[Frank Thacker]

Many of this message board users may take issue with the substance of what Lee Richardson says, but most might agree that he says it well, for the most part. As someone who occasionally has to transcribe interviews for this site I was amused by these, in an article in today's Guardian:


The 50s and 60s produced a series of gems from managers who actually tried to speak English and whose mistakes were genuine errors that generated humour of which they were not aware. I am thinking of Ivor Powell, a Welsh legend in this specialised field who managed Bradford City and Carlisle and whose clumsiness with words remains memorable even today. After one particularly fruitful sequence of results his analysis was simple: "Without doubt," he said, "one of the secrets of our successful season was the harmonium in the dressing room."

Ron Saunders, that tough nut of a manager of both Birmingham and Villa in the 70s and 80s, warrants immortality for two statements attributed to him. Asked about allegations of unrest behind the scenes he apparently posed his own question: "Allegations are all very well but I'd like to know who these alligators are." And in trying to explain how a two-goal lead had become a 3-2 defeat insisted: "As I see it, if you're going to commit suicide, you don't do it yourself."

We laughed then - not at them but with them - and had less reason to be appalled, as we are today. No channel is particularly worse than another but their teams of pundits leave much to be desired. Not like Dick Duckworth whose contentment with his line-up at Scunthorpe in 1962 was such that he rang me to say: "I think I've the best side I've ever had now. We've a nice blend of old 'uns and youngsters. I think I've got the mucus of a good team."