Paul Cook (2 Viewers)

[Skyblueweeman]

Millions? We had the likes of John Gayle and Julian Derby. We had to get excited when Cobi Jones signed

Night G...

 

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[Woodingdean_Sky_Blue]

The reference to sexton was the only comparison I could really make in comparison to the claim the club is at its lowest ebb

Zero money to spend, crowds below 10,000 the all seater folly, the collapse of the Jimmy hill era with death threats that made Sunderland hate look very tame, players all declaring they would leave at the end of the season, players being chased down thackall street by an angry mob and the farcical final game.

All through it he retained his dignity and he kept the club away from relegation against impossible odds

Look at the other sides Sexton was up against... the 1980s financial powerhouses of Swansea, Watford, Notts County, Luton and Brighton and Hove Albion were all in the first division in 1982-83.

I suspect there was a transfer budget, but Sexton wanted to go with what he had. He did bring a player in - if you remember he swapped Tom English (who he wasn't playing anyway) for Jim Melrose partway through the season.

I always though Sexton made some very peculiar decisions - the signing of a washed-up Gerry Francis when we already had Daly was one. Choosing to play Steve Jacobs and Steve Witton in different roles throughout the team was another.

As for the players saying they were going to leave, it wasn't all of them (Roberts, Daly, Hunt, Butterworth, Hendrie, Suckling and Singleton all stayed). I think you have to look to how Sexton managed the players to explain why some of them wanted to leave - how was the sale of Garry Thompson dealt with, for example?

Watford, Notts County and Luton all finished above us in 1982-83. Brighton and Hove Albion got to the FA Cup Final (where they were cheated out of a win).

I believe we under performed under Sexton and I think this was nothing to do with budgets. It is perhaps no coincidence that he never managed a club side again after he left Coventry.

I think there is probably a debate to be had as to whether Sexton was dignified, or whether he too invested in the development of some of his players and was actually apathetic towards the fate of the club.

As for players getting chased... urban myth?

 

[David O'Day]

Basically Grenners first target this season Hyam didn't stick so now he is targeting the manager. A Manager who on very little resources lead us to 2 promotions playing great football and is having to battle a sever lack of funding compared to the other teams in our league.

I bet in the era of Neal and Gould he used to write to the CET.

 

[Magwitch]

Look at the other sides Sexton was up against... the 1980s financial powerhouses of Swansea, Watford, Notts County, Luton and Brighton and Hove Albion were all in the first division in 1982-83.

I suspect there was a transfer budget, but Sexton wanted to go with what he had. He did bring a player in - if you remember he swapped Tom English (who he wasn't playing anyway) for Jim Melrose partway through the season.

I always though Sexton made some very peculiar decisions - the signing of a washed-up Gerry Francis when we already had Daly was one. Choosing to play Steve Jacobs and Steve Witton in different roles throughout the team was another.

As for the players saying they were going to leave, it wasn't all of them (Roberts, Daly, Hunt, Butterworth, Hendrie, Suckling and Singleton all stayed). I think you have to look to how Sexton managed the players to explain why some of them wanted to leave - how was the sale of Garry Thompson dealt with, for example?

Watford, Notts County and Luton all finished above us in 1982-83. Brighton and Hove Albion got to the FA Cup Final (where they were cheated out of a win).

I believe we under performed under Sexton and I think this was nothing to do with budgets. It is perhaps no coincidence that he never managed a club side again after he left Coventry.

I think there is probably a debate to be had as to whether Sexton was dignified, or whether he too invested in the development of some of his players and was actually apathetic towards the fate of the club.

As for players getting chased... urban myth?

Luton, Watford and Notts County were good teams all three armed with good managers David Pleat at Luton, Graham Taylor at Watford and Jimmy Sirrel with Howard Wilkinson his partner. We had the players but weren’t a good team as Grendel says that’s down to the manager.
Players chased down Thackhall Street ? not a myth unfortunately can’t remember who they were ccfc had a hostel at the time behind the West End on the corner of Catherine Street were youth team players lived and they managed to get there and take refuge.
That period in Sky Blue history was a very low ebb for us fans.
The person I blame for that period we have put a statue up for as they say football is a funny old game.

 

[Woodingdean_Sky_Blue]

Luton, Watford and Notts County were good teams all three armed with good managers David Pleat at Luton, Graham Taylor at Watford and Jimmy Sirrel with Howard Wilkinson his partner. We had the players but weren’t a good team as Grendel says that’s down to the manager.
Players chased down Thackhall Street ? not a myth unfortunately can’t remember who they were ccfc had a hostel at the time behind the West End on the corner of Catherine Street were youth team players lived and they managed to get there and take refuge.
That period in Sky Blue history was a very low ebb for us fans.
The person I blame for that period we have put a statue up for as they say football is a funny old game.

Grendel is saying Sexton "...retained his dignity and he kept the club away from relegation against impossible odds" and that isn't really true. He had a bunch of Under 21 internationals (at a time when U21s were usually in the first team) and they massively underperformed. I would say the club avoided relegation despite Sexton, not because of him.

Grendel is also saying Sexton had no budget and I'm saying Luton, Watford, Notts County, Swansea and Brighton and Hove Albion were in the same boat yet three of those teams outperformed our club in the league and another nearly won the FA Cup. You have said Luton, Watford and Notts County had good managers - I'm not so sure Jimmy Sirrel was such a good team manager (but some of the coaches working under him were excellent).

I grew up in Coventry and Brighton. There used to be a rumour in Coventry that a chip shop in the Burgess had served up a fried rat - nobody had actually met the person who had been served the rat... they had always heard about it through a friend who knew the person who had been served the rat. The exact same rumour existed about a chip shop in Brighton. Both stories were urban myths.

I have heard about players being chased down the road in Coventry, but like the rat in the chip shop I've never been able to track down who was chased or the chasers. Steve Jacobs was a regular at the hostel you mention (complete with his sky blue Cortina... obviously didn't qualify for a Solara), I saw him in Brighton a few times in 1984 and he never mentioned anyone being chased... nor have any of the other players I have spoken to. Like I say, urban myth.

 

[Magwitch]

I did hear at the time the chasing incident was an evening after a match at the time the Mercer’s opposite the Kop end held discos and there were some youth team lads there one thing led to another bit of handbags and they got legged to the hostel

 

[Woodingdean_Sky_Blue]

I did hear at the time the chasing incident was an evening after a match at the time the Mercer’s opposite the Kop end held discos and there were some youth team lads there one thing led to another bit of handbags and they got legged to the hostel

Ah... so you heard. Didn't actually witness it yourself?

Hey, did I ever tell you my friend told me her cousin's, friend's, ex-boyfriend's, sister's mate got served a fried rat at that chip shop in the Burgess/West Street.

Interestingly, there seem to be variations on the myth. Some say it was Les Sealey who was chased and it was after the West Ham game.

 

[Old Warwickshire lad]

Well fancy that, people on this board calling for the manager to go. Didn’t think it happened on here, thought all the idiots were on facebook.

 

[clint van damme]

No more buddies with him than you are with Clint

Clint other than his schoolboy attitude to politics knows his stuff

HAHA!!

 

[Joy Division]

its impossible to rank him against top flight managers

So by that logic even if Robins somehow managed to get this team in the top 6 of the Championship he still wouldn't be as good as Phil Neal?

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

HAHA!!

Indeed

 

[PVA]

Grendel is still digging?

Made himself look a fool with his taxi thread so has to keep going with his anti Robins agenda.

Also tried to claim Hyam is not good enough a few weeks back. Arguably our best player ffs.

 

[Liquid Gold]

Grendel is still digging?

Made himself look a fool with his taxi thread so has to keep going with his anti Robins agenda.

Also tried to claim Hyam is not good enough a few weeks back. Arguably our best player ffs.

Nearly all managers are sacked in the end, if you set up your stall on day one saying 'this guy is shite, get rid' and maintain it no matter what then when the inevitable happens you can claim to be more knowledgeable. It's all bollocks of course.

 

[Colin Steins Smile]

Grendel is saying Sexton "...retained his dignity and he kept the club away from relegation against impossible odds" and that isn't really true. He had a bunch of Under 21 internationals (at a time when U21s were usually in the first team) and they massively underperformed. I would say the club avoided relegation despite Sexton, not because of him.

Grendel is also saying Sexton had no budget and I'm saying Luton, Watford, Notts County, Swansea and Brighton and Hove Albion were in the same boat yet three of those teams outperformed our club in the league and another nearly won the FA Cup. You have said Luton, Watford and Notts County had good managers - I'm not so sure Jimmy Sirrel was such a good team manager (but some of the coaches working under him were excellent).

I grew up in Coventry and Brighton. There used to be a rumour in Coventry that a chip shop in the Burgess had served up a fried rat - nobody had actually met the person who had been served the rat... they had always heard about it through a friend who knew the person who had been served the rat. The exact same rumour existed about a chip shop in Brighton. Both stories were urban myths.

I have heard about players being chased down the road in Coventry, but like the rat in the chip shop I've never been able to track down who was chased or the chasers. Steve Jacobs was a regular at the hostel you mention (complete with his sky blue Cortina... obviously didn't qualify for a Solara), I saw him in Brighton a few times in 1984 and he never mentioned anyone being chased... nor have any of the other players I have spoken to. Like I say, urban myth.

My recollection of that season was the club was in financial difficulty due to the ill-conceived investment into the American team [Detroit, I think?] and that cost us a lot of money.
This lead to Garry Thompson being sold mid-season, which caused some upset in the squad. I've not heard of any chasing of players, until today.
However, that young squad was a very talented one.
As for Dave Sexton, he stayed in the area and studied for a degree after managing us and worked for many years in the England U23 & U21 programmes, as well as in coach development and was very highly regarded.

 

[DannyThomas_1981]

Ah... so you heard. Didn't actually witness it yourself?

Hey, did I ever tell you my friend told me her cousin's, friend's, ex-boyfriend's, sister's mate got served a fried rat at that chip shop in the Burgess/West Street.

Interestingly, there seem to be variations on the myth. Some say it was Les Sealey who was chased and it was after the West Ham game.

Actually to be fair I think this happened. Witnesses recall a crazed young loner chasing Sealey shouting.....'you need to get a taxi Sealey......Phil Neal will never have you in the side when I appoint him manager.'
Years later the loner resurfaced again on SBT shouting exactly the same nonsense.

 

[Magwitch]

Ah... so you heard. Didn't actually witness it yourself?

Hey, did I ever tell you my friend told me her cousin's, friend's, ex-boyfriend's, sister's mate got served a fried rat at that chip shop in the Burgess/West Street.

Interestingly, there seem to be variations on the myth. Some say it was Les Sealey who was chased and it was after the West Ham game.

It was reported in the Telegraph

 

[Woodingdean_Sky_Blue]

My recollection of that season was the club was in financial difficulty due to the ill-conceived investment into the American team [Detroit, I think?] and that cost us a lot of money.
This lead to Garry Thompson being sold mid-season, which caused some upset in the squad. I've not heard of any chasing of players, until today.
However, that young squad was a very talented one.
As for Dave Sexton, he stayed in the area and studied for a degree after managing us and worked for many years in the England U23 & U21 programmes, as well as in coach development and was very highly regarded.

If only Hill had kept the investment in a team in Detroit things might not have been so bad. What Hill did was move Detroit Express to Washington DC and renamed it Washington Diplomats (a previous Washington team had also used this name, but they'd gone out of business). It was after the team moved to Washington that everything went bad. That was in 1981, so a bit before the 1982-3 season when Garry Thompson was sold.

My point about Dave Sexton is that I thought he lost his way at Coventry and he was too emotionally invested in his squad of young players. I think he wanted certain individual players to do well and lost sight of the need to balance the books and for the team to do well. International management is a different thing to club management.

In Sexton's defence, I think it didn't help that he lost Gordon Milne as 'Director of Football' or 'Executive Director' (or whatever they called his role) for the 1982-3 season.

 

[PVA]

Nearly all managers are sacked in the end, if you set up your stall on day one saying 'this guy is shite, get rid' and maintain it no matter what then when the inevitable happens you can claim to be more knowledgeable. It's all bollocks of course.

Yep, that's exactly what he's angling for.

The day Robins is sacked, even if it was 5 years, he'll be all 'told you so!!!'

 

[Woodingdean_Sky_Blue]

It was reported in the Telegraph

The rat? Of course it was...

 

[Magwitch]

Years ago a young Bobby Gould received hate Mail including death threats from idiots, his crime was replacing George Hudson, also reported in the Telegraph proving I suppose where we have keyboard warriors nowadays there were similar characters around then.

 

[Skybluefaz]

Nearly all managers are sacked in the end, if you set up your stall on day one saying 'this guy is shite, get rid' and maintain it no matter what then when the inevitable happens you can claim to be more knowledgeable. It's all bollocks of course.

Yep, that's exactly what he's angling for.

The day Robins is sacked, even if it was 5 years, he'll be all 'told you so!!!'

4 seasons and 2 promotions in to this nonsense I think the 'told you so' ship has long since sailed.

 

[Grendel]

If only Hill had kept the investment in a team in Detroit things might not have been so bad. What Hill did was move Detroit Express to Washington DC and renamed it Washington Diplomats (a previous Washington team had also used this name, but they'd gone out of business). It was after the team moved to Washington that everything went bad. That was in 1981, so a bit before the 1982-3 season when Garry Thompson was sold.

My point about Dave Sexton is that I thought he lost his way at Coventry and he was too emotionally invested in his squad of young players. I think he wanted certain individual players to do well and lost sight of the need to balance the books and for the team to do well. International management is a different thing to club management.

In Sexton's defence, I think it didn't help that he lost Gordon Milne as 'Director of Football' or 'Executive Director' (or whatever they called his role) for the 1982-3 season.

The sale of Thompson was key to the collapse - I don’t know if that was the year that dumb announcement about hunt was made but I assume so - selling Thompson would have been similar to selling Godden last season

Then to claim players like singleton stayed after the debacle is like saying pask stayed. He could t have started more than 20 games. Suckling was under contract - I thought hunt didn’t hang around either for very long

By the time we got to October the main team was totally different to the prior season - 8 players I’d say were new that season on average until Gould decided to sack the goalkeeper in the media

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

I like that MR has tried something different to stem the goals. To be fair brum should have won with their chances on Friday but he’s trying stuff. Can’t see robins leaving even if relegated so thread silly. Paul cook would be great though if it happened

 

[DannyThomas_1981]

The sale of Thompson was key to the collapse - I don’t know if that was the year that dumb announcement about hunt was made but I assume so - selling Thompson would have been similar to selling Godden last season

Then to claim players like singleton stayed after the debacle is like saying pask stayed. He could t have started more than 20 games. Suckling was under contract - I thought hunt didn’t hang around either for very long

By the time we got to October the main team was totally different to the prior season - 8 players I’d say were new that season on average until Gould decided to sack the goalkeeper in the media

Hold on. Just yesterday you claimed that Gouldy was one of our greatest managers of all time - along with Neal.
At least be consistent with your nonsense.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

He’s easily the best manager we’ve had since the premier league, if he keeps us up this year then we should all chip in for a statue.

I've a feeling you're being facetious but IMO no-one should get a statue (at least a big one) until many years after that time so to prove they have an enduring legacy.

Not got a problem with some sort of hall-of-fame with busts in it that can be updated, but a major outlay and focal point like a big statue needs far more consideration.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

Only half of that is a lie I heard

It's actually all true. One thing he was careful to leave out was his gender.

 

[cc84cov]

I like that MR has tried something different to stem the goals. To be fair brum should have won with their chances on Friday but he’s trying stuff. Can’t see robins leaving even if relegated so thread silly. Paul cook would be great though if it happened

Depends how much loyalty SISU show money talks and relegation would be a disaster these changes usually happen around Xmas so a manager can have some funds in January window,I’m expecting us to be picking up wins over the next group of games but if we don’t questions will surely be asked by SISU

 

[Grendel]

Hold on. Just yesterday you claimed that Gouldy was one of our greatest managers of all time - along with Neal.
At least be consistent with your nonsense.

I suspect despite your username you never even watched the club then.
I’ve never said Gould was a great manager I would be said that in the post!

 

[cc84cov]

I suspect despite your username you never even watched the club then.
I’ve never said Gould was a great manager I would be said that in the post!

The real Danny Thomas son is one my good pals while we on the subject

 

[Magwitch]

I suspect despite your username you never even watched the club then.
I’ve never said Gould was a great manager I would be said that in the post!

He wasn’t even a good one

 

[RedSalmon]

The sale of Thompson was key to the collapse - I don’t know if that was the year that dumb announcement about hunt was made but I assume so - selling Thompson would have been similar to selling Godden last season

Then to claim players like singleton stayed after the debacle is like saying pask stayed. He could t have started more than 20 games. Suckling was under contract - I thought hunt didn’t hang around either for very long

By the time we got to October the main team was totally different to the prior season - 8 players I’d say were new that season on average until Gould decided to sack the goalkeeper in the media

Many years later I was lucky enough to work with someone who was a first team regular at this time (I won't name him as I do not feel it's a fair thing to do) and I was always curious to know how the wheels came off behind the scenes during the Sexton era. Initially he was very reluctant to even talk about it, but over a period of time he slowly got round to explaining what happened. The way he told it to me was that it was a fairly young squad, and they all held Sexton in quite a high regard. The turning point came when they sold Gary Thompson to WBA which upset the whole squad. Up until then they all felt that as a squad, they had a really good future in front of them and with Sexton in charge CCFC was on the up. The point he made was that how can you improve and go forward if you sell your best players? This was a player who had come through the ranks and loved the club.

With regards to Jimmy Hill I do recall that somehow he lost a shed load of CCFC's money underwriting a team in the USA (Detroit Express) which proved to be a money pit and a huge loss which the club needed to cover. Could be wrong with this one, but was it around the same time as the all seater Highfield Road convertion that cost the club a lot of money to install and reduced crowds?

 

[Magwitch]

Unfortunately the great things JH did for us as manager was imo equalled out when he was chairman and that started really with his out of the blue resignation on the eve of our first ever top flight match.

 

[Joy Division]

Same as the likes of Gould I guess

How many promotions did Gould achieve with us?

 

[Grendel]

How many promotions did Gould achieve with us?

Well to be fair it’s a bit difficult to get promoted when you are in the top flight

 

[Deleted member 5849]

I mean, we are allowed more than one manager who's done well for us...