The only thing that matters in the North East this weekend

This weekend will see the Wear-Tyne derby as Sunderland and Newcastle look to grab local bragging rights once again. The last derby game, at St. James’ Park, ended up with Sunderland on the end of a 5-1 drubbing and although that was considered one of the most anticipated derby games in recent seasons, Sunday’s game should be just as heated for much different reasons. Newcastle have decided to rock the boat once again this season and Alan Pardew will take control for his first local derby, coming off a terrible 3-1 defeat to League Two Stevenage. Sunderland were just as disappointed at the weekend as they lost 2-1 at home to League One Notts Country and it would appear that for one side the misery is about to carry on that little bit longer. Sunderland will be hungry for revenge after the first derby defeat and Newcastle will hope they can continue their wonderful record of playing Sunderland, with only one defeat in the last 12 against their bitter rivals. The North East had a disappointing week in cup competitions (even Berwick Rangers, from Northumberland, lost in the Scottish cup!), so I thought I’d go some of the great things that the North East has given the game of football (cheer us all up a bit, I guess!).

Sir Bobby & Jack Charlton:

The two brothers - pre comb-over...

Born in Ashington Northumberland, the two Charlton brothers are some of the most recognised and celebrated footballers in English football history. Their most notable achievement was winning England’s only World Cup in history, yet both have distinguished playing careers for rival clubs. The younger brother, Bobby, is heralded as a hero at Manchester United and one of their greatest ever players, whereas Jack made his name at Leeds United; at the time some considered him the best centre back England had ever produced. Bobby is the all time leading goalscorer for his country and will forever be remembered for his blistering long range efforts that used to terrify opposition goalkeepers. Jack Charlton is known as a hero in the Republic of Ireland after leading them to the World Cup finals and bringing glory to a country that had been known as a footballing minnow previously, with the public forever being grateful for his no nonsense style. Unfortunately, the two brothers are no longer on speaking terms after a falling out that related to family issues as many back in local Ashington champion Jack as a local hero whereas there is a lot of detest for Bobby. When their mother got sick, Bobby never came back to visit her in hospital which angered many in the community, most prominently Jack who became upset at Bobby’s actions. Jack still looks to help the local area where he grew up in; he even recently performed the ribbon cutting for the opening of the new Ashington ASDA supermarket!

The Milburn family and Jackie Milburn:

Bobby and Jack Charlton are also part of this unique North East footballing dynasty, yet many within the game are unaware with how well one Ashington family served the early years of the professional game. Jack and Jimmy Milburn, who both played for Leeds United and Bradford, George Milburn, who played for Leeds United and Chesterfield and Stan Milburn who played for Chesterfield, Leicester and Rochdale. Family members were overshadowed however by the softly spoken and modest Jackie Milburn, who became a hero at local Newcastle United. The English football hall of famer played for the Toon between 1943-57, becoming Newcastle’s all time record goal scorer until Alan Shearer recently broke the record. Despite being a prolific goalscorer for Newcastle and leading them to many title successes, he only played 13 times for England, scoring an impressive 10 goals in that time. At one point, Milburn used to play for Newcastle while also keeping his job down the local coal mine. Milburn used to learn greatly from another Newcastle number nine, Hughie Gallacher and the impact he had on the local area is clear to see, with a statue of the man in local Ashington as well as Newcastle itself. The most noticeable sign of his impact however can be seen as the St. James’ Park tribute to the great man, having a stand named in his honour.

Brian Clough:

Although you may hear Newcastle and Sunderland fans chant “you’re just a small town in Yorkshire” to their Middlesbrough counterparts, ‘Boro produced one of the most loved and exciting English managers of the 20th century, who recently had his life dramatised in “The Damned United”. Not many people realise how impressive a footballer Clough was, having a great goal scoring record for both Middlesbrough and Sunderland, although a serious injury meant his career ended prematurely. His efforts as a manager left many to label him as the “greatest English manager that never led his country”, with Clough brining success to Derby Country and Nottingham Forest, even managing to retain the European Cup with Forest; something that has been very rare in the competition’s great history. Clough will always be known as one of the greatest and most interesting characters of the English game and he is sorely missed.

Bob Paisley:

Paisley, with one of his many cups

A name that will be familiar to many Liverpool fans, Bob Paisley was born in Sunderland yet will be remembered as a one the greatest parts of Anfield history. The only manager to ever win three European Cups, Paisley is one of the reasons the trophy cabinet at Liverpool is so full. Under his stewardship, Liverpool became one of the greatest sides in the world and one of the greatest squads World football has ever seen. Much like the previously mentioned Clough, Paisley was somewhat of a character, giving great quotes such as: “Mind you, I’ve been here during the bad times too. One year we came second”. Paisley filled the gap left by Bill Shankly’s retirement and gave Liverpool its most successful spell in history.

Sir Bobby Robson:

The tribute to Bobby Robson that lay at St. James park after his death

It goes without saying really. One of the nicest men in football, the day Bobby Robson died was mourned by many across the world of football. Robson gained great respect for his refusal to back down to the English media while he controlled the national side, the comedy movie “Mike Basset: England Manager” is loosely based on his troubles at the time and how the press hounded him to leave. Instead, Robson gave England one of its proudest moments in history, by reaching the Semi Finals of Italia 90, only narrowly missing out on penalties to the Germans. Robson had a successful playing career, but his impact as a manager can be seen across Europe. A statue of Robson stands in Ipswich to mark his success of winning the UEFA cup for the Tractor Boys, with Robson going on to have a wonderful career in other European leagues, winning trophies at PSV in the Netherlands, Porto in Portugal and Barcelona in Spain. Robson fulfilled his boyhood dream however, by managing Newcastle United and leading them to much success, with a memorable Champions League campaign that saw Robson’s Newcastle side become the only ever team to lose their opening three group stage games and still qualify. Some of the world’s greatest players, such as Figo and Ronaldo credit Robson for the impact he had on their career, Ronaldo in particular worshiped the ground Robson walked on, which even saw Robson table a cheeky £18m for the Brazilian to bring him to Newcastle. If you need evidence of how much love there was for Robson in the modern game, after his death Sunderland fans chanted “there’s only one Bobby Robson” at a pre-season friendly against Celtic, being one of the few people in football to bridge such a heated football rivalry. The picture above is only a small section of the tribute fans gave to Robson, as many tributes being give in one stand of St. James’ park, with Barcelona, Porto and PSV fans even making the long journey to show their respect.

Bob Stokoe:

Northumbrian born Bob Stokoe is another that managed to bridge the gap, but unlike Robson he had a direct impact on both Sunderland and Newcastle. A player that made over 250 appearances for Newcastle United, Stokoe’s appointment as Sunderland manager may have surprised many, but he gave the English game one of its greatest ever giant killings as second division Sunderland, with no internationals in their side, beat Leeds United. At the time, Leeds were arguably the biggest club in England and were dominating the league and although many were hopeful that second division Sunderland could get a result in the final, the task of the mighty Leeds may have been one too far for the Black Cats. Sunderland triumphed however and gave one of the great stories of the FA cup that is still remembered today. A statue of Stokoe stands outside the Stadium of Light for all to see, depicting the moment when Sunderland won the cup and there was jubilation all around. Not too sure about the red pants though, Bob…

Alan Shearer:

Alan Shearer is the modern hero for Newcastle United and is one of the greatest strikers the world has ever seen. Shearer broke record after record and dedicated the majority of his career to his hometown club, despite not actually winning any trophies in the process! Shearer’s greatest success was probably in Kenny Dalglish’s (yes, he has experience!) Blackburn side which saw him and Chris Sutton form a lethal partnership, nicknamed ‘SAS’ (Sutton and Shearer). Alan Shearer was always a stubborn character, rejecting the chance to join Man Utd so he could realise his dream of playing for Newcastle, as well as often rejecting the calls for him to reverse his decision to retire from the English national side, where he had a great goal scoring record and was even named in England’s all time greatest XI. If you look at any of the English league scoring records, it is more than likely you’ll see Shearer’s name and it is usually on the top, he was a consistent performer and Newcastle really struggled when he retired. He attempted to save Newcastle from relegation with a brief stint managing the club, but they were instead relegated and when he isn’t watching his home town team play, he is sitting in the Match Of The Day studio admitting he knows nothing about Hatem Ben Arfa.

Paul Gascoigne:

It may be somewhat of a controversial choice for this list, but for those that only know Gazza as that guy who tried to calm down criminal Raoul Moat (or “Moaty” as Gazza knows him by, apparently) with a fishing rod, a few beers and a bag of chicken, should also know that many consider Gascoigne to be one of the most naturally gifted footballers to ever be produced by this country. An exciting player that scored what I consider to be the greatest ever England goal in history (as seen above, against bitter rivals Scotland), the Gateshead born midfielder never did manage to settle down at one club. Sir Alex Ferguson said in an interview once that Man United almost signed Paul Gascoigne, only for Tottenham Hotspur to buy his parents a new house in the North East which swayed Gazza’s decision. Ferguson believes that if he had signed for Man Utd, then Gazza would not have the problems he did today, as living in London created many of the problems we see in Gazza today. He gave us many great memories over the years and it upsets me in many ways to see what has happened to him now. A troubled genius, but a great footballer.

The Future? Andy Carroll, Adam Johnson and Jordan Henderson?

The English national team is going through a bit of a crisis at the moment, but there are three lads from the North East that could be a big part of the nation’s future. If you ignore the ridiculous fees that are banded around for these three players, Sunderland Jordan Henderson, Newcastle’s Andy Carroll and Man City’s Adam Johnson have all caught the eye this season and if nurtured the right way could fantastic players in the future. Carroll has taken the league by storm this season, ever since being handed the Newcastle No.9 shirt he has been a goal scoring prodigy, improving with every game he plays; even being hailed by some of the greats in the European game. Jordan Henderson has been linked with Man Utd recently, but his eye catching displays have seen him become an important part of the Sunderland midfield in their successful season and although he had a difficult England debut, he will only improve and get better. Adam Johnson at Man City has riled many die hard England fans, as he has spent a lot of time on the bench this season despite looking like a livewire on the pitch, an exciting winger that has scored some great goals this season. Only time will tell if they can carry on the North East tradition of producing great footballing icons.

Follow me on Twitter @Clusks.

2006 was a disaster for England’s much vaunted strikers in so many ways it was depressing. It was clearly Sven Goran-Eriksson’s nadir as the England supremo as his eccentric choices left England woefully short of options. Michael Owen was so off the pace as to be redundant and his World Cup collapse when he ruptured his cruciate ligament against Sweden. Wayne Rooney’s frustration blew up in the Quarter-Final when he was sent off for stamping on a sensitive are of Ricardo Carvalho and Peter Crouch tried his best but simply couldn’t carry the teams striking options. As for Walcott, he may as well have stayed at home.

Fast forward 4 years and things despite the odd injury scare here and there are much rosier for Fabio Capello. Wayne Rooney is in the form of his life, Jermaine Defoe has made himself a crucial member of the squad, Peter Crouch’s reputation is more positive and certain players are jostling for the remaining squad places. The question is, who will make up the 5 strikers that Capello should choose as his options up front.

There’s no point discussing Rooney and Defoe. They’re on that plane unless something incredibly cruel happens but the 3 other positions are a free for all. Certain players over the last 18 months have made cases to be included but some will face the cruelest cut of all and miss out on a chance of going to South Africa. It’s those strikers I’m focusing on and deciding just who should join the first two names I’ve mentioned.

Yet, I have to say that it is some relief that Michael Owen is injured. Surely I can’t be the only person who was sick of his constant bleating in the media week after week. Capello rightly judged Owen to be damaged goods and whilst no-one can doubt up to 2005 he was one of the Premier strikers in world football, he is no where near the level he was. Capello knows that Owen simply cannot cope with the demands of top level football anymore, which is a shame.

Owen will probably never add to his goal tally for England, which currently stands at 40 and it is a sad way for his career at international level to finish. It looked for years as if he would smash Bobby Charlton’s record, but that achievement looks set to become Wayne Rooney’s mantle. With Owens absence, the stage looks set for someone to come in from the left field but surely the highest scoring English striker in the Premiership, Darren Bent.

With 24 league goals this season for Sunderland and pace to burn, Bent should be a shoe-in but something just seems to rub people up the wrong way with him. In any other country, Bent would probably be in the squad without doubt. He reminds me of Mario Gomez, the German striker, who scores goals for fun in the Bundesliga but has yet to find that form at international level and his goals have all come against lower rated international sides.

Should he be there? Yes, he should and I don’t feel he’s had a fair crack of the whip internationally. He deserves a chance to go to South Africa this summer and you have to wonder just where Sunderland would have finished this season without his goals. Of the target men that Capello seems to use, Emile Heskey, Carlton Cole and Peter Crouch have all had difficult seasons but Crouch has continued to perform for England when he has had the opportunity. That alone should subside any fears that his absence from the Tottenham starting line up may have and I’ll be amazed if he isn’t one of the picks up front.

Cole has been involved in a dreadfully difficult season at West Ham United and he is not alone at Upton Park in seeing his form suffer. Heskey has meanwhile seen his form go up and down as Aston Villa have continued to prove that they are back as a consistent challenge at the upper end of the table. Heskey does so much for his team mates that I’m sick of trying to explain why strikers don’t have to score goals to be good.

It’s not been the easiest season for his team mate Gabriel Agbonlahor either, but Villa are still chasing down 4th place in Premiership. For all his pace, he’s still too wildly inconsistent for me at league level never mind international level. I wouldn’t take him if I had a fit Darren Bent to choose.

Of the other two options, both would usually be laughed out of hand, but this season has seen both of them receive praise that has been short throughout their careers. Firstly, Bobby Zamora has had the season of his life at Fulham and has been touted as a possible option for England but he seems to have been patched up more than the 6 million dollar man over the last few weeks. He apparently needs an operation but Fulham have delayed surgery until the England World Cup squad has been announced. I’m sorry Bobby, but I just think there are better options available.

The other choice, may make you laugh, but I think it’s a disgrace he’s never been picked for England. Bolton Wanderers fans will tell you just how good this lad has been for years, but Kevin Davies is so underrated it’s become something of a joke. Yes, he perhaps doesn’t score as many goals as he should but his work rate, strength and technical ability are consistently overlooked. If Crouch wasn’t fit to play, he’d be my first reserve.

So the five strikers I’d take are, Wayne Rooney, Jermaine Defoe, Peter Crouch, Darren Bent and Emile Heskey. What do you think? Who would your choices be? Please leave me your comments as usual.

I think it’s apt to finish this series with perhaps the player who is often held up as the reason that allowed footballers to earn the wages that they do in this day and age. Yet, to simply think of Johnny Haynes’ only contribution to football was being the first player to earn £100 per week would do this wonderful player a major disservice.

Haynes was a fabulous player and possibly one of the greatest players ever to represent England. A real “one club man”, Haynes personified footballing skill, humility and loyalty like few others and is held in almost deity like reverence at Craven Cottage to this day. Haynes showed such loyalty to his club, perhaps beyond the call of duty.

Haynes was born in 1934 in Kentish Town, London, and signed for the Cottagers in 1950 on schoolboy terms. What seems to distinguish Haynes from his contemporaries of the time was the fact that Fulham were not a “big club” in the Football League rather a mid table Second Division side, yet such was the level of his abilities that the majority of his England caps were awarded whilst Fulham were a Second Division side, almost unthinkable these days.

He continually turned down the offers of bigger clubs, A.C. Milan and Tottenham both unsuccessfully tried to sign him, but for him playing football for the club he loved was more than enough. It was Haynes unique ability as a playmaker, a role that didn’t really exist until he created it that made him such a player that was coveted so much.

In tandem with Bobby Robson, Haynes’ ability to ping passes seemingly at will to any area of the pitch to unlock opponents that caused the Fulham faithful to dub him “The Maestro”. He would often place a towel in front of the clubhouse at Craven Cottage and fire passes from the centre circle, honing his passing skills every day.

There seemed to be nothing he couldn’t do with a football and his passing coupled with his goalscoring exploits made him an fearsome opponent. He dragged Fulham to promotion in the 1958-59 season, scoring 26 goals in just 34 appearances. Fulham had never played at the top level in English football before in their history, but the rest of the decade would see them constantly struggle to impose themselves in the division.

Yet regardless of his abilities as a player, he would often show his frustration at his team mates lack of abilities by giving out an earbashing, but given the captains armband at only 21, it was to be expected. He also often would revel in the creation of a goal more than actually scoring and had given penalties to team mates even when on a hatrick. Haynes set record after record for Fulham throughout his career, with appearances, goals scored, most goals in a game and most hatricks scored.

It was Haynes England career that caused him such disappointment, with the surprising defeat to USSR in the 1958 Quarter Finals followed by the exit to Brazil in the 1962 World Cup at the same stage. The Brazilians had worked out that to stop England, you simply had to stop Haynes and put a man marker on him. Haynes didn’t get a kick and England limped out to the eventually Champions. Yet he was instrumental in Englands 9-3 demolition of Scotland in 1961, setting up 5 goals and scoring 2.

Haynes never played for England again, but whilst Walter Winterbottom was replaced as England manager by Alf Ramsey, Haynes was involved in a motorbike crash which caused knee ligament damage, ruling him out for nearly a year. Once he returned toward the end of the 1962-63 season, he still turned out for Fulham as regularly as he used to, but he was just missing that yard of pace which had given him an edge. The media continually clamoured for his return to international duty, but Haynes confided in Bobby Charlton “Alf knows I don’t have it in me to play for England again and so do I”.

As the sixties went on Fulham perpetually flirted with relegation, finishing 20th in both the 1964-65 and 1965-66 season. The 1966-67 season saw Fulham rise to the dizzy heights of 18th but it was a false dawn. The following season, they finished rock bottom, 6 points from safety and then had the ignomy of a consecutive relegation to the Third Division by finishing bottom of the Second Division, this time 9 points from safety.They wouldn’t trouble the top division again until 2002.

Haynes however continued to stay and try and help the cause, but Fulham could only finish 4th and he retired from professional football at the end of that season. He surprisingly moved to South Africa and became player manager of Durban City actually winning the South African championship in 1971, thus gaining his only medal in his entire career. He stayed in South Africa until 1984, when he returned to live in Scotland until his death in 2005.

At the end of his career Haynes summed up the wage breaking story with panache. “When the chairman paid me £100 a week, he was as good as his word, but he never gave me a pay rise in the rest of my time at Fulham!”.

He passed away on his birthday, 17th October 2005, aged just 71. Fulham renamed the Stevenage Road Stand the Johnny Haynes Stand on November 27th 2005 and a statue of him was unveiled on the 18th October 2008 outside the ground.

Alan Mullery : “He was the only reason I went to Fulham as a young boy of 15 leaving school. He was my hero, the captain of England and Fulham”

Bobby Moore : “Once you get used to watching that perfection you realised the rest of the secret. John was always available, always hungry for the ball, always wanting to play. I loved watching the player. Later I learnt to love the man.”

• Played 658 games for Fulham and scored 158 goals in all competitions
• Won 56 caps and scored 18 goals for England
• First footballer to get an agent
• First footballer in England to receive £100 per week
• Captained England 22 times
• First player to play for England at Schoolboy, Youth, Under-23, B and Full team

Adams bids farewell

Poor Tony Adams, he can’t even win the headlines on the day he loses his job. Why have Portsmouth taken the decision to sack Tony Adams after the Liverpool game? It is an ludicrous decision to sack a manager after losing to Liverpool at home and especially a week after the transfer window closed for the remainder of the season. I could have understood the decision 10 days ago, but what changed in that period. As poorly as Liverpool are currently playing, a win would have been a massive coup for Adams and his beleaguered team but to be sacked after losing to the team currently sitting in second in the table makes no sense. It’s pointless and makes you wonder how long this decision had been brewing, though I thought this time last week that Tony Adams was a dead man walking. The comments coming out of the club were the sort that for anyone who’s followed football for a while that the warning signs were clear to all that could read them. The dreaded vote of confidence had been issued, the experienced player had made comments on the fact he thought they were going down. Adams stoically stated that he had the full support of Portsmouth’s board and fans.

Why didn’t they sack him after the F.A. Cup defeat at home to Swansea or the 4-1 home defeat to West Ham? Then I could have understood it more, but 3 of their last 5 defeats in the League have come against Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal.  What did the board expect him to do in those games against top quality opposition, they also garnered a point at Tottenham despite being on the back foot for most of the game. What would have most clubs taken from those 4 matches outside the top 6?

There’s no doubting Adams’ reputation as one of the nicest men in football. A renaissance man in every sense, after much publicised battles with alcoholism, Adams threw himself into education, becoming a varocious reader of classics and under Wenger, had an indian summer as a player finding a new panache and ability in a side of sensuous footballing talent. He’s work in setting up the Sporting Chance Clinic in Hampshire needs no introduction or defence and he has worked tirelessly to assist countless sports men & women to try and beat their demons. Yet, I don’t think he’s ready to be a manager yet, he’s still a little rough around the edges and needs to hone his abilities more. Great players do not make great managers but time and again English clubs do not learn. Bryan Robson, Roy Keane, Alan Ball and Bobby Charlton all showed that an illustrious playing career does not guarantee you’re able to step up to become a good manager.

The only defence I can find for the Portsmouth board is that perhaps they liked Tony too much to sack him sooner but even so, they should have acted sooner or let him run until the team end of the season. It was clear to me that Pompey were in free fall but Adams had taken steps to steel up his team with the signings of Hayden Mullins, Angelos Bassinas, Jermaine Pennant and Theofanis Gekas and to be removed after only one game with the new signings is daft.  That smacks of boardroom panic and the typical decisions of people who know nothing of football. To sack him after the run of games they’ve had would see 16 managers a year lose their jobs in the Premiership.

5 minutes from salvation

Their next fixture is a winnable one against Manchester City, who are dreadful away from home and would have given the club and Adams clarification on how poor they actually were. Yet the situation in the Premiership, with everyone outside the top 7 within 11 points of each other should have allowed Adams more time than he actually had.  No-one is cut adrift yet by a long way and that could have been crucial but ultimately, it’s looks like an act to preserve Portsmouth’s sell on price, the Chairman Alexandre Gayamak is looking at recouping the £60 million he’s poured in to Pompey, they need a new ground and the team needs strengthening too. That’s easier to do as a Premiership club and now they need to find a replacement. Avram Grant anyone? The board in their statement today claim to have given Adams their full backing financially. I hardly see giving a manager a sixth of the transfer funds raised in January as fully backing him financially. If only he worked for Steve Gibson, he’d still have a job.

So where does Adams go now? Perhaps Tony needs a break from football and throw himself into charity work, giving him time to recharge his batteries. He’ll be gutted that he feels he let Portsmouth and their fans down, if nothing else Adams is a proud man and one who never shirks from a challenge.  After the failure at Wycombe prior to his moving into Assistant Management, could he step back on the second or third rung of the management ladder and find time to get a club that will allow him the time to hone his managerial skills. If nothing else, I wish Tony Adams the best of luck whatever he decides to do.