The Warm Up: Arthur Numan and Bobby Petta – Old Firm memories, Barry as a manager and rooming with Big Pierre

We’ve gone Dutch on this week’s edition of the Warm-Up, with Arthur Numan and Bobby Petta joining Gordon Duncan and Steven Naismith talking through their love of Scotland.

Arthur and Bobby talk at length about their time in Scotland from arriving and being schooled by Ian Ferguson and Tommy Burns, settling in a new country, learning the language and the game.

The full episode is available on the Warm-Up YouTube channel and can be found here.

On the show this week:

Advocaat’s ultimatum to Arthur

“It was in March 98, I was playing for PSV Eindhoven and all of a sudden after training, Dick Advocaat was the coach and he came to me and said ‘Arthur, I want to ask you something, and tell you something as well. I signed for Glasgow Rangers, nobody knows yet, and I want you to join me’, I said ‘I don’t know’, ‘YES OR NO?!’.”

Barry became Rangers captain on Arthur’s say-so

“I was vice-captain and (Dick) Advocaat said ‘Arthur you become captain’ and I said no no, you know what, Barry. I said you could see him already in 18 months he was actually growing as a player, he’s a player with a lot of potential he can become a really good player, and I think it’s also good in the dressing room that you have a Scot as a captain.”

Rooming with big Pierre

“It’s quite funny, before I came to Scotland I was there in France for the World Cup in 98 and my room-mate was Pierre van Hooijdonk. I was asking him about how it is like to play in Scotland, to play there, the Old Firm! ‘Arthur, I’m not going to tell you.’ ‘Give me something!’, ‘Nope, you have to find out yourself!’, and he was 100% right!”