Sadly my old man has passed on, his last game was the last at Highfield Rd against Derby and at that time he had terminal cancer so that was a tad emotional. Go with my own son and stepson now. My lad was born a few days after we beat Man City 4-3 and the day Portsmouth kicked off so apart from Wembley last year he's never known the good times. I just hope that one day he will.you boys ought to meet up for a pint and a good chin wag
The reason it didn't happen was that Allison announced it to his club, players and the press and Robbins didn't do his business that way and backed away.My old man god rest him was well in with high flyers at the time connected to ccfc and he insisted to me Malcolm Allison was to be announced as our manager and he was bringing Noel Cantwell an old West Ham teammate as his assistant, Allison would have been the ideal successor to Hill equally flamboyant and telly genic and more importantly able to attract star names, alas for some reason our chairman Derrick Robbins through his teddy out and Allison didn't happen and Cantwell got the gig, I'll always wonder where we might have gone had Allison came.
Would have thought given Allison's managerial career when on his own, it could have gone very badly!My old man god rest him was well in with high flyers at the time connected to ccfc and he insisted to me Malcolm Allison was to be announced as our manager and he was bringing Noel Cantwell an old West Ham teammate as his assistant, Allison would have been the ideal successor to Hill equally flamboyant and telly genic and more importantly able to attract star names, alas for some reason our chairman Derrick Robbins through his teddy out and Allison didn't happen and Cantwell got the gig, I'll always wonder where we might have gone had Allison came.
My old man god rest him was well in with high flyers at the time connected to ccfc and he insisted to me Malcolm Allison was to be announced as our manager and he was bringing Noel Cantwell an old West Ham teammate as his assistant, Allison would have been the ideal successor to Hill equally flamboyant and telly genic and more importantly able to attract star names, alas for some reason our chairman Derrick Robbins through his teddy out and Allison didn't happen and Cantwell got the gig, I'll always wonder where we might have gone had Allison came.
Mcgarry was managing Ipswich, left to join Wolves which left the vacancy for Bobby Robson to fill.I'm not saying Malcolm Allison would have been a success but I think he would have been at that time a better bet than Noel Cantwell who apparently would have been Allison's assistant. Allisons career as a first team manager wasn't brilliant admittedly. Who should we have got ? going back years but I'd have gone for Bill McGarry who I think was in the frame manager at Watford at the time but went on to manage Wolves for years.
I can't understand the fascination with Allison, OK he did well at Man City under Mercer but was a disaster at Palace and not much better when he returned to Man City. Personally I think he would have been a disaster if he had managed us. Under Cantwell we had our most successful season ever, he signed some great players in Martin, Hateley, O'Rourke, and the best centre half we ever had IMO, Roy Barry. I also remember us playing some brilliant football under him. Perhaps my old age and failing memory is clouding things.My old man god rest him was well in with high flyers at the time connected to ccfc and he insisted to me Malcolm Allison was to be announced as our manager and he was bringing Noel Cantwell an old West Ham teammate as his assistant, Allison would have been the ideal successor to Hill equally flamboyant and telly genic and more importantly able to attract star names, alas for some reason our chairman Derrick Robbins through his teddy out and Allison didn't happen and Cantwell got the gig, I'll always wonder where we might have gone had Allison came.
I am of the opinion that the biggest mistake our club has made (pre getting rid of HR and the road traveled since) was the disintegration of the early eighties side.
I bring this up as Irish Sky Blue rightly mentions Carr and Mortimer in the post above and along with them you can include Blockley, Paddon, McGuire and Bobby Parker and others I may have failed to mention.
The next time we had a crop of youngsters who went on to play for first team was the early eighties side.
I would really love to know the thinking behind letting their contracts run down and selling real potential greats for knock down prices.
The likes of Thomas, Thompson, Hately, Sealy, Gillespie, English and Whitton were players to lead us to better times. Hunt and Daly were fine Midfielders and we let go of Tommy Hutchison way too soon.
I remember Setters' first game, (I think it was his first game), when a back pass to our keeper stuck in a puddle and the opposition centre forward nipped in to score. We lost. I didn't realise we got him from Stoke, always thought he came from Man U.Cantwell inherited some good players including products from the youth team like Willie Carr and Dennis Mortimer. However, he did also bring in some good players. Neil Martin was a great centre forward good on the ground and in the air. Ernie Hunt too was great to watch. He was oddly shaped for a footballer and did not look athletic in the least but his control of passing, his touch and the way he could strike a ball were amazing. A great player to watch. Perhaps Noel's best signing was Maurice Setters who to my, at the time, really youthful eyes, looked like an old man. He also didn't look like a footballer and certainly not a centre half. He wasn't particularly tall, had a stringy build and had the bandiest legs I have ever seen on a human (or anything else). I think he cost 25k from Stoke and he was an inspiration. George Curtis had broken his leg in the second match of the season and the team really needed a leader. With Maurice we got that and more. He was a tough, tough player who would kick his opponent as frequently as the ball. He dragged that team to safety that season. I think he may have scored the second goal against Man. Utd in the epic win mentioned above.
Yes, Mark Hateley was a better player than his dad I think.I am of the opinion that the biggest mistake our club has made (pre getting rid of HR and the road traveled since) was the disintegration of the early eighties side.
I bring this up as Irish Sky Blue rightly mentions Carr and Mortimer in the post above and along with them you can include Blockley, Paddon, McGuire and Bobby Parker and others I may have failed to mention.
The next time we had a crop of youngsters who went on to play for first team was the early eighties side.
I would really love to know the thinking behind letting their contracts run down and selling real potential greats for knock down prices.
The likes of Thomas, Thompson, Hately, Sealy, Gillespie, English and Whitton were players to lead us to better times. Hunt and Daly were fine Midfielders and we let go of Tommy Hutchison way too soon.
Another striker who did well elsewhere but failed with us. Great header of the ball, limited on the ground. Tony Hateley was alongside a similar player in Neil Martin and it just didn't work. Once Ernie Hunt and then John O'Rourke went up top with Martin we started to unlock defences.Yes, Mark Hateley was a better player than his dad I think.
The likes of Thomas, Thompson, Hately, Sealy, Gillespie, English and Whitton were players to lead us to better times. Hunt and Daly were fine Midfielders and we let go of Tommy Hutchison way too soon.
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