\n<\/p>\n
We had to get special dispensation for Alex to get a Premier League winners medal in 1998. Back then, you needed 10 appearances to get one – he had only made seven.<\/p>\n
Everyone at the club thought he fully deserved it, though, and the Arsenal fans took to Alex too, because of how brilliantly he played.<\/p>\n
They had a song for him, roughly to the tune of the nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice.<\/p>\n
Alex Manninger, Alex Manninger<\/i><\/p>\n
Got a sore finger, got a sore finger<\/i><\/p>\n
Loves Arsene Wenger, loves Arsene Wenger<\/i><\/p>\n
We would sing it to him too, whenever he came into the room. He loved it. Alex was a shy guy initially, but that changed when he was part of the group.<\/p>\n
You always get to know some players better than others at any club you are at, but there was a real togetherness in our squad at the time. Everyone would mix together.<\/p>\n
I roomed with Stephen Hughes that season but Matt Upson and Alex would come to our room to play PlayStation games when we were in hotels for away matches. I was a few years older, so they kept me young really.<\/p>\n
Alex’s character was quite a contrast on and off the pitch – on it, he was fiercely competitive. He always trained incredibly hard and he was very driven.<\/p>\n
He could sometimes be very critical of himself if he made a mistake, but it was very clear he just did not want to be beaten. As a senior player, I loved that mentality.<\/p>\n
Off the pitch, he was a huge personality too. Someone who was great fun to be around but also very calm – unless he was playing on the PlayStation.<\/p>\n
Looking at photos of him now reminds me of how he was, and of those days, but it is something more than that. When I think of Alex, I can still picture the connection we had in my mind’s eye.<\/p>\n
He left Arsenal in 2002 and I had not seen him for a number of years before he passed away, but whenever you win things together, like we did – we went through some really big nights together – then there is a bond there that keeps you together forever.<\/p>\n
That 1997-98 season was the first in my career where I tasted real success – it was my first league title, and first FA Cup – and I will never forget he played a major part in that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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