I attended my first game in August 1992 but began following Everton during the 1988-89 campaign. In the years since, we have seen some tremendous strikers in the top flight. The likes of Shearer, Les Ferdinand, Wright, Henry, Fowler, Zola, Bergkamp, Van Nistelrooy, Drogba, Cantona and Owen have all terrorised opposition defences and no doubt broken Evertonian hearts at some stage.
In the years I’ve spent watching the blues, I don’t think we have had anyone with either the necessary talent, temperament or have been with us at the right stage of their career to be talked about in the same breath as esteemed band of players listed above. We have had several very good forwards in that time.
Wayne Rooney – The obvious exception. An academy product and the most natural talent the club has produced in a generation, he burst on the scene as a teenager, announcing himself with a stunning winner against Arsenal and broke into the England team before eventually lighting up Euro 2004. Unfortunately, his time with us was a mixed bag consisting of moments of genius twinned with spells of inconsistency which you would expect from someone of such tender years. Rightly or wrongly, Moyes chose to protect him using him sparingly and occasionally out wide meaning we saw only occasional glimpses of his rare attacking talent prior to his move to Man Utd.
Peter Beardsley – Probably the best forward player I have seen at Everton. A wonderfully gifted footballer, he was sold prematurely as his excellent partnership with Andy Cole at Newcastle proved. I also seem to remember him being deployed as a midfielder quite often which may have restricted his goal tally during his spell with us.
Greame Sharp – Evertons leading post war marksman and vital member of the squad during the trophy laden spell in the mid-eighties. Older Evertonians will surely have much fonder memories of him. I was very young when he was with us but I seem to remember a hard-working centre forward with aerial prowess and good technique. He was sold to Oldham shortly after I began following the blues.
Tony Cottee – A British record transfer fee was paid for this diminutive striker. A natural out-and-out goal scorer he was my first Everton hero. He seemed to blow hot and cold and when the goals dried up his all round contribution wasn’t always enough to keep his place in the team.
Duncan Ferguson – An Everton legend. He was a talisman at a time when we had very little to shout about. On his day he was unstoppable but he did not play or score enough partly due to suspensions but mainly due to injuries. It could be argued that he had a suspect temperament.
Paul Rideout – A neat and tidy centre forward will always have a special place in Everton hearts for his winner in the 95 cup final. He never really got enough goals to be considered as an elite striker.
Kevin Campbell – ‘Super Kev’ kept us in the Premier League with his goals in 99 and formed an effective partnership with the promising Jeffers. The powerful striker toiled at the spearhead of a really poor Everton side towards the end of the Smith era. The goals began to dry up once he hit the wrong side of 30.
Yakubu – £11m looked like money well spent until he ruptured an Achilles. A terrific finisher, he struggled to rediscover his fine first season form.
Louis Saha – Another player who on his day could be unplayable yet struggled for fitness. His work-rate was also called into question at times.
There have been numerous other forwards during my time and some did well, others were simply not good enough. AJ, McFadden, Radzinski, Beattie, Newell, Johnston, Amokachi, Hughes, Jo, Stracqualursi, Beckford and Bent. Bright young things Jeffers, Chadwick, Barlow, Branch, Vaughan and Cadamarteri. US imports Moore and McBride. The enigmatic Frenchman Madar. Ones I’d like to forget, Angell and Bakayoko. Compare these with some of the strikers at other clubs during the Premier League era. The likes of Cole, Yorke, Anelka, Le Tissier and even Kevin Phillips.
I guess my point is that we are a club that have a tradition for having top class centre forwards. The number nine shirt was at one point synonymous with Everton yet my brief and admittedly, not very well researched trip down memory lane suggests that during the last 25 years we have lacked the firepower enjoyed by many of our peers.
Could it be that finally we have a forward that can keep alive the tradition of great Number Nines? Someone who can be spoken of in the same breath as the likes of Dean, Lawton, Hickson, Vernon, Young, Royle, Latchford and Gray?
A first look at Jelavic and he appears to be nothing out of the ordinary. He not blessed with blistering pace nor is he likely to dribble around 3 defenders and bend a curling shot into the top corner.
On closer inspection, Jelavic is a very rounded footballer with few, if any weaknesses. Firstly he looks a natural athlete and has enough acceleration to cause defenders headaches. Physically he’s a brute with thick-set arms and legs giving him the required body strength to bully centre backs. His technique is also very impressive with a first touch and close control that is rare in a forward with his build. Mentally he seems very strong. If he misses a chance he does not let his head drop which suggests he has bags of self belief.
Finally, I know everyone has been impressed with his remarkable ability to score with one touch. How can a team set themselves up to prevent that? You would literally have to stop him having a kick to prevent him scoring. For me this is what sets him apart.
I really hope that over the next 5 years he becomes a Premier League scoring legend while at Everton. In my heart I’d like to believe we can hang on to him but if he carries on in his current form then it will not go unnoticed and offers will surely come. I would give him the number nine shirt, give him the captaincy, break the wage structure. Do whatever we can to keep him.
My head tells me that an offer in excess of £20m would see him leave as we are not in a position to turn down that sort of money. If that does happen, it has to be a priority that we bring in a genuine top class forward. They don’t come cheap, they often come with baggage but they could be the difference between us being mid-table or genuine Champions League place contenders.
Reader Comments (94)
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2 Posted 09/10/2012 at 16:09:56
They were different types of players and I think that Amokachi was not made the best use of. Amokachi was a classy player but his best position was behind the front two like Peter Beardsley or Tim Cahill but Joe Royle would not use him there. I think Mike Walker may have used him there and he may have done better under Walker.
3 Posted 09/10/2012 at 16:32:47
I noticed on his debut for us v Leyton Orient in the league cup that Mirallas likes to have a shot at goal - nothing wrong with that. I have noticed since in the games against Newcastle and Wigan that Jelavic has at times berated Mirallas when he's taken a shot or held on to the ball too long when Jelavic was in space.
That raises 2 things - how they link together, and it's still early days, but I can foresee a situation where someone has to have a word with Mirallas to think about his partner more and how he links, but more importantly, it's how Jelavic makes space for himself. Every defender knows he's a threat, yet he's still able to get the space. That and his penchant for first-time finishes is why he's so deadly.
The fact you feel we have to consider his sale when he's not even been here 12 months is a sad indictment of where we are as a club, and have been during Moyes tenure. Every time we think we're making progress someone or something pulls the rug from under our feet.
4 Posted 09/10/2012 at 16:50:32
Jelavic is well capable of scoring 20+ goals for the next four or five years, which puts him up there with all but the very, very best.
5 Posted 09/10/2012 at 18:04:55
6 Posted 09/10/2012 at 18:13:19
How about: Dean, Lawton, Hickson, Vernon, Young, Royle, Latchford and Sharp. There, that's better.
7 Posted 09/10/2012 at 18:36:47
Jelavic seems class. If he is, he'll be off very soon :-(
8 Posted 09/10/2012 at 18:33:29
He's the real deal good enough to play in any of the top european teams - which is a worry!
9 Posted 09/10/2012 at 19:10:24
Ooh what a lovely dream, I just woke up.
10 Posted 09/10/2012 at 19:18:38
On a different note I think the contribution to the Everton cause of Marcus Bent has been cruelly overlooked. At the time with Rooney gone and money perilously tight he was exactly what we needed and played the lone striker role with distinction. Ability wise he was obviously no Jelavic (although his service was much poorer) but nore does he deserve to be categorised alongside Jo. Not good enough for this current Everton team no but ws certainly what we needed in 2004. Even at times before January last season Marcus Bent seemed a better prospect than Saha Anichebe or McFadden.
11 Posted 09/10/2012 at 19:39:49
Yakubu and Saha were classy as well, but lacked a work ethic / injuries that dimmed their true worth. Kev Campbell was great for us as well, and another of the players I have berated when we signed, but was well and truly put in my place (I have loads of them).
Jelavic is a fine player. He has a great eye for goal with any part of his body, and has the ability to play others in, that yak or Saha didn't have.
Rideout is the interesting one. He was massively hyped as a kid, but never lived up to it. He lacked pace which reminds me of a match when he was being berated by a female fan for lack of speed. The female fan taughting him that he was quicker on her mate the previous weekend rather than the football pitch. His face was a picture. Scouse humour, like a rapier.
12 Posted 09/10/2012 at 20:18:10
Watch him carefully and enjoy him whilst he is ours, hopefully for a few more seasons at least.
13 Posted 09/10/2012 at 20:37:41
Sharpy was the best all round striker I ever saw, Beardo the most creative and Lineker the most prolific.
Rideout was the most under-rated. He had a good touch, and was decent in the air, and when Joe Royle had Limpar supplying the bullets, he got 15 goals for us. He formed a good partnership with Graeme Stuart, a striker who has a special place in my heart for the winner v Wimbledon in 1994.
Jelavic is a terrific player but he is playing in a very good team during an era favouring strikers (Defenders can no longer kick lumps out of them). Comparisons therefore are tricky.
14 Posted 09/10/2012 at 20:44:55
15 Posted 09/10/2012 at 20:49:44
And I'm surprised no one has pulled him up for his - at times, quite honestly, frustrating - tendency to fall to the floor like a sack of spuds.
He leads the line well, in a confident side playing attractive footy. But if someone came in with, as mentioned in this forum, 20 million, Everton would be foolish not to sell him!
16 Posted 09/10/2012 at 21:23:51
He has missed some chances, but he is no jigsaw. It would be plain crazy to sell that pedigree.
17 Posted 09/10/2012 at 21:38:42
Jelavic will do well to get in that class, but were do you get players as good as him for £5m thesedays?
18 Posted 09/10/2012 at 22:32:53
Lineker scored goals all over the world at every level for 15 years. Cottee scored 99 goals for us alone. Yakubu scored 20+ goals for Pompey,Boro and then us,before banging in a load for a Blackburn team that got relegated. Jelavic might be able to match this lot,but we won't know until he's done it consistently for 2 or 3 years.
19 Posted 09/10/2012 at 22:37:30
Once again IMHO Jelevic is one of the best strikers we've had, because he allies his eye for a goal with terrific movement wich in turn creates the holes for the team to exploit and fits Moyes' gameplan to a tee.
To play the pub game which player would you swap, Rooney & Tevez apart, I wouldn't swap Jelevic for anyone in the EPL(and that includes RVP & Torres) mainly for what he brings to the team as a whole.
20 Posted 09/10/2012 at 23:27:40
21 Posted 09/10/2012 at 23:18:13
In my opinion, it would be Beardsley with Linerker and Big Kev behind him. As for Jelavic, he could end up being classed in the same catogary in time but not just yet. Could imagine a thread like this in the 90s for Mike Newell,who started like a house on fire.
22 Posted 09/10/2012 at 23:43:30
Incidentally, given Cottee's mixed record from 12 yards, to this day I don't know why Peter Beardsley never took that late spot kick to keep us in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge that year.
23 Posted 09/10/2012 at 23:45:53
Just like it COULD be argued that James Brown is the Godfather of soul?
24 Posted 10/10/2012 at 04:32:18
25 Posted 10/10/2012 at 04:40:11
26 Posted 10/10/2012 at 08:24:10
He hasn't outscored the Yak over a season yet. However, 11 in 12 is some record.
27 Posted 10/10/2012 at 08:22:25
Some of our other strikers weren't utilized properly. I always thought AJ needed someone like a Beardsley type player to put him through on goal but he was often used out wide. Beckford never got a few seasons to prove himself and adjust to the Prem, although he did miss a lot (a bit like Andy Cole).
I can see Jelavic with us for at least three or four more seasons unless someone comes up with a ridiculous amount of money for him.
28 Posted 10/10/2012 at 09:22:24
29 Posted 10/10/2012 at 09:26:49
He does what Yak did - there's no lightning pace, no crazy skills, he just makes scoring look effortless. Yakubu was the only striker that came anywhere near the heady heights of the top Everton number 9s. He could have been a legend for us - anyone who has any doubts about how good he was, check this video of him during his best spell at Everton... he was very fucking good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnOYbQmskoo
30 Posted 10/10/2012 at 09:39:46
31 Posted 10/10/2012 at 10:07:20
Yeah, but not to his face.
32 Posted 10/10/2012 at 11:25:13
33 Posted 10/10/2012 at 12:19:44
What does Jelavic have to do to become a true Everton legend ? For me I'd be looking for over 50 Premiership goals; being consistently among the league's leading scorers when fit; big goals in big matches; loyalty and a good attitude on the pitch; and being the lead striker in a winning team.
34 Posted 10/10/2012 at 13:10:05
Jelavic scores in the big games as well as your Wigans.
£5M. I'll say it again: £5M. An utter steal.
Moyes may have his critics but boy he gets great value most of the time.
35 Posted 10/10/2012 at 13:21:42
36 Posted 10/10/2012 at 13:12:26
If he carries on scoring goals at this rate - and the rate has continued even though everyone knows about him now - he could be a one trick camel as far as I'm concerned.
But he's far from being a limited player. His mobility is excellent and, being a marked man, he drags defenders all over the place. They go where he goes, not where they want to be, set in their defensive formation. This creates spaces around the box for other players to get into. Pienaar, Osman and now Mirallas benefit from Jelavic's movement.
I think the problem is going to be keeping him, not how good he's going to be.
37 Posted 10/10/2012 at 14:00:35
Look at Osman's goal against Soton: it came about because of Jelavic putting the defender under pressure. Keep him injury free and he'll get 20+ for us this season. No mean feat in this league.
Special mention from me to super Kev Campbell, who imo kept us up on his own. I truly believe we'd have ended up like Coventry only for his goals that season.
38 Posted 10/10/2012 at 14:53:36
39 Posted 10/10/2012 at 15:46:34
Saying that, I hope he is with us for a long time. I actually started watching The Blues in the mid sixties and the best Everton strikers I have seen are Joe Royle, Bob Latchford and Graeme Sharpe.
I guess I should include Lineker but he wasn't with us long and he was prolific but in my view detrimental to the team as a whole.
40 Posted 10/10/2012 at 18:56:34
41 Posted 10/10/2012 at 21:01:49
42 Posted 10/10/2012 at 21:50:03
43 Posted 10/10/2012 at 22:58:34
44 Posted 10/10/2012 at 23:13:42
Absolute nonsense to put the blame on us missing out on the title in 85/86 on just one player.
And it was Oxford away, not Luton, where he missed those chances.
Losing Big Nev during the run-in was a large contributary factor in our failure to land the league (and FA Cup) that season.
45 Posted 11/10/2012 at 02:05:01
46 Posted 11/10/2012 at 09:20:35
47 Posted 11/10/2012 at 08:07:00
Remember how he promised 'goals, goals and more goals?' He's not a liar!
Yak was quality in his pomp but injury got the better of him. Plus he was about 46.
I saw Beattie last week in Manchester. That's it.
48 Posted 11/10/2012 at 09:31:35
I am slightly concerned that Mirallas isn't the best foil for Jela.. at this stage but potentially could be great... he so far is very selfish and the chances Jela has had don't seem a frequent. In the back end of last season veryone was trying to set him up. Now Mirallas is taking some of that space and isn't nearly as lethal. Hope they sort it out soon. Interested to see if Naismith gets a run with Fellaini out.
49 Posted 11/10/2012 at 10:52:58
Good shout above, he does have a touch of Van Nistelroy about him. Not just the finishing & movement in the box, but his all round play.
He makes the system work, not genuinely quick but will run in behind, his back to goal, hold up & link play is there so as a midfielder he will be great to play with.
And he grafts, he works centre halves. Hes not just a poacher. Fellaini took all the plaudits against United but Jelavic went toe to toe with Vidic & worked him all night.
Top 4 chances lie with his fitness.
50 Posted 11/10/2012 at 11:03:23
I remember him netting one at the Park End that the keeper should have saved, and clearly remember him missing one in a night game against United, possibly a league cup match when Mark Hughes netted a long range effort. It was at the Street End & I knew he was gonna miss before he took it.
Not basing this on his record from the spot but I thought he was last.
He was a phoney who never did it consistently, lived for the Simod Cup and for such an apparent goal machine was one of the worst 1v1 finishers ive ever seen. Colin Harvey realised his mistake & listed him after about 18 months but he hung around like a bad smell for years.
He was something of a terrace hero as well. Christ we were shite.
51 Posted 11/10/2012 at 11:20:59
52 Posted 11/10/2012 at 11:22:59
Kendall tried to buy Dublin in 92-93 and pair him with TC and I think the partnership may have worked. Instead we ended up being dubbed "no bite and the seven dwarves" - a team consisting of Mo Johnston, TC, Beardo, Stuart, Beagrie, Mark Ward...but no target man.
Some other posters are having a pop at Lineker. Huh? Without question the most natural goalscorer we had in a long time. Someone called it spot on - we lost Big Nev in the run-in and in the Cup Final Bobby Mimms was horribly exposed. He should never have been beaten at his near post by Ian "Playing in Italy was like playing in a foreign country" Rush.
53 Posted 11/10/2012 at 13:26:11
Jelavic is indeed a complete striker in my book; with him and Fella in the side, Everton are more than a match for any team. Sadly that has now been interrupted. However, Jela has all the attributes: quick off the mark, positional sense, confidence, shielding the ball and heading ability.
It is a little unfair to compare with previous strikers due to the different styles but I have to say that, for all around contribution to the team, Jela is as good as any – including Lineker, who was a terrific player. Jela turned this team around when he came last January as before that we were toothless. The addition of Mirallas has also boosted Jela's contribution as his industry frees up space for Jela.
Yes, Moyes has brought in some gems and we are not that far from being a force if one or two more can be brought in and the current crop can be free of injury.
54 Posted 11/10/2012 at 15:45:47
Yakubu was fantastic for one season, and Yelavic would have to be very good indeed to reach that level, but as you say he was never the same after his achilles injury.
Outside of the Yak, Ferguson and Campbell were very important, quality players in very poor sides, albeit both bedevilled by injury. But put Jelavic in the teams of the 90s, and I'm not sure he'd look nearly as good as he does right now. Dunc and Campbell were both good, underrated finishers that suffered badly from poor service while at Everton.
Jelavic certainly already looks better than the rest we've had over the last 20 years, although I think the start that Franny Jeffers made to his Everton career should act as a bit of a cautionary note... defences will adjust to Jelavic, he'll pick up knocks, we'll play tougher teams. There's no reason to think he's likely to keep scoring at his current rate in the long term, though obviously that would be wonderful!
55 Posted 11/10/2012 at 16:43:27
57 Posted 11/10/2012 at 18:27:21
58 Posted 11/10/2012 at 18:46:35
59 Posted 11/10/2012 at 19:13:38
60 Posted 11/10/2012 at 19:39:23
We actually won the league without big ears in 85 and 87 with more or less the same team or did that slip your mind? The point I am making is that we did alter the way we played that season to fit him in, and therefore whilst he bagged loads, (he also missed some pretty important ones - I take it you remember and were there?) we didnt score as many from other areas as a result. Lets be honest he was busy sorting out his transfer to Barca in March (When we were top) and that cost us.
61 Posted 11/10/2012 at 20:10:50
62 Posted 11/10/2012 at 20:12:02
It was Luton as well in March away when we lost 2-1 and Richardson as well as Oxford whilst we are being exact
63 Posted 11/10/2012 at 20:27:53
I agree about Kendall.The point I am making is simple really we changed the way we played he got fourty goals but missed some chances that cost us the title. We actually scored more goals in the league the year before without him they are just facts thats all
64 Posted 11/10/2012 at 20:09:00
Unless he has a RVP/Rooney type season, I can't see why a United/City/Chelsea wouldn't just shell out the money for some 22 year old phenom that costs 30-40 mil if they'd be willing to drop 20 mil on Jelavic, a brilliant player, but one they can't get as much mileage out of. Whatever the case, let's just keep winning.
65 Posted 11/10/2012 at 21:31:47
After all we could probably look at some of the defeats that season and ask what the defence was doing, like the 3 goals we gave the shite at home before we bothered to turn up, or the defeats home and away to Leicester, all if's but's and maybe's I'm afraid !
66 Posted 11/10/2012 at 23:54:16
What does irk about me Lineker was his reaction after the defeat by the RS at Wembley he didnt seem to be bothered in the press interviews afterwards compared to people like Reid. And he did bloody miss open goals at Luton and Oxford that cost us.
67 Posted 12/10/2012 at 00:05:28
My mantra since May has been 'we have one more year', by which I mean this good squad we have must do well - define that how you wish - to stay together for the year after. Keep winning, as you say, no problem.
68 Posted 12/10/2012 at 07:07:49
Big Dunc was hopelessly overrated in my opinion and not in the same league at all - I never understood the hype around him. He did not get into enough scoring positions to score unlike Latchford, Linkeker or Jelavic (even when he played for Rangers and Newcastle - i.e. its not just because he played in poor Everton sides).
Sharp is still the best of the bunch since the mid 70's which is as far back as I go, but Jelavic has a similar all round game to Sharpie. But lets see if he can keep it up for a few years before we judge him. Even Beattie had one year when he scored a hatful (and it was not for us!). Someone above mentioned Mike Newell who had a similar fast start before fading (although he did win the league with Blackburn along side Shearer so he did not completely fade away).
69 Posted 12/10/2012 at 09:12:25
You say that Jelavic looks a better all round player than Lineker or Latchford.
But his job is is that of a striker, a goalscorer, predominantly, and as such he is not in the same class. They proved their goalscoring ability over several seasons, although in Linekers case, after one great season here he proved his ability with Barcelona. Latchfords goals dried up somwhat when he suffered injuries and the inevitable drop off as he got a bit older, but 236 appearances and 106 goals is no mean feat. As of now, Jelavic is more like Kevin Campbell. We shall have to wait and see if he can produce the goods over a period of time.
70 Posted 12/10/2012 at 09:45:07
Jelavic is very different from any striker I have seen in an Everton shirt. He definitely has the killer instinct – he reminds me of a "big" Denis Law.
I hope we can keep him – I think we have got a real dual threat on our hands in him and Mirallas.
71 Posted 12/10/2012 at 10:54:34
At the moment we're flying high and creating loads of chances with the attacking football we're playing, something that a few of the strikers who went before him never had the luxury of, the ball was just usually hoofed up to them and they were expected to run around like headless chickens.
72 Posted 12/10/2012 at 11:15:53
Great finishers though..
73 Posted 12/10/2012 at 11:13:27
Would have preferred to have kept a player like that and then build around him.
74 Posted 12/10/2012 at 11:45:21
1) The service he's getting from Baines, Mirallas, Fellaini, Osman and Pienaar is something none of our other strikers have consistently had
2) He's clinical. I mean absolutely ruthless. He's not the type of player who picks the ball up, goes on mazy runs round the keeper and slots them in. He receives the ball and if it's not in the back of the net by the second touch then it's either been saved or he's missed.
His clinical finishing and his ability to hold the ball up and bring others into play are for me what makes him the best Everton striker I can remember (although my memory starts at Tony Cottee)
75 Posted 12/10/2012 at 13:58:57
No Googling now!
76 Posted 12/10/2012 at 14:28:02
78 Posted 12/10/2012 at 14:50:36
79 Posted 12/10/2012 at 15:06:27
80 Posted 12/10/2012 at 15:15:24
81 Posted 12/10/2012 at 15:34:16
82 Posted 12/10/2012 at 15:47:30
83 Posted 12/10/2012 at 18:50:39
Duncan Ferguson : Goal-shy, injury-prone money sponge.
84 Posted 12/10/2012 at 19:39:59
If we did have that money, I'd buy another two strikers or attacking mids for £6-8M each, a couple of reinforcements in midfield for £2M each, and a right back for £4-6M.
Deal — send Jelly to Man City!
85 Posted 12/10/2012 at 19:53:55
This isn't the rumour mill.
86 Posted 12/10/2012 at 20:06:03
87 Posted 12/10/2012 at 20:29:17
88 Posted 12/10/2012 at 20:37:00
89 Posted 12/10/2012 at 20:34:15
90 Posted 14/10/2012 at 12:55:33
91 Posted 14/10/2012 at 23:05:04
When we bought Lineker we became one-dimensional, the objective was to play the early ball through to him every time — the whole team played and changed for one man, and ultimately it proved costly.
A big mistake from Howard Kendall in my book; we were too reliant on Lineker's goals. If Gary didn't have his lucky boots on, we didn't score... and the pivotal game that season was Oxford away; we blew it that season. But, looking back, we changed the free-flowing 85 winners for one player... amazing really!
92 Posted 15/10/2012 at 13:31:01
We could mix it up and played some direct football when required to feed Sharp and Gray the previous season in 84-85.
93 Posted 15/10/2012 at 13:47:42
Ste, from the horse's mouth:
http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/2012/04/30/howard-selling-lineker-was-key
“With Gary in the team, it was a different type of side to the one which won us the championship in 1984/85.
“Gary came in and scored a tremendous number of goals but the other players suffered because they’d worked on a different system the year before. When the big bid came in from Barca, I suggested that we take the money and revert back to the system which we’d used when we won the championship.”
94 Posted 15/10/2012 at 19:43:15
Lineker has himself said it was a load of nonsense.
I was at nearly all the home games that season and even as a then 9 year old I don't recall many games were we concentrated on hitting punts up the park to suit Lineker.
95 Posted 15/10/2012 at 19:54:16
5 Years of this lad and he'll get 100 goals for us.
96 Posted 15/10/2012 at 20:30:59
Some of the goal stats surprised me. Duncan just 72, Unsworth 40,Sheedy 97 and Cottee 99. Hibbert 0, Howard 1, and Brett Angell....
One.
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1 Posted 09/10/2012 at 15:30:39
Get back, get back, get back to where we once belonged..