Republic of Ireland striker/hero Jonathan Walters' outstanding interview with Henry Winter for The Times gave us a look inside the mind of someone who has spent the majority of his career trying to keep everyone other than his immediate family and close friends at a distance.
He admitted as much has gave a deeply personal and honest assessment of his struggles with dealing with the loss of his mother as a youngster, and the trouble he got in to at Blackburn Rovers that saw him kicked out of his first professional club.
But there were also some laughs along the way as Walters' personality is as big as his frame while shielding a ball in the corner, and his take on the actions of Chelsea's bench during the Premier League opening day defeat to Burnley is outstanding.
Named on the bench as Sean Dyche's side went into a shock 2-0 lead, Walters was in the mood to wind up the 'sore losers' on the Chelsea bench who were not enjoying how the game was going and called on some phrases he learned while on Ireland duty.
I know a few words of Italian from Trapattoni and their bench were giving it loads to our bench. There was a guy hammering the gaffer, so I just gave him a couple of words back in Italian and he looked at me, and sat down. Just before we scored, they were going mad.
Normally when you go to those places you don't get the free kicks you should get, but the referee did unbelievably well, so they weren't happy.
With some of their players, their discipline was horrendous. All moaning. Generally when they moan, they tend to get every decision, but they didn't.
We were 2-0 up and got a free kick on the edge of the area, and the gaffer was just standing, watching, and this guy on the Chelsea bench said 'Hey, yeah, you want more, you want everything.'
That's rich. When we scored off that free kick I was laughing at him, going, 'Yeah, we want more'. He gave me the finger. A few of the lads said 'Has he jus done that?!' So then I'm like, 'Tranquillo, tranquillo.' (Quiet, quiet) I was laughing at him.
Then I was warming up, getting abused off the Chelsea fans. Grown men in front of their kids. Even women giving me abuse. Expletives, hand gestures, the lot. I love all that. It's great. I spoke to the guy [on the Chelsea bench] afterwards. It was a bit of banter.
I'll always shake hands afterwards with players, the manager, wish them the best. I always think, 'Be graceful in defeat, don't over-egg it when you win'. You get sore losers but then they're at Chelsea for a reason. Maybe they're sore losers and that drives them. Arsenal are the worst for sore losers.
'He looked at me, and sat down'... A wise decision.
You've got to love Walters' attitude, if you're going to act like an eejit, he's going to call you out on it, but at the end of the day there are no hard feelings and everyone gets on with it.
Reports that Burnley are in for Leeds United striker Chris Wood may not be what Irish fans who were hoping to see Walters start in an attacking position for the Clarets wanted to hear, but someone who offers what Walters does will always have value for a manager like Sean Dyche and if Big Jon can stay fit he will see plenty of action this season.
There is so much more to his insightful interview with Henry Winter that you can read in full over on thetimes.co.uk.
