Scott7

Did Gerrard’s kids leave Liverpool?

“Deep lying centre forward”: Don Revie, Manchester City, 1955. Nothing’s new, not even Manchester City.

Good old fashioned game, great atmosphere plus a break in. Wolves’ yellow shirts don’t look like old gold, though.

Here’s the 1956 match. Some more notable names. For Fulham, Bedford Jezzard and Jimmy Hill (Booooooo) for Newcastle, a young Ronnie Simpson.

Fulham fans giving a lamentable version of the Billy Boys as supporters of English teams always do. Four times too fast and a bizarre change of key. C’mon Newcastle.

Switched on for Fulham/Mags but I’ve misjudged the kick-off and there are still juveniles prattling on about nothing. Big bonus, though. 1950s footage of a high-scoring game between the two featuring Jackie Milburn and the Fulham ‘keeper being bundled into the net, old style, and no one turned a hair. Teams are out. I wonder who’ll be out at the end?

No mosquito was involved.

Contrary to popular belief, Kittybrewster is not a malarial swamp.

I saw the last fifteen minutes. Maidstone dead on their feet didn’t enter the Ipswich penalty box to trouble our old boy, George Edmundson. The Ipswich ‘keeper was playing on the halfway line. Maidstone utterly outclassed but the Ipswich players didn’t seem to be bothered by the way the match was going. They probably thought they could have launched a missile but the Maidstone ‘keeper would have caught it or at worst, turned it round the post. Attired in orange he nonetheless played as though anointed. 2-3.

Good judge of a player.

Good tip. On the face of it. First: catch a GP. Second: on further reflection and remembering the many dental students I used to know three score years ago, you’re maybe better just to try a bit of thread and a slamming door.

Used to scare the living daylights out of me.

Goal. No doubt whatsoever.

City paid big bucks for Doku. Doesn’t look better than Matondo.

City need to try harder to score. You can’t always walk the ball into the net. Many opportunities to shoot in the first twenty minutes all declined. The offside rule needs to be rewritten.

I doubt that Sima will be back, dB, unfortunately.

A lot of old Africa hands who caught malaria thought they were over it and then they would collapse often more than once. Medicine has come on a long way since those days so I suspect the risk is minimal if it exists at all.

Klopp going at the end of the season. Don’t tell Philippe.

Ian McColl and Sammy Cox. Can’t think of a better club pair. Cumming and McKay the runners-up.

One game at a time for the players, maybe but the manager will have a plan from now to the end of the season. A good manager will be able to adjust and amend the plan as required by circumstances. As fans, the team’s improvement should mean we need not be too afraid to start chicken counting. Rangers should win all the matches up to the celtic game. But “should” never turns out to be “will”.

Amo attended some Charity function in Elgin. I wasn’t at it but those who went reported that he was exceptional in the time he gave speaking to everyone who wanted to talk to him not just the big hitters and especially courteous with the ladies. Can’t be easy when they’re all swooning and vapouring. Not that I would ever know.

I thought she was a French writer of pornographic literature.

Or maybe the three. Actually, I was wrong to mention Baxter. He is unique. In old lineups there were two halfbacks, right and left regarded as part of the defence but playing in front of the back line. The ideal half back’s role was to break up opposing attacks, procure the ball and supply it to the forwards. Equally they were expected to defend inside their penalty box. The ability to drive forward into the opposition penalty box was a bonus. The perfect exponents were John Greig and Dave McKay. Stuart McCall did pretty much the same. More often, one half back was more defensive minded (Harry Davis, John Cumming) the other more forward going (Danny Blanchflower, Frank Beattie) Left or right didn’t matter. You would think that Tav would be an ideal attacking half back on the right. I just wonder if he needs his area of the field to be the modern right back position where he can see the trend of play and start his runs early. Standing further forward might impede those abilities. He would have to play four consecutive games at right half before we would know if it suits him.

1955.

Not Tav, then, nor Jim Baxter.