Pedro Mendes lifts lid on brutal Ben Thatcher challenge which led to police probe and reveals what Roy Carroll said to him after infamous blunder
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In the second part of an exclusive interview with Ladbrokes: Fanzone, former Tottenham midfielder Pedro Mendes discussed his infamous ‘goal’ against Manchester United at the start of 2005.
However, he started by reliving the sickening forearm smash on him by Manchester City’s Ben Thatcher when he was at Portsmouth in the following season which only merited a yellow card at the time although the defender was subsequently part of a police investigation and given an eight-match ban.
Click on the link to read part one in which he talked about his memories of playing for Rangers and his thoughts on the current squad.
I could accept Thatcher incident if it was a mistimed tackle
It was at the start of the season. I’d been with Portsmouth for eight months or so and we were playing at Manchester City. For a while I just didn’t know what had happened to me. I didn’t want to see it. It was a complete blank in my mind how it all happened, and although I was thankfully OK afterwards, I just didn’t want to see the incident.
The thing is, it’s not a mistimed challenge or anything like that. It’s something which should never have happened to me. If it was an incident where it was a mistimed tackle, you could maybe accept it a little more, but it didn’t need to happen. It was a nasty one.
I’ve seen it a couple of times on replays here and there, in fact more recently it’s my son who has showed it to me on YouTube!
On this day in 2006 Ben Thatcher nearly killed Pedro Mendes 😷 pic.twitter.com/Fpwmka80ho
— Dirty Footballer 👊 (@DirtyFootbaIIer) August 24, 2017
There’s no relationship with him [Ben Thatcher]; I never spoke with him again. I think we played each other, maybe once more at Fratton Park, but I never spoke with him. I didn’t speak to him before the incident, and I haven’t spoken to him since it happened – there’s nothing there.
The good thing was that my wife never used to watch my games! She never used to come to our matches – football isn’t really her thing. It’s funny, I woke up in hospital and my mind was completely blank. It’s funny how our brains work in these situations, because the doctor came to tell me he’d spoken with my wife and updated her on my situation. He explained everything to her. I asked him how he got her number and he told me that I’d given it to him!
“I asked you your wife’s name and her number, you took your phone out and showed me her name, told me the number and that was that.”
I just thought it was unbelievable that I could have had a whole conversation like that, yet remembered none of it!
You’ve seen lots of incidents over the years where players have been rushed to hospital with broken ankles or legs, or damaged ligaments, and you always worry about how that’s going to impact the player. But mine was different because I just needed to do some exams and doctors needed to make sure everything was OK with my head.
In my case it was just about finding confidence again, trying to start training again with my team-mates. It was a challenge to overcome those little moments in training, going in for a tackle, jumping up for a header. I was back in training a week after the incident, so the main focus for me was on finding my confidence again.
Harry [Redknapp] was great with me after it all happened. I stayed in Manchester with the doctor for a couple of days before flying back. Redknapp came over to my house and told me to take my time. His main worry was that I was OK and felt confident enough to be playing again. His man-management was so good, you know. The relationship he had with his players was incredible. He came over to my house, had a cup of tea and we spoke a little bit about the plan. He wanted me to just take my time and assured me there was no rush from his side for me to get back to full fitness. He only wanted me to come back when I felt ready. I really needed that. It was good to know he was thinking of me,and that there wasn’t any pressure from the club for me to rush back.
Two words Roy Carroll said to me in howler aftermath
The goal that got disallowed against Manchester United at Old Trafford gets sent to me by my friends every time its anniversary comes around! In fact, my boy and his friends like to show it to me every so often, even after all these years.
Of course there’s frustration and sadness attached to that moment, because we ended up drawing that game 0-0 so you can’t help but think what those extra two points would have done for our momentum at that point in the season. Three points at Old Trafford would have been huge for us. But what can you do? Sometimes I get frustrated about it, sometimes I laugh, but what can you do?
It’s actually unbelievable, to be fair. How can that sort of thing happen? I could see it, everyone could see it. I don’t think there’s a single person in the stadium who couldn’t see that it was a clear goal.
Happy 40th Birthday Pedro Mendes.
Hope your luck’s improved over the years, son.pic.twitter.com/gRtxpLeh4X
— A Funny Old Game (@sid_lambert) February 26, 2019
It’s funny because I played in a Masters football tournament for Rangers a few months ago, and Roy Carroll was my goalkeeper! All he said to me was “you again!”. He’s a lovely guy and he did well for us in the Masters tournament anyway!
I can remember when people first started to talk about the introduction of VAR and goalline technology. My incident was used a lot as an explanation of why we should introduce this kind of technology.
I think goalline technology is great, obviously. It’s quick, it serves a purpose and there can be no arguments. The ball is either over the line or it isn’t. I think that’s great. As for VAR, I can see its benefits, for sure, but mistakes still happen. There’s still doubt surrounding certain incidents and while it’s a very good tool for helping referees, it can be frustrating, too. It kills the game, it slows things down. You score a goal, and then you need to wait two or three minutes in some cases before you can celebrate.
Some decisions we’ve seen are outrageous, so I understand why lots of fans have responded so negatively to the use of VAR.
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