Merry Christmas Pinchy

[blade too long]

There really is no need for the statistics. If your preference is for alehouse football, simply say so. It's a bizarre and irrational choice but it is your prerogative. Don't try to clothe it in the same colours as proper football, though. You will just embarrass yourself as you have already.

The great thing about pub football is that it's available at your local park every weekend. Great views and no entrance charge. Fill your boots. Personally, I expect my team and professional football in general to give me a little more aesthetic pleasure than that, but that's me,

I'll have Tony Currie, George Best, Rodney Marsh, Stan Bowles, Jimmy Greaves, Peter Osgood, Alan Hudson, Liam Brady and Archie Gemmill to name but a few. You stick with Vinny Jones, Denis Wise and Wally Downes. Wally Fucking Downes.

so what your saying is Glynn Hodges was totally talentless
Brian Deane was a battering ram dunderhead
amazing how you missed we were playing ryan giggs , david beckham steven gerrard dennis bergkamp

never seen such a skewed ridiculous argument
deliberately side stepping talent to talk utter bollocks about vinny jonedc
so lets discuss the wagstaffes and reg matthewson
mick hill was better than Agana then

 

[blade too long]

1971 was not Harris' only promotion to the first division

again was a different game in 61
11 v 11 if someone got injured they played with 10
players got 50 quid a week at the top clubs
of course it was easier for us to compete

try and see how harris would have done getting a twentieth of what the rest of the division had to fund squads

71 promotion saw the start of clubs throwing money around , its more evenly judgeable

 

[pommpey]

You forget , the players of today cannot play with mud on their boots

No need to. We have the Desso.

I loved Tony Currie. He was football personified back then. Skillful, flair, turn of pace and an eye for an opportunity, be it from thirty yards or thirty inches.

I put to you though that he'd be hard pushed to have enough time on the ball these days to display that. The formations and tactics wouldn't match his method of play and I think he'd be matched out on the park by even the most mediocre defensive midfields in the Championship.

Woodward was a dynamo and a set-piece specialist, but the formations for corners and free kicks might not allow the opportunities he had back in the day. And our defence would be burned to a crisp by the sheer pace and stamina these days.

pommpey

 

[LSF]

I'd suggest the John Harris years were split into three eras. His initial spell after succeeding Joe Mercer saw him build the '61 promotion team, inheriting some and adding others.
He broke that team up gradually and built a team based on youth which eventually got us relegated.
After the strange interlude of Rowley, he combined the best of the now mature youth products, some of Rowleys signings and some astute additions which culminated in the '71 promotion team and beyond.
Along the way there were ups and downs, it wasn't all sweetness and light a la Pinchy, but the style was always distinguishable if not always effective.
Come the Dave Bassett era, the style was also distinguishable in its own way, but effective nonetheless and after the barren years we'd suffered, the success was both welcome and invigorating.
I've enjoyed both managers in their own different styles, to disrespect either one of these managers is an act treachery or just a fuckin huge wind up....
Best not to bite imho...

 

[JJ Sefton]

No need to. We have the Desso.

I loved Tony Currie. He was football personified back then. Skillful, flair, turn of pace and an eye for an opportunity, be it from thirty yards or thirty inches.

I put to you though that he'd be hard pushed to have enough time on the ball these days to display that. The formations and tactics wouldn't match his method of play and I think he'd be matched out on the park by even the most mediocre defensive midfields in the Championship.

Woodward was a dynamo and a set-piece specialist, but the formations for corners and free kicks might not allow the opportunities he had back in the day. And our defence would be burned to a crisp by the sheer pace and stamina these days.

pommpey

I do think that if Badger, Hemsley et al we're playing today they'd put in a few shifts on the treadmill so that's not an entirely fair comparison. I agree about Currie, he'd have someone all over him today. Woodward could do it, I think, except that few teams these days seem to play with that sort of outside right, at the top level anyway. Wide players never seem to look for the touch line, always the ball inside.

 

[Silent Blade]

again was a different game in 61
11 v 11 if someone got injured they played with 10
players got 50 quid a week at the top clubs
of course it was easier for us to compete

try and see how harris would have done getting a twentieth of what the rest of the division had to fund squads

71 promotion saw the start of clubs throwing money around , its more evenly judgeable

I know you have two rules in your years of posting in here which are
1. Blade Too Long is always right
2. When wrong, look at rule number 1

 

[Fanny magnet]

Harris ,Bassett and Warnock all have one thing in common
None of them won anything

Maybe we should go back to the glory years of the titanics last voyage to have a proper debate

For me Bassett and Warnock eras were exciting and after decades of recovering from our fall through the divisions in the seventies it was great to see some life breathed back into a club whose older fans still clung onto a sentence from a commentator calling Tony Currie a quality player as the pinnacle of footballing achievement

 

[blade too long]

when Harris started in div 1 with the blades teams played with 235 formations , no one would dream of playing the W formation today , this was an era when footballers had a half time fag , and turned up pissed, it has absolutely no comparison to football since the late eighties, . and the use of 3 5 and 7 subs has altered club football beyond all recognition , with teams like Chelsea having better quality out on loan than we could ever afford.
For us to get up there and compete will take money weve only ever dreamed of

 

[blade too long]

I know you have two rules in your years of posting in here which are
1. Blade Too Long is always right
2. When wrong, look at rule number 1

Of course I get things wrong
but so does anyone who decries one era against another

both had their merits and their faults
I enjoyed both as we were in the top division
but
someone saying 91 to 94 was devoid of any football is using their anus to talk about it
when we went to cloughs forest to stay up we wiped the floor with the former European champions
I remember us destroying Chelsea 4-2 last game with a wonderful footballing display
to say we had no talent is deeply offensive

 

[Silent Blade]

Of course I get things wrong
but so does anyone who decries one era against another

both had their merits and their faults
I enjoyed both as we were in the top division
but
someone saying 91 to 94 was devoid of any football is using their anus to talk about it

I did enjoy both too. The argument when comparing the two good managers about the use of subs is daft. Harris didnt have the benefit of using subs until 1965 and from then on he had only one sub to use and it was hard for him to decide whether the sub should be a defender, a midfielder or a striker

 

[blade too long]

I did enjoy both too. The argument when comparing the two good managers about the use of subs is daft. Harris didnt have the benefit of using subs until 1965 and from then on he had only one sub to use and it was hard for him to decide whether the sub should be a defender, a midfielder or a striker

I didnt compare use of subs , just the fact rich clubs can have more talent on the bench than we can afford in our first eleven , which has made it far harder for us
Harris only ever had to beat 11 men, not 14 to 17

 

[Bert]

. I agree about Currie, he'd have someone all over him today.

He did have blokes all over him.

They had names like Ron "Chopper" Harris and Norman "Bites yer legs" Hunter.

 

[JJ Sefton]

He did have blokes all over him.

They had names like Ron "Chopper" Harris and Norman "Bites yer legs" Hunter.

Fair point. Neither of them had the stamina that today's players have though. They might have gone in hard a couple of times a match, today's player - a Nick Montgomery - would be up his arse all 90.

Defensive players like Badger could, I think, adjust to today by getting fitter. I don't know that making a languid ball player fitter would help much. For what it's worth I don't think Le Tissier - the last of that breed of player- would hack it in the top flight now and he only packed it in 10 years or so ago.

 

[west_yorks_blade]

Harris ,Bassett and Warnock all have one thing in common
None of them won anything

Maybe we should go back to the glory years of the titanics last voyage to have a proper debate

For me Bassett and Warnock eras were exciting and after decades of recovering from our fall through the divisions in the seventies it was great to see some life breathed back into a club whose older fans still clung onto a sentence from a commentator calling Tony Currie a quality player as the pinnacle of footballing achievement

Fanny magnet - well are you?

 

[Bert]

Neither of them had the stamina that today's players have though.

Do you think if they were playing now they'd still be on the booze and fags like they were in the 70's?

 

[JJ Sefton]

Do you think if they were playing now they'd still be on the booze and fags like they were in the 70's?

No, and I think the same applies to defensive midfielders as it does to defenders like Badger.

 

[georgebernardshaw]

Harris ,Bassett and Warnock all have one thing in common
None of them won anything

Maybe we should go back to the glory years of the titanics last voyage to have a proper debate

For me Bassett and Warnock eras were exciting and after decades of recovering from our fall through the divisions in the seventies it was great to see some life breathed back into a club whose older fans still clung onto a sentence from a commentator calling Tony Currie a quality player as the pinnacle of footballing achievement

If you'd been there at the time, you could never have posted that.

 

[Fanny magnet]

Fanny magnet - well are you?

No !

 

[Fanny magnet]

If you'd been there at the time, you could never have posted that.

No internet ?

 

[oldblade]

He did have blokes all over him.

They had names like Ron "Chopper" Harris and Norman "Bites yer legs" Hunter.

Also, Currie was hampered by the fact that he was playing in an era when most football pitches resembled a ploughed field by the time we reached the winter months, and the ball was somewhat heavier than it is today. And yet he could still control it instantly and pass with precision. I think he is a player who would be able to adapt to most eras. I think he was quite deceptive in that he gave off this aura of being relaxed and languid, but was far sharper than he appeared and often found space because he was thinking further ahead and far quicker than those around him.

I accept Walthamstow's point that people like Harris, Smith, Hunter etc were not as fit as the modern day defender. But on the other hand they were able to get away with putting in far more vicious tackles than happens now. In today's game I doubt that they would stay on the pitch for the full 90 minutes in many matches if they 'tackled' in the way they did back then.

 

[oldblade]

72 73 season under Harris
tell me how much sexy football we watched and thrilled to in this run of games

14 Oct 1972 West Ham United v Sheffield United L 3-1 League Division One
21 Oct 1972 Sheffield United v Everton L 0-1 League Division One
23 Oct 1972 Sheffield United v Charlton Athletic W 1-0 League Cup
28 Oct 1972 Derby County v Sheffield United L 2-1 League Division One
31 Oct 1972 Sheffield United v Arsenal L 1-2 League Cup
04 Nov 1972 Sheffield United v Stoke City D 0-0 League Division One
11 Nov 1972 Leeds United v Sheffield United L 2-1 League Division One
18 Nov 1972 Coventry City v Sheffield United L 3-0 League Division One
25 Nov 1972 Sheffield United v Wolverhampton Wanderers L 1-2 League Division One
09 Dec 1972 Sheffield United v Manchester City D 1-1 League Division One
16 Dec 1972 Sheffield United v Leicester City W 2-0 League Division One
23 Dec 1972 Tottenham Hotspur v Sheffield United L 2-0 League Division One
26 Dec 1972 Sheffield United v Liverpool L 0-3 League Division One
30 Dec 1972 Newcastle United v Sheffield United L 4-1 League Division One
06 Jan 1973 Sheffield United v West Bromwich Albion W 3-0 League Division One
20 Jan 1973 Southampton v Sheffield United D 1-1 League Division One
27 Jan 1973 Sheffield United v Norwich City W 2-0 League Division One
10 Feb 1973 Chelsea v Sheffield United L 4-2 League Division One
17 Feb 1973 Sheffield United v Birmingham City L 0-1 League Division One
24 Feb 1973 Leicester City v Sheffield United D 0-0 League Division One
03 Mar 1973 Arsenal v Sheffield United L 3-2 League Division One
our only 4 wins against charlton leicester west brom and norwich , other yo yo teams

having a misty eyed view of the era that turns a blind eye to how mediocre some of it was, then shamelessly picking on Bassetts efforts is being myopic

Blimey, that's just 12 points from 20 league games - comfortably relegation form. We must have done pretty well in August, September and April to pile up enough points to get out of trouble!

 

[pommpey]

He did have blokes all over him.

They had names like Ron "Chopper" Harris and Norman "Bites yer legs" Hunter.

There's a difference between being booted all over the park and marked/played out of the game and having the ball taken off you on your second, fleeting touch. If Bert thinks Currie would be able to play in the same game as Matic or Toure then pommpey disagrees.

pommpey

 

[pommpey]

In today's game I doubt that they would stay on the pitch for the full 90 minutes in many matches if they 'tackled' in the way they did back then.

Agreed. In today's game, where most games are filmed and subject to analysis, the tackles the likes of Hunter, Harris and Derek Dougan (another dirty bastard) Jimmy Case and others would result in three match bans. It's okay 'being all manly' about the game, but Rodney Marsh effectively finished Tom McAllister's career with one of those without much censure.

pommpey

 

[oldblade]

There really is no need for the statistics. If your preference is for alehouse football, simply say so. It's a bizarre and irrational choice but it is your prerogative. Don't try to clothe it in the same colours as proper football, though. You will just embarrass yourself as you have already.

The great thing about pub football is that it's available at your local park every weekend. Great views and no entrance charge. Fill your boots. Personally, I expect my team and professional football in general to give me a little more aesthetic pleasure than that, but that's me,

I'll have Tony Currie, George Best, Rodney Marsh, Stan Bowles, Jimmy Greaves, Peter Osgood, Alan Hudson, Liam Brady and Archie Gemmill to name but a few. You stick with Vinny Jones, Denis Wise and Wally Downes. Wally Fucking Downes.

Didn't know Denis Wise ever played for us. Bassett signed the other two, but they were hardly here for very long.
What about Mitch Ward, Brian Deane, Tony Agana, Glynn Hodges, Franz Carr, Dane Whitehouse, Ian Bryson. He signed all of those and whilst most of them weren't as good as Greaves, Hudson, Brady, Marsh and Gemmill (none of whom were our players), they were all still pretty good. And Deane was certainly in the same class as Osgood.

 

[georgebernardshaw]

No internet ?

So you weren't?

 

[Fanny magnet]

So you weren't?

I weren't what ?

 

[georgebernardshaw]

I weren't what ?

....there

 

[Fanny magnet]

....there

When motty said something nice about Currie ? No ,were you ?
Did he have his sheepskin on ?

 

[georgebernardshaw]

When motty said something nice about Currie ? No ,were you ?
Did he have his sheepskin on ?

Yes, every week, home and away

You?

 

[Fanny magnet]

Yes, every week, home and away

You?

ive never met john motson and the only time I've been in the commentators box was during an open day at the lane

Hats off to you though