Catch A Falling Star by Neil Young, Dante Friend Read Free Book Online Page A

words would come true. Such wisdom and good man-management skills took him all the way to Lancaster Gate where he was one of the most popular
England
managers ever! His secret was that he treated people like adults, with respect. As a result we all respected him. Usually when a new manager arrives on the scene you fear for your place. However Joe made a point of talking to me soon after his arrival and he recalled how well I’d done at Lilleshall . That gave me confidence and renewed my enthusiasm. I was ready to play the game the ‘
Joe Mercer Way
.’
    Not long after Joe was confirmed as manager, a man called Malcolm Allison walked through the door. We knew little really about this playboy coach. Funnily enough though, we did play down at
Plymouth
earlier that year where he was sat in the stand with a big hat on, smoking a big fat cigar. That was my first glimpse of him.
    Let me take you back to that first meeting with Big Mal. The game was at Home Park, one of those footballing outposts nobody ever wanted to play at because of all the travelling involved. The first time I spotted him was after
Plymouth
had been awarded a penalty. It was not so much the goal that delighted him but the way they scored it. I had never seen a penalty despatched and celebrated in this particular way before.
    When the ref pointed to the spot Mal leapt up from his touchline seat and threw his huge hat high into the air. What happened next was probably his tactical brain working overtime again. The spot kick was pushed forward two yards and a
Plymouth
player came thundering into the box and slammed it past our ‘keeper, Alan Ogley . That was the signal for Mal to jump up and turn to the crowd like a great warrior and throw his hat into the crowd. Down at
Plymouth
he was a showman with a top-of-the bill act and the crowd squealed with delight.
    Joe and Malcolm between them bought and moulded the players they wanted into the best team
Manchester
City
has ever produced. They produced a pure footballing game, derived from two-touch football. We also had a supreme advantage when it came to fitness. A lot of players didn’t enjoy the training but I found it a breath of fresh air.
    As an example, during pre-season we used to have six days of training at
Wythenshawe
Park
and then have six days off again, then six days on and so on. Monday mornings were the killer sessions. I saw players throwing up on the sidelines because they were struggling to attain the fitness levels to play in our team. However we used to murder sides in the last half-hour of a match because we’d just be getting our second wind. With our skill and fitness teams could not live with us.
    Almost as soon as he arrived, Joe announced he was bringing in a world-class mile runner called Derek Ibbotson and a 20-miler called Joe Lancaster to give us some extra stamina.
    I have never seen so many players faking injury on arrival to that training session. It all paid off though because as I say, in the last twenty minutes of a game we were undoubtedly the fittest team in
England
.
    I had played under McDowell and Poyser before the arrival of Joe and to be honest they were much of a muchness . We would go training everyday and just run, run, run! No ball work, just running, so no wonder when Saturday came around and we had the ball at our feet, we all suddenly thought – what the hell is this thing here?
    When Joe and   Malcolm coached us we hardly ever trained without a ball and I believe this was another secret behind their success. In the end Malcolm made ordinary players into very good players and turned promising players into absolute world-beaters.
    Take Joe Corrigan for example. When he first arrived at
Maine Road
there was a joke flying about that he couldn’t catch a cold. Years later he left as a full England International. That was Malcolm’s coaching every afternoon. He’d have Joe out on the pitch shot-stopping and coming out for crosses. He worked