Search: 'Alan Mullery'

The Autobiography
by Alan Mullery with Tony Norman
Headline, £18.99
Reviewed by Adam Powley
From WSC 239 January 2007 

Buy this book

“Outspoken, controversial and entertaining”: so say the publishers in hyping the memoirs of Alan Mullery, adding the titillating prospect of naked blondes in hotels and “every human emotion”. Perhaps the current trend for football biogs replete with tales of mega-bungs, bling and bedroom antics has skewed the biographical template, but there’s little need for the Heat-style hard sell here.

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Derby won the title with a low 53 points, as the title fight was between a mish-mash of "town" teams. Roger Titford reports

The long-term significance
If there was a remake of this season it would be called “What Happens When Big Clubs Go Bad”. For the last time, possibly ever, a variety of “town” teams – Ipswich, Burnley, Derby and Stoke among them – contested the League title deep into the spring. It was an unusual year in many respects: miners did relatively better than stockbrokers in the economic crisis, glamrock was dying and punk not yet born, and England’s big three suffered like never since. It was Liverpool’s only trophyless season between 1973 and 1984. Arsenal spent some time bottom of the table, which they haven’t done since. Manchester United weren’t even in the top flight. Revie, Shankly, Nicholson, Greenwood and Sexton had all followed Sir Alf Ramsey out of long-occupied managerial seats in 1974 and a chance emerged for the lesser lights to shine. It sounds now like an impossible feast of equal opportunity, but at the time they said it was dismal, mundane, violent and “the death of football”.

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Just two points seperated first from fourth at the end of the 1977-78 season, with Keith Burkinshaw's Tottenham returning to the top-flight at the first time of asking, albeit on goal difference. Philip Cornwall reports

The long-term significance
It’s not the winning or the losing, it’s the coming second or third. Bolton, managed by Ian Greaves, took the title, but it would be 20-odd years before Wanderers, led by one of Greaves’ defenders, would become top-flight regulars. Yet the two teams they pipped for the title, Southampton and Tottenham, haven’t been relegated since achieving this promotion. Keith Burkinshaw, the manager of Spurs who had taken them down the previous May to end 27 seasons in the top flight, was given the opportunity to put that right, something unlikely to happen today.

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Dear WSC
There’s something that’s puzzling me about this year’s title race. In every previous season when Manchester United have been trailing by a stack of points Alex Ferguson has talked about the opposition “doing a Devon Loch”. This season he hasn’t mentioned that unfortunate horse once, though. It’s almost as if he’s lost all enthusiasm for racing.
Chris Front, Redcar

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Ian Farrell is puzzled by the lack of appreciation for one of England's most  decorated footballing exports, now looking to add to his medal collection at Manchester City

Upon returning to Britain from relatively brief spells at moderately successful foreign clubs, Paul Ince and John Collins were assumed to be better players, better people and an asset to any employer. Even Paul Gascoigne, whose time in Italy was mainly about in­juries and semi-public urination, was thought to be bet­ter for the experience. Steve McManaman had four years as a popular and at times very important player for the world’s biggest club, with two championship medals, two Champions League medals and the ex­perience of playing and training with the very best to show for it. He’s only 31, he’s dropped his wages by half and he’s free. Form an orderly queue, gentlemen, sure­ly? Yet, after Man­chester City won his signature ahead of another mid-table side, there were enough eyebrows raised for Kevin Keegan to feel the need to come out and defend signing him, like you would an unstable alcoholic or convicted match-fixer. Strange.

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