Jump to content

Mucker1884

Forum Legend
  • Posts

    15,665
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Reputation Activity

  1. Clap
    Mucker1884 reacted to Anag Ram in Ivan Toney (say what you see)   
    Just got it. You can tell by the look she’s a keeper. 
     
  2. Haha
    Mucker1884 reacted to Archied in Ivan Toney (say what you see)   
    Nope and chippy braid y is too much of a stretch
  3. Like
    Mucker1884 reacted to angieram in New Francis Lee book out soon   
    Keep posting, it will save us buying it! 😂
    Seriously, I loved Franny Lee, he was my mum's favourite player (from watching tv football, I hasten to add.)
    I was so excited when my new boyfriend took me to the BBG for the first time, and there he was! 
    Mum had recently died at the time, I was so sad I never got to tell her I'd seen her hero. (Co-incidentally, she died 50 years ago today.) 
    I'll definitely buy the book. 
  4. Cheers
    Mucker1884 reacted to Macintosh in New Francis Lee book out soon   
    It was still a work in progress before his death, so the title was possibly decided by the author or publisher.
     
    'There was always talk about Leeds, their boss Don Revie, and their dubious tactics both on and off the pitch. Years later, Wales international defender Rod Thomas became my big pal at Derby – and his best mate, while on international duty, was the Leeds United keeper Gary Sprake. Rod told me that Sprake had said to him, ‘There’s not one thing our manager wouldn’t do to win a game … lie, rogue, cheat or bribe.’ Whatever the truth, or the impact it had on that season, it left the 1971/72 campaign with the most thrilling conclusion to any top-flight season.'
    - - - - -
    'We could have won the European Cup in that second season I spent with Derby. First, we saw off Slovan Bratislava and then we were paired with European aristocrats Real Madrid. We won the first leg at the Baseball Ground 4-1, but I missed the return because I’d been sent off in the Hunter incident against Leeds. The second leg finished 4-1 to Real and we went out 5-1, after extra time. That was tough to take.
    'And that sending-off affair actually led to a rule change by UEFA. It was considered unfair to automatically ban a player from a European game after a domestic match when the player had yet to be proved to be guilty or not guilty. Mind you, there wasn’t much chance of me being ‘not guilty’ – the footage was there for everyone to see!
    'So, there was no final season Wembley farewell in the FA Cup, no European Cup win, but how could I complain? What a great time I’d enjoyed as a footballer! I’d only signed for Derby County for a year but agreed to stay on for that extra season. Now Dave Mackay asked me to carry on again, but my mind was made up. I did say to Dave that, if I changed my mind, I’d not play for anyone but Derby. That, however, wasn’t going to happen.'
     
  5. Like
    Mucker1884 got a reaction from Carl Sagan in New Francis Lee book out soon   
    Disappointed that he didn't call it "Just look at my face", but I'll still be adding that to my mobile reading list, once it's available.
    👍
  6. Clap
    Mucker1884 got a reaction from Crewton in Ivan Toney (say what you see)   
    Is it Jon "Sledgehammer" Steed?  🤷‍♂️
  7. Like
    Mucker1884 got a reaction from SKRam in New Francis Lee book out soon   
    Disappointed that he didn't call it "Just look at my face", but I'll still be adding that to my mobile reading list, once it's available.
    👍
  8. COYR
    Mucker1884 got a reaction from Premier ram in Paul Warne   
    Paul Warne v 'Boro...
     

     
     
     
     
  9. Haha
    Mucker1884 got a reaction from Comrade 86 in Serial Whingers Notts Forest playtime, which we simply cannot accept.   
    Apparently, the game was held up for a full 7 minutes whilst they attended to him on the pitch.
     
    Now, I'm not the sort to underplay the seriousness of this horrific and traumatic experience, but by all accounts, when I broke my leg back in 1980, one lane of the Derby-Bound A52 was shut for well over half an hour, whilst they attended to me on the tarmac. 
    Arguably, that could have been equally horrific and traumatic... had I regained consciousness at any stage throughout.
     
    Where was twitter then, eh?  EH?
    🙄
  10. COYR
    Mucker1884 reacted to Macintosh in New Francis Lee book out soon   
    The long-awaited autobiography of Franny Lee is out soon, Triumphs, Treachery and Toilet Rolls with an insight into his time at Derby. There's a lot about his businesses too, like being the first to produce printed kitchen towels and his part-ownership of Hazlewoods which used to be on Parcel Terrace that he ended up selling his shares for around £14 million.
    - - - - -
    I made my Derby County debut on 17 August against Everton, and Roger Davies, Derby’s tall striker, was playing centre-forward. He started dribbling about and rolling the ball under his foot. I said to him, ‘Roger, if you’re going to dribble it, and lose it, do it in their f****** penalty area and not down here in our half.’ I liked to put a marker down.
    We drew 0-0 at Goodison and Dave said to me on the Monday, ‘What d’you think?’ I said that I knew why they didn’t win away from home. I told him they weren’t playing the ball into feet when someone was marked. I also told him that if they played me at centre-forward, marked or unmarked, I’d get the ball and set it up from there – without losing possession. So, Dave changed it there and then. I was moved to centre-forward and played there all season, much as I’d done at City, and I had a really good season for them, scoring 16 goals, 12 of them in the league.
    Cue delight at Maine Road and they revelled in it for all of 90 seconds. And then I had my say! I reacted first to a ball played forward by David Nish and I cut in from the left wing, beat two or three blue shirts and then let fly from more than 20 yards. It screamed beyond Joe Corrigan and inside his left-hand post, just under the bar. Fantastic!
    BBC’s Match of the Day Barry Davies’s commentary still gets a run-out on YouTube today. As I turned, 30 yards out, to run towards the area, Barry said: ‘Interesting …’ and then, as the ball left my right boot, ‘… very interesting!’ Barry paused and picked up the mic again as I wheeled away beaming with a huge grin: ‘Oh! Look at his face, just look at his face!’ The City fans were looking and, bless them, I know that they joined in my celebrations. It was a cracking goal, one of my career highlights, and my smile just betrayed my love for the game at that very moment.
    City were beaten and, after the game, the press pack wanted to talk to the prodigal son, back to haunt his old employers. Of course they did. I was chatting to the press boys when Tony Book’s new assistant manager, Ian MacFarlane, showed his face. I couldn’t resist asking a question to which I already knew the answer: ‘Will it be all right if I come in tomorrow for some treatment on my knee, Ian?’ Ian, who could curdle milk if he wanted to, was nice as pie: ‘Certainly, Franny. I’ll fix that for you.’
    No fixing required, actually. Part of the terms of my move to Derby was an understanding that I could go into City for treatment. I was also able to train there for part of the week. This was all thrashed out when I was telling both Tony Book and Dave Mackay that I didn’t want to travel to the East Midlands because of my business commitments in the Lancashire area. That was a clause that would have an interesting postscript.
    - - - - 
    Hunter and I were sent off after a scrap that had been brewing ever since the incident that led to our first-half penalty. Hunter didn’t like the fact that I’d won the penalty – and that he’d given it away – leading to Charlie despatching the spot kick. I’d picked the ball up ten yards inside the Leeds half and I ran directly at Hunter, feinting left then taking him on the outside. I ran into the area, he caught my left leg, and he had a hand in the small of my back. I went down and referee Derek Nippard called it immediately: penalty!
    Leeds liked to referee their own games. I remember Sunderland’s Bob Stokoe warning the FA Cup Final ref not to let Leeds ‘referee’ the 1973 final. So, they didn’t like decisions going against them. After Charlie George put the penalty away, the Leeds players were full of moans. And on and on it went, before and after the interval. Then I picked the ball up and ran at their defence again, and I managed to get a snapshot away. As it was cleared, Hunter clattered into me, and all hell broke out. He’d tapped me on the shoulder, hit me with a haymaker right hand and split my lip with a gold ring.
    This was not play-acting! I wasn’t having that, so I had a right go back. All the lads then stepped in and the referee sent us off. Hunter was still chipping away as the ref spoke to him and, as we walked to the tunnel, it broke out again when we still had 20 yards to reach the touchline. This time, I got in first and went for him with a couple of right hooks and two straight lefts. He went flying. Gordon Guthrie, our physio, came on and pulled me away, and Dave Mackay was in there, too. Dave had deputed centre-half Roy McFarland – who was injured and watching from the stand – to be my minder as I was led away. Roy had his work cut out as I got my lip stitched under the stand.
    It’s a good job I didn’t get in their dressing room afterwards, as I might have just been coming out on parole now! I’m not proud of the episode but the red mist had descended. ‘Let me get at that b****** Hunter!’ I apparently shouted at big Roy, as the medic tried to stitch my wound. I was fuming.
    Did I dive? Not that day. There was a lot of controversy throughout my career about diving to win penalties. I won’t say that I always stayed on my feet unless I was absolutely knocked down. There was, though, some shocking treatment handed out by defenders in that era.
    I did score a lot of penalties – 15 in all – in my goal-laden 1971/72 season. That’s because they’d changed the law to give forwards more protection and we [City] were flat out for the title – putting sides under immense pressure, and defenders reacted. But I was fouled only five times out of the 13 league penalties we got.
     
    It's a terrific read, out in September. 
     

  11. Haha
    Mucker1884 got a reaction from Day in 24/25 Kits   
    Ok.
    We've now got the departure date and the post code.
    All we need now is the code for the alarm, and we're in.
     
     
  12. Haha
    Mucker1884 got a reaction from Comrade 86 in Overseas Strikers ?   
    Ah!
    Trying to make me look stupid, eh?
    You'll need to get up earlier in the mornings for that, mate!
    You're describing the itinerary for the European division of our scouting network.
    For Japan, we'll no doubt have a South American division!
     
  13. Haha
    Mucker1884 got a reaction from Comrade 86 in Overseas Strikers ?   
    Yes, but we have to go south first, as the boat leaves from Southampton, silly!  🙄
  14. Like
    Mucker1884 got a reaction from Comrade 86 in Overseas Strikers ?   
    Patience.
    It wasn't that long ago we were limited to North of Hadrian's Wall.
    We're working our way south...
  15. Haha
    Mucker1884 got a reaction from Premier ram in 24/25 Kits   
    Ok.
    We've now got the departure date and the post code.
    All we need now is the code for the alarm, and we're in.
     
     
  16. Haha
    Mucker1884 got a reaction from SaffyRam in Vs Middlesbrough (H) Match Thread   
    One man's "Purple" is another man's "Dark Pink".
    Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.  c.1987.  Probably.
     
  17. Like
    Mucker1884 got a reaction from kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong in Paul Warne   
    Paul Warne v 'Boro...
     

     
     
     
     
  18. Haha
    Mucker1884 got a reaction from ariotofmyown in Vs Middlesbrough (H) Match Thread   
    I reckon if we had scored thirteen against them, I'd have claimed "'Boro played well, but they were no Finn Harps".  🙄
  19. Haha
    Mucker1884 got a reaction from De22Ram in Overseas Strikers ?   
    You said it!

     
  20. Haha
    Mucker1884 reacted to Archied in Ivan Toney (say what you see)   
    Have you not seen Monty python and the holy grail ? Bring out your dead
  21. Cheers
    Mucker1884 reacted to Ghost of Clough in Overseas Strikers ?   
    You're one step ahead, as always 🤣
  22. Haha
    Mucker1884 got a reaction from Ghost of Clough in Overseas Strikers ?   
    Ah!
    Trying to make me look stupid, eh?
    You'll need to get up earlier in the mornings for that, mate!
    You're describing the itinerary for the European division of our scouting network.
    For Japan, we'll no doubt have a South American division!
     
  23. Cheers
    Mucker1884 got a reaction from Mick Brolly in Serial Whingers Notts Forest playtime, which we simply cannot accept.   
    Thank you my friend. 🍻
    It may be 44 years, but it's never too late to finally feel loved!  😁   
  24. Like
    Mucker1884 reacted to Ghost of Clough in Overseas Strikers ?   
    Surely departing from Hull after the Northern border? First stop Netherlands, Second stop Sweden, third...?
  25. Haha
    Mucker1884 reacted to De22Ram in Overseas Strikers ?   
    Smart!!!
×
×
  • Create New...