Episode 9 The Clare Balding Show

Thank you very much, hello, and welcome to The Clare Balding Show. A

formidable line at packed with big hitting sporting talent from the

worlds of boxing, tennis and football. With me tonight, a he

carries the hopes of Manchester City and England on his broad shoulders,

the nation's finest glove man, Joe Hart! One of Britain's most

compelling and best loved Oxus, there's only one Ricky Hatton! --

boxers. And fresh from the semifinals of the Australian Open,

the new queen of British tennis, Johanna Konta is with me! But first

up, a footballing giant. With Manchester City, Joe Hart has won

two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup. Whilst also

claiming the Golden glove award for keeping the most clean sheets in one

season for a record four times. Joe Hart made his international debut in

2008 and has made 57 appearances for the national side. One of Roy

Hodgson's most experienced men, having played at the 2012 World

Championships and the World Cup, he will be crucial to England's chances

of success in France this summer. The commanding presence in the area

with the ability to pull off acrobatic saves, please welcome

England's number one, Joe Hart. Have a seat. It's Joe Hart, ladies

and gentlemen. That is the name on the team sheet, it is Joe your real

name? No, and Charles. So why are you not Charles Hart? My dad's dad

is Jonathan Hart, my dad's dad is Charles his dad didn't want him to

be Jonathan as well, and I am Charles but he didn't want me to be

Charles the same as him so I am Joseph. Makes sense. How would you

assess the season, just a city and in terms of what a few have got

ahead of you because technically you have a chance of the quadruple. We

have some tough days, we have Chelsea in the FA Cup and then Kiev

and the Capital One Cup Final so that is a big weekly us but if all

goes well we set up for a very interesting and the season. City

have announced that Pep Guardiola will come over and take over from

Manuel Pellegrini. Quite unusual to make that announcement and still

have such a long time in the season to go. How have the players reacted?

I think it is good that Manuel took control of the situation. It is a

situation that been buzzing around the club for years, ever since Txiki

Begiristain, the technical director, came in, there was always that

strong link with Barcelona and pep Guardiola. We are all really

comfortable. We have so much going on this season that next season is

light years away. Football changes so much in a week and we have got,

like you said, four, additions to concentrate on, we are very happy

with the manager at the moment and we are fighting on all fronts. You

have always got on well with him. Yes, I will be sad to see him go, it

is a new chapter for the club, that is next season, we have Manuel as

the manager and we will fight for him all the way. You are very

isolated as the keeper and closer to the fans than anyone else on the

pitch. Do you hear they're chanting and have they got special ones for

you? Is today Macome it depends where you are. Pretty much anywhere

I go now my branding goes before me and the abuse comes out and it is

that the forefront of everyone's mind. What do they chanted you?

General abuse but I love it. Do they chanted that you have got a flaky

scalp? Joe Hart doesn't have a flaky scalp, that's the key. It is bad and

anywhere that I play that has an English keeper. I think that

football, especially English football fans, as a creative, and

the banter and the fun side of it, taking the Mick if you do something

wrong, I love that side of it. I suppose I need to because I get a

lot of that. You don't have many faults coming have been described as

perfect but there is one element to you that is far from perfect, Joe

Hart. This is Joe Hart travelling in the car with Micah Richards and

Vincent Kompany. Listen carefully. I hearted! You think it's funny! Don't

you think it's funny! You said it and look at his face.

From the moment he got to England he did not get the English side of it

coming he had been in Germany way too long. We just play on it. When

there is somebody really strong like Vincent, who probably in most

environments I would buy down to because he's a dominating character,

sorry about that! As somebody who has played as you have at the

highest level for club and country and come out against the best

strikers in the world who is top of the tree? It is a very high standard

but I think Manuel is the worst in the world. So it is quite something

for you to have saved a penalty from Lionel Messi. We were trailing and

it was about the last kick of the game so it was important I did it.

It turns out it was in vain because we lost the second leg but it was a

good moment. Do you relish that situation, the chance to be a hero,

or get nervous. I really enjoy penalties. I try to have the

mentality and the focus that, I know exactly what is going to happen. I

am sure I know how and when they will take it and it does not even

matter what they are thinking, at that moment, I convince myself to

give myself the best chance. I am wrong a lot of the time and I dived

the wrong way. My way of thinking about it is to be strong and

confident and try to put as much pressure in anyway I can and the

person taking the penalty. To be fair you are a useful penalty taker.

I always put myself forward for the penalty. Not this time! Pretty good,

isn't it! APPLAUSE

That was a friendly. The luck to Camara, you were serious! I had been

telling the manager over and over again, and penalty shoot out, I will

take one for you, pick me. It was a preseason friendly and before I had

got in his face is it, relax, you're taking one! If injured as do to take

one, you'd be comfortable with that? Always. I offered in 2012 and Gaz

Neville swatted me off. I understand why I am down the order because in

the majority of teams I play in, there are eight or nine better

players than me, I will always put myself there but I think it's more

important that I concentrate on trying to save them in the first

place. Time to introduce the second gas, 45 wins and just three losses,

please welcome one of Britain's greatest and most loved fighters,

Ricky the Hitman Hatton. Now it was not that difficult to

book Ricky tonight because he is a massive Manchester City fan. So if

we had had a Manchester United player would you have said no? No

but I would have come home with a broken nose! You have been a City

fan since the year dot. Had my first season ticket when I was 13, 24 goes

ago and I've had one ever since. Are you a shelter when you watch? Like

every football supporter, we are standing shouting as if we know

everything and we know nothing. Excited about Pep Guardiola coming?

I am. I feel sorry for Manuel Pellegrini comic he has not done

much wrong. To be a Man City fan you can't help but be excited when

somebody like Pep Guardiola comes to the club. As a child would you have

wanted to play for City and was there ever a chance of it? I was at

their school of excellence until I was 14. Boxing took off, I got my

first schoolboy championship when I was 13 and two more at 14. Like most

kids at that age I would have given everything if they had let me try

but I found I was a bit better at hitting people! Joe, do you like

boxing, have you seen Ricky fight? Yes, of course, there were years

when he was the fighter to watch. I am more affiliated with him now at

Manchester City but well before that we were supporting him, it was

exciting and we all love to watch a big fight and Ricky brought them to

the English people. You were like the Pied Piper, they would follow

you. When you went to fight in Vegas 30,000 British fans went with you.

People ask what was my proudest achievement and it was my fan base.

I don't think any of them, even my heroes like big Frank and Nigel Benn

ever had the following I had and that was my proudest achievement but

I took into retirement. You fought at the City ground in 2008. I wanted

to fight at Maine Road and never got the chance, so I got the chance to

fight at the City of Manchester Stadium. 58,000 people there. It's

important we do to win, which you did. It was after the Floyd

Mayweather the fight, when the fans came over to watch a thought I was

going to beat him, and I didn't come it was hard for me to come to terms

with which was well-documented, sofas and body who had suffered that

defeat and was thinking of packing it in the best way to get the funds

to support me was to turn out at the ground for my homecoming, being a

City fan. One of the proudest nights of my life. You touched on the

personal debut had after losing to Floyd Mayweather. It was extreme.

Terrible. Depression for quite some time. A lot of things were going

wrong. I got beaten by a Floyd Mayweather, and then I had the scan

and then I fell out with my trainer, Billy Graham, who was my best mate.

Then I had one of my best wins and I fell out with my parents, so my mind

was going up and down. For a short while, I did not care if I lived or

died, I tried to cut myself several times. It is a very, very difficult

thing. And for my family, my friends to see me go through it, they were

helpless, seeing me crumble. I had a little girl, Millie, my second

child, and I think that was the best thing that happened. And you are in

a good place now. A good place. I trained fighters now, I trained my

first champion a view weeks back, Kazakhstan lad, he won the world

bantamweight title so that was a lovely thing for me that I'm not

about holding the pattern now. You are incredibly down-to-earth, you

have kept that throughout your career. When Manny Pacquiao came

over on the pre-fight to you took him to the hotspots... Manny

Pacquiao was a different story to Floyd. He came to one of the pubs on

the council estate where I play darts. I played him at darts and

he's a good player. He's a massive, massive darts fan and actually beat

him. I knew I could beat at something! LAUGHTER he came to the

council estate and he had pictures and selfie is with everyone. As

great as Floyd is, and he is great, he will go down as one of the best

of all time, Manny is more of a family man, I got on better with

him. You brought your own sense of showbiz to it all. I liked the sort

of people you choose to carry your belts into the ring. Some of them

took it very seriously indeed! Liam and Noel Gallagher trained for this!

Yes, I've become friends with them over the years. When they carried in

the belt, it was absolutely fantastic. Floyd May were the's dad

was training me at the time and he had never seen anything like these

two! Liam was screaming at them, screaming at the fans ringside and I

said, what are you doing? He had the belt and asked, what do I do with

this. I said, when you get to the ring folded in front of his face. He

did come he walked in, walked straight up to my opponent and said,

what do you think about that? That wasn't quite what I meant!

It is time to welcome our final guest. She has just come the first

British woman in 33 years to reach a Grand Slam semifinal, and she did it

at the Australian Open. Please welcome, Johanna Konta!

I am so excited to have you on the programme. It seems very, very

fortuitous timing that we get used rate after the Australian Open.

Let's have a look. -- that we get you straight after...

What a do you think you learnt from that experience? I surprised myself

with how comfortable I was in every single round, and how I managed to

really just compete to the best of my ability, whatever was going on

around me. There was definitely more media attention. Luckily, I was

halfway across the world so I did not quite know what was happening at

home. There was a lot happening! I know, my poor parents have the

doorbell ringing every two hours. They got a bit hunted! I heard

little stories. But being 11 hours or so ahead, it helped to just

withdraw me from that. And also, I was really happy with how I was able

to compete against the best players. You have described yourself as the

Jason of tennis. I want to know whether that is because you are a

highly trained killer, are you living life on the run, what is it

because you have got a collection of different passports? It would be the

third one! Because in Australia, they must have

been desperate to have you. I did get a mention every single press

conference. Actually, my agent, she got quite upset with it by the end

but I took it with a pinch of salt and I took it as a condiment. But I

made it very clear that this is home and I play for Great Britain and

nothing is going to change that. You said you were born in Australia and

your parents are Hungarian. You have got some football pedigree? I do,

but please don't ask me any football questions. My grandfather played in

the Hungarian team in the 1950s with push cash. He was in that team. --

with plus cash. Now you want my autograph! Any

boxing history? And on but I am really keen. You might have to give

me some lessons because I am keen. To box? To train, not to box. Please

don't hit me. I would not be able to take a punch well. I would have been

terrible with contact sports. Anything like that, which gets in

MySpace, I shy away. So, tennis is perfect for me! Nobody is near me!

What about doubles? I knew you would ask that! They do all that pumping

thing! You will not see me doing that! When you are planning your

year, and it is very busy, and you have got to try to book your own

travel and hotels, it is interesting, the contrast, because

Joe, for you, presumably that is all done for you? We are spoon-fed. It

is a bit embarrassing sometimes. The day of the journey, someone in my

family will ask me, where are you going, or where are you staying? No

idea. Just get on the bus, gets directed and get off. I could be at

the wrong stadium, for all I know. And Ridley, when you know you're

going to fight somewhere like Las Vegas, do you make sure you have

booked your hotels before you know that the prices will go rocketing?!

Absolutely, by the time I was getting towards the Malignaggi

fight, and the Mayweather fight, I was sorting it out two months

before. It is very important that you are staying somewhere where you

are comfortable. Food is very important. You have got to have

everything... I am not a superstitious person, but if

something is not right, it can affect you. You were very keen to

point out the difference between superstition and routine. So, your

routine in Australia was what? Well, I like to keep my breakfast the

same. Actually, my poor parents, usually I Skype them in the mornings

and they see me eating my breakfast. My mother says, I really do not want

to see you eating passion fruit ever again. Because Ricky's breakfast

would not have been quite that healthy, would it? Back in the early

days, it was a full English. Before a fight? The morning of the fight,

yes. When I won my first world title, I was WB you champion, and I

did it without having a nutritionist, believe it or not. But

I used to have a full English. My new cushion list asked me, what

would you normally have the morning of a fight? I would go, egg, bacon,

sausage, black pudding... He was horrified! What about you, Joe? I am

sensible enough. I am the same as Ricky. Are you winding me up?! No!

For yes, when I was at Shrewsbury, we played on Saturday, my dad used

to cook me a sandwich before the game. I had no idea. It is a very

draining thing to play on tour, and I do not just mean physically.

Emotionally and financially as well, you have got to invest in yourself.

How important was it at the Australian Open to have a big

payday? Oh! Actually, can we talk about his salary?! Well, it

definitely is the peace of mind, knowing that you have got the funds

to reinvest in your career. Will you give yourself a little treat? Right

now, I would like to save up for a house and things that I would like

to put money towards. But most of it is getting reinvested. You brought

up Ricky's earnings... Actually, I brought up Joe's... I am not aware

of yours! They are both doing very well. He is different league, isn't

he? Yes, definitely. Don't say that! I spend it as quick as I get it,

that is the problem! Biggest payday was...? Mayweather. Which was how

much? I would rather not say. My other half might want some of it.

What I love about you, Ricky Hatton, is that, for so many people, if they

did have a big payday, they might go out and buy an Aston Martin or

something, but you buy this... So, tell us why that was so important to

you. I have always been a big fan. It is absolutely brilliant. I spent

so many hours watching them when I was in training. Obviously, you

can't go out, you are staying in, sacrificing, and I have always been

a big fan. I have got the sheepskin coat and the blow-up dolls... The

Peckham Spring water and everything. I just said to the people that got

me these bits and bobs and memorabilia, I said, if ever one of

the vans comes up, could you let me know? So I got it. Now, I want to

talk to all of you about mental strength and the importance of

believing in yourself. Because for you, Johanna Konta, it has changed

everything, hasn't it? Well, it definitely took my career to a

different level. It is no secret that I put a lot of work into the

mental side of things specifically in the last 24 months. Does that

mean taking someone else with you in your team or being in contact

consistently with the expert? Yes, I brought in a mental coach into the

team. And it is not so much his role alone, it is more accommodation of

him with my coaches, with my family, it is about getting everyone on the

same wavelength. If you're constantly hearing the same message

from every corner, then it makes it a lot easier to implementing. You

see it in every sport, players going through waves of confidence and then

losing it. It must be true of goalkeepers as well? Definitely. I

have gone down that route as well. I have got a sports psychologist that

I speak to. It was a big step for myself when it was first put to me

as an idea. I don't know about you, but my first thought was, I am not

crazy or whatever. But it was nice... It was nice just to be put

in contact with someone, pretty much as Jo described, to have a clear way

of thinking. It is definitely not rocket science, just someone you

talk to. I will continue to use him probably for the rest of my life.

And Ricky, you have already said that out of the ring you probably

faced greater challenges than you did in it? If I am having a day, I

will go and see him, have to go with him. I have not been for a while

because I am doing all right at the moment. But that day will probably

come. I know I can have to go with him and the world is great again.

You should never be scared if you have got problems or anything. If

you don't feel great, go to speak to someone and it puts it right. It

does not mean you as I if, you are just different to others.

Potentially we have a very exciting summer ahead the football fans.

England head to the European Championships, 20 years after last

week in the semifinals. So, tell us what we should be believing. Give us

hope, Joe! Yes! It is a tough one, because I genuinely believe we have

a huge chance, I really do. Knowing the squad like I do, knowing the

management, what we are capable of. But you could have gone back two

years, and huffy years, and a member of the squad would have said the

same thing. We respect that over the years we have not done great. We

have maybe let a few people down. So will you approach the tournament

anything differently? Is there anything you have learnt, so that

you will say, this time I will do this? I will try not to let any

goals in, first and foremost. Hopefully that will help. Step up

and do it and shut up, basically, is what I am thinking. We had see

support that. And there will be a certain level of secrecy around the

England camp and around training. It can be quite guarded, with just the

odd press open day. But for you, Ricky, you loved it if people came

to watch you training, sometimes really famous people, like Sylvester

Stallone. When the guy who played hockey is watching you training, you

will be having it a bit extra. I wish I had not called him rocky!

Rocky, how are you doing? He went, Sylvester, Ricky. It went around the

Las Vegas fight scene, that Ricky let people come in the changing

rooms. You're joking, really?! Usually, Floyd Mayweather or

whoever, get out of! Some of the people that came through the

changing room door was unbelievable. Vinnie Jones, Liam and Noel

Gallagher. Silvestre to learn. Tom Cruise came in one time. The kid

from the council estate was... You cannot comprehend it. If you could

have one person to come and support you at Wimbledon, Jo, who do you

want either in your box or in the Royal Box, rooting for you? Ricky

Hatton and Joe Hart! There we go! We have reached the end of the show.

Next week, for the last programme in the series, I will be joined by the

man who brought the Olympics to London and is now charged with

cleaning up athletics, Lord Sebastian Coe, as well as Paralympic

athlete Hannah Cockroft. My fax to my guests and thank you to everyone

for watching.