The Saturday interview: James Beattie (original) (raw)

James Beattie's swagger is understandable. He is the Premiership's leading scorer, is primed for an England call-up and Southampton lie fifth in the table. Yet there is more to the striker's self-belief than simply a hot scoring streak in a successful team.

Beattie will today test himself against Michael Owen and Emile Heskey, potential England colleagues against Australia next month, as Southampton take on Liverpool at St Mary's. He will in no way be intimidated; the swagger is no accident.

The 24-year-old puts his positive, steely mindset down to a youth spent swimming, his first love before football. "I would swim every morning and evening after school, 50 miles a week," he recalls. "Being alone in a vast pool for hours gave me a mental toughness and resilience. You sometimes need to lean on psychology because you can't survive on ability alone."

This offers a genuine insight into Beattie's psyche. "I would have gone into medicine if I hadn't played football," he says. "I did well at school, passed nine GCSEs and got grade As in physics, chemistry, biology and maths. I was at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Blackburn and my dad had to work extremely hard to pay the fees, so I wasn't going to let him down."

Sport, though, always played a prominent role. Steady performances for Darwen United were often overshadowed by his ability in the pool. Ranked second in the country at 14 and with his own coach, his 100 metres freestyle accomplishments provided further targets in life, yet the stressful nature of the sport meant something had to give. Unfortunately for Beattie, it was his shoulder.

"I was training so hard that the cartilage wore away from my shoulder," he recalls. "The specialist told me that if I didn't give up I would have arthritis by my late 20s. I was making good progress, thinking of bigger and better things, but I had no choice in the end."

Blackburn Rovers, his boyhood heroes, made the disappointment easier to bear. The chance to rub shoulders, albeit sporadically, with Alan Shearer and Kenny Dalglish was ample consolation for aban doning his academic aspirations. "I had reached the first set of crossroads in my life and I had to make the right decision," he recalls. "I sat with my dad and we came to the conclusion that I could always return to my studies. I might only get the one chance in football.

"To be with the club as they won the Premiership was fantastic and I had the added bonus of seeing Shearer at close quarters. Just to watch him was fantastic. At the time he was the best striker in the world but he suffered a cruciate injury when I finally broke into the squad so I never had a chance to work with him. I still spend time watching him play today."

In his search for perfection Beattie often consults his football videos. "Don't worry, I don't sit up all night watching videos," he laughs. "But I don't see anything wrong learning from the likes of Owen, [Thierry] Henry and Shearer. When things go well the tapes stay away but I'm realistic enough to know that I won't always score hatfuls of goals."

The then Rovers manager Roy Hodgson agreed and no sooner had Beattie made his debut against Arsenal than he was shown the door. "I was devastated because I thought I was progressing well," he says of that day in July 1998. "Although it was encouraging that Dave Jones wanted me at Southampton, I was sold without a right of reply and remember almost being in tears. Yet, it's the best thing to have happened and I know a few Blackburn fans who are unhappy at the moment."

Contrary to popular belief, Beattie did not arrive as a pawn in Kevin Davies's switch. Having played alongside Jones's son as a junior he had already caught the eye, and a further recommendation from Saints' Stuart Ripley sealed the move.

Despite scoring only five goals in his first season he won the Saints player of the year award. Yet the indifferent form continued as ankle and groin injuries gave him little chance to shine under Glenn Hoddle the following season. A chance for Southampton to recoup their investment proved tempting and a £2.5m offer from Crystal Palace was accepted. "If I'd left I could have earned five times the money, but I knew I was good enough to play Premiership football. I told Glenn I was staying to fight for a place and he was happy with that."

It was a watershed in his Saints career. Ten goals in 10 games followed and a similar rich vein last season enhanced his credentials. Now he has scored 16 goals in his last 16 games and, despite the St Mary's talk of England recognition, the question remains: why have the goals come in fits and starts?

"Injuries" is the emphatic response. "My goals in both seasons proved I could play at the highest level and it was only the spells on the sidelines that stopped the momentum. I haven't had a problem this season and the benefits are obvious."

Gordon Strachan's arrival has also been of paramount importance. Simple guidelines are adhered to, with Beattie a cog in a wheel that has fast gathered momentum. "We play to my strengths," he adds. "We play good football but, as a former winger himself, he wants crosses arriving in the box, which is when I'm at my most dangerous. He wants me to shout for the ball. The formula is working, and scoring, like winning games, becomes a habit."

The presence of Sven-Goran Eriksson this evening will fuel the England calls. "Everyone knows my dream is to play for England, and with Mr Eriksson in the crowd I'm up for the challenge," Beattie says. "The pressure is on me and now's the time to really shut out everything when I play - including the England manager."