Just been thinking back and some of the players who graced our beloved shirt and pitch, and Arnie stuck out. Can you remember his first ITFC match!! If my memory serves me correctly, it was against Liverpool down at the fortress PR. I can remember standing in the North Stand and watching him. He stood in that midfield, hands on his hips looking at the ball flying from one end to the other. What was he thinking!! I dont know and I dont care, but for the next 3 years it was heaven. Arnie for the memories mate
Yes, you’re right Steve he made his league debut for us on Tuesday 22nd August 1978 in a 3-0 defeat at home to Liverpool. Little did we know that day how blessed we were about to be. I think both he and Frans Thijssen took a while to understand why they’d been employed as midfielders, when the midfield was always completely by-passed and they stood watching the ball fly over their heads! Once the rest of the team realised what could be accomplished by building attack from the back and via the middle of the park, the whole style and wizardry that we came to know and love in those days was something many of us can remember with much affection and of course nostalgia! I found the following, which is from an old article about Frans Thijssen, and in a way I think it nicely sums up how things were back then. Enjoy…….. That is the way it was when Frans Thijssen arrived at Portman Road in February, 1979. His former team-mate at Twente, Arnold Muhren, had been signed by Bobby Robson the previous summer. After a few months, the manager was so impressed with his new midfielder that he asked if there were any more like him back home. Muhren recommended Thijssen. Robson used their influence to create a team unlike any other in English football. “It helped with the style of play, because Arnold had problems in the beginning, with the long balls; Arnold is a ball player in midfield,” said Thijssen. “Two Dutch guys in the middle, we changed the style of football a little bit quicker and easier. “The team has to grow and learn that it is better to start playing from defence. I have the feeling that we changed very quickly and things worked well. We had [Terry] Butcher and [Russell] Osman in the centre, we had [George] Burley who liked to come forward and Mick Mills on the left-hand side. “If you change players in midfield then things will change. We are not players who will run up and down and win the ball in the air. We need the ball from defenders and we can beat players, Arnold was more a passer. And, of course, John Wark was a player with big qualities because he scored a lot of goals. It was a good mix. Then [Paul] Mariner and [Alan] Brazil, with Eric Gates behind – yeah, that team, in every line it was quality.” At the end of March 1981, Ipswich were on course for a treble. They led the first division, they were in the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the final of the UEFA Cup. By the time they played AZ Alkmaar, the Dutch champions, home and away, the European trophy that would stand as the iconic achievement of Robson’s team was actually viewed as something of a consolation. A late collapse handed the title to Aston Villa, while a defeat by Manchester City meant it was they who faced Spurs at Wembley. “To win the UEFA Cup was a bonus,” said Thijssen. “It would have been very disappointing to miss all of the prizes with that team. It was a good thing that we won that final and for us it was special because it was [against] the Dutch champions and the second game was in Holland. “It was a special year for me, winning player of the year. It was a surprise you didn’t expect when you went to England from Holland, but I was lucky to come into a good team, because we had Scottish, English and Dutch national team players. The only negative thing was that we had a very small group. That was the reason we didn’t win the league that year. We had too many injuries at the end of the season and we had only 13, 14 players. That was the problem. Those were the days !!!
The Holy Trinity Blessed be their names! Johnny Wark, Arnie Muhren & Frans Thijssen 2 wonderful ball players and 1 true box to box player who scored shed loads! The best midfield players in any team from the 70s
TT, thanks for this input. Teriffic reading and a very good assesment from Frans and how Arnie along with him, changed the mentality of our midfield, with Sir Bobby at the helm. I wonder though, how would the midfield have worked if it had been: Muhren, Colin Viljohn, Brian Talbot, Thijssen !!! You have listed 3 truly inspirational gifted "ball" players, and then Talbot who I personally feel had the biggest engine in football EVER.
Viljoen was our very own John Giles. Brian Talbot, a Tower Ramparts boy, just never stopped. Amazing workrate. I'm sure he ate a pack of Duracell batteries for breakfast every day!
