THE burntout mattress in the garden next door, the steel plated window boards and the semi-derelict street are no longer part of disgraced banker Fred Goodwin's world.
The man known as Fred The Shred left the once notorious Ferguslie Park housing scheme in Paisley far behind long ago for a more salubrious postal code.
But the man who now lives in Fred's old two-in-a-block in Tannahill Terrace – just a long throw-in from St Mirren FC's new stadium – believes you can't take Ferguslie out of the man.
"I never bought into this local boy made good stuff because it seemed to me Goodwin was never more than a chancer," said retired driver Henry Lawrie. "He was the banking equivalent of a door-to-door salesman, someone who thinks about nothing but money.
"Ferguslie produced a lot of nice people – and there never used to be the stabbings, just straight fights – but there's a part of his upbringing that would have made him a grabber, an opportunist.
"He came from the better-off end of Ferguslie; a police sergeant lived in this block and the Provost just across the road, and Goodwin would have seen potential and been hungry for success. But he'd still have that grabbing Ferguslie mentality. And not being used to money he wouldn't be able to deal with the responsibility that comes with it."
Mr Lawrie does not believe losing the knighthood will make any real difference to the electrician's son. He said: "Does it mean he'll spend any less time on the golf course? I don't think so. He still gets his pension [£703,000-a-year]. He's still set up for life."
As he looked around his cold, tiny flat – warmed by a single electric heater – Mr Lawrie added: "I for one can't feel too sorry for him."
Mr Goodwin, 53, went from Ferguslie to international success as chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland. He owns a £3.5 million home in Edinburgh, properties abroad and drives a luxury car.
However, Ian Gillies, who lives next door to where the young Goodwin was brought up, believes it unlikely he appreciates how far he's come from his early years.
"Why would he reflect on where he got to and how he got there?" asked Mr Gillies. "He's not the type. Nor will he reflect on any blame attached to his mishandling of RBS, in my opinion. His actions are not to be praised but the politicians are as much to blame. They gave him the knighthood because it suited their political motives and they're taking it away for the same reason."
Mr Gillies added: "Perhaps he met his fate because he wasn't really part of the old boy's network. Perhaps coming out of Ferguslie Park was his undoing after all."
Mr Lawrie believes being stripped of the knighthood isn't punishment enough for actions which resulted in a public bailout of £45.5 billion.
"He should have been jailed," he said. "The punishment he now has is too little, too late. He still lives a life the likes of me can only dream about."
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