When Mick Rathbone arrived for his first day as Everton physio, he was so nervous, he was sweating.
But within a matter of minutes, Duncan Ferguson had left him both petrified and incredibly relieved.
Rathbone followed David Moyes from Preston North End to Everton in 2002.
Having suffered from crippling confidence and anxiety issues as a young player at Birmingham in the 1970s, he was nervous about making the step up from the Championship to the Premier League.
But he’s told how Ferguson, then the team’s talismanic striker and an imposing figure, soon made him feel at home in typically terrifying fashion.
The 59-year-old, nicknamed ‘Baz’ after late actor Basil Rathbone, recalled his first day at the club while speaking to Jon Parkin, and Chris Brown in an episode of the Under The Cosh podcast.
He said: "My first day, I drove into the car park, my hands were sweaty, I thought, ‘Oh, god,’ they’re not going to like me, the big hitters like Big Dunc, and all this kind of stuff.
"It was a really hot day and I’ll never forget it, I had faded jeans, a yellow check shirt and a denim jacket as well.
"It was a really hot day but I thought, ‘This is for my wife and kids,’ so I bravely walked across the car park and I went into this door and just stood there shivering.
"I could hear noise in the background. I could hear this big voice – this is Big Dunc – saying, ‘By the way, have you clocked the new physio? It’s Bob the f****ing Builder’.
"And then the door comes open and Big Dunc’s there. He comes up to me and goes, ‘I’m Big Dunc, I’ve finished a few f***ing physios’ careers’.
"And I go, ‘I’m Baz, I’ve finished a few players’ careers’.
"He comes close to me and he goes, ‘F***ing brilliant. I’m gonna like you’.
"I said, ‘Well it’s just as well because you spend the season in the medical room, don’t you?’
"He comes up to me, he puts his face in my face and he goes, ‘We’re going to be f***ing pals’. And then he walked off.
"Then Kevin Campbell comes down and says, ‘Baz, I’m club captain Kevin Campell, we’ve heard a lot about you, welcome to the club, really looking forward to working with you.
"I was in and that was it."
Rathbone, whose book The Smell Of Football includes more stories from his career, spent eight successful years at Everton.
Ferguson, who hung up his boots in 2006, is now first team coach at the Goodison Park club.
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