When Brian first came in he told the press that he had a three-year plan to get Leicester City into the Premier League. We had three Wembley finals in three years and could’ve gone up after just one year so it worked well when you look back. He gave himself three seasons to sort it out and he did just that.

He was a great manager and a great bloke. I got on very well with Brian and we always had respect for each other. I stayed in touch with him even after he went to Villa. He lived in Barrow-on-Soar, just around the corner from me and I used to go and see him to talk about things.

We forged a friendship which was beyond football really. He was the one that I’d always sit down with to discuss where we were going wrong. We had a great manager captain relationship and Brian knew that he needed that.

In training he used to play up front with me in five-a-sides. He played as a striker for Villa, usually with a taller player like Peter Withe and he definitely enjoyed playing alongside me.

You had to work hard with Brian and pre-seasons were tough, but John Gregory did most of the coaching. Grego was great. Not long after they first came in we went through a bit of a bad spell and they were changing things around.

During one of the first training sessions Grego told us to put on our running gear and get in the van. It was a couple of days after a defeat and we all thought we were going to Bradgate Park and that he was going to run us. Instead, he took us to McDonalds and we had a full breakfast, read the papers and that was it! Things like that were great and really helped with the morale in the squad and the players developed a great working relationship with Grego and Allan Evans.

We had some good times together but we were up against it a lot and Brian didn’t have much money to spend. He brought in workers, not necessarily classy players, but effective ones and people that could do a job. We had a very workmanlike team until Julian Joachim came through and added that extra bit of class.

I’d always said to David Pleat that he should get Julian involved more and when Brian came in he really gave him his chance. He was definitely the man that brought Joachy on.

Little brought in a lot of players and a lot went out. Whoever we had, we always worked hard, put in a shift and tried to play football. Brian liked to play with a big man up front with players like Phil Gee and Ian Ormondroyd. He brought in lads that hadn’t really done it at their previous clubs and they came in and did a job. Brian got the best out of mediocre players, there’s no doubt about that. They were never big signings but they always made a contribution.

He was very casual even after big games like the play-off finals. We were always given time to go and have a few drinks, but Brian didn’t tend to come with us. He was very laid back and a deep thinker and didn’t lose his rag very often. He’d talk through things rather than shout, whereas Grego would go mad, so they were a good partnership.

There were some truly memorable games under Brian and getting to those Play-off finals was unbelievable. Looking back to the Derby final I thought it was wrong of him to strip me of the captaincy. To be fair I’d had disciplinary problems, picking up too many bookings and red cards.

Brian called me into his office and said that he had to be seen to do something, and the best thing was to strip me of the captaincy for a while. The chairman had been in his ear about it too. I was absolutely gutted to have lost the armband. It meant so much to me and it really hurt to miss out on leading the lads out at Wembley. That was the only thing he could do to hurt me because nobody was bothered about money in those days. I thought he should’ve reinstated me for the final, but unfortunately I missed out.

Red cards also lead to my role as makeshift striker the previous season after I’d been sent off in the early part of the campaign against Wolves and Charlton. Before a game with Swindon, Brian said, “I’m going to put you out of the way so you can’t get f***ing booked!” He’d obviously seen me playing up front in training at close quarters and I went on a great run, scoring in 8 out of 9 games, so it was a stroke of genius from Brian.

Going back to that famous victory over Derby, I remember that Brian really wanted me to play but didn’t think I was fit enough. He pulled me to one side before the game and asked, “How fit are you? I really need to know. I need you to be at 90%.”

So I said, straight away, “I’m 90%”. It was what he wanted to hear. I wasn’t even 60% really but he just smiled. I think he would’ve played me anyway. It was a serious situation and it could have cost us, but the gamble paid off in the end.

A lot of people don’t know that I injured my knee again in the final, opening up the joint. I remember it hurting a bit, but because of the adrenaline and importance of the game, I carried on. I’d obviously done some damage and it was still a problem at the start of the following season in the Premier League. During our second game against Blackburn I felt everything in my knee crunching and it was the worse pain I’ve had in my life.

I played 80 minutes and even managed to hit the post. How I played I’ll never know because it turned out that I’d shattered the cartilage in four places. I did some stupid damage by carrying on and it all came from that final, but I wanted to play and that was it.

I wish that me and Joachim had the chance to play as a partnership in the Premier League, but we both got bad injuries and missed out. I think Brian was relying on us and that was a big blow. We might have had half a chance with us playing.

We struggled that year and it was disappointing when Brian left for Aston Villa. He rang me and said it’s the only club he would’ve gone to because of his connections there as a player. Villa were very close to his heart and a big club so I couldn’t blame him really.

He did well at Villa, leading them to a fourth place finish and winning the League Cup, but I know there were tough times for him too. When Stan Collymore signed for the club it was done over his head by Chairman Doug Ellis. Brian called me to his house and told me that Stan was costing them as he wasn’t working hard enough on the pitch, but Brian was forced into playing him. He knew the writing was on the wall then.

Brian came back the other year for a Q&A night and I know he’s always there if I need to speak to him. Overall he’s a great bloke and he did a cracking job for the club.

I’d like to finish by dedicating this week’s blog to the memory of former Leicester City kit man Taff Davies, who sadly passed away recently. He was part of the old school at the club and was the kit man for a long while before following Mark McGhee to Wolves.

Taff was always great with me and really welcoming when I first arrived. He used to help me out with odd bits of kit too! Taff was a lovely bloke and I was saddened to hear the news.

Next week, I’ll be focusing on Mark McGhee’s short but eventful time at the club.

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For Steve’s views on other Leicester City managers follow the links below…

Bryan Hamilton

David Pleat