Imperfect 10 - Tony Currie's autobiography

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benn5712 said:
Player he was, the studs up on McAlister I cannot forgive.
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A lot went off on the pitch in those days which we fans didn't really appreciate .HIS style meant he got some rough treatment great players have a tendency to react occasionally when provoked TC was no different.
Players had to fight there corner as protection from ref was not very good.
Not making excuses but being kicked and constantly being hacked at will lead to a reaction.
Happens occasionally today
difference being ! No hiding place as video evidence is available
 
tc got dogs abuse from the shoreham that 4 - 1 defeat to leeds in 78 as a poster has mentioned nicky johns had a nightmare and gave em 3 of their goals met him a couple of times and have to agree with some on here not the most friendly carachcter but boy what a footballer and entertainer he was never saw hagan so cant compare them one name that hasnt been mentioned on this thread is mick jones hes definetly the best centre forward ive seen at the lane
 
Stegosaurus said:
Hi Stegosaurus here

He was a bit before my time, but I always felt if he was that good, he'd have had a better career.

He won just 17 caps. Thats even less than even Danny Mills.
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Read today’s Daily Telegraph piece on him. That will give you the answer.
 
Currie is well known for being quite dour and coming across as almost ignorant….so fans who have met him tend to be disappointed.
Think he’s mentioned that on the pitch he’s a confident extrovert loving the limelight whereas off the pitch he’s very shy and doesn't like too much attention.

I was only 9 years old when I used to watch him play for us. My memories were

The supreme confidence on the Kop as though we had a God like player playing for us.
Also used to be impressed by Curries arrogance. He could be playing the best defenders from the likes of Man Utd etc and he would try little tricks making them look foolish. He was a real entertainer. (I used to have a pendant on my bedroom wall with the words “Tony Currie walks on water”).

I remember him having the ball in the centre circle area and aiming a long pass towards the corner flag for Woody to run down the wing.
It often looked like he’d over hit it but he’d put so much back spin on the ball that when it hit the ground it would slow right down.
I’ve still hardly ever seen any players make a long pass using back spin (like a golfer would).

Another memory is when Currie used to take a throw in….instead of bending down to pick up the ball (like a normal person).
Instead he would use the flat of his foot and stamp on the ball and it would pop up into his hands, I was a kid and it always use to amaze me.

However saying all this…..I’ve met plenty of old’ uns who are level headed with opinions I respect
and virtually everyone said Jimmy Hagan was slightly better. He was our version of Stanley Matthews.
 
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I used to live close to him many years ago.

I'll not comment on my experience of him as it will go down like a shit sandwich.
 
In 1971 a couple of days after beating Leeds 3-0. my Dad took me to John Street player entrance, just in time. the players were returning from training.I asked Tony Currie for his autograph. he said no the Alan Woodward also said no. all the other players sign the autograph for me no problem.I was 12 at the time. my dad told Currie and Woody were are emigrating to Sydney Australia. they both signed and wished up luck. don,t get me wrong both are legends. my dad was talking to Trevor Hockey he got booked against Leeds.my Dad said you did not deserve to be booked you did nowt to which Trevor Hockey agreed. years later I thought about Currie,s, and Woodward's attitudes.
arrogance in a nice way. you could see they were a cut above the other players. I put Currie my favorite player I have ever seen play for us. then Woodward. Sabella great player but were we on a decline then. he would have been great in the 1971 team.
 
I think we all tend to have selective memories of our favourite players. We remember when they dazzled, and forget those games when they didn't shine.

I was living abroad during the 'Tony Currie period' so I never saw him play. I did see Jimmy Hagan from 1948 through until he retired, and he's the best I've ever seen in a Blades shirt. Sadly this was before 'Match of the Day' so there is precious little film available on Hagan, and I've never seen any clips that showcase his amazing skills.

As someone mentioned earlier, flair players can appear lazy. They don't chase lost causes, and are rarely box-to-box players, but they can turn on the magic when it is needed - although some need to be in the right frame of mind.

Is there anyone in the modern game who can be compared with TC? Grealish perhaps?
 
broomhillblade said:
I think we all tend to have selective memories of our favourite players. We remember when they dazzled, and forget those games when they didn't shine.

I was living abroad during the 'Tony Currie period' so I never saw him play. I did see Jimmy Hagan from 1948 through until he retired, and he's the best I've ever seen in a Blades shirt. Sadly this was before 'Match of the Day' so there is precious little film available on Hagan, and I've never seen any clips that showcase his amazing skills.

As someone mentioned earlier, flair players can appear lazy. They don't chase lost causes, and are rarely box-to-box players, but they can turn on the magic when it is needed - although some need to be in the right frame of mind.

Is there anyone in the modern game who can be compared with TC? Grealish perhaps?
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I'm a roundabout way I think you just described how good TC was, Grealish might have the close control, dribbling ability, and excite the crowd ( thinking of his sub appearances for England in the Euros) BUT there is a hell of a lot he can't do, that TC did, heading, 30/40/50 yard passes, scoring from distance etc.
I don't think there is one modern day player you can compare with TC, unless you go down the root of part Grealish, part Beckham, part Gerrard, and still struggling to complete the full skill set
 

Stegosaurus said:
Hi Stegosaurus here

He was a bit before my time, but I always felt if he was that good, he'd have had a better career.

He won just 17 caps. Thats even less than even Danny Mills.
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But it is16 more than Johnny Fantham and 13 more than Redfern Froggatt.
 
knowsnowt said:
He's a total shit. A cunt of the highest order who likes to bully kids too. Sadly my attempt to correct his attitude were thwarted because I had respect for people at the lane stood between us I wasn't willing to hurt to chin him.
If I ever bump into him alone I'll 100% level him.
I don't forget people who bully little kids.
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Not a fan then?
 
broomhillblade said:
I think we all tend to have selective memories of our favourite players. We remember when they dazzled, and forget those games when they didn't shine.
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That was very true of Alex Sabella. The thing with Sabella is I saw him stuff that at the time I’d never seen before.
He‘d often receive the ball on the centre circle, look one way, then do a clever back heel to a player running down the wing behind him.
He was almost like a circus act and on a different level to the players around him.

My memories of Sabella were
1: His pre match warm ups were a joy to watch. He was brilliant at free style ball juggling.
2: He seems to be fouled every few minutes. Instead of given a free kick all the time, the ref would let half of them go.
The reason he was fouled is because a defender would make a genuine attempt for the ball, then his quick feet would move the ball and he’s put his leg there where the ball was, so it was a clear foul, but often not given.

3: He was fantastic at dribbling past players, which seems like a miracle when you consider he was usually the slowest player on the pitch.
It was his close ball control, short legs and quick feet with the balance/ body swerve that made him dribble past players so easily.

I went to the night game Anglo Scottish cup game against Dundee.
Sabella scored a goal very similar to Ricky Villa cup final goal for Spurs in 81. Sabella also danced pass 4 or 5 men to score a great goal.
However of course Sabella has many weaknesses too, he was a luxury player, no physicality, lightweight, couldn’t defend, couldn‘t tackle
and always seemed to disappear on muddy pitches and also when it was windy or rainy.
 
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Sheffsteel said:
Might be my imagination but when I used to watch Portsmouth 20 year ago on Match of the Day.
They had a Croatian player called Robert Prosinecki, his style always reminded me of Currie.
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He played at the Lane in Feburary 2002, we won 4-3 but he was incredible to watch. Our players found it hard to take the ball off him even though he didnt run much.
 
Davalon said:
I used to live close to him many years ago.

I'll not comment on my experience of him as it will go down like a shit sandwich.
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Dronfield then. Hyde Park pub area?
That's when I got my original dislike of him as a person.
Different discussion altogether as a footballer
 
McDonagh Blade said:
Dronfield then. Hyde Park pub area?
That's when I got my original dislike of him as a person.
Different discussion altogether as a footballer
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He lives near us now in Worksop ,first name terms with my Mrs from walking the dog , and shopping in Asda he will chat once he knows you ,the trouble is getting rid of him.
He recommended my lad to the academy from his soccer school about 20 years ago but they never bothered looking.
 
Sheffsteel said:
That was very true of Alex Sabella. The thing with Sabella is I saw him stuff that at the time I’d never seen before.
He‘d often receive the ball on the centre circle, look one way, then do a clever back heel to a player running down the wing behind him.
He was almost like a circus act and on a different level to the players around him.

My memories of Sabella were
1: His pre match warm ups were a joy to watch. He was brilliant at free style ball juggling.
2: He seems to be fouled every few minutes. Instead of given a free kick all the time, the ref would let half of them go.
The reason he was fouled is because a defender would make a genuine attempt for the ball, then his quick feet would move the ball and he’s put his leg there where the ball was, so it was a clear foul, but often not given.

3: He was fantastic at dribbling past players, which seems like a miracle when you consider he was usually the slowest player on the pitch.
It was his close ball control, short legs and quick feet with the balance/ body swerve that made him dribble past players so easily.

I went to the night game Anglo Scottish cup game against Dundee.
Sabella scored a goal very similar to Ricky Villa cup final goal for Spurs in 81. Sabella also danced pass 4 or 5 men to score a great goal.
However of course Sabella has many weaknesses too, he was a luxury player, no physicality, lightweight, couldn’t defend, couldn‘t tackle
and always seemed to disappear on muddy pitches and also when it was windy or rainy.
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sabella was always 3 moves in front of the rest of our players at that time most memorable moment for me was his run and dribble to the bye line at lane end in 78 against sunderland before cutting it back for finniston to score he would have been unplayable on the modern carpet pitches
 

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