The humour is still there. ‘To begin with, I laughed it off,’ says Gordon Cowans.
‘But there are only so many times in an hour you can misplace your glasses or wallet, without thinking that there might be something wrong. Although, I should say, the wallet one worked in my favour, particularly when it was my round!’
The determination, which played no small part in European Cup, League Cup and First Division triumphs with his beloved Aston Villa, also remains.
‘Now we know what is wrong, we can make the best of the “good time” I have,’ he explains.