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David James Interview


Silvio Dante

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Not fully fit? He'd just come in off the back of a major international tournament where he was the number 1 goalkeeper. More inclined to believe he was just past it (although I was never a huge fan of his before hand either).

 

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The bit about Coppell...

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Put it this way, I was never involved in any conversation with Steve [Coppell]. Steve [Lansdown] phoned me up and we had a conversation for me to join and then we sat down.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/so-much-more-could-happened-4560986

seems a bit contrary to reports at the time...

Quote

I thought someone was trying to pull my leg initially. I'd just had a stag do and it was 10 o'clock in the morning and I was certainly worse for wear. It sounded nice and if it hadn't been Steve Coppell I would have ignored it straight away.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/bristol_city/8885284.stm

 

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2 hours ago, S25loyal said:

He’s hardly going to say at the time “the chairman signed me, it was nothing to do with the manager” 

Coppell was appointed in late April in the knowledge he had prior family commitments in the States that summer;

Millen was left 'in charge' for those day to day transfer arrangements Coppell discussed with him via phone that summer;

Coppell arrived back in mid July and was extremely peeved no progress had been made in signing a keeper (something he'd stressed was a priority;)

Coppell used his contacts and discovered Paddy Kenny was available at discount (£250k) for a very quick sale (within two days as Sheff U had tax to pay,) plus Kenny's salary demands were well within budget;

Coppell immediately passed the details to Lansdown who said leave it with him;

Two days passed and learning Sheff U had had little contact from us Coppell spoke with Lansdown only to discover Lansdown had no interest in signing Kenny but instead was informed, 'great news and don't worry about the keeper; I've just agreed to sign David James';

Coppell went ballistic; he correctly adjudged James to be past it, a liability and above all else disruptive to team morale;

James contract came with a raft of concessions, he wasn't obliged to report for training for example. For Saturday matches he only had to travel from Exeter to attend the Friday sessions;

Those who witnessed his first shambolic outing against Millwall will recall he barely recognised any of our back four let alone was on speaking terms with them as he'd only met them they day before;

It was his performance and that on the Tuesday at Southend that had Coppell tell Lansdown he couldn't work with him and would resign immediately;

It is said Lansdown's only concern was about any compensation Coppell might demand and when he replied 'none, I'm off', he used the door and never looked back.

Whilst there are many other oddities about Coppell the reasons behind his short tenure here were well known at AG.

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1 hour ago, BTRFTG said:

Coppell was appointed in late April in the knowledge he had prior family commitments in the States that summer;

Millen was left 'in charge' for those day to day transfer arrangements Coppell discussed with him via phone that summer;

Coppell arrived back in mid July and was extremely peeved no progress had been made in signing a keeper (something he'd stressed was a priority;)

Coppell used his contacts and discovered Paddy Kenny was available at discount (£250k) for a very quick sale (within two days as Sheff U had tax to pay,) plus Kenny's salary demands were well within budget;

Coppell immediately passed the details to Lansdown who said leave it with him;

Two days passed and learning Sheff U had had little contact from us Coppell spoke with Lansdown only to discover Lansdown had no interest in signing Kenny but instead was informed, 'great news and don't worry about the keeper; I've just agreed to sign David James';

Coppell went ballistic; he correctly adjudged James to be past it, a liability and above all else disruptive to team morale;

James contract came with a raft of concessions, he wasn't obliged to report for training for example. For Saturday matches he only had to travel from Exeter to attend the Friday sessions;

Those who witnessed his first shambolic outing against Millwall will recall he barely recognised any of our back four let alone was on speaking terms with them as he'd only met them they day before;

It was his performance and that on the Tuesday at Southend that had Coppell tell Lansdown he couldn't work with him and would resign immediately;

It is said Lansdown's only concern was about any compensation Coppell might demand and when he replied 'none, I'm off', he used the door and never looked back.

Whilst there are many other oddities about Coppell the reasons behind his short tenure here were well known at AG.

That's how I remember it being told  by someone quite senior in the club, I think SL learned a lesson there and I don't get the impression that he has had much to do with transfers since.

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5 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Nope, he was fine mentally - it was a hip injury picked up at the WC

I remember watching him kick the ball & thinking that he doesn’t seem comfortable. Although I also seem to remember him complaining about the balls being like concrete ( or something along those lines ). But it was like watching a non footballer kicking the ball out of his hands! COYR 

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2 hours ago, Simon79 said:

I remember watching him kick the ball & thinking that he doesn’t seem comfortable. Although I also seem to remember him complaining about the balls being like concrete ( or something along those lines ). But it was like watching a non footballer kicking the ball out of his hands! COYR 

His goal kicks too. My goodness couldn't get passed the half way line. We were under pressure simply because we had a goal kicks, all teams knew there was a liability there it and set up to attack it. 

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8 hours ago, And Its Smith said:

Who knows if he was fine mentally.

Me. He was fine mentally whilst at City. Before the inevitable "How do you know that" - because I've spoken to several players and coaches about him who were there at the time. 

With respect, your original comment showed that you hadn't read the article, where he expressly states several times he wasn't physically fit whilst at the club, so not sure why you are trying to insinuate it could've been something else. Not helpful. 

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8 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Me. He was fine mentally whilst at City. Before the inevitable "How do you know that" - because I've spoken to several players and coaches about him who were there at the time. 

With respect, your original comment showed that you hadn't read the article, where he expressly states several times he wasn't physically fit whilst at the club, so not sure why you are trying to insinuate it could've been something else. Not helpful. 

He said after he left Liverpool that he wasn’t mentally fit for a lot of his time there and his teammates said they didn’t realise.  Sometimes people can be going through bad times and keep it to themselves and nobody else knows. 

Not sure about your ‘helpful’ comment. This is a football forum where theories and opinions are written every day. 

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10 minutes ago, Keepers Ball said:

It seems some people do not believe his claim that he wasn't physically fit.

why after 10 years would he try to excuse himself with a lie?

Im inclined to believe him.

Well to play devils advocate, when he signed it was "because of Steve Coppell" and this interview it was "Steve Lansdown".

Perhaps if our manager at the time (well I suppose he was technically even if it was for 5 minutes) wasn't a hugely successful player and a manager with a pretty damned good record at the time, you could excuse him for confusing his Steve's...

Point is, there's a lie there somewhere. Either in this interview, or the one from 10 years ago. I'm inclined to believe the latest version of who he spoke to when he signed, simply because it has been pretty common knowledge that Copout had nothing to do with him coming here.

Not knocking him for what he's accomplished as a player, how he was with mascots, or even for him as a pundit (previous comment about him quick to defend us is correct). Fit or not at the time, doesn't excuse for some of the howlers he made in his brief stay here.

It was a vanity signing from Steve L, and one that badly backfired.

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Didn't we have a string of early season games with him in goal in which we conceded 3 per game?

At the time I was a bit excited, it put us on the map a bit- fans in other bits of the country I know were like "David James eh"- him, Coppell building on what appeared to be a decent Championship side- little did I know!

In hindsight, though keepers can play longer signing a 40 year old in goal at a decent level- it's not the way forward!

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1 hour ago, And Its Smith said:

He said after he left Liverpool that he wasn’t mentally fit for a lot of his time there and his teammates said they didn’t realise.  Sometimes people can be going through bad times and keep it to themselves and nobody else knows. 

To be fair, you can be going through bad times mentally and not even know it yourself. 

Maybe he was physically and/or mentally unfit. Whichever it was, or wasn’t, his time in BS3 was fairly lamentable. 

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8 hours ago, TheGaffer said:

I actually thought James wasn’t that bad for us. Kept a reasonable number of clean sheets over a couple of seasons where our defence was abysmal. 

I thought he was good for the majority of games he played but, unfortunately, his habit from previous clubs of making the occasional awful clanger carried on at City. All goalkeepers make mistakes but his seemed to be more memorable than most. It’s easy to remember the mistakes and forget his solid performances 
 

 

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10 hours ago, And Its Smith said:

He said after he left Liverpool that he wasn’t mentally fit for a lot of his time there and his teammates said they didn’t realise.  Sometimes people can be going through bad times and keep it to themselves and nobody else knows. 

Not sure about your ‘helpful’ comment. This is a football forum where theories and opinions are written every day. 

Sorry, but David James gave a perfectly reasonable, not to mention true, account of why he didn't play well whilst at City. You didn't read that account and instead began to speculate about his mental health, completely contrary to what he said. 

I stand by what I said, it's unhelpful to speculate on people's mental health/make things up.

James is exactly the type of bloke who would simply come out and say if he'd had issues of that kind, as you've just highlighted yourself. 

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20 hours ago, BTRFTG said:

Coppell was appointed in late April in the knowledge he had prior family commitments in the States that summer;

Millen was left 'in charge' for those day to day transfer arrangements Coppell discussed with him via phone that summer;

Coppell arrived back in mid July and was extremely peeved no progress had been made in signing a keeper (something he'd stressed was a priority;)

Coppell used his contacts and discovered Paddy Kenny was available at discount (£250k) for a very quick sale (within two days as Sheff U had tax to pay,) plus Kenny's salary demands were well within budget;

Coppell immediately passed the details to Lansdown who said leave it with him;

Two days passed and learning Sheff U had had little contact from us Coppell spoke with Lansdown only to discover Lansdown had no interest in signing Kenny but instead was informed, 'great news and don't worry about the keeper; I've just agreed to sign David James';

Coppell went ballistic; he correctly adjudged James to be past it, a liability and above all else disruptive to team morale;

James contract came with a raft of concessions, he wasn't obliged to report for training for example. For Saturday matches he only had to travel from Exeter to attend the Friday sessions;

Those who witnessed his first shambolic outing against Millwall will recall he barely recognised any of our back four let alone was on speaking terms with them as he'd only met them they day before;

It was his performance and that on the Tuesday at Southend that had Coppell tell Lansdown he couldn't work with him and would resign immediately;

It is said Lansdown's only concern was about any compensation Coppell might demand and when he replied 'none, I'm off', he used the door and never looked back.

Whilst there are many other oddities about Coppell the reasons behind his short tenure here were well known at AG.

Thanks for this info, I'll be honest, didn't really know any of this! At the time there were tons of rumours flying around, especially about Coppell, but interesting to know what actually happened. Thanks again ?

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Typical of James and his attraction to conspiracy theories he did, however, make the best save I've ever witnessed at AG.

I was in the Williams just in front of Souness and a Liverpool delegation who were clearly there only to watch James (this shortly before they decided to sign him.)

Watford were defending the East End and James somehow managed to rapidly scramble backwards, diving into the top of the net and with the ends of his fingertips scoop Rennie's long range chip come shot from under the bar over the top. Majestic.

The only mystery being why it was with an oblivious Watford defence ambling forward with the ball in their keeper's hand he decided to throw it directly to Rennie in the first place?

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