TC's position at the club

[BerksBlade]

I notice TC was present at the photocall unveiling DB Logistics as a new sponsor.
Is he still employed by the club? I thought he had been let go from his "Blades in the Community" role some time ago?

 

[Silent Blade]

Club Ambassador

 

[pommpey]

And general legend.

 

[bladesmanluke]

Isn't that his official job title anyway?

 

[Russ]

Blink, and it will change again!

(He can do magic..!!!!)

 

[sitwell]

Official position is the best midfielder we ever had.

 

[JOEYDEE]

Official position is the best midfielder we ever had.

What about Sabella for that ?
Not arguin',just sayin ..like

 

[Shalalalafenoughty]

Isn't that his official job title anyway?

"Living deity" isn't a job, it's just something he is.

 

[Shalalalafenoughty]

What about Sabella for that ?
Not arguin',just sayin ..like

Dearie me. Sabella was good, but...

 

[blade too long]

official icon, club avatar, does it matter ? its Tony Currie

 

[georgebernardshaw]

.......couldn't carry TC's bag

 

[Sirius]

What about Sabella for that ?
Not arguin',just sayin ..like

One leg and a swinger, or should that be three swingers?

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

Just checked the staffing list at BDTBL:

Tony Currie - Club Water-walker

 

[JOEYDEE]

If Sabella was still at the club,in whatever capacity,and TC had rode off into the sunset many moons ago,would peoples' opinion be different ?

 

[JOEYDEE]

One leg and a swinger, or should that be three swingers?

What an insult ...

 

[stateonstainrod]

If Sabella was still at the club,in whatever capacity,and TC had rode off into the sunset many moons ago,would peoples' opinion be different ?

Sabella better than TC? You kidding? He was a midfielder who when they had the ball stood on the half way line and watched with the strikers!

Never tackled back, played in midfield, but only in half of it. Handy when he had the ball, mind.

TC didn't have a reputation for being the biggest grafter but no comparison.

 

[Sirius]

What an insult ...

I

What an insult ...

Sorry Joey, I was disappointed when we were unable to sign Maradona.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge but IMO Alex was a lazy, slow one trick pony. He was soon found out as completely one footed when it came to doing his tricks with the ball. He could have as much time as he wanted near the halfway line but he was rubbish around the penalty area. A return of only 8 goals in 76 games says it all.

We were indeed fortunate that the Dirties came in for him, and we stole shed loads of money from them hee hee.

I believe he scored just a couple for them hee hee again. I have to say that Viv his wife was an absolute cracker

To compare him to T.C. is akin to comparing shit with sugar
.

 

[Shalalalafenoughty]

If Sabella was still at the club,in whatever capacity,and TC had rode off into the sunset many moons ago,would peoples' opinion be different ?

Did you ever see Currie?

The segment from 2.21 to 4.00 is worth watching. Anyone who saw him knows that such apparent brilliance was simply routine and effortless for him.

I think Sirius is a bit harsh on Sabella who was excellent when he first arrived and could certainly have done with better players around him. His form went into a bit of a downward spiral after a while and we were probably lucky to get what we did from Leeds for him in the end.

But there's no comparison.

 

[Kenilworth]

Rather than compare him to TC, better to compare him to what impact Ardiles and Villa had at Spurs and you can see the relative difference in quality. He was gifted, I'll grant you that, but he was not that effective and was more of an exotic luxury than anything like a game changer. He would often get lost in a game that was over physical, played in weather conditions he had probably only seen on TV documentaries before.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

Sabella was a good player in a very poor team

Currie was a great player in a very good team

 

[Silent Blade]

TC was the better player overall. Both were similar in vision (we should have never sold Keith Edwards to Hull as he would have enjoyed running onto Sabella's through balls- I beleve Haslam didnt like Keith's attitude), Sabella had close control that was different to any of our Blades players had and it was enjoyable to watch . TC was easily physically stronger, better in the air and better in shooting. Bill Shankly once said of TC's workrate, "I can imagine him living in a bungalow, he wouldnt have bothered using them stairs". I think that was an exaggeration as TC's workrate was better than Sabella's and taccked a lot more

 

[Shalalalafenoughty]

Incidentally, on the subject of that video, that's a hilarious bit of timewasting by the Blackpool goalkeeper after TC's goal against them in 1969, bringing the score to 2-3 in the last minute. He simply picks the ball up and hoofs it into the crowd. I wonder if he got booked?

 

[Silent Blade]

Incidentally, on the subject of that video, that's a hilarious bit of timewasting by the Blackpool goalkeeper after TC's goal against them in 1969, bringing the score to 2-3 in the last minute. He simply picks the ball up and hoofs it into the crowd. I wonder if he got booked?

Blackpool's keeper was Harry Thomson. He died last year

 

[Shalalalafenoughty]

Blackpool's keeper was Harry Thomson. He died last year

I seem to recall Fred Pickering playing for Blackpool in that match, Silent. Am I right?

 

[stateonstainrod]

I seem to recall Fred Pickering playing for Blackpool in that match, Silent. Am I right?

Fred was verging on the stout towards the end of his career is my memory, which might lead to a topic of well built players, waistlinewise. Our leading contender--Paddy Buckley

 

[Shalalalafenoughty]

Fred was verging on the stout towards the end of his career is my memory, which might lead to a topic of well built players, waistlinewise. Our leading contender--Paddy Buckley

Ken Wagstaff of Hull would be another from around the same time but the stoutest player I think I ever saw was Bobby Murdoch, the Celtic legend. Saw him play for Middlesborough at Hillsborough once around 1973 and he was enormous. Tremendous player, though, and he shone that day as well. Tremendously skilful and a great passer of the ball. Died at the age of 56 which may have been due to his being so overweight.

The other player, also a Scot, whose weight became an issue was Jim Baxter. His nickname in his early, brilliant, days was "Slim Jim" (and he was). After years of boozing on a truly heroic scale he became (a) fat and (b) useless.

 

[Silent Blade]

I seem to recall Fred Pickering playing for Blackpool in that match, Silent. Am I right?

He played for Blackpool that season but not sure if he played in that October 1969 match, after checking his stats on Wiki he probably did (49 games in two seasons, 14 starts in 1970-71) .I became a committed Blade in January 1970 after watching us beat Everton on YTV, prior to that the only matches I went to were the home games against Norwich and Cardiff in Sept 1969 and I didnt even know the names of our players then,

 

[Silent Blade]

Ken Wagstaff of Hull would be another from around the same time but the stoutest player I think I ever saw was Bobby Murdoch, the Celtic legend. Saw him play for Middlesborough at Hillsborough once around 1973 and he was enormous. Tremendous player, though, and he shone that day as well. Tremendously skilful and a great passer of the ball. Died at the age of 56 which may have been due to his being so overweight.

The other player, also a Scot, whose weight became an issue was Jim Baxter. His nickname in his early, brilliant, days was "Slim Jim" (and he was). After years of boozing on a truly heroic scale he became (a) fat and (b) useless.

Steve Kindon looked overweight too but he was very quick! Brian Dear of West Ham was another player who looked overweight. Francis Lee too but he was quite dynamic and nasty

 

[Snowman]

I watched Sabella. I always felt sorry for him. He was clearly light years ahead of the journeymen we had at the time and what's more, in those dark days before the "tackle from behind edict" he could be physically intimidated out of the game. Even Messi would have packed in football if he had to play in that team. From memory Currie had some "minders". Was it Eddy Colquhoun and Hockey? Don't disagree that Currie was consistently the best, but there are other factors involved.

 

[BerksBlade]

Silent: Spot on with Francis Lee - I presume he put on a bit of extra weight to act as a cushion for when he hit the deck inside the box?
For me Sabella was a good player in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he didn't set the world alight at L**ds either. No comparison to a bona fide legend like TC.