Villas Boas has done one...

Blimey, integrity in a football manager. Good for him.

 

No-one tells Marseille how to run their business.

 

Was he manager or head coach?

 

Fair play to him.

 

Neither by the sound of it.

 

I still haven't forgiven him for suggesting that the number 10 should be retired globally, though.

 

Be interesting to see which he was, as it will make a difference to how this plays out behinds the scenes legally. That and also what his contract states in regards to player recruitment

 

Of course it should have been retired years ago. Waggy wore it.

 

He offered to quit and said he didn't want any money, so I don't think he'll be straight on the blower to Sue, Grabbit & Runne.

 

Very easy to say it in the moment, but the reports are saying he was sacked... Makes a huge difference! Once he's settled down his outlook may change.

 

Just for the record, when Waggy first played for City her wore the # 8 shirt. Think when Ken Houghton arrived Waggy picked up the #10 to release # 8 for KH. I think Billy Wilkinson may have relinquished the # 10 shirt?

 

Apparently he's only been suspended

 

Waggy arrived in November 1964. Houghton came in January 1965.That means Waggy had another eleven years in the ten shirt. Stangely, I have the feeling that he may have worn the eight on occasions during that time though. I have no evidence to support that except a dodgy memory.

 

Occasionally 8 but later usually 10, no idea why

 

Sad to say but we clearly didn't show that film to the strikers before last night's game.

 

I don't think fixed shirt numbers registered by player on the books with the FA were enforced until the early '90s. Used to be the FA insisted on using #s 1-11 for the starting line-up before then. Tradition was the numbers were 1-11, from keeper ascending left to right in the "ancient" 2-3-5 formation i.e. right back = 2, left wing = 11.

I'm just looking at a City vs West Ham United program from Friday March 10th 1967.
Both clubs had been knocked out of the FA Cup by then - the following day 11th March was FA Cup Round 5 schedule, so both City's & WHU's league fixture opponents
for the 11th must have been playing in the 5th Round, hence the friendly was arranged?

Anyhow, Waggy is shown as # 8 in the program line-up, and as you say, he sporadically used that shirt number, but seemed to settle more permanently into the #10 shirt sometime in '68 I think.
Ken Houghton wasn't playing in said friendly. Billy Wilkinson wore #10.

Was a strong WHU line-up. Moore,Peters,Hurst,even Harry Redknapp on RWing.
We lost 1-4 to a Hurst hatrick. Chilton scored a pen for us.
I'd hitch-hiked from Leeds to watch the game. I had to google the result - surprised it came up being a friendly !

 

I went to that as well. The Fish Dock bus was quiet sufficient for me. West Ham were in the First Division then and we were in the Second. The programmes were notoriously inaccurate. The players did have a number that they regularly wore but they often swapped. The line ups in the programmes were usually the first elevens. If anyone was injured, their shirt was worn by their replacement and it was announced over the tannoy system. They were useful for understanding the half time scoreboard that ran along the side of the pitch.

 

There's a clearly obvious replacement waiting in the wings, former OM player as well...