Paul McGrath. What does that name mean to you?

I've just finished reading 'Back from the Brink', had it for Christmas. Wow! That man to me is an absolute legend, I'm sure I'm not the only one who will admit that, be it Man Utd, Ireland or Villa, so many fans of our game appreciate how special the man was and is.

I say 'is', because it's a miracle he is still around. If you are a football fan, beg, borrow or steal this book, either way just read it.

McGrath plied his trade at a time when it wasn't exactly unfashionable or taboo for a footballer to like a drink, but despite attitudes, the game itself hasn't changed that much.

He played football games in the English Premiership under the influence, he played at World Cups slightly short of a sheet or 3! He admits it, if he wasn't pissed some of the time, he was half of the time, and the rest of it, he was hungover.

Pour a bottle of Jameson's down Freddie Bouma's neck I hear you cry, but it isn't really as simple as that. Paul McGrath - icon, legend, footballer, alcoholic. The tale of McGrath is a sad one, I found myself getting quite soppy a few times during this book, but the man himself never asks to be excused.

His early life had such a hold on his adulthood and his prime that it very nearly destroyed him. I understand this to a degree in my own life, but unlike McGrath I'm not exceptional. McGrath was exceptional, he played football against footballers at the highest level at a breeze, and he played football when most footballers wouldn't have been able to walk!

I am not saying that he was a legend because he came on the pitch half cut and gave a world class performance, I'm saying that he was a world class performer, half cut or sober. He read the game that well he hardly made a tackle, because he didn't need to.

'Watch the ball, not the player' is how I was told, the kid next to me was taught the opposite, that's football. There are different ways to play football in different positions, McGrath was one of those who never needed to be told.

Like Pele, Maradona or Ronaldinho, McGrath's best friend was the ball. Obviously he didn't use it the same way that they did but he understood it, knew it, waited for the spin, saw what the ball would do before it happened and he made decisions.

He had a special talent which meant he was born to play the game, cursed by it even, but thank God. From reading his book it seems that he was ill prepared to do anything else in life except what came naturally, good or bad.

The drink problem? The professionals knew, but he was never found out, if he played in today's media 'celebrity' circus then I doubt he would have lasted 5 minutes, but back then he was looked after very well. Jim Walker - the Villa physio at the time covered up a million signs for Paul McGrath and so did the players around him, because they knew that on a Saturday afternoon he would deliver, and he did.

An exceptional defender who should be mentioned in the same breath as those oh-so fortunate latter day greats such as Ferdinand, King, Terry etc; Hold on, strike, these people are not in McGrath's league, at all.

I say again, read the book, even if you are not a football fan, it's a great read. Compared to the story of George Best or Tony Adams it goes a long way to display how human beings can become slaves to alcohol. Personally I can see exactly how McGrath became the drinker he was and understand why it happened from reading this book. I am not 'down-grading' Best's or Adam's alcoholism by saying this at all, it is a terrible disease after all, but McGrath's story leaves you with a complete understanding of the problem, without actually making any excuses.

David O'Leary's favourite line was "they're an honest bunch o' lads" when we lost, which was often. Paul McGrath is an honest lad, read his book, remember the God who guarded the 18 yard box and just did what he did so well. The man's a legend, we all know this, but after reading 'Back From the Brink' you may think a lot more of him than before.

As I said, McGrath was well looked after, you could say he was lucky, but after reading his tale it seems that we were the lucky ones, just to see him play.

Up that Villa.