Andrew Surman: Talentspotter
"Gareth Bale gets laughs in the dressing room by hiding everyone's kit"
Nickname
Drew, which isn't very original, but a few lads now call me Helmet because of my haircut.
Club supported as a boy
Southampton, since I moved here from Johannesburg when I was eight. My first game in England was at The Dell: Matt le Tissier scored a hat-trick and Saints won. It hasn't been such plain sailing since though!
Strengths
Passing. We're always taught the importance of retaining possession and so I guess that's just been ingrained in me since an early age. I'm pretty versatile, too, and have played everywhere across the midfield at Saints and even had a spell playing just off the front two when I was on loan at Walsall and Bournemouth.
Weaknesses
I've got a pretty decent shot but I've only scored three league goals all season so maybe that's something I need to work on.
I play a bit like...
I'd like to say I'm similar to Ronaldinho but I think I might get a bit of stick! I haven't modelled my game on any player in particular, so I'd say at the moment I'm unique!
Highlight
Definitely the hat-trick against Barnsley in February. We had drawn our previous three matches and we really wanted to put on a good show for our fans. We ended up winning 5-2 and I walked off with the match ball, which was just amazing.
Lowlights
Nothing too devastating yet, but losing 3-1 at St Mary's to Watford in front of the Sky cameras last season wasn't particularly pleasant. The recent defeat to Colchester on a Friday night wasn't great either.
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Toughest opponent
I would have to say I wouldn't fancy coming up against John Hartson every week. I played against him at our place in August and he's a bit of a bruiser.
Best player played with
Gareth Bale: he's a top player and he's done a great job for us so far this season. He's got a lot of attention but he's handled everything brilliantly.
Biggest influence
My dad has helped me so much. George Burley has been great too. He gave me my chance at the start of the season and has shown a lot of faith in me.
Best advice given
Always keep your feet on the ground, although it's not very helpful at corners.
Biggest practical joker
Kelvin Davis is always up to no good and Gareth Bale gets laughs in the dressing room by hiding everyone's kit.
Latest car
I'm just off to get an Audi S3 to replace my VW Polo.
Flicks
We went on a team outing to see the new Rocky film recently. We all loved it.
Chicks
I'd better keep quiet here – my girlfriend reads this...
TV programmes
I watch quite a bit of Friends and 24.
If you hadn't been a footballer...
I've never given it much thought, so it's lucky I am! I'd probably be doing a dead-end job somewhere.
Tell us something we don't know
I could play for South Africa in the 2010 World Cup. I've got a passport and would definitely be interested if Carlos Alberto Parreira picked up the phone. There have been rumours of a call-up but nothing has happened yet. I haven't been back to South Africa since we moved to England so to go back there and play for them would be just incredible.
With my first pay packet I bought...
Nothing too extravagant: a Jay-Z album.
If I could play alongside any player...
It'd have to be Ronaldinho! I think we'd complement each other well. Failing that, I'd love to have played with Matt Le Tissier. I grew up watching him at The Dell and some of his performances in a Saints shirt were unbelievable.
Most embarrassing moment
Probably every time I run out in front of the cameras and find that I have a massive bouffant!
In five years time I'll be...
Playing in the Premiership for Southampton.
Interview: Richard Edwards. From the June 2007 issue of FourFourTwo.
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