I’d disagree with that & I’ve heard & seen a lot of pro’s from that era say that they couldn’t last in today’s game if they had the same prep methods & away from the club fitness.
Don’t get me wrong if Colin bell was playing now he’d be training as a pro does today & would look just as good but fitness wise & burst of speed wise they wouldn’t be at the level of today’s players based on yesterday’s methods. Skill wise yes but not fitness wise

It’s similar to top sprinters – Jesse Owens was the best of his era but his times aren’t close to Usain Bolt coz training & fitness methods have moved on so much (and their running shoes & the track itself).

I’d agree with the rest of what you say though. I don;t have a problem with wing backs but its a very specialist position. Martinez wanted to play it for ages by all accounts before he finally brought it in at Latics & that only really came when he signed Beausejour who had it mastered.
Manager’s need to realise that coz a full back is quite good going forward doesn’t make him a wing back & vice versa with wingers. Play the best system to suit the players at your disposal

Exactly – which was one of the points Jordan was making. Not sure how much he put in but the rift seemed to come quite suddenly between them.
I used to know someone who worked quite high up at Blackpool and he told me some proper horror stories about how it was being run quite some time before it came public

On the plus side from the noises he’s making & appointments he’s making the receiver seems to have the intent of keeping the club going rather than asset stripping it to get that guy his money

Cook’s alredy said that he won’t blood any of the promising youngsters this season until we’re mathematically safe so you;re spot on with your assessment

All eaqually ineffective without a strike partner. They have all had their best times when playing in a two up top formation.
Why all three were signed when we never play that way is baffling.[/quote]

I’d disagree slightly with that – from last night’s game Clarke is very effective at winning the ball that is played out from the back.
Problem is that whilst he wins it virtually every time, he’s a “flick on” man & not a hold up person & our other attacking players are either too dumb to read that or are instructed to stay deep & wide so his efforts in winning the ball are wasted
As for Garner, from the brief bits I’ve seen of him he is utter pigswill

I remember the Kenyon days very well. But we were paying players £200 pw then. We had players like Ronnie Hildersley, David Fairclough, has beens. We had a fair share of never will be’s as well. Richard Brolly, Johnny Magee…probably cant even remember him. There were countless others.

I did like Phil Daley though. Considering we signed him from Neston, he actually did a very good job for us. There was a time when players who hadnt quite made it at Crewe Alexandra were our great big hopes. Andy Lyons…did great, Danny Vaughan…disappeared.

Im just reminiscing here….[/quote]

I think the players were on slightly more than £10,400 a year VAT – I had a friend who was working with Alan Johnson’s mate whilst he was at Latics and the figure he got told he was on was somewhat higher than that. I’m struggling to remember it now but I have either £18k or £35k in my head

Fairclough & Hildersley were awful and I’d agree on Daley – his partnership for a season with Gary Worthington was superb & I’m sure got us around 40 goals between them

Danny Vaughan was an odd one coz I thought he looked superb in Swain’s pre-season & then he just disappeared. i did hear rumours years later of some dodgy out of Latics stuff but have no idea whether they are true

I’d agree that the team the last time we were up was a mess & undoutedly had an effect on Grigg’s performances (as did the birth of his kid & an injury) & to be honest from what I’ve seen (as someone who lives 230 miles away & relies on highlights, live games & feeds) this season it hasn’t been too great either (team performance wise). I also accept that those players that he’s been able to feed off in Lge1 also struggle at a higher level so therefore he looks more exposed

For the record I’ve read & heard numerous interviews from Grigg where he has stated his best position is as a lone striker including one where he says that it was only when MK Dons switched to that system that he started banging the goals in although he has also stated that he thinks the “in the hole” role suits him too

Personally, and this isn’t something I’m just saying after the event, I have always said that I wasn’t sure that Grigg that the bit extra to be a great success in the Championship even going as far back as that first season with us. I always struggled to explain exactly why but he just seemed to lack that extra bit of pace & strength and there were times when it felt like he needed several chances before he’d get a goal & he’d find those chances harder to come by at a higher level

Maybe Grigg is wrong & he’s better suited to being part of a partnership. Maybe Michael O’Neill is wrong and he deserves to be starting every game at international level. Maybe Brentford were wrong & should have gone with him in the Championship when they went up & maybe now Cook is wrong & should have been playing him in stead of Garner/Vaughan/Clarke.

Or maybe, just maybe all these professional football coaches, managers etc.. are right

Sorry but if Sunderland can sell an unproven Maja for £3.5mill (or the equivalent of what they still owed the club who they’ve transferred him to for a previous transfer) then Will Grigg for a possible £4mill looks like a steal!!

To be honest, if what Sunderland’s owner says is true & Latics changed the asking price then the sale of Maja for that £3.5mill probably had a lot to do with it