefully never will.

Regarding the debate on football boots, I always wear moulds and I’ve never had any problems. I just prefer the feel and grip of them. I suppose there’s an argument that if you wore moulds in very wet conditions, you could slip and twist your knee, but as I said I’ve never encountered any problems. I’m not sure how they would have an effect on a challenge like that. That was a bad challenge in anyone’s language, simple as that!

Look forward to answering more of your questions

Keep checking in every two weeks to read The Coke Column!

Footy-Boots.com interviews Spurs captain and Republic of Ireland hero Robbie Keane.

Introduction

Footy-Boots.com was invited to London’s Nike Town to interview Spurs and Ireland striking sensation Robbie Keane, at a specially organised Nike iD football boot design session.

Robbie was personalising his own Nike Total 90 Laser football boots at the Nike iD Studio on London’s Oxford Street with the help of kids from the THFC ‘Kickz’ community project. The striker worked with the kids on three different football boot designs, which will be made into three individual, customised Nike Total 90 Laser football boots, for him to wear Spurs’ Premiership games against Chelsea (Jan 12), West Ham (Mar 1) and the Republic of Ireland’s international friendly against Brazil at Croke Park.

Interview

FB: The football boots you have designed with the kids from ‘Kickz’ look really impressive. How well do you think you will play in the customised football boots?

RK: Yeah they look good. We’ve gone for the white and blue Spurs colours in the Chelsea game, and added in a bit of Irish colouring for the West Ham game. For the Brazil game, we’ve mixed in green, white and orange (Ireland colours). I’ll tell you after the games how well I’ve played in them!

FB: You mention the Brazil game, do you think you can beat them?

RK: Why not. We played well against them last time round and perhaps could have won, so if we play well again, I’m sure we’ve got a good chance.

FB: How long have you been wearing Nike football boots for?

RK: I’ve been wearing Nike football boots since I was at Wolves when I was 18.

FB: What brands of football boots did you wear as a kid?

RK: As a kid, I couldn’t afford the more expensive football boots. My first pair of football boots were made by Gola, which I sold to a girl who lived round the corner so I could by myself some boots for gaelic football! I also remember having a pair of Roberto Baggio Diadora football boots.

FB: What is the most important aspect for you in your choice of football boots?

RK: I think comfort is most important for me. You’re training everyday and then playing in matches so it is extremely important that your football boots are comfortable. The Nike Total 90 Laser’s are so comfortable, they feel like they’re moulded to my feet! They’re also really lightweight.

FB: You used to wear the Nike Mercurial Vapor football boot but now you wear the Total 90 Laser. What made you change?

RK: The Mercurial is a great football boot, I just find the Total 90 Laser offers my foot slightly more protection.

FB: Do you keep any of your used football boots as mementos? Did you keep the football boots you wore in the game in which you scored your famous injury time goal against Germany in the 2002 World Cup?

RK: Yes, I keep some of my old football boots at home. I kept the Mercurial’s that I wore at the 2002 World Cup. I actually wore the same pair of football boots throughout the tournament.

FB: Nike ID gives you the chance to customize your own football boots and choose from a huge range of different colours. What do you think about the all the different coloured football boots these days? When did you first start wearing coloured football boots?

RK: I think my first coloured football boots were the white ones I wore when I was about 21. I used to get absolutely slaughtered by the other lads for wearing them! Nowadays it’s the players that wear normal black football boots and don’t wear coloured football boots that get the stick!

FB: How often do you change your football boots?

RK: I usually change them every few months, it often depends how well I’m playing in them!

FB: Thanks Robbie, judging by your current rich vein of form, we’d suggest you stick with your current pair of Nike Total 90 Laser’s!

Nike ID gives consumers a hands-on design experience and the power to express their individuality by personalising their sports footwear, including football boots. To find out more about Nike ID or reserve your Nike ID session, go to www.nikeid.com/londonstudio or call the reservations line on 020 7612 0990

In this week’s Coke Column, Giles describes ‘a week in the life of a professional footballer.’

Hi everyone, this week I thought I would give you a behind the scenes look at what goes on during my week, from training sessions to family life. I hope this will be of interest, especially to some of the younger players out there who are keen to understand what many professional footballers get up to on a daily basis.

My daily routine usually begins with getting up about 8.30am before heading in for training at about 9.30am. When I arrive at the ground some of the lads are grabbing a bit of breakfast but I usually have my cereal and toast at home. Everyone has to be in by 10am for a 10.30am start and if you arrive late you get a £10 fine. I wont tell you how many, if any fines I’ve got!

As soon as I get into training I get changed into my kit and go on the exercise bike for ten minutes to warm up. When you’re returning from such a long lay off, it’s obviously imperative to make sure all your muscles are warmed up properly. I’ll also often get a rub on my back or knee from the physios. The daily training sessions begin at 10.30am and though we work hard they’re really good fun. No two days are the same and the gaffer is very innovative in his thinking. We may do anything from possession games, crossing and finishing drills, games in grids. On a Monday, we normally finish training around 12.30pm, before having our lunch. Lunch can include anything from pasta and chicken, to curry and rice with loads of veggies. When the other lads have left I stay behind to work on my fitness by doing extra running with the physios. I’ll then head off to the gym to do some leg weights.

I’ll be back home between 3.30pm and 4pm, where I spend time with my partner and baby. Brad and Brett Johnson, Ian Henderson, and Mark Hughes, often come round for a game of Pro Evolution Soccer. I’ll then relax for the rest of the day, normally eating a stir fry, stew, salmon, pasta, or chicken, all served with vegetables for my dinner about 7pm. I head off to bed about 11pm.

Tuesday and Thursday are double session days. The morning will consist of a training session, often with a little game thrown in, finishing about midday. After lunch, we head off to the gym for 1.30pm where we get split into two groups. The first group does core body work with the physios, whilst the second group goes off with Jim Barron, the goalkeeping coach, to do upper body weights. After completing the session, the groups then swap over. The full session lasts an hour and a half.

Wednesday is a day off but not for me. I need to take every opportunity to train at the moment so I go in just before ten in the morning to work on my running with the physios. I go through various running drills and then head off to the gym to work on my legs in the afternoon. I’ll be home by 2pm.

Friday is a light session as we’re doing our final preparations for match day on Saturday. We’ll often do a squares game where eight players are in a box, two in the middle and six around the side. The six players have to keep possession of the ball while the two players in the middle close them down. We also have an 11 v 11 walk through game and do some set piece work. The lads who are involved on Saturday will then head off between 11.30am and 12pm to leave a mixture of youth team players and those not involved at the weekend to take part in a small training game. I find this really useful as the gaffer often takes me to one side to work on my running during the game, before slotting me back into the game.

Saturday is match day! I’m currently going in at about 11am, but this obviously depends if we have a home game or not. I’ll do some more running with the physios and then get changed into my suit for the game. The lads who are involved in the match will come in at 1.30pm. After the game, I’ll often head back to London to see my family or meet up with some of the lads. I try and keep Sunday as low key as possible. I have a bit of a lie in and get up to watch the football highlights in the morning. I’ll then take my daughter to the park or do a bit of shopping or have lunch with my family, before catching the sunday football match on TV.

Phew! Well that’s my week. Hopefully it will give you a bit of insight into what goes on in my world!

Your questions:

Hi Giles. I read in the Coke Column that you played in a reserve game a few weeks ago. Have you played in any games since and is there any further update on when you’ll be back? From Dave

Hi Dave. Yeah I played about 60 minutes a couple of weeks back against Southend. We were supposed to be playing last week against Stevenage but that was unfortunately called off as they had a Cup replay which clashed. We’ve got a reserve game at Peterborough next week so I’m hoping to be involved in that. Training is great, but there’s nothing like getting games under your belt to improve your match fitness. Hopefully after that game, we’ll all have a better idea of when I can start to challenge for the first team.

Keep checking in every two weeks to read The Coke Column!

In this week’s column, Giles talks about his long awaited return from injury.

Hi everyone, welcome back to my Coke Column!

On Tuesday I played my first game following my knee injury. It seems pretty strange to think that I played my last game back in January, ten months ago!

We played a reserve game against Southend and I played about 60 minutes. Training is great but what is really important is playing games and getting my match fitness back. I thought I did ok for my first game in ten months. I made a few mistakes and I was blowing a bit at the end but to be honest the main thing was to get through the game injury free. All in all it was a good workout and hopefully after a couple more games I can be in the first team reckoning. We’re doing well at the moment at home, I think that if we can start picking up a few more points away from home we can really start to move up the table.

All my family, friends, agent and everyone at the club have been great support over the last few months and I appreciate all the help they’ve given me. Some players can go their whole career without picking up a serious injury and hopefully I’ve had my bad one now at an early age and got it out the way!

My family often come to see me play. It’s great to know they’re in the stands cheering me on. My brother Jon actually plays as well. He is a Centre Half playing for Kingstonian, one of my old clubs. It’s difficult to go and watch him play as much as I’d like as we obviously play at the same time but I’ve been able to go down and support him on occasions. I’ve also popped back to see Mansfield Town a few times. Hopefully they can drag themselves up the League Two table. As one of my former clubs, I look out for their results and still keep in touch with some of the lads at Field Mill.

Your Questions:

What do you get upto in your spare time? From Chris

Most of my time outside of football is taken up spending time with my young daughter. I also enjoy listening to R&B and Hip Hop music. Like most footballers I like playing on computer consoles, I’m a big fan of Pro Evolution Soccer on the Playstation 2 and I also play Football Manager on the PC.

Hopefully I’ll be nearing full fitness when I next speak to you. See you in two weeks!

Outspoken football manager Ian Holloway has come to the aid of Sunday morning managers across the land by sharing his legendary team talks online.

The Plymouth Argyle boss has taken time out of his busy schedule to outline his half-time words of wisdom for virtually every matchday scenario.

There are nine different half-time scenarios to choose from: being three nil down and not being able to pass water to going five goals ahead and playing like Brazil; to playing your local deadly rivals to dealing with having your captain and star player sent off.

The idea behind the 90-second video clips is to help teams and managers all over the country rally their players at half-time utilising some of Ian’s animated anecdotes.

‘Ollie’ also gives team talks on dealing with extra-time and the dreaded penalty shoot-out along with a Cup-Final special - there is an inspiring team talk for every occasion.

Click here to view Ian Holloway’s team talk secrets!

In this week’s Coke Column, Giles talks about his 2007 injury battle.

Hi everyone, hope you’re all well and thanks for checking my Coke Column out again!

2007 has been a pretty frustrating year for me. The birth of my daughter and the move to Northampton aside, I’ve been pretty much unable to do what I’m paid to do, that’s play football.

I was playing for Mansfield Town at Accrington Stanley in January when I tracked back to tackle a winger who was cutting in to shoot. I managed to get my leg between him and the ball, but with my right foot planted, he kicked the back of my leg and my knee twisted, resulting in some of my cartilage tearing off.

About a week later I had an operation to rejoin and sew together my cartilage. I had to wear a knee brace and was unable to walk for eight weeks, which was pretty frustrating to say the least! After the brace was removed, I was walking with the aid of crutches but discovered I could not extend my knee fully. The surgeon went back into my knee to remove fluid and scar tissue which was causing the pain in my knee and preventing me from straightening and bending it properly.

A few weeks later, after again having to use crutches, I went off to Lilleshall to begin my rehab. This consisted of doing really light strengthening and cardio exercises on my knee to build it up again. The physios at Lilleshall were really pleased with my progress and I was signed off by them just after joining Northampton.

At Northampton, I continued to strengthen my knee with weights and cardio work, but was getting pain in my knee when I was jogging. The surgeon had to go into my knee for the third time about five weeks ago. Apparently a piece of scar tissue had got stuck near my cruciate. Hopefully, this is third time lucky for me!

After five days to rest up, I started back on the leg weights and I’m now doing light training with the first team. I’m due to start full training next week and all things being well, I will be involved in a few reserve team games towards the end of the month. It’s then up to me to continue giving 110% and force my way into the gaffer’s first team plans.

Your questions:

Did you experiment with many other boots before settling on the Predators? From Max

I’ve worn mostly Adidas football boots but in the past I’ve also worn anything from Nike Tiempo’s to the Umbro X Boot and the Puma King.

Hi Giles, I sometimes say hi to you when i sell stuff at Northampton Town FC - would like to say you’re a very nice lad. How’s the injury going? We all can’t wait to see you play. What’s your favourite position and what made you join us at Northampton Town? Good luck with your injury, hope to see you back soon. From Darren

Thanks for the well wishes, Darren. If you read this week’s column, you can find out all about my injury update. My favourite position is Central Midfield. I love being fully involved, whether it be bombing forward to link up with the strikers or tracking back to help out in defence. If you look at my last Coke Column, you can see why I chose to join Northampton Town. I spoke to my family and agent, and the manager Stuart Gray, and I had a really good feeling about the club. Hopefully we can string a run of good results together and keep climbing the table.

Hi Giles. All for equality here in Northampton, how is the new lady physio treating you? From Linda

I think you mean Jules. I don’t really have much to do with her, as she looks after the youth team. Dennis and Stuart are the first team physios and they’ve been helping me get back from my injury over the last few months.

Hello Giles. I am 7 and I play in goal for Wellingborough Town U8’s. Should goalkeepers have special or different football boots than players on the pitch? Thank you for giving me your autograph everytime I ask you. Good luck, we can’t wait to see you play for the Cobblers. From Ryan

Thanks Ryan. I generally believe comfort is one of the most important things when choosing a pair of football boots. Most goalkeepers wear the same football boots as outfield players, but there is no point spending a lot of money on a pair of football boots if they are not comfortable.

Look forward to more of your questions. See you in two weeks!