Most people, when they think of the football career of Duncan Ferguson, think of a massive, uncompromising, traditional centre-forward who loved nothing more than a bit of physical confrontation with the defender, or defenders, who were tasked with marking him.
On the pitch, his temper occasionally boiled over, to the point where if you type his name in to YouTube two of the top four videos that come back in the search are tributes to his goalscoring ability, the other two are a headbutt and 'throwing Paul Ince to the floor'.
He was what was considered the football hard-man, but things change and now 'Big Dunc' in his role as a coach at Everton is very different to what is perceived to be his character, as he told The Times in a fascinating interview this week.
As far as I am concerned I'm a big softie.
Maybe on the field I was a bit different because that's when you have your war paint on. It was part and parcel of the game, really, and a lot of it gets blown out of proportion.
On the subject of being a tough bastard, Ferguson was asked to name the three toughest defenders that he ever came up against in his career. The Scot's name is likely one to pop up when defenders of the era are asked the opposite, but to appear on Ferguson's list is a true badge of honour for a defender.
The following defenders can add 'Duncan Ferguson's toughest opponent' to their CV:
Sami Hyypia
He was so big and so good in the air for Liverpool. He wasn’t the quickest, but he read the game brilliantly.
Tony Adams
A tough, hard, old school defender. There was him, Martin Keown, Gary Pallister and Steve Bruce — players who used to get their head in.
Rio Ferdinand
From those I have named, he was the best in terms of being a “footballer.” He had a bit of everything. He wasn’t a soft touch either.
A very solid list, it must be said.
One man who was never, ever in danger of making this list is Jimmy Bullard, and we need no excuse to relive this classic clip of the then Wigan man trying to appeal to Ferguson's supposed softer side and getting absolutely nowhere.
You can read Ferguson's interview with The Times in full here.
