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- Liverpool, Man City, Aston Villa, West Ham and Portsmouth legend David James headlines the latest Jeff Stelling Show with OLBG
- James reveals the Robbie Fowler missed penalty that "would have meant City were never sold"
- Also lifts the lid on the emergency striker cameo he was given seven minutes' notice for, the truth behind the "Calamity James" label, and why he rates today's England as technically better than his own golden generation
The latest episode of The Jeff Stelling Show, brought to you by OLBG, is out now, and David James is on outstanding form.
Across a wide-ranging hour, one of the most distinctive goalkeepers of the Premier League era gives Jeff a genuinely candid tour of his career: the good, the "Calamity", the misunderstood, and the moments that quietly shaped a chunk of modern English football.
"Had Robbie scored, City would never have been sold" — the missed penalty that built modern Man City
Perhaps the most eye-opening moment of the episode comes when James retells the story of Manchester City's final-day 2005 fixture against Middlesbrough, a game City needed to win to qualify for Europe.
Robbie Fowler missed a penalty. City drew 1-1. Everything, James argues, cascaded from there.
"Had I scored, City would never have been sold," is the line Fowler apparently told him years later. "Pep Guardiola wouldn't have become Man City manager, and everything that he did to spoil everybody else's dream in the Premier League and around Europe would never have happened."
That same 2005 Middlesbrough game is also the one where James, on Stuart Pearce's instructions, was thrown up front as an emergency striker. His preparation? A word from Shaun Wright-Phillips as he ran on: "Just run around a lot."
The Jeff Stelling Show
The "Calamity James" truth and the stranger in his kitchen
James speaks with real openness about the years the tabloids branded him "Calamity James" and the toll it took. He stopped reading newspapers. He fell out with journalists he had considered friends. He blocked the media out entirely.
But the most striking revelation is what happened in his kitchen at Liverpool. Club doctor Dr Waller, who James calls "my hero", pulled him aside after James had loudly mentioned wanting sports psychology in the dressing room, and told him the club didn't want that discussed, "but I know a man."
That man arrived. Two hours around James's kitchen table. James thanked the doctor and referred to the visitor as "that psychologist." The doctor's reply: "He wasn't a psychologist." James's punchline: "Okay, fine, it works."
🎁 Win a FREE Signed David James England Shirt
To celebrate the launch of this episode, OLBG Prizes are giving away a signed David James England shirt, completely free to enter. Enter the giveaway now.
From an alternate-universe Manchester City to a stranger who lifted a career, this is The Jeff Stelling Show at its best.
Head to OLBG's YouTube channel and podcast feed to watch and listen to the full episode with David James now.
