Alan Dicks

[beaverface]

Alan Dicks was before my time, but can someone please enlighten me to the style of football his teams played? Was it long-ball, short pass and move, direct?

I was recently reading that Gerry Gow didn't like Roy Hodgsons management style because it "by-passed" midfield, and yet I've seen interviews with Roger Malone stating that Alan Dicks side was a very tight unit that didn't score many, worked very hard and didn't give many goals away.

I've also heard that in the 70's we had one of the most expensive wages in the division, which would indicate we were paying for some top quality players?

So based on those statements, what was the football like from a spectators point of view?

[cider head]

Alan Dicks was before my time, but can someone please enlighten me to the style of football his teams played? Was it long-ball, short pass and move, direct?

I was recently reading that Gerry Gow didn't like Roy Hodgsons management style because it "by-passed" midfield, and yet I've seen interviews with Roger Malone stating that Alan Dicks side was a very tight unit that didn't score many, worked very hard and didn't give many goals away.

I've also heard that in the 70's we had one of the most expensive wages in the division, which would indicate we were paying for some top quality players?

So based on those statements, what was the football like from a spectators point of view?

Alan dicks top flight teams had attacking passing football with width and the odd long ball in to

the head of cheese then royle/garland, a mix of everything really, the liverpool and arsenal wins show city playing

very good football.

see the links..

Bristol city 1 Liverpool 0 Season 1978-79

Bristol city vs Arsenal 1976

tom ritchie hat trick

classic cuts 74-79

hunter

[surreyred]

I would agree with the above for our promotion year, and a couple of years after that. However my abiding memory of the GARLAND/GALLEY team is that of great approach play up to the 18 yard box, and then 15 square passes across the edge of the box before lossing the ball, and getting hit on the break.

Now this maybe very unfair, but it's certainly the most vivid memory i have of this team.

(Please note GALAND and GALLEY are my all time favorit city players).

[chinapig]

Alan Dicks was before my time, but can someone please enlighten me to the style of football his teams played? Was it long-ball, short pass and move, direct?

I was recently reading that Gerry Gow didn't like Roy Hodgsons management style because it "by-passed" midfield, and yet I've seen interviews with Roger Malone stating that Alan Dicks side was a very tight unit that didn't score many, worked very hard and didn't give many goals away.

I've also heard that in the 70's we had one of the most expensive wages in the division, which would indicate we were paying for some top quality players?

So based on those statements, what was the football like from a spectators point of view?

For some time under AD we had a justified reputation for being a physical side. Once he'd built a side good enough to get promotion (and he was given time to do so whereas people expect it to happen overnight these days) we played decent, though I wouldn't say sparking, football. We played with one winger, two strikers and three midfield players usually but weren't massive goal scorers. The success we had was based on hard work and team spirit more than anything. If we had not ditched our successful youth policy when promoted things might have turned out differently (people like Colin Lee and Mark McGhee went on to be successful elsewhere and only Kevin Mabbutt came through). We were indeed the third highest payers in the country after Liverpool and Everton according to David Woods, the acknowledged expert. That of course was madness and contributed to our demise.

Despite the legendary chants of "Dicks Out!" AD didn't get anything like the abuse Gary gets from some quarters; but that's to do with changes in the culture of the game and society at large I reckon.

[alandicks]

I was the best manager Bristol City ever had though I admit the time I was given was helpful.Despite several near misses with relegation I was able to build a decent footballing side.

From memory one of the differences from today's side was that in Gerry Sweeney/Donnie Gillies & Bryan Drysdale/Terry Cooper/Clive Whitehead (yes he did play left back) I had defenders that could attack and PASS the ball to their own teammates.You invariably find that this helps when attacking.

Of course the midfield was packed with class.

Gerald Gow,Jimmy Mann,Gary Emanuel,John Bain,P Jantunen,Peter Cormack etc all provided brilliant defensive cover and aided attacking flair.Of course none of them could come near my own all time hero Trevor Tainton.When you young uns talk about legends who have been here for 5 minutes have a look at the playing record & loyalty shown by my adopted son Master Tainton.

On a slightly different subject I note Mr Redkanpp is trying to bring in a drinking ban on players.I would have liked to have seen him try that with my lot !!!!!!!!!

[Robbored]

On a slightly different subject I note Mr Redkanpp is trying to bring in a drinking ban on players.I would have liked to have seen him try that with my lot !!!!!!!!!

In which case you will be able to name the pub Gerry Gow used to go to every lunchtime after training and have ham eggs and chips most days washed down with three pints of lager.

[Frome Valley]

Bristol city vs Arsenal 1976

A finer example of leading the line you will never see. Cheesley utterly mastered the Arsenal Centre halfs and the height he rose above defenders is incredible. Top away kit too and a proper badge which made him more aero dynamic.

[Guest]

I would agree with the above for our promotion year, and a couple of years after that. However my abiding memory of the GARLAND/GALLEY team is that of great approach play up to the 18 yard box, and then 15 square passes across the edge of the box before lossing the ball, and getting hit on the break.

Now this maybe very unfair, but it's certainly the most vivid memory i have of this team.

(Please note GALAND and GALLEY are my all time favorit city players).

GEEEEEEEEEZ Garland,Galley,Gow and you can add Gibson were great, good, gutsy, goalscoring, goalkeeping and godlike when they performed for the legend A.D.

There were many others Merrick, Tainton, Ritchie, Fear etc etc and the legend that was and still is Paul Cheesley,could of been a prolific goalscorer for us for more years than he was, (could we of resisted the big boys cash that would of come in for him )if not struck down in his prime by injury; still we may of then missed out on the great things he has done off the pitch since.

We need to dominate midfield as we did then with players who don't give an inch;

I remember Galley volleying in from a corner at the Eastend goal, if the net hadnt been there it would be still moving now; but keep forgetting wether it was Gibbo or Cashley who scored from that goalkick

[Nogbad the Bad]

I remember Galley volleying in from a corner at the Eastend goal, if the net hadnt been there it would be still moving now; but keep forgetting wether it was Gibbo or Cashley who scored from that goalkick

Cashley, of course, against Hull.

We could've done with him last May.

[chinapig]

I was the best manager Bristol City ever had though I admit the time I was given was helpful.Despite several near misses with relegation I was able to build a decent footballing side.

From memory one of the differences from today's side was that in Gerry Sweeney/Donnie Gillies & Bryan Drysdale/Terry Cooper/Clive Whitehead (yes he did play left back) I had defenders that could attack and PASS the ball to their own teammates.You invariably find that this helps when attacking.

Of course the midfield was packed with class.

Gerald Gow,Jimmy Mann,Gary Emanuel,John Bain,P Jantunen,Peter Cormack etc all provided brilliant defensive cover and aided attacking flair.Of course none of them could come near my own all time hero Trevor Tainton.When you young uns talk about legends who have been here for 5 minutes have a look at the playing record & loyalty shown by my adopted son Master Tainton.

On a slightly different subject I note Mr Redkanpp is trying to bring in a drinking ban on players.I would have liked to have seen him try that with my lot !!!!!!!!!

Ah, at last somebody bigging up Trevor Tainton. Equally good as right wing or central midfield. Superb crosser and passer of the ball and had a powerful shot too. Rarely gets the credit others from that period do. But as as his Manager, you would know that . BTW wasn't there a book about football chants called Dicks Out! once?

[chinapig]

A finer example of leading the line you will never see. Cheesley utterly mastered the Arsenal Centre halfs and the height he rose above defenders is incredible. Top away kit too and a proper badge which made him more aero dynamic.

Yep and he was better than Paul Mariner, who went on to get many England caps. What a tragedy his injury was.

[Frome Valley]

Yep and he was better than Paul Mariner, who went on to get many England caps. What a tragedy his injury was.

45 Seconds and 1.40 its a colossus up front. Its hard to stress how good Cheesley was to people who didn't see him play.

[Rowley Birkin]

[From memory one of the differences from today's side was that in Gerry Sweeney/Donnie Gillies & Bryan Drysdale/Terry Cooper/Clive Whitehead (yes he did play left back) I had defenders that could attack and PASS the ball to their own teammates.You invariably find that this helps when attacking.

Ha,ha,ha,ha.Class !

[Port Said Red]

As successful as the main Dicks side was, the football certainly wasn't about flair. The ball was retained well and we did spend a lot of time going sideways in those days.

We also had a lot of right footed players particularly in midfield which unbalanced us. When we signed Geert Miejer from Ajax a lot of us thought he was the balance to the squad, left footed and a real talent on the ball. But AD seemed to have difficulty in incorporating his flair and vision into the team.

Does that sound familiar?

[Guest]

As successful as the main Dicks side was, the football certainly wasn't about flair. The ball was retained well and we did spend a lot of time going sideways in those days.

We also had a lot of right footed players particularly in midfield which unbalanced us. When we signed Geert Miejer from Ajax a lot of us thought he was the balance to the squad, left footed and a real talent on the ball. But AD seemed to have difficulty in incorporating his flair and vision into the team.

Does that sound familiar?

The football had enough "flair" to get us to the top division and to beat some big boys there as well. As for this Geert chappie cant even remember the name so cant comment on his talent.

Flair and vision is nice to have but grit and determination is whats lacking in our middle right now.

Elliott being an exception on the grit and determination side of things but he is likely to be gone anytime soon.

[zippycar]

Great thread, especially for those of us over a certain age.

Thanks for the links to Youtube, especially the Norman Hunter one, which I haven't seen before.

Will the real Alan Dicks stand up!

[Old Dazzler]

Of course the midfield was packed with class.

Gerald Gow,Jimmy Mann,Gary Emanuel,John Bain,P Jantunen,Peter Cormack etc all provided brilliant defensive cover and aided attacking flair.Of course none of them could come near my own all time hero Trevor Tainton.When you young uns talk about legends who have been here for 5 minutes have a look at the playing record & loyalty shown by my adopted son Master Tainton.

Gary Emanuel was sheer class , I didn't realise that you were back at the Gate watching in the mid-eighties under Terry Cooper's management.

John Bain was a fine player, shame you never put him in the starting line-up!

[Nogbad the Bad]

The football had enough "flair" to get us to the top division and to beat some big boys there as well. As for this Geert chappie cant even remember the name so cant comment on his talent.

Your memory's not up to much today Glos. :noexpression:

When he's on the wing, we'll start to sing...... Gertie from Amsterdam.

Was it his debut against someone like Birmingham when he got the ball in the first couple of minutes by the dugout, ran all the way to the Open End then somehow contrived to whack the ball into the net from a ridiculous angle almost from the corner flag.

I think it might have been. :innocent06:

[Old Dazzler]

Alan Dicks was before my time, but can someone please enlighten me to the style of football his teams played? Was it long-ball, short pass and move, direct?

I was recently reading that Gerry Gow didn't like Roy Hodgsons management style because it "by-passed" midfield, and yet I've seen interviews with Roger Malone stating that Alan Dicks side was a very tight unit that didn't score many, worked very hard and didn't give many goals away.

I've also heard that in the 70's we had one of the most expensive wages in the division, which would indicate we were paying for some top quality players?

So based on those statements, what was the football like from a spectators point of view?

Gerry Gow may not have liked Roy Hodgson's management style, although in all honesty he probably didn't see a lot of it first hand, as he was playing at Manchester City during RH's 5 month reign.

AD was always a believer in a strong midfield typified by the likes of Gow (both ball winner and playmaker), Tainton, who seemed to step his a game up a gear when we were promoted to the top flight, and Jimy Mann who had an excellent first touch and got some incredible goals from outside the box. The attacking game (from the promo season to the first few years in the top flight) was based on getting the ball to Whitehead who mainly operated on the right wing, who would supply crosses for the likes of Cheesley, Gillies, Mabbut, Ritchie, Garland and Royle.

His best ever signing was Norman Hunter, who replaced out-of-his-depth Geoff Merrick in the centre of defence, allowing utility player Gerry Sweeney to take over from "Speedy Drysdale" at left back. Hunter was one of the hardest men in football but I don't think the fans realised, until he came to play for City, that he absolutely oozed class and that was the one signing that kept us in the top level of 4 years - we went down the season after he left us.

The lacklustre performances of then record signing Tony Fitzpatrick didn't help things much in our relegation season either

[Nogbad the Bad]

Yep and he was better than Paul Mariner, who went on to get many England caps. What a tragedy his injury was.

Too right, Cheese would surely have had a distinguished England career.

If you see how he leaps for those headers, seeming to hang in the air and then stretch his neck muscles to power the ball goalwards they look more and more impressive every time you see them.

Nowhere near his prime and he was bossing the experienced Arsenal defence in his early 20's.

No doubt at all Cheesley would have got better and better and in football terms, and Bristol City in particular, the word tragedy is not too strong a word in his case.

We were going completely bonkers in the Clock End at Highbury watching City outplay one of the top teams on their own pitch with Cheese leading the line in truly colossal fashion.

Sadly, just a few days later, it was basically all over for Cheese and us City fans could only wonder what might have been.

[Chappers]

I did not start watching until 1978, so I missed the best years. My memory is of a functional and hard-working side, and a Manager who had become over-loyal to 'his' players. Youth players were not coming through, John Bain looked good, but had so few chances. The signing of Hunter and Royle was inspired, but with 'his' players ageing, the lack of forward planning caught up with us. Before our relegation season, they both left, along with Gary Collier, so defence and attack both needed urgent strengthening. We signed Tony Fitzpatrick, a midfielder.

[QuedgeRed]

Too right, Cheese would surely have had a distinguished England career.

No doubt at all Cheesley would have got better and better and in football terms, and Bristol City in particular, the word tragedy is not too strong a word

Sadly, just a few days later, it was basically all over for Cheese and us City fans could only wonder what might have been.

I never forgave that fat ###### Shilton (and Sjoke) for that injury.

It still grates on me how he let that Argy dwarf rise above him to score 'the hand of god' goal in Mexico.

Highly overrated GK in my opinion!

Deep breaths - I must let it go.

[Guest]

Your memory's not up to much today Glos. :noexpression:

When he's on the wing, we'll start to sing...... Gertie from Amsterdam.

Was it his debut against someone like Birmingham when he got the ball in the first couple of minutes by the dugout, ran all the way to the Open End then somehow contrived to whack the ball into the net from a ridiculous angle almost from the corner flag.

I think it might have been. :innocent06:

Weird cant remember the name or any of his games, I must of been on another planet somewhere

[Port Said Red]

Weird cant remember the name or any of his games, I must of been on another planet somewhere

He came to usbecause he was fed up with being on the bench for all Ajax's away games. He had a few games towards the end of the season to "bed in" and then the next season AD, started to do the same to him and only use him at home.

He did indeed score within a few minutes of his debut as Nogbad describes.

[Mr Mosquito]

I never forgave that fat ###### Shilton (and Sjoke) for that injury.

It still grates on me how he let that Argy dwarf rise above him to score 'the hand of god' goal in Mexico.

Highly overrated GK in my opinion!

Deep breaths - I must let it go.

Peter Shilton was an oaf of a goal keeper. There were far better goalies than him around at the time - e.g. Ray Clemence of Liverpool and Joe Corrigan of Manchester City - but England always seemed to favour Shilton from the late 1970's onwards. The way he let dwarf Maradonna rise above him to score with his hand was crap.

I still blame Shilton for Cheesley's injury against Stoke, Shilton's an oaf.

[Nogbad the Bad]

Peter Shilton was an oaf of a goal keeper. There were far better goalies than him around at the time - e.g. Ray Clemence of Liverpool and Joe Corrigan of Manchester City - but England always seemed to favour Shilton from the late 1970's onwards.

I still blame Shilton for Cheesley's injury against Stoke, Shilton's an oaf.

Shilton was far superior to Corrigan, and Clemence only got so many caps because of a ridiculous rotation policy which meant he more or less alternateded with Shilton for several years. Shilton was the better keeper.

Shilton should have got even more caps IMO, and though we can hold some bitterness towards him for Cheesley's injury it was not he alone who was involved in the collision which cost Cheese his career, Mick Pejic must also share some of the 'blame'.

[Mr Mosquito]

Shilton was far superior to Corrigan, and Clemence only got so many caps because of a ridiculous rotation policy which meant he more or less alternateded with Shilton for several years. Shilton was the better keeper.

Shilton should have got even more caps IMO, and though we can hold some bitterness towards him for Cheesley's injury it was not he alone who was involved in the collision which cost Cheese his career, Mick Pejic must also share some of the 'blame'.

Ray Clemence kept goal in what I believe was the 1979 Liverpool side that conceded fewest goals to win a top flight championship. A pro rata statistic of course before someone writes that the likes of Preston conceded fewer goals in 1889 when they played fewer games. Easily the best goalie in the last 50 odd years was Gordon Banks - also of Stoke. I never rated Shilton as a good international class keeper but he was good at Forest - but look who the manager was !!!!!!

[Nogbad the Bad]

Ray Clemence kept goal in what I believe was the 1979 Liverpool side that conceded fewest goals to win a top flight championship. A pro rata statistic of course before someone writes that the likes of Preston conceded fewer goals in 1889 when they played fewer games. Easily the best goalie in the last 50 odd years was Gordon Banks - also of Stoke. I never rated Shilton as a good international class keeper but he was good at Forest - but look who the manager was !!!!!!

Clemence also conceded that disasterous 'straight through the legs' soft goal against Scotland which was even worse than Shilton's howler against Poland. Shilton has no blame for 'the hand of God' goal which was 'scored' through disgusting cheating.

Clemence had a hell of a defence in front of him in the all conquering Liverpool team of the late 70's/early 80's - Neal, Hansen, Lawrenson, Kennedy etc. and the opposition didn't test him as much as Shilton at mediocre Leicester. I'm surprised you don't rate Shilton, he was outstanding for England for many years.

Matter of opinion which one was better - all keepers make the odd mistake, but Shilton always looked by far the more dependable to me.

I agree that Gordon Banks was the best of all and such a shame his car accident cost him an eye at an unfortunate time for our top sportsman - big hitting cricketer Colin Milburn suffering a similar horrific injury.

[alandicks]

That's funny because Gary emanuel scored the winner in a 1-0 home win over Man Utd in 1974 or 75 if I remember rightly.

At least I thought it was him from the dugout.

Yes are you watching Fergie I managed a team that beat Man Utd home and away.So stick that where the sun doesn't shine.

[Nogbad the Bad]

That's funny because Gary emanuel scored the winner in a 1-0 home win over Man Utd in 1974 or 75 if I remember rightly.

At least I thought it was him from the dugout.

Yes are you watching Fergie I managed a team that beat Man Utd home and away.So stick that where the sun doesn't shine.

That was John Emanuel.

Gary Emmanuel was after your time, an unpopular ex-gashead who had a very short term sojourn at AG.