Interview ~ Jason Cousins

Mr 100%, Jason Cousins.

WWISC: How does it feel to you as a long serving player to be in the position we are at the moment and do you have any ideas on how to turn things around?

Jason: On the first point very disappointed really, we’ve had a fair bit of success over the years that I've been here although the last couple of years have been a bit of a struggle but nothing to this extent. I would imagine that the only way out of it is plenty of hard work, everyone rallying together and plenty of hard work. There’s no miracle solution to it.

WWISC: How do you feel about the standard of football in Division 2 this season?

Jason: I think its quite a bit higher than it has been in previous seasons, I mean that even sides that were struggling last season have improved 10% to 20%, Luton are flying, Preston are going well and of course you’ve got the big clubs who’ve come down from Division One. They have made it that bit better and of course Fulham are spending money at will. Over the last three or four seasons it has improved an enormous amount. I think our best chance of getting out of Division Two was in our first season in it, we just missed out on the play-offs. Over the next three or four seasons its just got harder and harder and a better standard.

WWISC: What do you feel is your best playing position?

Jason: Myself! I think that it’s in the middle of the three centre halves when we play five across the back. Personally, I think that with my lack of pace, I don’t get found out quite so much in the middle with two others either side of me. (Ed's comment to JC) I’ve got to go along with that. You’ve looked tremendous in the middle this season.

WWISC: How frustrating is it to you when some of your fellow team- mates are apparently not pulling their weight?

Jason: It’s extremely frustrating! I’m not going to mention any names, but a few of them if they looked in the mirror this season couldn’t honestly say they’ve been pulling their weight 100%. We had a team meeting the other day and I spoke up and said that I don’t think everyone is pulling their weight this season. I’m not the gifted with the most talent in the side but I like to think I try to give 100% each time I go out to play. When you look around it is frustrating when not everyone has put out for the manager this season.

WWISC: As skipper, do you vent your wrath upon those who are perhaps underachieving?

Jason: Probably not as much as I should do, I’m not the sort of person to dig people out as I should maybe, I’m a bit to easy going in that respect, I don’t want to rock the boat. Maybe I should dig out players a bit more, I tend to bottle stuff up inside me, maybe its good to clear the air sometimes and let people know how you feel.

WWISC: Who is the toughest opponent you have ever played against?

Jason: That’s a tough one, I played against Alan Shearer when he was about 16 for Brentford School Boys, he was unbelievable then.

WWISC: What is it like having Scotty as a brother in law?

Jason: He’s good fun, he’s a good lad, I mean Scottie is Scottie, sometimes he gets on your nerves and you wish he was living up the other end of the country and playing for a club up north as he has sometimes. But the majority of the time he’s great, he’ll do anything for you he’s got a heart of gold. Sometimes he rubs people up the wrong way, he’s probably the opposite to me because he says what he feels no matter if it annoys them

WWISC: Did you get any trouble from either Scottie or your sister when you tried to put him in the fifth row of the stand when he played here for Watford?

Jason: No! Not at all. I actually never touched him to be fair, I couldn’t get that close to him. (Ed: it didn’t look like that from where I was sitting). JC: It wasn’t something that was going through my mind "it's Scottie I’m going to try and nail him during the game" it was just one of those things. As soon as I got up and realised it was Scottie I thought it might have been a bit out of order, there was no malice just because it was Scottie. I got a bit of stick off him and my sister after the game but its all good fun. He got his own back during the game, a couple of elbows; he dishes it out as well.

WWISC: What are your thoughts about fans who have commented in the past that you have been hot headed and at times this has caused you to be bit of a liability?

Jason: They are entitled to their opinion and I would go along with it to a certain extent. I’ve had a couple of sending off's that have been hot headed, its been a bit rash of me and I’ve let the side down, especially the Doncaster game and against Crewe with a couple of silly bookings. Of course if you’re on a booking you have to be careful and I wasn’t. I do take that point on board that at times over the years I have let the side down, I’ve tried to tone it down a bit regarding shouting a referee’s and picking up booking like that. But if I take too much out of my game I’d never get a game in the first team. It’s trying to get a fine balance but I do agree that I’ve let them down a couple of times. Having said that I’ve had a couple of unfair sending off's such a for a hand ball on the halfway line that the ref put down as a clear goal scoring opportunity

WWISC: Since your wedding last summer do you feel as though your game has improved?

Jason: I don’t know if its down to the wedding, but I feel as though I’m having one of my best seasons for sometime playing in the middle at the moment. It’s a shame that we are down there as I feel I’m doing reasonably well in there at the moment and I’m quite happy with my form. It might have something to do with the wedding; I don’t know its just disappointing that we are down the bottom while I’m playing reasonable well.

WWISC: How do you feel about the atmosphere of the crowd at Adams Park this season?

Jason: To be fair I think they’ve been very patient with us. Some of the performances we’ve dished up to them, they have been entitled to complain as the come every week and its not cheap to watch football especially if you come as a family and I think their entitled to vent their anger to a certain extent but at the end of the day they are not helping the side to be booed at halftime and after the game but I do understand their frustration. For a lot of people it’s a big part of their lives, they spend a lot of their social time involved in the club and they spend a lot of their money down here. I think it’s been reasonably good, I know there was a bit of a protest of about thirty or so people one evening after one of the evening games. Then again the atmosphere at the Notts County game was tremendous, where the crowd could see that we had put maximum effort into the game and tried to turn in a decent performance and they really did get behind us. It’s a shame that we couldn’t hang on for the three points.

WWISC: How do you feel about the youngsters who are now breaking through and how are the more established players reacting to losing their places?

Jason: Obviously no matter how old you are is disappointing to get dropped from the side and there are a few disappointed players at the moment. More senior are being left out of the side at the moment for younger faces but the manager feels at the moment they are not really pulling their weight and he’s giving the youngsters the chance, to be honest I think they’ve taken them with both hands. You’ve got Alan Beeton who’s still a young lad but he’s like a permanent fixture at the moment. Danny Bulman, the crowd have taken to him straight away because he put a lot of effort and energy into his game. Bairdy has done well even though he did struggle a bit at first but to be fair to him he has had some bad injuries over the season that he’s been here as a young lad and I think that he flags a bit toward the end of the game an he needs a bit more fitness. He’s got himself into a few good scoring opportunities especially at Fulham where he had two great chances and I think that if he gets one he might go on a bit of a run and get a few. To be honest they have all done ever so well.

WWISC: How did it feel when the team, arguably the best for nearly twenty years, started to break up after Martin left?

Jason: Yes it was a shame, it was a great period, probably the best as you say for the last twenty years and it was a shame when the Kim Casey’s and Glynn Creaser’s who were coming to the end of their careers and we were starting out on a full time basis although Crease did have a season with us. Scottie then got a great move to Swindon, Gupps left for Newcastle the following season and one by one the better players in the side began to fulfill their potential and better themselves. Although all the lads were chuffed for them its hard to replace quality players like them. Gupps has got England ‘B’ caps and Scottie has scored goals in the Premier League and I don’t think we have ever replaced them, perhaps that why we are struggling down the bottom of Div Two at the moment, and not flying high as we were.

WWISC: Do you have any thoughts as to why there seems to be the lack of ‘characters’ in the game today, such as your mate ‘big Tel’ and ‘Garns’?

Jason: I couldn’t really say, maybe it’s hard to be more of a character when you’re down the bottom of the league. Some people don’t really like you messing about and having a bit of fun when you’re struggling. It’s difficult really, I couldn’t really tell you why. There’s not so many coming through now, I don’t think it’s just at this club I think it’s more all over. Perhaps it’s the constant life and death situations and the constant pressure even at this level. Garns to be fair did ever so well for us in the three seasons that he was here in fact he was brilliant for us. He was probably forced to leave possibly two years to early. Admittedly he did like his beer and his fags he put out on a Saturday and I don’t think people begrudged him a few pints and a few fags a week because he did the business where it mattered. Then it was down to a certain manager who new best and he got rid of a few players who could have carried on playing and doing a good job for us. He got rid of Paul Hyde who was never replaced although we’ve got a good keeper now, Terry Howard who came third in the player of the year competition. He’d had a fantastic season but was bombed as well because it was basically a personality clash. There’s three players who could have stayed for another couple of seasons and done a good job for us.

WWISC: Have you any opinions on the B/Sky/B - Man Utd deal and the repercussion it might have on football generally?

Jason: I don’t really know the ins and outs of the deal to be honest. I think it’s going to be very hard for the side in the lower half of the premier league to compete with Man Utd now. There’s talk of Carlton buying Arsenal and somebody being interested in Villa as well so if that becomes the case you’ll just have three side fighting it out for the title. As it is there’s already two divisions within the Premier League at the moment with about eight teams after Europe and the rest just trying to stay there. It’s obviously great if you’re a Man Utd supporter, shareholder or whatever but as far as everyone else is concerned I’m not sure that it’s a good thing at all.

WWISC: Do you miss the old conference days?

Jason: Yes to a certain extent, I miss the atmosphere around the club, and it was probably more of a crack then we used to get up to all sorts of things and we had some good times. We had a few great nights out and I don’t really want to go into the things we used to get up to. There was Gary Smith who I was great pals with while he was here, we had good times together, it was just a general good team spirit. Martin would encourage us to have a few beers together if we’d had a few good results. Sometimes we’d dress up in 1970's bad taste gear, get thrown out of night clubs and that’s just the tame stuff.

WWISC: Who is the best manager you have played under and why?

Jason: Well we can discount one for starters. Obviously Martin really, it’s quite an easy thing to answer because of the success that we had. I was going nowhere at Brentford and he managed to turn it around for me and I’ve ended up having a reasonable career here at Wycombe, it’s got to be Martin. I’ve got to say that I believe that Neil could be a really good manager for Wycombe. Obviously the fans only see the performances on a Saturday and not everyone may agree with me which is fine but if you see the work he puts in up the training ground and what he does almost every evening, driving hundreds of miles trying to get players in. All he needs is a break and we get three or four results I honestly believe that Neil could become a very successful manager for Wycombe. At the moment he just needs eleven lads putting it out for him on a Saturday.

WWISC: How has it felt when each manager you’ve played under at Wycombe has dropped you?

Jason: I’m like any other player, very bitter and twisted, why is it me getting the chop? Can’t understand it but I realise that perhaps one day I’ll be a manager and I’ll have to make the decision to drop players, I’m just like anyone else, very disappointed to be dropped. Under John Gregory I felt was unfairly dropped on a few occasions and the players who were going in and playing in my position were not ripping up trees or doing particularly well in that position. So I felt a bit aggrieved and that’s why I went on the list, it wasn’t a case of just because I was dropped. I know that I do not have the right to be in the eleven to play on every Saturday I realise that. Obviously I know that you can’t play well for nine months of the year you’re going to hit lows but when you think you’re not doing particularly badly, you get dropped and the players coming in you feel are not doing all that great either, it becomes very frustrating. It wasn’t a fact that I wanted to leave Wycombe Wanderers because I love it here but I didn’t want to spend my Saturday’s sat in the stand having a cup of tea and eating burger and chips, I want to be playing football. At the end of the day that’s why we all play football, I really do love it and that was the reason I wanted to get away. I’d have been happy to have played for Hayes just as long as I could get a game somewhere.

WWISC: How does it feel to prove each of them wrong by forcing your way back into the side and regaining the captaincy?

Jason: Yes it’s nice; I like to think that every time I’ve had the chance of coming back in I’ve done reasonably well. Under Martin I don’t think I was very dropped, I think I played every game unless I was suspended or injured. I don’t remember ever being dropped by him. Then Alan Smith came in and I was dropped a few times but each time I did get a chance to come back and I think I’ve played reasonably well. It is quite a nice feeling and you think "well there’s no way he can drop me now for a couple of games" yes it does’ give you quite a buzz. As regards the captaincy, I was told after the Doncaster incident that there was no way I’d ever be captain again and to be fair I’m very fortunate to still be at the club. A lot of clubs would have looked at the problem and handed me my P45 and on your way. I love captaining the side; I love having the armband and the responsibility that goes with it. At the time there were a few supporters who said that they would tear up their season tickets and refuse to come if I was ever picked again. I do regret what happened, in fact it was quite disgusting but I can’t change it now. As it happened the next game I played in was against Coventry and I managed to score one of my six goals, so the pressure was off.

WWISC: Do you keep in contact with any of your former team mates?

Jason: Yes, I speak to Terry Howard quite a lot, he was at the wedding. Keith Millen, he’s at Watford now, I was at Brentford with him. Obviously big Tel., I know that he’s back at the club now but we were still quite close when he spent his season at Kingstonian. I’m very friendly with Paul Buckle but I’ve lost contact with Gary Smith. I keep threatening to phone him up but I don’t know where he’d be living now, he’s probably doing time inside. He had a lot of back luck with a broken leg although he played league football for Barnet.

WWISC: What’s this with your old mate Paul Buckle playing for Col U?

Jason: I know! I hate to mention that I’m going over there in a couple of weeks to stay for the weekend. I had a chat with him after the game at Colchester and he’s invited us over for the weekend. He’s a great lad he really is, I know he plays for the ‘scum’ but he’s a good mate. I think that given time when he was here on trial he could have done a job for us. He had two loan spells with us, once when we were in the Conference and he played against WBA at the Hawthorns and again last season on a non-contract basis and to be honest, I think he was going to offered another month but Colchester came in and offered him a two-year deal which he couldn’t turn down. The feelings about Colchester is not something many of the players here understand as they don’t realise what went on in the Conference days and finishing as runners up to them, it was a nightmare that year.

WWISC: Were you surprised about Paul Emblen and Matt Lawrence signing?

Jason: I don’t think Paul had many chances of playing in the first team at Charlton although I haven’t spoken to him about it. I believe he was on loan at Brighton but Wycombe were probably the first to show real interest in signing him on a permanent basis. I think Matt will be a good signing for us as he’s a much better player now and he could possibly do for us down the right what Belly used to do down the left. Apart from our league position we have a fantastic set-up here, the crowds are really very good and the facilities are second to none. So anyone who comes down to talk to the manager can’t help but to be impressed by the place. There’s nothing better then on Saturday you get your three points. You come in the bar and everyone wants to slap you on the back and buy you a pint saying well done even if you don’t think you played particularly well yourself. Then you read the paper on Sunday and see you that you’ve gone up to places in the league and you look forward to coming in on Monday to start training for the next game. Unfortunately when your on the bottom a several points adrift you don’t want to look at a paper on a Sunday morning.

WWISC: How do you motivate yourselves when you go in at half-time and you’re losing?

Jason: To be honest it is really hard, to a certain extent you think "oh no here we go again" but especially being skipper I do go around and try to gee them up to try and get an early goal back, which can put us back in the game. You have to believe that you can do it or there’s no point in going out for the second half. I think that there is a bit of a problem with "oh no here we go again" because in the past especially here if we went in one-nil down we always felt that we would get it back and its not the end of the world. Our form here under John Gregory was promotion-winning form but away from home we had a one win and a two win in the two years he was here and that was of course why we didn’t do so well.

WWISC: How do you see your future, either at Wycombe or elsewhere?

Jason: Hopefully my immediate future will be with Wycombe, my contract expires at the end of this season and I’d like to think that if I can continue to play the way I am at the moment I can secure myself another contract, so my immediate future lies with Wycombe. If I can stay fit and healthy I’d like to think I can continue to play until I’m thirty-four or thirty-five. I’m realistic to know that Man Utd are not going to phone me up within the next five or six years, I know I’m not going to end up in the Premier League or the top of Division One. I’d like to think I can still do a job for Wycombe for some years to come, but that’s not my decision that for the manager in charge to decide and I’ve just got to prove to him that I’m worth a few more contracts.


WWISC: Do you have plans to stay within the game when your playing days are over, or will you make a clean break altogether?

Jason: I can’t see myself as managerial material or coach. I’ve got all of the coaching qualifications but I hate it, I really do, I’m not comfortable coaching at all. I feel as though people are always bored and want to be doing other things and I don’t think I’m particularly good at it so at this moment in time I can’t see myself staying in the game in any shape or form. I have to give it some serious thought as to what I’m going to do next as I might find myself on the dole at the end of this season as you never now in football what’s going to happen next.

WWISC: Finally to break the girls hearts; can you tell us about your wife, how you met, where you had the wedding and are there any plans for a family yet?

Jason: I met my wife Deanna after the final game at Orient a few seasons ago when Terry Howard organised a players night out over his way in Essex. We went to a club just around the corner from Orient called ‘Faces’ and that’s where I met her. I was very drunk and she caught my eye, I managed to get up enough courage to go over to speak to her but I had to have twenty pints to do that. She’s a great girl; she likes football and comes to all the home games. She will go to away games as long as it within a two-hour drive, otherwise it’s off to her mum’s. When we go on an over night stop, its off to mum’s on the Friday but anything apart from that she loves coming down and watching and supporting us. She’s good for me and won’t let me get any aspirations that I’m David Beckham or some kind of super star; she keeps my feet firmly on the ground. Not only is Deanna my wife she’s my friend as well and I don’t keep any secrets from her at all, I can talk to her about anything. There are no plans for a family at the moment but hopefully in the next two or three years we can start a family. Deanna works up in the City and enjoys her job, she like what she does but having said that if she was to fall pregnant tomorrow we’d be absolutely delighted. Having a family is not in our plans just yet as we want a few years together. The wedding took place at All Saints Church in Chigwell Row which is where her mum lives, and the reception was at the County Hotel in Epping. Quite a lot of the old lads were there and it was a good evening, we had a lot of fun.

Last Notes:
Jackie and Myself spent a superb hour in the Centre Spot talking to Jason.
The interview was free and easy going; in fact it was just like talking to an old friend. He really is a very nice young man. The conversation flowed so well that it continued into the car park and included Scottie. So Ha! Ha! to you Sharon, you missed it...