Marc Albrighton recalls a strange rule that forced players to wait for Robert Pires during a forgotten stage
Robert Pires' impact on the Aston Villa pitch may have been minimal, but a club rule during his tenure meant he drew the ire of players.
Released by the Spanish side Villarreal At the end of the 2009-10 season, Pires united Villa on a six-month contract in November 2010 and took the number 8 shirt.
He was the first signing of then Villa manager Gerard Houllier, as a former Liverpool The manager sent out an SOS amid an injury crisis at the club.
Pires immediately earned respect in the Villa Park dressing room after winning two Premier League titles as an Arsenal player and the 1998 World Cup with France.
However, at 37, he can no longer move as freely as before.
Marc Albrightonwho had broken into Villa's first team as an academy product that season under Houllier, revealed Pires' impact within the club.
“To be fair, he was one of the nicest guys, he was brilliant,” Albrighton said. Under the Cosh podcast.
Unsurprisingly, Albrighton acknowledged that Pires' legs were “not what they used to be” but claimed the Frenchman knew the same thing.
However, the world champion quickly became the centre of attention during team meals.
Albrighton spoke about one of Houllier's key rules regarding nutrition and, unfortunately for most of the Villa squad, it left them hoping the time would pass more quickly.
“Houllier had a rule that you couldn't leave the table until the last person had finished eating,” Albrighton said.
“So, because you're obviously English, you'd have your meal and go back to your room. There was a barber upstairs or a guy selling DVDs in the hotel.
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“Pires had arrived and was taking his time with his food, because that's how he had been raised. Everything was slow.
“He would say to me: 'You can go, go on and leave'. But Houllier would say: 'No, you can't leave until it's finished'.”
Pires made 12 appearances in all competitions for Villa and scored just one goal, a sweet debut goal against Blackburn in a 3-1 FA Cup win.
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Villa finished the 2010/11 season in ninth place, boosted by the arrival of then-record signing Darren Bent in January, when he scored nine goals in 16 games.
Although Pires had hoped to remain at Villa Park for another season, the club released him in May 2011.
He later came out of retirement in September 2014 to play for Indian Super League side FC Goa at the age of 40.
Pires hung up his boots for the second and final time in February 2016 after being released by FC Goa a year earlier.
