For about a month now Russell Slade has been making occasional references to how we are at the stage of the season where results take priority over performances. I suppose the real truth is that this is the case even in August when everyone starts on zero points, but, speaking as someone who has learned under this manager’s time in charge that being entertained by City means more to me than I thought it did, I take Mr Slade’s point – I’m not going to be turning my nose up if nine more matches like yesterday’s 1-0 win over Play Off rivals Ipswich at Cardiff City Stadium see us end up in the top six,
It is ironic though that since our manager has been emphasising the value of points over performances, we have, largely, been getting the two of them at the same time. It’s the performance levels shown recently against the likes of Brighton, Wolves and, to a lesser extent, Preston that has got me believing now that I might just have been wrong in the view that I held for the first two thirds of the season that, while we may be a top ten side, I did not see us as a top six outfit.
This change in viewpoint has come about because, since the turn of the year, the team have sometimes shown that they have a higher level they can go to that, from August to December anyway, I had suspected wasn’t there.
The important thing about those three matches I mentioned in which we looked like a top six team was that we also got nine points from them, whereas on Tuesday, despite playing better than we did against Preston, we ended up with nothing against Leeds.
Now, at the risk of contradicting myself somewhat, I would say that if our performance level in our remaining matches hits the same heights we achieved against Leeds, then I believe we have every chance of finishing in the top six because we are not going to be facing opponents who will be as lucky as they were in everyone of those nine games.
Moving on to yesterday’s match, I would say that despite my comments in the opening paragraph about accepting nine more games like that one if we ended up in the top six, the truth as I see it is that we would need generous helpings of the luck we didn’t have against Leeds for that to happen. We won a very, very tight game yesterday, but if all of our remaining fixtures pan out in the same way, the odds have to be that there will be more games than we can afford where it will be our opponents who end up edging the narrow win.
In many ways, yesterday’s match was a throwback to much of last season and the first few months of this one whereby we looked pretty solid at the back, but lacking in forward areas with little creativity in open play.
The game’s decisive moment, Bruno Manga’s header from Peter Whittingham’s corner – can’t help thinking that a defender on the post would have ensured that Ipswich left South Wales with a point.*
The similarities with those days even stretched to the goal we scored. One of the reasons I would not have been disappointed in seeing Sean Morrison recalled and Matt Connolly moved to right back (in the event, Lee Peltier recovered from his recent injury to fill in for the suspended Fabio) for this game was that he would make us more of a threat from set pieces (I mentioned in a recent piece on here that we have not scored from a dead ball cross since Morrison was injured in December). However, that run ended when Bruno Manga reached a Peter Whittingham corner first to power home a header in the eighteenth minute.
Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy, rightly, criticised his team’s shoddy defending for the goal (I thought Ipswich’s set piece defending was pretty poor all game) and you could understand where he was coming from really when he stated that there was barely a chance at either end throughout the game, so, while they didn’t do enough to win the game, his team did do enough to get something from it.
I agree that a draw would have been a fair result over the ninety minutes, but Ipswich’s manager did pay us a compliment of sorts by saying that we did to them what they have been doing to other teams recently.
A little research into Ipswich’s record since the turn of the year tells you what their manager meant by that remark. While their league record before yesterday of four wins, three draws and four defeats since January 1 had been good enough to keep them in the hunt for a top six finish, the fact that they had only scored ten times in that period shows that watching them lately must be quite like watching us in the autumn when you knew that we were unlikely to win a game if we conceded a goal.
I read something on a messageboard last night saying that City players had not won any of the individual battles in yesterday’s match. I beg to differ, and the reason I do so is that Ipswich looked exactly like a team with the sort of miserable scoring record described above – Daryl Murphy, so prolific last season, has eight goals this year, but only two of them have come since November, Freddie Sears has scored six times, but not in 2016 yet and while Brett Pitman has ten goals to his name, he only has three from his last seventeen appearances.
When you think back and try to recollect the times when Ipswich looked like scoring, you have to conclude that our central defenders, certainly, and our full backs, probably, won their individual duals as, collectively, a fine job was done in protecting Simon Moore who came in for the ill David Marshall for his first league start in over five months – while not totally convincing when coming for crosses, the understudy keeper had a quiet afternoon and can take heart from his clean sheet.
In midfield, given that Stuart O’Keefe was not as influential as he has been recently and that Ipswich had more possession, I suppose it could be argued that they just edged things, but little came from this “domination”, so I’d say that it was more or less even steven in this area – Ipswich were good at denying us time to build attacks in this area of the pitch in the manner we’ve became used to lately, but in terms of individual battles, I’d say both sides, largely, cancelled each other out.
The area where Ipswich definitely had the edge was in their defensive third. For just about the first time, we looked like a team without a specialist striker yesterday. Anthony Pilkington (a surprising choice for me as captain in Marshall’s absence) struggled with Ipswich’s high line and was caught offside too often when you would have thought the right pass and properly timed run on his behalf would have seen him clear on goal with our opponents not having the pace to catch him – rather as happened for his well taken goal against Sheffield Wednesday.
All in all, it was a frustrating afternoon for the closest thing we have to a specialist striker in the team currently and those who have also been coming up with goals lately struggled to make an impression as well. Indeed, although Whittingham was able to deliver some threatening crosses, I cannot at the moment recall another effort at goal from us in the first half, apart from Manga’s header for the goal.
This trend continued into the second period and it was only in the last third of the game that we came close to getting a second goal when visiting keeper Bartosz Bialkowski was forced into action as he tipped over a Pilkington header and dealt with a Whittingham shot from twenty yards. Significantly, both of these came from set piece situations and it was only when Lex Immers’ lovely little flick sent Malone racing forward for a shot which flew a yard or two over that anything suggesting a goal was created in open play,
Of course, all of this may mean that Championship teams are becoming more familiar, and therefore better equipped, to deal with the way we’ve been attacking in recent weeks, but I’d like to think that the evidence of our last few games before this one suggests that this was a one off and there is no need to look to change things too much yet.
Mentioning changes, there was one unforced one as well yesterday when Craig Noone was recalled in place of Tom Lawrence. Now, speaking as someone who expressed surprise on here about the withdrawal of Lawrence for the closing stages of the Leeds game, I feel that was somewhat harsh on the on loan Leicester player, but, by the same token, I could see that a convincing half an hour or so off the bench from Noone against Leeds made a strong case for him to start against Ipswich.
In the event, it was the frustrating and generally ineffective Noone of last season and the early part of this one who showed up yesterday rather than the more confident and productive one of recent months.
Given this, you would have thought that Lawrence would have been given his chance off the bench at some time yesterday, but it never happened as the substitutions Russell Slade did come up with were of a far more cautious nature.
Around the hour mark as Ipswich were probably enjoying their best spell of the game with Ben Pringle firing what was probably their clearest chance wastefully high and wide and Malone forced to clear off the line amid some rare defensive uncertainty by City, I mentioned that I’d be looking to shore up our central midfield at this time. Therefore the introduction of the fit again Aron Gunnarsson for Whittingham a few minutes later made sense to me, but it struck me a bit as overkill in this area when Kagishoi Dikgacoi was brought on for the last ten minutes instead of Pilkington.
I was critical of Russell Slade when he made exactly the same substitution against Preston with us 2-0 up and well in charge, but, although I wouldn’t have made yesterday’s change if it had been my decision to make, I think I might see where our manager was coming from this time.
The celebrations following the goal. Having been almost entirely reliant on set pieces for our goals early in the season and then scoring almost nothing but goals from open play in recent months, it would be nice if we could combine the two in the next nine games!*
Having previously said that the likes of Pilkington, Immers and Noone achieved little in attacking areas for us yesterday, I should also mention that, apart from Malone’s energetic bursts down the left, they never really got the support from others in the side in open play that they have become used to recently.
To my mind, the mindset from team and players this time was very much “what we have we hold” – having got in front in a very important game where goalscoring opportunities were at a premium, the objective was to make things even harder for opponents struggling for goals to come up with the one which they needed.
At this stage, it’s worth me reminding myself that while us armchair critics can sound off about “negative” substitutions, the people within the game who make these decisions have the big advantage of seeing what has been happening in training in the days before a game – in the modern game they also have analytical tools which can help compare the fitness and stamina levels of their players to what they would normally be.
So, it does not seem beyond the bounds of possibility to me that the huge effort put in on Tuesday (especially when we were down to ten men) may have had repercussions when it came to how ready physically some of the team were for yesterday’s challenge.
I’ve already mentioned that the likes of O’Keefe and Pilkington were not quite their usual energetic selves and, although he still had a pretty effective match, I thought the same was true of Immers to some extent, while Noone’s below par showing might have had something to do with a very intense half an hour on Tuesday on the back of so little football for a month or so.
Hopefully, a week’s rest before Reading and then a fortnight without a game over the international break will recharge a few batteries for the crucial last phase of the campaign.
However, I do have a concern that our relatively small squad will run out of steam in a similar manner to the way in which Dave Jones’ early sides did nearly a decade ago and I just wonder if the loaning out of Federico Macheda and Tommy O’Sullivan to Nottingham Forest and Newport County respectively in the last few days is the prelude to one last loan signing before the window closes later this month?
*pictures courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/joncandy/
Mystified by the decision to leave out Lawrence (unless there was a physical problem we haven’t been aware of) by all means give Noone a start by in my opinion perhaps Whitts would have been a better candidate for warming the bench. Again we were left no options on the wide left, Whitts does like to squeeze in doesn’t he?!
I agree with you, Paul, the reversion to the hopeful punt upfield was a throwback to the days of dear old slow Kenwynne. I felt sorry for Pilks and Immers so much running and hardly a kick.
Thought the first substitution was understandable but surprised that Lawrence wasn’t brought on when Digger appeared.
A dirty three points that was much needed but I much preferred the way we played on Tuesday.
Thought Saturdays game was very tight and along with thier mighty effort on Tuesday and lets not forget the backs against the wall second half at Ashton Gate full applause is now due,as tiredness kicks without loosing concentration .
Not suprised Lawrence was rested,he has had a lot of game time within a short window,probably has a slight knock which needs protecting for us and Wales.
Pilkington choice as captain is typical of Slade’s squad building mentality ethos, rewarding and recognising effort.
We need to find an experienced crafty ” Tony Watt ” type goal poacher though, felt on Tuesday and Saturday there was a lack of clever penalty box movement. It’s probably too early for Tommy and the Italian stallion hardly seems to care.
Italian ‘very slow donkey’ would be more accurate in my opinion, Russell.
Was being facetious about the useless lump of lard ,which I guess you knew Lol, I am fed up with these type of players like him , Jones, Guerra , Ameobi , they don’t really want to come to Cardiff / Wales , its all about inflated money to come to us rather hard working triers working Revell / Doyle’s Academy lads of this world okay they didn’t come off . I think Tan has seen the light as well and good on him .
A great analysis of the game and our present position.
I recall a quote from Mick McCarthy within the last two years when he said that he wanted his team to be ‘bloody ‘orrible to play against.’
On Saturday’s evidence he has succeeded!
You have to sympathise with the Ipswich fans who made the long journey to watch their team play like that and LOSE.
I am sure they will remember Saturday as a bloody ‘orrible day out!
I dread to think of how our Slade haters-who have been pretty quiet lately-would have reacted.
All excellent points, but where was Saadi on Saturday. Not even on the bench. Presumably unfit? If so, how and why?
Cardiff surely have something up their sleeve if Macheda (thankfully) has gone out on loan – but Pilkington still needs more support, which would also be beneficial to his intelligent running and the equally intelligent work put in by Immers.
I was also pleased to see Malone willing to go forward more often and with greater drive during Saturday’s game.
Thanks for the replies all. Colin, the sort of performance we had on Saturday becomes more bearable with the knowledge that we can reach a level that wasn’t there in the first half of the season. As Mike says, Mick McCarthy has made Ipswich a very hard side to play against and I thought it was noticeable that we didn’t get the time in central midfield areas to pass the ball as we have been doing lately – the methods Ipswich use means that it’s always likely to be a scrappy game when they’re involved, but, based on what I’ve seen over the last couple of seasons, the downside for them is that they don’t have many players in that area with the ability to spot and deliver passes that can open defences up.
Russell, I’d like to see Lawrence used more centrally again – I’m not convinced his finishing would be that much better than Pilkington or Immers, but I think he’d lay on chances for others – I’d pick him in front of Noone or, maybe, Whitts – take away Whitts’ dead ball deliveries though and we’d barely have had a goal attempt on Saturday.
AMO, I’d be surprised if Saadi was injured, I think it’s more likely that he was just left out of the 18. I’d like to have seen him given some game time during the recent matches where he was on the bench, but Russell Slade has always turned to Zohore before him – I notice the Under 21s are playing Ipswich at Leckwith this afternoon – I wouldn’t be surprised to see Saadi feature in that match.
well paul you sum it all up well, I don’t think we played very well except for a few direct attacks which should have been more fruitful. we were completely out played in midfield yet managed the defending very well.
my worry is still the same like you I cannot see us in the top six because we are not consistent enough. that has always been down to the manager both in his pick of the players but more so in his substitutions. it seem endemic that he does not sub the right players nor does he put the right players into the game.
if for some miracle we get in the top six he will be out thought by better managers and therefore it will all come crashing down around us with more pain to be absorbed.
I really do hope he proves me wrong but I think I could get a good bet that wont happen. russ should have departed after the shrewsbury fiasco and at the time there were a number of experienced managers that would have got us over the line.
so I stick with the theory which I have held from day one, we have the players to get us into the top two but not the manager
Just a comment to suggest the old adage ‘Attack is the best form of defence’ could be employed. I feel the eagerness to allow other teams to come onto us by removing the outlet up field to hold and give the defence a breather can put the fans on edge which maybe transmits to the team who give a hurried performance. Something we are are not the best at. Why couldn’t it have been like Leeds against us as we piled on pressure only to be undone at the end with their second goal. Ipswich may have left spaces as they pressed for an equaliser and another goal for us would negate the feeling nay expectation that the opposition are more likely to score than not at the end of the game. I feel ‘Big Ken’ is eager to impress and look to score himself rather than hold and bring others in especially as he comes on at the very latter part of the game.
Hello Stephen, you and Barry both touch upon the issue of substitutions and, in a way, I’d say these are tougher to get right when you’re winning than they are when you’re losing as many of the decisions are made for you then. When you’re winning, you have the choice whether to chase the further goal which should guarantee the points or to shore things up by bringing on defenders/midfielders for strikers.
I don’t believe that there is a definite right or wrong answer there, more that it’s down to the “feel” of the game. As examples of what I mean, you only have to look at our last two home wins. Speaking for myself, I thought Russell Slade helped to make the Preston match a tighter affair than it should have been with his substitutions because it felt to me that a low scoring side like Preston were already beaten at 2-0 down with less than ten minutes left, but, by going on the defensive, we helped give them some hope when they should have had none. On the other hand, Gunnarsson for Whittingham felt right to me on Saturday because Ipswich were having the better of a very tight match at the time and, although Gunnar didn’t do anything eye catching, Ipswich lost the edge they had been gaining after that change.
With the way things are at the moment, it looks like those four points dropped in successive home games against Burnley and Sheffield Wednesday could prove to be very important. In the first of them, Slade changed a striker for a striker at 1-0 up, a midfielder for a midfielder at 2-0 and then brought on Macheda for Jones in the 89th minute with us 2-1 up – given Burnley’s reputation as a team that scores late goals, that struck me as a wrong move at the time and still does now. By contrast, it was a striker for a striker at 2-1 up against Sheffield Wednesday, but, with the score 2-2 the 89th minute change this time was a cautious one with Fabio coming on for Pilkington while Macheda stayed on the bench this time.
Russell Slade received a lot of criticism for his substitutions in those games and I think it was deserved. Certainly, his attitude recently has been to make changes designed to hold on to leads, rather than extend them, but, with the possibility of goal difference playing a very important part in our season, I agree with Stephen that there are certain matches where you should be more adventurous – I suppose one of the things which sorts the best managers out from the rest is getting that judgment right in deciding which matches are already won and which ones could have a sting in the tail which turns three points into one.
You Paul, and the lads have often “said it all” by the time I get to read your blog, and this weekisno exception. So, rather than tread an already well-worn path, my contribution will be unashamedly “off topic”. But I know it will strike a chord with you Paul, and those readers a bit older than you…i.e. MY vintage.
But before I present you with “my” contribution – which actually is not mine at all – let me say a word about one contribution above.
Mike Hope never fails to miss putting his finger RIGHT on the pulse of things…and often showing fine humour. Oh how I wish that his whole contribution this week could be compulsory reading for all the haters of Mr Slade!!
But then, I would, wouldn’t I? I am a vengeful blighter. I still want those kamikaze traitors waving “Tan Out” banners during the first season in the top flight I have seen since 1962, unearthed, and given Stalinist show trials. And when found guilty, sentenced not to a Siberian salt mine, or a gulag, but put under house arrest in the nearest house to The Liberty stadium for a full season, to hear – and be driven mad by – the roars of Premier League football, that because of their negativity, they may not hear at CGS for another 48 years.
Anyway, enough of my semi-rant.
Here is “my” contribution. It is a cracker.
How it came about is I was telling a friend the famous “Johnny Haynes summer wages” anecdote, and wanted to check if the other player involved was – as I believed, and STILL believe actually, despite this following piece saying it wasn’t – Tosh Chamberlain.
So I googled* it, and found this poetic gem.
Actually, the one weak part of the piece is his telling of that Johnny Haynes anecdote, which he frankly makes a mess of.
Wish I could attribute the author’s name to this gorgeous piece…it is his fault for hiding behind log-in computer names. It puzzles me why people have not the courage to put their full name to their opinions. If Mike Hope and Anthony “AMO” O’Brien can, so can we all…even if like me, this Fulham fan might be someone whose words can occasionally identify himself as a dunce.
Anyway, here is this thing of beauty I have just spotted. I know most of your readers will purr as they read it. I will add a couple of comments at the end.
Here goes…a Fulham fan is recalling the halcyon days of the late 1950s:
‘…
Buying a programme for sixpence and having everything you needed from it unlike today’s effort which is more like Vogue and requires you to mortgage the house to buy one.
Having the half time scores up on the scoreboard. You needed the programme because you had to see which letter referred to which game. Thus say Letter A was Arsenal v Newcastle and Letter B was say Aston Villa v Chelsea and so on throughout the alphabet.
Invariably the bloke next to you who did not invest in the program would ask you – Who’s W mate – who’s 4-0 down at half time? You would consult your programme and impart the news that Brentford were giving it large to Aldershot and with this knowledge he would happily roll up another cigarette.
In the Golden Lion you would listen to the older and wiser people tell some great stories about the club and the players. Monday night was when you paid your Supporter Club dues.
When Johnny Haynes was the first player to receive £100 per week this apparently caused some unrest amongst his team mates. It was said that Maurice Cook approached Trinder and asked him why Haynes was getting a hundred quid a week? “Because he’s worth it”, said Trinder.
“Not in the summer, he ain’t,” said Cook.
Then another player approached Trinder with the same gripe. “Listen,” said Trinder, “The other day Tottenham came to me and offered me £100,000 for Haynes, so £100 per week seems right. Now, last month Reading enquired about you and offered us £5,000 which means that if I apply the same logic you should be on £5 per week. By my calculations we are overpaying you £15 per week.”
And who remembers when a player went down badly injured and as the trainer tended to him the players stood around, hands on hips chatting to each other.
A bloke in the enclosure shouted, “Don’t just stand there, Fulham – practice.”
Oh those bloody peanuts. To think that at one stage in his career, Johnny Haynes being on the ground staff would have been required to clean up the terraces after each match and been confronted with about ten million peanut shells.
I remember when we had to kick-off at 2pm because Trinder refused to instal floodlights. “Who’s going to leave their television and warm fire on a winter’s night to watch football?” he said. So we became the last First Division club to have floodlights and even when we did it was suggested we should bring our own candle because they were below par.
I don’t think I ever bunked in Mr Peabody although Trinder always claimed that as a kid he would climb the wall at low tide and bunk in over the Thamesbank wall. It’s a pity he didn’t get stuck in the mud. But that’s just me.
…’
Sir…oh, how I salute you for that.
Magnificent.
I had plain forgot about people asking me “what is C/D/F ?etc.”, seeing I had a programme to break the code for half time scores!
And this little piece is a veritable Proustian madeleine cake for me, in that it suddenly made me think of other things about the 1950s my mind had forgotten.
Those invalid carriages – a bit like black versions of Del Boy’s Reliant Robin married to Clive Sinclair’s C5 – that used to crowd the areas in all grounds near a corner flag. When did THEY disappear, I wonder?
And why did they never have their windshields smashed…especially since the balls in those years were – when it was raining – almost as hard as medicine balls?
And thoughts of days long gone, suddenly brought to mind images less pleasant. I recalled the old urinals that used to stand high above the corner flag between the Grangetown Stand** and the Bob Bank.
And how we kids would all try with the force of our flow, get an empty fag packet to float from one end down to the drain. (Btw, it is a good rule of thumb to test your prostate today: if your urine flow is not strong enough to move a cigarette packet, go see your GP.)
And before signing off, a word on how the Fulham fan blew the telling of the wonderful Johnny Haynes anecdote.
What he should have said was it had nowt to do with £100 a week.
Instead it related to pre 1961 and the abolition of the maximum wage.
It should go like this…
In those days, First Division players were paid £20 a week in the season, and circa £12-£14 a week in the close season.
But Tosh Chamberlain found out that they were paying Haynes £20 a week throughout the whole year.
Hence him going to our Tom Jones’s bete noire***, comedian Tommy Trinder to complain.
To which Trinder replied “but Tosh, he is a much better player than you”.
And thus came Chamberlain’s priceless retort “not in the summer he ain’t!!”
Now THAT is how he should have related the story. He threw it away, above.
* deliberate use of lower case
** nothing on earth ever got me to say “Grange End”
*** I suggest you google it yourself. Too knackered to relate that anecdote! And too tired to proof read…so apols in advance for typos committed above.
DW
I enjoyed reading that Dai. You got me thinking of what Ninian Park was like when I first started going. I can remember the letters for the half time scores, but. to keep the Fulham connection going, I seem to remember being very impressed with the “electronic scoreboard” at Craven Cottage for my first ever away trip in 1968 (we won 5-1!) – they had the facility to put the names of the teams on the scoreboard, but still went with the letter code shown in the programme (I think David Hamilton was doing the match day announcing even then).
As for Ninian Park, I can remember the old Bluebirds Club behind the Canton Stand, but not whether it had been built when I first started going to matches in the early sixties. There was also that strange structure situated where the Grangetown Stand met the Enclosure which I seem to remember having an advert for Roath Furnishing on it – maybe it was the Cardiff version of Fulham’s Cottage? Lastly, I remember that booth above the Enclosure, which didn’t seem big enough for two people, which was used for hospital broadcasting.
You’ll notice that I said Grangetown Stand not Grange End there, but the truth is it’s always been the Grange End to me and can only assume that this is an example where the relatively small age gap between makes us a big difference. In fact, it reminds of a thread on the City messageboard I use from a few years back that has become something of a classic on there – it was about whether a certain pretty well know thoroughfare in the centre of Cardiff should be known as Caroline Street or Chippy Alley/Lane – I harrumphed that it should be Caroline Street of course and anyone who thought otherwise should be shot, but there were an awful lot who disagreed with me.
Couple of other things, first I Googled “Tom Jones, Tommy Trinder”, but, apart from this interesting thread which contains a claim that our Tom called Trinder an arsehole;
http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/publications/92524-tommy-trinder-biography.html
I couldn’t find anything. Secondly, I might be wrong, but I don’t think Mike Hope is that poster’s real name.
Very interesting stuff, Paul.
First though an “apols” from me for CGS for CCS…where in heaven’s name that typo came from, I know not.
Just as I never knew where a 4-2-4 came from about 5 months ago, when I clearly meant 4-4-2.
Let’s get the Tommy Trinder/Tom Jones thing out of the way first.
Surprised that there is nowt online on it, for I have heard our Tom a good three times down the years vent his spleen at Tommy Trinder. Trinder apparently treated him with massive disrespect back in the mid to late 1960s, and Tom never forgave him.
I’m glad that the thread proves however that I was not dreaming things!!
As for Chip Alley…like you, it will always be Caroline Street for me too. Not least because I used to call on business toBrain’s Brewery as a younger man, and so was uber familiar with the area.
As for Mike, I am broken hearted. He seemed a man to truly go into the jungle with.
(In fairness, he might still be…but I’d love to know why the alias.)
Alas the internet is full of people who hide behind an alias…and I will never understand it…unless they are women like – in a bygone age – George Sands or George Eliot, hoping to make their way in a man’s world.
Or the thought occurs, forget the “bygone”: try the cases of JK Rowling and PD James on for size !
DW
I read somewhere a long time ago that Tommy Trinder was a somewhat unpleasant character, never willing to share the limelight with other performers, and – like many so-called comedians – apoplectic if someone raised a laugh instead of him. So, I can quite accept the rancour of Tom Jones (formerly Tommy Woodward and then Tommy Scott and the Senators performing on Friday nights in the Shelley Hall, Pontypridd – free to go in after 9.50 until about 10.20). As for the Minimum Wage, a professional footballer told me more than fifty years ago that there were ways around that diktat — one of our least favourite players , for example, notorious for brazenly breaking a Cardiff player’s leg, was presented as a very young starlet with a shoe shop by the chairman of his first club, and then went on to own – and I quote – “a string of shoe shops in someone else’s name). True? Well, it’s what I was told!
BreaKing legs, AMO, is not a good idea if one plans to sell people …SHOES, methinks.
Were these shops in Huddersfield and the West Riding, btw?
And that apart, I always felt the old max wage was open to the familiar feature that used to beset amateur rugby in Wales, i.e. “money in their boots” !!
Coupla other things…
Don’t tell me Anthony Mor O’Brien is not YOUR real name too !!?? (Weak joke from me, AMO.)
As for me…
Dai Woosnam is not my real name…I have just been running it in for somebody else since 1947. Bu seriously, all these nom de plumes make me wonder if they are perhaps members of Alcoholics Anonymous.
And a further thought about my CGS typo…
Now if I had written CPS that would have been nearer the mark much of this season as far as Barry is concerned!
Just had a thought…is Barry’s real name Tony Evans ?
DW
Does the “leg-breaker” have the initials DL and did the leg belong to Steve Gammon?
That was a very sad event.
Thanks for the memories Mr. Woosnam or whatever nom-de-plume you are using today.
BTW I use my real name.
Colin,
Thanks for the thanks.
And I regret to say that David Brian Woosnam is my true name…just a weak joke from me in my last contribution.
Oh and btw, Colin, I was ahead of you on the Denis Law thing…note my reference to Huddersfield above.
That tackle on Steve Gammon, lives in my memory. I can see it now…right in front of the dugouts.
I know AMO is convinced it was deliberate. I am not sure. But what is incontrovertible is that it was incredibly reckless. And Law was not even booked, let alone dismissed.
How careers change eh, with one tackle.
Had it been the other way round, Law would never have gone on to Torino and then heady days as part of the Holy Trinity at Old Trafford, with those springheeled leaps and electric acceleration being his trademark (along with his “arm raised” goal celebration).
A physically broken forever Law, would perhaps have gone to non-league Kettering as player manager, and faded into obscurity.
And the equally springheeled Steve Gammon would have gone on to captain Wales and be as brilliant and successful a wing half at Old Trafford as Paddy Crerand.
If only…
But …
“If ‘ifs’ and ‘ands’ were a pot and pan
We’d have no use for a tinkerman”.
DW