He seemed genuinely pleased when he worked out I was Sunderland fan. Like his time at the club really meant something to him. He was all smiles and handshakes when I mentioned his derby win. I was trying to ask him about what went wrong for him but some ropey old tart butted in about how much she fancied him and the moment passed. Opportunity missed, big time. He loves football though and understands how much it means to the fans. Sipped water throughout too, when everyone else, including the other ex West Ham players that were there, were on the beer. His body is still a temple!
Oh he definitely bought into the club, can we remember any players being that involved in the derby? The knee slide is famed, but the thing that I love seeing again is when the 3rd goes in and he doesn’t quite know how to react, like a 7 year old boy about to burst with excitement and joy. If you could bottle that element of the fella, my days you’d be a rich man.
Yeah, I remember that! Totally wrapped up in it all. I think its a shame that it never really worked out for him as a manager because someone with that much enthusiasm should still be in the game.
Absolutely mate. Too much for most and never likely to change. You’d think there’d be a role for him, not managerial though. Crazy that folk can say he can fail because of exacting standards. Players didn’t like him as he wanted them to improve, and be more professional. He clearly took it too far, but was on a solid path.
Top bloke, loved him. Pity it didn't work out, especially as the players who got rid of him didn't turn the club around.
Still on the plus side the fans got what they wanted, that’s if they wanted third division football and Phil Parkinson, way to go lads.
Top class bloke let down by a bunch of lazy t***s led by idles (sic) like Catts and JoS, PDC showed a naivety in tackling the problems he had correctly identified, and could easily have picked them off one by one, if he had, would we still have ended up in the mess we finally did, I doubt it. His lack of opportunity in football is a bit of a mystery football wise, but there are consequences for speaking out against the flow, and he may be experiencing them.
I believe if you were splashed over every paper saying you were a facist ( by the way only mentioned at SAFC to any degree ) you might struggle to get a job when you handed your cv over.
Those who advocate him as a good manager, often say he should have been given more say in transfers. They conveniently ignore the transfer policy he had at Swindon, which was buy as many players as he could, from his agent mate, then move them on within 12 months after being unable to motivate them. At Swindon he spent ridiculous amounts of agent fees - a similar amount to all the other clubs in the division combined at the time iirc.
Didn’t he also piss promotion with them though when they weren’t seen as contenders? Swindon went under a transfer embargo he offered to put his own money in, he was seen helping clear the pitch and serving in canteen and all sorts. I can’t question his character, just his application. He spoke about the players in a manner that would alienate at any level of life, let alone Premier League footballers. If he’d reigned it in and not done it so publicly, who knows. It’s not like folk didn’t know about the fascism beforehand, he never hid that.
BBC West Sport. The flamboyant former Premier League striker spent 21 months in charge at Swindon Town and it was one of their most successful spells on the pitch. You forgot that aswell
He did use more than 40 players during his time at Swindon but his policy was to use certain players in certain games depending on their individual skillsets, the opposition and even depending on things like the condition of the pitch or the weather. Its clearly an unusual approach but he clearly had some success with it. The argument that he should have been given more control over transfers surely comes from the pretty obvious fact that he is, more than any other manager I can think of, only likely to have success with players who can get on board with his way of thinking.
Thanks Rooch, those three goals were worth watching again, what I remember most from that game was MoN had been bullied into submission in the previous Derby at St James by Pards, but he kept well out of the picture that day, it was an amazing display by the team and PDC, sad that it was all forgotten by some so quickly.
He was a complete loon who should never have been appointed. After we’d somehow stayed up he should have been shown the door there and then. That 6-1 loss at Villa is seared into my memory.
I can just picture you as one of the fans that if KLD asked lee Johnson to identify the trouble makers like Grigg and his mate when he told him you’d want KLD to sack Lee
