We are only two words in when Patrick Vieira bursts out laughing. All Martin Keown has said is: 'So, Patrick…' But it has tickled Vieira to think his old Arsenal team-mate is here to interview him after all their years together. We are in Vieira's corner office at Crystal Palace's training ground.
There is no sense of a shrine here. Whereas other managers can turn their inner sanctuaries into personal museums, there is none of that from Vieira. No pictures. No medals. No memorabilia.
Only a tactics board, calendar, flipchart, sprinkling of stationery on the table and a copy of James Davies' Body: Simple Techniques and Strategies to Heal, Reset and Restore on the shelf.