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A fantastic player for us in his prime – I never remember him being dodgy on crosses but his kicking was a bit gash. And what the hell he was doing in the league game away at Man City in 1999 where he deliberately put the ball down on the edge of the area & allowed terry cooke to score the only goal of the game I’ll never know (well he said that he realised he was going to go out of the area & knew that a yellow card would mean he was suspended for the Auto Windscreens final but surely flinging it out of touch would have been a better option than dropping the ball at the opposition players feet!!!)
Still challenges for the number 1 spot in my all-time bext XI latics team
I think he’d have made it to the very top & for a long time if he’d moved from us to either a lower level top flight or high level championship club where playing regularly against better players would have developed his game. I remember him saying once when he was linked with a move to Arsenal that he wouldn’t go as being a back up keeper at a top club would be worse for his development than being first choice at Latics so I was always a bit surprised that a season or 2 later he made just that move only to United. I know he broke their clean sheets record whilst he was there & picked up various medals but being a back up for so long didn’t help him & probably gave him other distractions so to speak whilst he wasn’t playing
I’m amazed that no team wants him but I don’t think bringing him back here would be much of a forward step.As for his drinking, i remember going to a player of the year do at the end of his first season with us. John Deehan mentioned somet about his nickname (earned on the clubs pre-season tour of Northern Ireland) was George Best coz of his exploits out there. Also, when Gavin Johnson refused to get up & accept his prize for drinker of the year, Roy stepped up & polished off his yard of ale for him!!
I haven’t listened to it since yesterday but thought i remembered Brazil saying somet along the lines of hessenthaler jumping out of the way (& so no contact) but that he had to – he’s right in that case. There was no contact but there doesn’t need to be for it to be a foul & if he hadn’t jumped out of the way he’d have kicked him 6ft in teh air
he was talking b0ll0x about the foul on sheridan though
Watching that play off final footage on youtube & hearing Alan Brazil reminded me that it wasn’t just Latics fans who thought Haworth lacked the application his ability deserved
I remember the sky commentators slating him in the first half for his apparent lack of effort with Brazil (who used to play for Coventry) even claiming that was the only reason why Strachan (Coventry’s manager at the time) had let him go.
Brazil’s comment after the equaliser that he’d “been very critical of him in the first half but that was absolute class” (or somet like that) summed up the frustration most Latics fans felt about Haworth coz he could have been so much moreheres a few names to add,jeff peron,mark leonard,steffan bidstrup,jorg smeets,peter kennerdy
The inclusion of Mark Leonard is a bit harsh. He never gave less than 100%, and he did score some goals.[/quote]
Mark Leonard was bloody awful & I’d have probably stuck him in mine if my brain hadn’t wiped the trauma of watching him from my memory banks
You’re right in that he was a grafter but as a centre forward he was awful.
Graham Barrow used to play 4-5-1 in which Leonard was the sole striker & yet he went pretty much a whole calendar year at one point without scoring (including after barrow had left)Come to think of it, if he was still playing today with a record like that I’m sure he’d be on Bobby’s radar!!!
Contrary to the belief of some, many Latics fans are able to tell the difference between a lazy player, one who appears to use the minimum amount of effort but in actual fact achieves alot & ones who quite simply aren’t good enough for whatever level latics are playing at.
Like it or not, Simon Haworth did fall into the lazt category – I certainly didn’t want him to run round like a headless chicken but he didn’t have the effort & application of say an Andy Liddell.
That was a shame because i genuinely feel the guy had more goal scoring talent in his little toe than most other Latics forwards I’ve ever seen but it was this lack of effort that prevented him from making it to the very top
On to his talents, unless I see any better I’ll maintain until the day that I die that he scored one of the best goals Wembley has ever seen. His equalising goal in the play off final against Gillingham was sublime – from memory without breaking his stride he flipped the ball up with the outside of his left foot & then scooped it over the defenders & keeper into the far corner of the goal. It came out of absolutely nothing & showed just what he was capable of.
If a player for United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal & co had scored that in an FA Cup final they’d have been talkign about it for the rest of eternityWhat he did in the middle of a game at wom against cardiff was just plain stupid
I believe the blonde lad you’re on about from Crewe was Chris Duffy – played for Canvey Island when they beat us
Anyway my worst ever XI is:
GK – Nigel Adkins
RB – Matty Carragher
CH – Brendan Ormsby
CH – John Robertson
LB – Mark Wright
RW – Leigh Jenkinson (left winger i know but he deserves a mention)
CM – Mick Kennedy
CM – Kevin Langley (2nd time around)
LW – Somebody Whittaker (on loan from Bolton under Deehan)
CF – Pat Gavin
CF – Peter ThorneManager – Bryan Hamilton
“Move On Up” whilst considered a soul classic is a bit wet & high pitched to work the Latics faithful into a frenzy
How about blaring out “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath as the teams come out of the tunnel. Surely that’d get even the west stand codgers up & rockin for the lads!!
To be fair I didn’t say Gomez was that bad last night.
I said that it showed he is no right winger & he isn’t. When i said he is too slow in body & thought I am saying that its clear he has the ability but not the speed to make that ability effective at this level
Hence why he only looks good on the ball “on occasions” as you put itAs I said if Bobby wants to put out a fringe side that’s his perogative & in a way I guess its good to give the young players a chance without the pressure of relegation (although to be fair the only young player he gave a chance to was McManaman) & its a way of keeping the back up players match fit
i don’t see however how the defeat could be a blessing in disguise unless Bobby uses it to take stock & sees that many of his squad players quite simply aren’t good enough & he gets shut of em in the summer
I’ve been struggling to think who the 3 players who were positives from last night were.
I’d say McManaman definitely for the short period he was on & I think its now time to start seeing him on the bench & coming on in premier league games
At a push I’d say Lopez coz whilst he’s no left back & never wil be he looked unruffled & took it in his strideThat is about it
With Gomez – he was by no means the worst player out there but to say he worked very well is stretching the truth to beyond breaking point!!
I’ve no problem with Bobby putting out a weakened side and/or resting key players for the relegation battle ahead. That wasn’t what I was criticising
I was criticising the performance of many of the players bearing in mind it was a chance for some of em to show that they should be starting regularly
I also agree with Griff that if Bobby wasn’t that bothered then was there any point in making subs & risking injury – it was just disappointing to see us go out so meekly. Bobby could also have brought on the likes of Mustoe without risking any of his important back up players to injury
I must stress that it’s Bob’s preferred XI, not mine.I’d drop Watson for McArthur too, if playing 451.
Or drop him for McManaman to play 442.
Though I’ve also got a sneaking suspicion that Gohouri would make way for Captain Calamity, and that Bob prefers big Steve at RB to Boycie.
I’d say it should be more than a sneaking that Gohouri would make way for Caldwell as i think its obvious that Caldwell is a shoe in to start when fit.
I’d hope you’re wrong about Gohouri over Boyce but I suspect you’re righti was sat about 10 rows from the back & about half way along the stand behind the goal & didn’t see any handball
What i do remember is that the ref appeared to give it only for the liner to flag about somet, drop his flag & then the goal was given which led to a bit of a stop start celebration from the city fans.But when some bloke in the bogs not long afterwards started ranting at me about Goater cheating i didn’t know what he was on about
Another thing I do remember from that game is that Graeme Jones should have broke the net with a free header from about 4 yards out off a free kick with about 5 minutes left but instead only managed to break the bar
We should also have had a cert penalty in the 2nd half of the 1st leg for handball too
For all the media hype & which they seem to believe themselves the atmosphere at St James Park is nowt short of pathetic
To be fair to the ref he wasn’t the only one who didn’t think that it was a penalty
I remember leaping up screaming for a pen at the time & there weren’t that many other Latics fans who did. Also when I got home & watched the highlights on the telly, Nigel Spackman was a pundit in the studio & he maintained that it wasn’t a penalty either – not sure I agreed with his logic behind it not being a penalty as he said that the ball was running away from Kevin Sharp & as he wouldn’t have got it, it wasn’t a foul which doesn’t really stand up to the laws of the game but there you go
Some people who I do remember thinking it was a penalty were 2 City fans in the Platt lane end who, as soon as Wiekens made contact with Sharp, just got a look of horror on their faces & heads went in hands quickly followed by a look of disbelief when it wasn’t givenAs for the handball – I think it was handball but can’t be certain that it was. If the ref thought the same at the time (although he has since admitted he got it wrong) then he couldn’t give it. I’d had a few beers at the time so can’t be certain but I’m sure that the linesman flagged at the time & then put it down which was why there was a bit of a delayed reaction from the city crowd to celebrating it. Also, a friend of mine works at City & was involved in working with Shaun Goater quite alot in the various charities he runs for kids in Bermuda & Manchester. Anyway when he first told me he was working with him (as he knew I hated him for that game) & asked him to ask hm about that – my mate assured me that in all seriousness he maintains that he didn’t handle it
However, as someone else has pointed out the fact that the ref had some doubt in his mind & asked the player himself before awarding the goal is an absolute farceBobby strikes me as a manager who doesn’t buy into that “you don’t change a winning team” philosophy.
Think he gave an interview on wigantoday.net the other day where he was praising the quality of the top flight & said gone are the days when a team only had one way of playing, at one pace, with the same group of players no matter who the opposition was (without seeing it again I may have added a bit to Bobby’s actual quote)
In light of that I wouldn’t bet against him going for a safety first policy at Anfield tomorrow with Stam on the right wing & I do think he will bring Caldwell in for Gohouri if he’s fitThat said I do think that there are changes which could be made to last weeks line up to improve things.
If he’s gonna play 4-5-1 I’d bring in McArthur for Watson with McCarthy alongside him & Cleverley in the hole. Same wingers, defenders, keeper & forward as last weekEDIT – great minds think alike keepthefaith!!!!
