Man Utd experience stood me in good stead – Gold Coast’s Curtis
Gold Coast United defender John Curtis believes his experience at Manchester United early in his career has held him in good stead.
The 31-year old Nuneaton native joined the A-League club during the pre-season after a career based solely in the UK and says the time he spent at Old Trafford as a teenager really helped him develop as a player.
“Football’s been good to me,” Curtis told Australian Football Weekly.
“It’s given me the opportunity to meet a lot of people and see a lot of things.
“I was lucky enough to be involved with the United team when they won the treble, which was a fantastic experience – I was only a fringe player. As a young lad, 19 or whatever I was at the time, to be working with those guys really stood me in good stead for my future career.”
Curtis’ future career has included stints at clubs such as Barnsley, Sheffield United, Leicester City, Portsmouth, Preston North End, QPR and most recently Northampton Town but it was his time at Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest that he remembers most fondly.
“…I really enjoyed my football at Blackburn and at Forest,” he added.
“Those were the two clubs that, in terms of a playing career, I enjoyed the most. Winning the League Cup (2001/02) with Blackburn and playing in Europe was great. And Forest is a massive club with a massive history and to play for a club with such tradition was really good as well.”
Curtis made his Gold Coast debut in the 1-0 loss to Melbourne Victory on Sunday after returning from a leg injury and says he is absolutely loving his time at the club.
“The lads have been absolutely fantastic – everyone at the club has been, from Clive Palmer right through,” he added further.
“Miron’s (Bleiberg) definitely a character, too, and he’s been great for me through my injury.
“How can you not be happy in a place like this?”
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Matches
| Home | Away | Score | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Apr 22nd | |||
| Brisbane Roar | Perth Glory | 2 - 1 | 06:00 |
Tables
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Coast Mariners | 27 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 16 | 51 |
| Brisbane Roar | 27 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 22 | 49 |
| Perth Glory | 27 | 13 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 43 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 27 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 2 | 40 |
| Sydney | 27 | 10 | 8 | 9 | -5 | 38 |
| Melbourne Heart | 27 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 37 |
| Newcastle Jets | 27 | 10 | 5 | 12 | -3 | 35 |
| Melbourne Victory | 27 | 6 | 11 | 10 | -8 | 29 |
| Adelaide United | 27 | 5 | 10 | 12 | -18 | 25 |
| Gold Coast United | 27 | 4 | 9 | 14 | -12 | 21 |
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Comments (2)
Carrick and scholes outshone chelsea's midfielders in the community shield*
yeah, i remember he was in that UEFA cl game on playstation 1 at the time. i used to pick him when i wanted to change some face for the man utd team i played with.
Its worth noticing that at that time when man utd won the treble their squad was very young with most players like 24-26 yrs and many youngsters like brown,silvestre,wallwork and greening always delivered good performances when they were called upon.Sure time has changed but this club still relies much on youngsters to provide depth to the squad.When you look at some big clubs (no need to name them) the replacements for each position have been bought at big price when they are about their mid twenties.Whereas as back up players we have fabio for evra, j.evans at centre back, rafael at rb,gibson(7 goals last season) in middle, obertan as winger(just behind park,nani,valencia) and dont forget that fletcher,brown and oshea are homegrown.There are many more(macheda,cleverley,de laet,eikrem,keane....)I think Sir Alex's faith in young players has always paid and the reluctance to buy a big name is justified.
As far as a creative midfielder is concerned ,maybe sir alex has a long term solution,but there is no rush.After all Carrick and scholes outshone chelsea's midfielders and i hope you remember what the combination of fletcher and giggs once did to them. We're good.
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