Q&A with John Hartson

606v2 is very proud to announce a Q&A session with former Wales and Celtic striker John Hartson.

John has played for many clubs over the years but is most remembered for his time with Celtic and West Ham. He has scored goals at the highest level and has proudly represented his country more than 50 times.

During a remarkable period at Celtic, he helped them reach the final of the UEFA cup against Jose Mourinho's Porto. Along the way they defeated some huge European names such as Celta Vigo and Liverpool, where he scored this incredible goal, which earned him the Goal of the Season award from Celtic that season:

Spoiler:

As well as being regarded as one of Celtics all time greats, John is also remembered for his performances for the Wales international team. John played in the famous beating of Italy, setting up the winning goal for Craig Bellamy, alongside his good friends Robbie Savage and Ryan Giggs. Highlights of the game can be seen here:

Spoiler:

He played under both Mark Hughes and John Toshack, before retiring from international football in Feb 2006. However, John remained a huge supporter of the national side and applied for the role of manager, following on from John Toshacks departure.

John played for several other clubs during his career and his fondly remembered by the fans of every club he represented. His time at Luton, Wimbledon, West Ham, Arsenal, West Brom, Celtic and Wales have been memorable for various reasons - I am sure the fans of those clubs have plenty of questions for him.

In early 2009, John was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which was later revealed to have spread to his lungs and brain. Following intensive chemotherapy and surgery, John showed his fighting spirit that was a characteristic of his playing days, to bounce back and become the ambassador for fund raising for cancer research. He has set up the John Hartson Foundation aiming to raise funds and awareness of this terrible disease.

If you are interested in helping the foundation, please visit the website - http://www.johnhartsonfoundation.com/news.asp

John has very kindly agreed to answer your questions, so please leave your efforts below. I am sure the fans of his past clubs, as well as fans of football in general will have loads of questions for him. I am sure that you may have some questions about his fight against illness too. Try and keep them good spirited, although John MAY answer a few of the closer to the edge ones!

606v2 would like to thank John for agreeing to take the time to do this - over to you!

H

What would you class as the highlight of your career?

How much of a regret is it that you never got a chance to play for your home town club Swansea?

If not the above, what is the biggest regret of your caeer?

What is the most hostile atmosphere you can remember playing in?

Who is the best player you have played with/against?

The Welsh team seems to have taken a number of steps backwards since you retired, what do you think can be done (if anything) to improve our fortunes as an international team?

As a youngster you became the most expensive teenage transfer when you joined Arsenal, now there seems to be a glut of high value moves to big clubs for teenagers, what advice would you give them?

My father was recently diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing a treatment of chemotherapy, how did your family cope when you were diagnosed?

I know that you applied for the Wales job (and although I loved Speedy as a player, I wish you had got it), but what other managerial jobs do you have on your radar/ or would want.

I saw that you applied for the Newport County job - what happened there?

WHo was the best manager you played under?

After your recent battle with illness, do you feel that your fantastic career has now been put into perspective?

From all the club's you have played for, who was the longest in the shower?!

Best player you ever played with?

I saw a newspaper column you did about Scott MacDonald having the same weight issues as you. From memory you stated that you never had the real passion to be a top athlete and regret not pushing yourself more. Do you still feel that way?

Did you take inspiration from anyone or anything during your battle with cancer?

Whats' your favourite flavour of cheesecake?

Who's the worst player you've ever played with/against, and the worse manager?

If you could have played with one player during your career, who would it have been?

What's your biggest career regret?

Do yuo feel that football needs big changes to the rules as far as diving/simulation is concerned?

One from a twitter member:

@606v2sportforum who's @johnhartson10 s favourite Saturday?

John, I Love Sgorio, I'm even learning Welsh so I can understand what you are talking about. What do you think about the Welsh league becoming a summer league? Mark in Weymouth

What are your views on a Great Britain football team for the Olympics?

And following on, as a proud Welshman, would you have sacrificed a Welsh national team to take part in a GB one if it meant you got the World Cup Finals?

Loved you at the hammers but, Who was your best mate at West Ham?


Jamie

Another from twitter - similar to a few of the others but I will put it up anyway:

almaher89 Alex Maher
@
@606v2sportforum if he could of played for one club I n his career who would it have been and why?

How does John feel about the progress of TNS in the Europa league qualifiers, what's it like having "an English Team" representing the Welsh Premier ;-)

How big an impact do you think Swansea being in the Premiership will have on Welsh football as a whole?

Do you regret booting Eyal Berkovic in the face?

Clarke James wrote:Do you regret booting Eyal Berkovic in the face?

would anyone

What would you class as your most memorable season in club football?

Who was your favourite strike partner and why?

Did you prefer playing in England or Scotland?

What made you get a Twitter account?

Is the plan for you to go into management, or do you have anything else in mind?

Who were the best fans you played for?

What's Robbie Savage like as a team-mate?

What are your thoughts on the current state of Welsh Football?

Gareth Bale or Ryan Giggs?

Aaron Ramsey or Robbie Savage?

What is the worst injury you ever got whilst playing football?

What do you think the Old Firm will do this year in both the SPL and Europe?

Of all the guys in the Celtic dressing room under Martin O'Neill who did you think would go on to be a success as a manager?

Who was the most talented player you played with who never went on to fulfill their full potential?

If Lenny offered you a job in his coaching team would you take it? And why hasn't he?

Is it true you and Bobo Balde never liked each other?

What do you think about Toshacks spell in charge of Wales - did we go forward or backwards?

what team did you love facing/ always think you were going to score against?

Do you think you would have been as much of a success at Rangers as you were at Celtic, had you signed?

If you were in charge of trying to improve Scottish football as a product, what suggestions would you be put forward.

You were unfortunate enough to be caught on camera kicking Eyal Berkovic in the head at training, and have admitted it was an error in judgement. Who else have you had training ground bust ups and are these usually forgotten about the next day when players have calmed down.

Who was the toughest Rangers player you have faced.

Which defender did you dislike playing against the most

What is your favourite film?

Who was your hero growing up?

Ronaldo or Messi?

Pele or Maradona?

Who do you "support" now?

Can you tell us a little about your charity?

who was in your opinion the best player you played with and against.would you still rather have kris boyd in your team than fernando torres.
hail hail big man

Would you rather have won the Champions League with one of your club sides, or World Cup with Wales?

What are your thoughts on Team GB?

Ryan Giggs, love him or loathe him?

Who would you say is the most overrated player playing today

What was your favourite goal you scored

Jaysus lads,how many questions is he going to answer?!

Would you support a British premier league? (i.e. Celtic and Rangers in the prem and other teams in Championship,League one etc)

How do you think Celtic and Rangers would do in their first season in the EPL

If Gary Speed fails to turn around the Welsh team and the opportunity arises again, would you apply for the job again?

What do you think of the FAW (as in the board members) - doing a good job?

Is it fact or legend that you and vinny jones decided to settle the debate of who is the hardest by going for a brawl in the streets and if so who won

Last chance to get your Q&As in to John - interview taking place tomorrow!

When you first joined scottish football, did you find the quality better or worse than you imagined it to be,

just to keep you all informed - I have conducted the interview with John and I am now awaiting his approval of the responses.

The majority of the questions were answered but a few were omitted due to a combination of time constraints and this interviewers ineptitude! Gimme a break - its my first time!

Good going, Looking forward to the responses.

What Old Firm game do you remember the most of your time at Celtic?

Ignore my stupidity, i too look forward to John's responses.