'You don't want to be seen as a biff: some busy bollocks like Gary Neville, or someone who has sold their soul like Beckham. 'I sometimes think I've needed a bit of an arm around me in my career - which I've not always got from certain managers and coaches who didn't understand me. 'Fowler's father, Bobby, is sure that the rumours about his son were started by Everton fans. 'At the age of six, in the summer of 1981, the Toxteth Riots broke out on his front doorstep.
'Let me say now, once and for all, that the stories are not true. He concedes that he is more insecure than many would imagine an international to be. All three girls attend a local private school, where they mingle with, among others, Liverpool midfielder Didi Hamann's brood. His Scouse accent is not of the pronounced sing-song variety.Critics of Fowler, who was 30 in April, like to call to mind three images when they speak about him: the notorious line-sniffing goal celebration against Everton in April 1999; the moment when he taunted Graeme Le Saux during a game at Chelsea; and the odd worse-for-wear snatched nightclub photograph. It's no wonder I struggled to come to terms with it all ... Every game I played, something seemed to happen that made me a little bit more famous, or a little more notorious. Schooled in the old ways of football, he entered the game just as its entire culture was about to be radically changed. My wife Kerrie is the nicest person on earth and together we have brought our three girls up properly, to respect people and have decent values. Those images tick the boxes of three taboos for those with role-model status - drugs, sex and drink.At the same time, Fowler is held in huge affection for being 'mischievous, but a good guy'; 'a true Liverpool kid'; and 'a record-breaking scorer of supernatural precision'. 'To Fowler, signing a three-year YTS apprenticeship in 1991 was fulfilment of the ultimate dream. 'Coming from such a background doesn't mean you're thick, or a thug, but it does mean you have a certain outlook on life to begin with. 'An Everton supporter who idolised Graeme Sharp, Fowler's world was contained within three points: home in the council maisonette, school at one end of the road, and the all-weather pitch at the other end.
)The manager argued that Fowler and Owen could not play together - but they emphatically disproved the theory, for England in Greece in June 2001. After describing himself as 'a cabbage' during his first two seasons at City, Fowler lists coming in the top three of the supporters' player-of-the-season awards last season as one of his proudest achievements (defender Richard Dunne came first).Meeting him at home, it is clear he has attempted to remain true to himself and his Toxteth background throughout his thrilling and often troubled career. Learn more about Robbie on his Twitter: https://twitter.com/Robbie9Fowler 'He emerged with a bang, instantly a hero, instantly breaking records. Members 13,399. 'Everyone was saying, "He's too young",' Graeme Souness, who gave Fowler his debut during his troubled time as Liverpool manager, told me when we spoke. I reckon he's watched every game I ever played from the age of about 10 and he always took me down to play football and practise, practise, practise. 'In the celebrations afterwards the players he had once captained expressed regret that he had not been there on the pitch with them and blamed Houllier for forcing him out of the club. 'Fowler thinks his uncouth image arises from such harmless, early pranks. And Dad was always there.