John Gwynne: It’s a bit like Mastermind, Stuart. Are you ready?
Stuart Pearce: Pass!
Very good! So... what’s your favourite food?Spaghetti.
Favourite drink?
Cappuccino.
Coronation Street or EastEnders?
Coronation Street.
Favourite song?
'Anarchy in the UK'
Favourite actor?
Groucho Marx
Favourite actress?
Bette Davis
Roy Keane or Steve Stone?
For a night out – ‘Bulldog’ Stone. To play in my team now – Keane.
Stan Collymore or Pierre Van Hooijdonk?
Stan.
Brian Rice or Andrea Silenzi?
It’s got to be the ginger ninja!
Favourite TV Show?
The Two Ronnies.
Best friend in football?
Trevor Peake.
Biggest enemy?
I’ve not really got one... [coughs] Steve McMahon!
Favourite holiday destination?
Derby... [cue chorus of boos from the audience] ...because every time we used to go there, they used to give us three points! [Cue cheers]
Who would you most like to meet?
A reborn again Joe Strummer, so I can get him to reform The Clash.
Who’re your favourite football team?
The team I represent in my job is always my favourite. But when I check results on a Saturday night, everyone knows the first club I look out for!
Who’s been your biggest inspiration?
As a player, David Webb. He used to play for Chelsea and QPR when I was a kid. As a person, Brian Clough.
Who were the best players you played alongside for England?
Well Carlton Palmer’s right up there... In all seriousness though, there were a lot of great players. When I had my first get-together with the England squad, we were sat in a hotel and there was Bryan Robson, Shilton... I was sort of in awe of them really. But the one person I was in awe of the most was probably Bryan Robson. He was a proper captain in all respects. He did the business on the field, he influenced the other players around him. And he was normally the best player for England, time in and time out. He was basically the sort of geezer who, when he turned round to you and said: "When I go to close someone down, make sure you’re right behind me’, you made sure you did just that. And I like to think I took some of that from him when I became a captain, although it didn’t always work with Ian Woan. "Get off your high horse, Pearcey, and stop shouting at me," was the response I’d usually get off him!
What other England players did you enjoy playing with?
Well you’ve got to admire Gary Lineker and Shearer for the way they scored goals, and also Gazza. Gazza was a world-beater. Also, I must mention the fella I had a coffee with before I came here, as he’s probably the most consistent player I ever played with for both club and country – Des Walker.
Are footballers’ wages too high nowadays?
For the top players that earn their wages, no. But for the players that earn a lot of money that people refer to as fat cats – the ones that get a big contract and are then happy to just go through the motions – I think it’s scandalous.
When he was manager of Barnsley, Allan Clarke actually took his players on a trip down a local coal mine, to remind them what ‘normal people’ did for a living…
Well it was exactly the same at Forest with Brian Clough – only he left three or four players down there that he didn’t want!