Marian Pahars was a wanted man. For while playing his early football in Latvia, he was invited for trials in Germany – he nearly joined Werder Bremen but terms were not good enough – Italy and Austria. He came to David Jones’s attention via Gary Johnson then Latvia’s manager and was duly offered a week’s trial.

When he scored a “perfect” hat-trick – a goal with each foot and a header – in a Reserves match, Jones  moved with alacrity and stealth to make him his player and, once permit and PFA objections were overcome, the little Latvia international was pitch-forked into the 1998-99 relegation battle. That culminated in his scoring twice at home to Everton in the last match, which guaranteed safety. He later confessed that he had no idea how important the game was, as he did not speak any English or read any papers. He admitted that, had he known the consequences of relegation, perhaps he would have let the pressure get to him.

He was very nippy and adept with either foot and quickly became the crowd favourite but he had a brittle side and could let his head drop if things were not working out.

Plus, after a few seasons he suddenly seemed susceptible to injuries and between 2003 and 2006 – when he was released by the club – he would start only 15 games in a red and white shirt. It was a very disappointing end to what had been an extremely exciting beginning. He now had two years in Cyprus before returning to Latvia to manage at club level and then international level when he took over as Latvia’s manager in the summer of 2013