Bristol City Top flight side

[Red Army 75]

Having watched the big match revisited this morning. Arsenal v City . They interviewed Paul Cheesley afterwards. And it was a fascinating listen. Unfortunately I started watching the reds in 81/82 . How good we’re that side . And what individuals would succeed in today’s premiership.

The older generation of city fans like my old man must love to reminisce about this era .

[eardun]

Cheesley himself was really good. Unfortunately I saw him do his knee v Stoke 3 days after that interview and that finished his career.

Gerry Gow had everything in midfield. Hard as nails but quality one touch passer of the ball. 

[Lanterne Rouge]

I think Cheese could do it today. Possibly  Tom Ritchie, Gary Collier, Geoff Merrick & Clive Whitehead?

Sir Gerry I don`t know as he would have to change his game so much to avoid missing half the season suspended.

[Red Army 75]

Old man reckons cheesley would of played for  England 

[Lanterne Rouge]

4 minutes ago, Red Army 75 said:

Old man reckons cheesley would of played England 

Oh he would without a doubt. He was only going to get better.

What might have been.

[Red Army 75]

12 minutes ago, Red Right Hand said:

I think Cheese could do it today. Possibly  Tom Ritchie, Gary Collier, Geoff Merrick & Clive Whitehead?

Sir Gerry I don`t know as he would have to change his game so much to avoid missing half the season suspended.

They said Bristol City’s front three of Ritchie, Cheesley and Whitehead ripped Arsenal apart . Alan Ball really praised City up 

[handsofclay]

11 minutes ago, Red Army 75 said:

Old man reckons cheesley would of played for  England 

He had been picked for England U23s the season before but couldn't play because City needed him that night away at Sunderland. That was in the days when there were no international breaks.

[Lanterne Rouge]

5 minutes ago, Red Army 75 said:

They said Bristol City’s front three of Ritchie, Cheesley and Whitehead ripped Arsenal apart . Alan Ball really praised City up 

Arsenal wanted to buy Tom Ritchie & Geoff Merrick afterwards for what was big money at the time but (I think) we turned them down.

It was £500k for the pair IIRC.

[Red Army 75]

3 minutes ago, Red Right Hand said:

Arsenal wanted to buy Tom Ritchie & Geoff Merrick afterwards for what was big money at the time but (I think) we turned them down.

It was £500k for the pair IIRC.

**** me thats nearly 2 Matty Taylor’s 

[handsofclay]

26 minutes ago, eardun said:

Cheesley himself was really good. Unfortunately I saw him do his knee v Stoke 3 days after that interview and that finished his career.

Gerry Gow had everything in midfield. Hard as nails but quality one touch passer of the ball. 

I was there too in the Open End where Cheesley sustained his career ending injury in, I think, the 13th minute. In that time he terrorized the Stoke defence with his aerial presence.

I can't think of many players who had their greatest moment in football one match and then minutes into their next match sustained a career ending injury. That is what makes it so sad seeing Cheesley being interviewed on the Big Match knowing what was in store for him literally just a few footballing minutes away. I remember at the time seeing the interview and feeling as proud as punch. Then years later seeing it on DVD and reflecting upon it with sadness.

[handsofclay]

7 minutes ago, Red Right Hand said:

Arsenal wanted to buy Tom Ritchie & Geoff Merrick afterwards for what was big money at the time but (I think) we turned them down.

It was £500k for the pair IIRC.

No, that was the season before while we were going for promotion. Indeed, Brian Moore mentions it in the pre game kick about.

[Lanterne Rouge]

1 minute ago, handsofclay said:

No, that was the season before while we were going for promotion. Indeed, Brian Moore mentions it in the pre game kick about.

I could have sworn it was afterwards! A lot`s happened since then mind!

[chinapig]

27 minutes ago, handsofclay said:

No, that was the season before while we were going for promotion. Indeed, Brian Moore mentions it in the pre game kick about.

Correct and the club sold season tickets for the following season to stave off the need to sell. I bought one but you can thank me later. 

[downendcity]

When discussions start about that team, all the talk tends to be about Cheesley, Gow, Ritchie, Merrick and Ritchie ( in a way, understandably so) but there is little or no mention of Gary Collier.

He was a class defender and with Merrick formed a great central defensive partnership - I rate Collier much better than Merrick. 

[Hellfire Corner]

Ritchie was so good, you named him twice!

[REDOXO]

4 minutes ago, downendcity said:

When discussions start about that team, all the talk tends to be about Cheesley, Gow, Ritchie, Merrick and Ritchie ( in a way, understandably so) but there is little or no mention of Gary Collier.

He was a class defender and with Merrick formed a great central defensive partnership - I rate Collier much better than Merrick. 

Trevor Tainton is the one routinely missed. Fifth all time in appearances or there abouts. Bloke was class and on his day a proper handful

[Red Army 75]

5 minutes ago, downendcity said:

When discussions start about that team, all the talk tends to be about Cheesley, Gow, Ritchie, Merrick and Ritchie ( in a way, understandably so) but there is little or no mention of Gary Collier.

He was a class defender and with Merrick formed a great central defensive partnership - I rate Collier much better than Merrick. 

Who would you compare them with. In today’s football. We get excited about Flint and Baker

[chinapig]

7 minutes ago, downendcity said:

When discussions start about that team, all the talk tends to be about Cheesley, Gow, Ritchie, Merrick and Ritchie ( in a way, understandably so) but there is little or no mention of Gary Collier.

He was a class defender and with Merrick formed a great central defensive partnership - I rate Collier much better than Merrick. 

Best centre half I have ever seen in a City shirt. Though I have to add that Trevor Tainton is criminally undervalued.

[chinapig]

10 minutes ago, Red Army 75 said:

Who would you compare them with. In today’s football. We get excited about Flint and Baker

Neither is anywhere as good as Collier and Merrick, either individually or as a pair.

Collier in particular had a touch of the Alan Hansen about him. I could see Lloyd Kelly being in the Collier mould.

I don't see anybody like Merrick around these days. He was a brilliant tackler but you don't see many of those around now.

Flint and Baker are more like David Rodgers, though he was also better than either.

[City Rocker]

7 minutes ago, Red Army 75 said:

Who would you compare them with. In today’s football. We get excited about Flint and Baker

I remember Collier being favourably compared to Alan Hansen at the time. After he and Hunter left the defence was no longer as formidable - and let's remember it was our defence, not out goal scoring, which had kept us up there for the previous three seasons.

[chinapig]

5 minutes ago, City Rocker said:

I remember Collier being favourably compared to Alan Hansen at the time. After he and Hunter left the defence was no longer as formidable - and let's remember it was our defence, not out goal scoring, which had kept us up there for the previous three seasons.

Yet for long periods Alan Dicks preferred David Rodgers to Gary. He did a sterling job but was not as good an all round player as Collier.

[Port Said Red]

27 minutes ago, REDOXO said:

Trevor Tainton is the one routinely missed. Fifth all time in appearances or there abouts. Bloke was class and on his day a proper handful

The player I thought would struggle in the first division, but he seemed to get a couple of extra seconds on the ball, which helped him enormously. Collier should have kicked on and I think he would have if he hadn't left for Coventry and then got attracted to the bright lights of America. Merrick was good, but Hunter showed that he wasn't quite there to be a centre half in that league, but I always felt he didn't put enough effort into making it at left back when Norman arrived. 
Whitehead was unlucky in two ways, 1, we had some of the best wingers this country ever produced in front of him for England recognition and 2, wing backs hadn't really been thought of at that time, he would have been the perfect left wing back in a 3-5-2. Gerry Gow should have played for Scotland too, but again they had a several good players in a similar role.  

[downendcity]

40 minutes ago, REDOXO said:

Trevor Tainton is the one routinely missed. Fifth all time in appearances or there abouts. Bloke was class and on his day a proper handful

Was going to mention TT as well Oxo, but I would put Collier a class above Tainton.

I saw Tainton as more a Mr Reliable who would never let you down and always put a shift in. Having said that, I suspect he was( still is) undervalued when compared to the more stand out players we had back then.

[chinapig]

1 hour ago, Red Army 75 said:

Old man reckons cheesley would of played for  England 

Your old man was right. Paul Cheesley was a much better player than Paul Mariner, who became England's centre forward subsequently.

Our Paul was two footed, had pace and was a better header of the ball than Mariner.

[downendcity]

43 minutes ago, Red Army 75 said:

Who would you compare them with. In today’s football. We get excited about Flint and Baker

There's another thread which shows the difficulty of comparing players from different eras. 

All I can say, having seen all of them play is that  would have Collier and Merrick over Flint and Baker in a heartbeat. 

 

[downendcity]

44 minutes ago, chinapig said:

Best centre half I have ever seen in a City shirt. Though I have to add that Trevor Tainton is criminally undervalued.

Inclined to agree China - on both counts.

Talk of Flint being worth £6-10m but on that basis what would GC be worth?

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, eardun said:

Cheesley himself was really good. Unfortunately I saw him do his knee v Stoke 3 days after that interview and that finished his career.

Gerry Gow had everything in midfield. Hard as nails but quality one touch passer of the ball. 

My dad said Matt Smith reminded him of Cheesley the way he attacked the ball in the air.

1 hour ago, handsofclay said:

He had been picked for England U23s the season before but couldn't play because City needed him that night away at Sunderland. That was in the days when there were no international breaks.

And as CP says below, Mariner got picked and went on the have a very decent career at club and international level. 

8 minutes ago, chinapig said:

Your old man was right. Paul Cheesley was a much better player than Paul Mariner, who became England's centre forward subsequently.

Our Paul was two footed, had pace and was a better header of the ball than Mariner.

 

[chinapig]

1 minute ago, downendcity said:

Inclined to agree China - on both counts.

Talk of Flint being worth £6-10m but on that basis what would GC be worth?

The fact that no less a manager than Don Revie offered £100k for him when Gary was 18, which was still huge money for a teenager in those days, when Leeds were the best team in the country gives us an indication I think.

[Davefevs]

5 minutes ago, downendcity said:

There's another thread which shows the difficulty of comparing players from different eras. 

All I can say, having seen all of them play is that  would have Collier and Merrick over Flint and Baker in a heartbeat. 

 

Yep, let’s not forget that side were playing in the top flight too.

How we could do with a Gerry Sweeney at RB last season...and next.

Tom Ritchie also underrated, run the channels so well....and a good foil for anyone he played alongside.  

I never really saw Merrick standout, probably because of Norman Hunter.

Tainton was you 6/10, 7/10 every week....the Brownhill of the team.

[Ska Junkie]

The majority of that side were good (don't get me wrong) but were a lot better as a collective. Trevor Tainton and Jimmy Mann were consistently good and often overlooked. Sweeney and Gillies were hard as nails and with Norman Hunter alongside them, we were never found wanting in the 'war' stakes. 

The outstanding individuals to me, were:

Gerry Gow (obviously, what a player) who would be suspended all the time in the modern game. He wasn't just tough, he was granite tough but boy could he play!

Gary Collier was, as I've described him before, a rolls royce of a defender, never flustered and one of those class players who always seemed to have more time than he actually did. He could handle a row just like they all could but he just oozed class.

Sir Geoff Merrick, the leader, captain and another classy footballer. As a centre half he was quite small but he was never found wanting. I often think his move to left back to accommodate Norman was a bad move but there's been an awful lot of water under the bridge since then.

Clive Whitehead. The baby of the bunch but he could really shift and his crossing stats would be obscene in the modern day, a sublime crosser of a ball. 

Tom Ritchie. He didn't really look particularly strong but by god he was! All movement and must have been such a pain in the arse to play against. Very good feet for one so tall and a great foil for the Cheese.

Paul Cheesley. What a beast he was in the air, totally unplayable. When you think, the 'big' England forwards at the time were Paul Mariner and latterly Bob Latchford, the Cheese was head and shoulders (literally) above them. I doubt David O'Leary and Willy Young ever had such a battering as big Paul gave them in our first game up and, as mentioned, he was giving Shilton and the Stoke defence all kinds of problems before he was injured.

I've missed a few out, Cashley, Shaw, Brian Drysdale, David Rogers, even Keith Fear. All good players but as a collective, they were very, very good and would go to war for each other.

It's just a pity that the first City side some of us saw, will probably be the best City side we'll ever see but it wasn't half a pleasure to watch them!