51 years ago (7 Viewers)

[rupert_bear]

51 years ago We were the best team in division 3 playing the best football with the skills of Humphries, Rees, Hale and Hudson and flying towards promotion then around xmas time the wheels came off and we couldn't win for love or money drew, lost, drew, lost and slipped down from top spot with Crystal Palace and Watford overtaking us so what did Jimmy Hill do? He bought 2 players in John Smith an aggressive chunky midfielder and paid something like £10k a big fee in those days for a big rough arsed, aggressive centre forward George Kirby, some might say a bit of an animal but that would be unkind to animals, changed tack a bit we became more direct, some call that long ball, certainly more aggressive which some might say dirtier, but what happened ? we got back to winning ways and won promotion, in fact won the league. Within a year Hill sold Kirby and got most the fee he paid back.
I think we are at a similar point now. Our football is good, pleasing on the eye but it's been sussed a bit with opponents doing their homework sitting back and the longer it stays 0-0 the more dangerous they become, if we get an early goal like we did v Crewe and Gillingham we stuff teams, we don't have to change the way we play but I think we need an alternative way to play...and a centre forward !

 

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[Old Warwickshire lad]

And my problem with that is, I remember it

 

[RFC]

51 years ago We were the best team in division 3 playing the best football with the skills of Humphries, Rees, Hale and Hudson and flying towards promotion then around xmas time the wheels came off and we couldn't win for love or money drew, lost, drew, lost and slipped down from top spot with Crystal Palace and Watford overtaking us so what did Jimmy Hill do? He bought 2 players in John Smith an aggressive chunky midfielder and paid something like £10k a big fee in those days for a big rough arsed, aggressive centre forward George Kirby, some might say a bit of an animal but that would be unkind to animals, changed tack a bit we became more direct, some call that long ball, certainly more aggressive which some might say dirtier, but what happened ? we got back to winning ways and won promotion, in fact won the league. Within a year Hill sold Kirby and got most the fee he paid back.
I think we are at a similar point now. Our football is good, pleasing on the eye but it's been sussed a bit with opponents doing their homework sitting back and the longer it stays 0-0 the more dangerous they become, if we get an early goal like we did v Crewe and Gillingham we stuff teams, we don't have to change the way we play but I think we need an alternative way to play...and a centre forward !

 

[skybluealan]

I remember is well, last game of the season, Crystal Palace getting beat at home, Watford getting beat away and Coventry beating Colchester 1-0 at home to be champions.

 

[RFC]

Went to every game (home & away) including pre-season frienlies!

Great stats P46 W22 D16 L8 F98 A61

Maybe a repeat this season?

PUSB

 

[Citysince47]

Was it really 51 years ago. Can remember that team like it was yesterday. What a season culminating in that George Hudson tap in against Colchester. Great cross from Willie H if memory serves me right..

 

[jimmyhillsfanclub]

I was -7.....

 

[Skyblueweeman]

And welcome to the Golden Oldies thread....!

 

[Otis]

It was 51 years ago today, Jimmy Hill taught the team to play!

 

[sky_blue_up_north]

I feel privileged been a kid in the JH era, everything seemed possible...

 

[ceetee]

Not living in Coventry I only went to a few games but I do remember being there on George Kirby's debut

 

[Old Warwickshire lad]

And welcome to the Golden Oldies thread....!

Not a bad idea that,now let me see ............................................................

 

[rupert_bear]

Not living in Coventry I only went to a few games but I do remember being there on George Kirby's debut

I think he got a hat-trick

 

[aloisiwouldhavescored]

And my problem with that is, I remember it

Me too!

 

[Otis]

Wish I was there for the Jimmy Hill glory years. Just missed out and when I started going up it was the relegation struggles in what was then Division One (now the Premier).

 

[mechaishida]

I'm 35, however I know these years for CCFC like they were my own. It's era I wish I could've lived firsthand, but the nostalgia lives on.

Here's to a repeat/reincarnation of the Sky Blue spirit shown in that time, God only knows we're due for a change of fortune. PUSB.

 

[SkyBlueCharlie]

It was 51 years ago today, Jimmy Hill taught the team to play!

Just like Yesterday

 

[Calista]

I have nothing against this thread, but would like to point out that it was fifty-two years ago

 

[Gazolba]

I remember those days. I seem to remember George Kirby as being very tall, but I looked him up and he was only 6' tall. He scored most goals with his head. He was an Andy Carrol/Duncan Ferguson type player. He played just 18 games for us scoring a vital 10 goals. He died in 2000 RIP.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Kirby_(footballer)

 

[rupert_bear]

The point of this thread is Jimmy Hill played with flair players in the main, lots of skill but to ensure promotion he brought in an opposite to that, became more direct just for the run in which was probably 18 games and it worked

 

[st john]

It was 51 years ago today, Jimmy Hill taught the team to play!

Are you sure that wasn't Sgt. Pepper?

 

[Johhny Blue]

Not a bad idea that,now let me see ............................................................

I'm all in!!

 

[Hobo]

It was 51 years ago today, Jimmy Hill taught the team to play!

Yes but, "They have been going in and out of style"

 

[Gazolba]

The point of this thread is Jimmy Hill played with flair players in the main, lots of skill but to ensure promotion he brought in an opposite to that, became more direct just for the run in which was probably 18 games and it worked

Our midfield is way too lightweight. We could try the same thing as JH did but are such players available? We'd need a dynamic attacking midfielder who is a real goal threat and a big tall bustling centre-forward. I just don't know if such players exist any more.

 

[rupert_bear]

Hill did it again in the first division promotion year 1966/67 when out of the blue he bought Brian Lewis from Portsmouth bit of an unsung hero in that promotion side, a real nasty tough nut in the Joey Barton mould, talking to Ronnie Farmer some years back at Massys and he said Lewis was the nastiest, dirtiest, toughest player he ever played with and when you think he played years with George Curtis makes you think

 

[Pete in Portugal]

Hill did it again in the first division promotion year 1966/67 when out of the blue he bought Brian Lewis from Portsmouth bit of an unsung hero in that promotion side, a real nasty tough nut in the Joey Barton mould, talking to Ronnie Farmer some years back at Massys and he said Lewis was the nastiest, dirtiest, toughest player he ever played with and when you think he played years with George Curtis makes you think

Yes I remember Brian Lewis. He was a real psycho on the pitch and I was always worried he's be sent off. Ron Farmer himself was no angel either!

 

[Citysince47]

Ronnie Farmer no angel? He was compared to Brian Nicholas

 

[Pete in Portugal]

Ronnie Farmer no angel? He was compared to Brian Nicholas

Well that's true. What I meant is that he could be pretty hard too.

 

[phildownunder]

The memory is a fallible piece of kit, so I suppose one person`s recollection is as good (or bad) as another`s. I may be wrong but I don`t recall a particular change of style from JH in either case, just a change in personnel.

Kirby was brought in because George Hudson had lost form badly (26 goals by xmas, only 2 more in the rest of the season), so a goalscorer was urgently needed to maintain our challenge and Kirby happened to be available.

As for Lewis I feel that JH did us no favours in swapping Ray Pointer for him. We could have really done with his experience and eye for goals in our first seasons in Div 1 but instead we got Lewis who was nothing special as footballer and who`s main attribute was a liking for the "over the ball" kind of tackle. I know many don`t mind a player like that as long as he wears a sky blue shirt (or as the Americans put it once in another context, " he may be a sonofabitch but he`s OUR sonofabitch") but for me he represented the type of player the game would be better without. I`m talking about a dirty player rather than a hard tackler like Curtis, Setters or Kilcline.

If the argument being put forward is that we now have to start playing ugly I don`t agree with that either. We`ve been very unlucky this season with injuries to defenders and this has cost us several of the points we`ve dropped and IMO we don`t need a complete change of style just some decent players being brought in to bolster the team - a central defender, winger and striker would be nice !

BTW I only missed one game at HR that season 52 years ago and that was Southend. We lost 5-2.