Spector drummer and Newcastle-turned-Sheff Utd fan Danny Blandy picks his fantasy team.
Our Take Five feature continues as Spector drummer Danny Blandy picks his dream five-a-side team
Danny Blandy of Spector picks his dream five-a-side team...
Danny Blandy of pop-rockers Spector may be a Sheffield United fan but his fantasy five-a-side team is devoid of any Blades legends, with the drummer instead choosing to lean towards his Uruguayan heritage.
He does, however, give a nod to his boyhood team Newcastle in the form of an ex-Magpies ace between the goal posts.
With Spector set to release new single 'Friday Night, Don't Ever Let It End' next month on the back of the success of debut album 'Enjoy It While It Lasts',
Sky Sports caught up with Blandy as he named his ultimate dream team.
Shaka Hislop
I used to be a Newcastle fan, and it was when Hislop and Pavel Srnicek were in goal. I've gone with Hislop, because he wasn't the best goalkeeper ever but he was solid and it was when Newcastle were doing quite well. I used to play in goal as well so he used to be one of my favourite players, he was definitely an idol of mine growing up. He did one great save, it must have been in 1996 or 97, against Liverpool and I remember thinking he was wicked.
Graeme Le Saux
He used to get stick for being intelligent and being into art and books, which was such a stupid thing to happen in football. It's not about being a meathead all the time. He also had that fight with David Batty on the side of the pitch when they both played for Blackburn. So he was smart, and he could handle himself.
Alvaro Recoba
My Grandma's actually from Uruguay, so I've always been into Uruguayan football. She was actually at the first World Cup finals in 1930, when she was 12 years old. Uruguay have recently been doing really well but when they weren't doing much in the 1990s, other than Gus Poyet and Daniel Fonseca, there weren't really that many players that I was aware of. Then this guy Recoba moved to Inter Milan and he made his debut on the same day as Ronaldo in 1997. There was so much hype over Ronaldo, who'd just moved from Barcelona, then Recoba came on and scored two goals.
Zinedine Zidane
It's ridiculous how good he was. I remember him playing for France in the World Cup 1998 final against Brazil, and that volley he scored for Real Madrid against Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002 UEFA Champions League final. Also in the 2006 World Cup final, when he scored that penalty early on and then got sent off for going rogue on Marco Materazzi. What a nuts way to go out when you've been the best player in the world for so long. He's the best player of the last 20 years, definitely.
Diego Forlan (captain)
When he moved to Manchester United in 2001 I was so excited, thinking he'd be amazing, but he kind of flopped. He was amazing in South America and then came to United and wasn't very good and I really felt for him. But then he came back with Atletico Madrid and at the 2010 World Cup he was the player of the tournament. The Uruguay team will get remembered for that Luis Suarez handball but if you think about how he played, and how the rest of the side played with him, it was incredible. He gets the armband for how he captained Uruguay at the Copa America, when they won it the following year.
Five songs Danny would have on in the dressing room to fire up his side...
Jay Electronica - Exhibit A
Blood Orange - Everything is Embarrassing
Wu Tang Clan - It's Yourz
Baddiel & Skinner - Three Lions
Labi Siffre - Something Inside So Strong
'Friday Night, Don't Ever Let It End' is released on Monday 31st December. Watch the video, directed by Alan Del Rio Ortiz, here.
