Just reading Danny Higginbothams autobiography and he's on about his time time at SAFC under Keano. He says SAFC had just lost 6 out of their last 9 games and were due to play Villa. Keano walks into the dressing room and says: 'Listen lads, Basically you're ****. Try and enjoy the game. You're probably going to get beat. But just enjoy being ****' Then he just walked out of dressing room. Incidentally the game was drawn Typical Keano I guess!!
I wonder if he knew exactly what he was doing psychologically or if he was just being Roy Keane. Whatever the reason it certainly worked those players gave everything they had.
Is it though? If someone tells someone they can’t do something and they think they can, it may make them more determined to prove that person wrong.
Jimmy Adamson did something similar at Turf Moor when we were down to 9 men. At half time he walked into the dressing room and said something like " well there's your excuse for getting beat" We went out and won 2-1. Hell of a game. I was hoarse by the end of that game could hardly speak, beer went down well though when we got back.
I'm trying to remember one of the England Rugby captains motivational team talk but can't pull all of the details. Think it was an England Scotland game and the comment was along the lines of... "I know we're going to get drunk tonight lads, but, if we beat these today we can get really DRUNK" Works for me
One of the most enjoyable matches I've ever been to. Both sets of supporters were on the side of the ground separated by a wire fence, the animosity was intense. At the end the police let both sets of fans out into the back lane at the same time ... ... madness.
Yep it was how can I put it "interesting" That reminds me of a daft and probably not particularly interesting story One of the first times I took the car to Burney I parked right outside the pub that was diagonally opposite where the away fans usually stood. Given the bricks and darts being exchanged over that wire fence I thought it might be a good idea to move the car at half time. I went to the gate and explained the situation to a policeman and enquired if he would let me out to move the car. He walked me under the stand where the players dressing rooms were and let me out. I jumped into the car and moved it nearer to our coaches. Walking back to the ground I was thinking what happens if the policeman had gone back inside and I was locked out.. However he was still waiting for me and walked me back past the dressing room just as the players were coming back out. I tried to give him some money for a pint as a thank you but he would not take anything off me. I pushed some money into his coat pocket and ran off into the crowd. Daft story I know but given the problems football fans normally had at that time with the police it has stayed with me. Don't however get me started about the police at Aston Villa and in particular the special patrol group, definitely not friendly.
If I remember correctly I think the game was previously postponed a few times before we actually played them We were worried going over the Pennines in case we got snowed up
Was that not the 3rd round FA Cup game. Drew down there, 1-1 I think and got beat at home. Had a little altercation that night outside a bar. B*stards put the windows out on the bus as well. Bloody cold coming home.
I think I recall this one because at one point driving there the snow was banked on either side about the same height as the bus.
Makes me laugh nowadays when games are called off 'for the safety of travelling supporters' ... ... we drove back across the moors, to Mansfield, and had a true near death experience. It was hours of terrifying deserted winding roads only punctuated by bursts of sheer terror. Robin Connelly, now of Shotton Colliery, was driving on one of the attempts to get to the match. At one point we came round a bend, in the pitch dark, and there was a wall of snow where a gap in the drystone wall had let it drift across the road. We went into it and it all went silent. We had no idea if the road would bend before we left our snow tunnel so we just waited, what seemed an eternity, before we burst out of the other side. We were so relieved to be alive we laughed until we cried ... ... hilarious now but horrendous at the time!
