Exclusive: Ossie Ardiles has a warning for West Brom boss Tony Mowbray over Celtic move

Jun 11 2009 by Chris Lepkowski

“It’s up to Tony Mowbray what he does but I speak from experience,” the 56-year-old told the Birmingham Mail.

“It was the most difficult decision I made as a manager, possibly during my career.

“I didn’t sleep during the night, I couldn’t focus or concentrate on anything. It was a much harder decision than many people thought at the time.

“We had just been promoted and I was walking away from a club which I had a lot of affection for.

“Tottenham was my club. It was my dream. But it turned out to be my wrong decision.”

Tottenham’s pursuit of Ardiles was certainly robust.

At the height of the acrimony, then Albion chairman Trevor Summers even threatened to send ‘Exocets down the M1 to blow up (Sir Alan) Sugar’s computers’ in a somewhat undignified threat to his Spurs counterpart.

“I had a few letters from fans - some were aggressive but I had a lot of supportive ones,” added Ardiles.

“I think people do forgive you eventually, especially if you’ve achieved something.

“This is not just a job. You deal every day with fans, players, directors, the kit man, the staff, the media.

“You become attached to people. It’s not just the fans but people you enjoy your success with and who hurt when you lose games. This is what makes football.”

Both Albion and Celtic remained at stalemate last night.

But Albion denied claims that Mowbray would be available for a cut-price £1million after July 1. The Baggies insisted that the settlement figure of around £2million remained non-negotiable.