1978-79 | The self-implosion of Manchester City

[gordondaviesmoustache]

That's right. After losing his job at City, he went to Oldham but died in 1981 when he was only in his early 40s. Yes, there was a game at Maine Road, billed as a memorial with the gate receipts going to his widow and kids. I went along that night, too. There was a thread about it on here a few years ago, which I see, having searched for it, that you started and I posted on.

A link to the thread is here: Bill Taylor Testimonial

And below is the cover of the match programme:

View attachment 29474

Remember that game being played, although didn’t go.

41? Fuck me, people somehow looked older back then.

 

[Rascal]

Only read the first two pages of this thread and decided to put my oar in.

The biggest disaster of the 70s was signing Channon because we would we would not pay extra for Dalglish, We got a windmilling arsewipe who loved horses more than City and Liverpool got one of the best players I have ever seen. Around the same time we missed out on signing Rush because Swales was a tight arse.

We also lost the King to injury, losing him was devastating

I was delighted Big Mal came back, his team got is to the lge cup semi where we were robbed, and Bond took that team with three additions to the FA Cup final. Bond, Benson were the disasters not Mal. Skips team was aging and needed new blood, we signed Jimmy fucking Conway btw and he was shit.

Big Mal was what we needed, Swales was a ****, the weetabix headed twat,

 

[JGL07]

Yes, Leeds probably is the closest parallel. The distinction I'd draw between us and them, though, is that they generally bought players who made the team better, while we made ours worse while similarly crippling ourselves financially.

I know that not all their signings came off, which is inevitable - Seth Johnson springs to mind. But we spent GBP 3.5 million, a huge sum, on our three most costly acquisitions - Daley, Reeves and Robinson. We got five years' service combined from the three of them and recouped GBP 800K in total upon selling them. Leeds paid a record fee for Rio Ferdinand but received even more when they sold him on.

IIRC, their undoing was that they gambled on making themselves annual CL qualifiers. The rewards for doing so then would have been vast in relative terms, but missing out twice, as they then did, left them in real trouble.

I suppose the big difference between them and us after relegation was that they faced an environment in which the financial chasm between the PL and CL was widening. When we went down twice in the 1980s, gate money was by a mile a club's principal source of revenue and the home club by then kept it all.

That allowed us to avoid catastrophic drops in income after being relegated. Unfortunately, having to pay GBP 500K per annum on our debts, a vast proportion of turnover, left us unable to compete with even clubs that could generate much less revenue than we could.

I used to work with a Leeds supporter at the time and he kept me Informed of all the developments. By all accounts the Business model for Leeds United in the Risdale era was not just qualifying for Europe every year but depended on reaching at least the CL Quarter Finals each time.

Risdale got the blame for the catastrophe that hit Leeds. That was rather unfair as he was only implementing what the Board of Directors at Leeds were instructing him to do.

One year they failed to qualify for the CL and that prompted a fire sale of players including Ferdinand.

Leeds took a gambol and it turned sour. Brian Clough used to do it every year at Derby and Forest blowing the season ticket income on big signings pre-season and that made him as a manager because his judgement was usually good. If only Leeds had stuck with Clough and ditched their ageing prima donnas?

 

[Citizen Green]

Only read the first two pages of this thread and decided to put my oar in.

The biggest disaster of the 70s was signing Channon because we would we would not pay extra for Dalglish, We got a windmilling arsewipe who loved horses more than City and Liverpool got one of the best players I have ever seen. Around the same time we missed out on signing Rush because Swales was a tight arse.

We also lost the King to injury, losing him was devastating

I was delighted Big Mal came back, his team got is to the lge cup semi where we were robbed, and Bond took that team with three additions to the FA Cup final. Bond, Benson were the disasters not Mal. Skips team was aging and needed new blood, we signed Jimmy fucking Conway btw and he was shit.

Big Mal was what we needed, Swales was a ****, the weetabix headed twat,

I never even knew we were in for Dalglish, imagine that.

 

[petrusha]

I never even knew we were in for Dalglish, imagine that.

There was never a serious prospect of us getting him. The asking price was more than GBP 100K above the previous record cash deal between two British clubs. Liverpool could afford it because they'd just sold Kevin Keegan to Hamburg for even more.

 

[stan bowles]

I used to work with a Leeds supporter at the time and he kept me Informed of all the developments. By all accounts the Business model for Leeds United in the Risdale era was not just qualifying for Europe every year but depended on reaching at least the CL Quarter Finals each time.

Risdale got the blame for the catastrophe that hit Leeds. That was rather unfair as he was only implementing what the Board of Directors at Leeds were instructing him to do.

One year they failed to qualify for the CL and that prompted a fire sale of players including Ferdinand.

Leeds took a gambol and it turned sour. Brian Clough used to do it every year at Derby and Forest blowing the season ticket income on big signings pre-season and that made him as a manager because his judgement was usually good. If only Leeds had stuck with Clough and ditched their ageing prima donnas?

With Clough his major successful teams were built on small names - almost other clubs rejects - Frank Clarke, Bowyer, Withe, Larry Lloyd, McGovern, Colin Barrett, Robertson, Woodcock, Birtles, McFarland whom he moulded into winners.
Yes he spent big on Francis, Shilton, Needham, Colin Todd at Derby but you can't argue him and Taylor couldn't spot a good player.

 

[stan bowles]

There was never a serious prospect of us getting him. The asking price was more than GBP 100K above the previous record cash deal between two British clubs. Liverpool could afford it because they'd just sold Kevin Keegan to Hamburg for even more.

I remember the Dippers gave Keegan a hard time in the press when he moved to Hamburg (Bob Paisley even called for him to dropped from the England team) labelling him a mercenary and a traitor. Keegan had told them before the end of the previous season he was leaving but of course we know the Dippers can't accept anyone leaving their club without sticking the knife in.

 

[JGL07]

With Clough his major successful teams were built on small names - almost other clubs rejects - Frank Clarke, Bowyer, Withe, Larry Lloyd, McGovern, Colin Barrett, Robertson, Woodcock, Birtles, McFarland whom he moulded into winners.
Yes he spent big on Francis, Shilton, Needham, Colin Todd at Derby but you can't argue him and Taylor couldn't spot a good player.

To be honest, I think it was more down to Taylor than Clough. He certainly took a team of rejects and journeymen and moulded a double European Cup winning side at Forest.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

That's right. After losing his job at City, he went to Oldham but died in 1981 when he was only in his early 40s. Yes, there was a game at Maine Road, billed as a memorial with the gate receipts going to his widow and kids. I went along that night, too. There was a thread about it on here a few years ago, which I see, having searched for it, that you started and I posted on.

A link to the thread is here: Bill Taylor Testimonial

And below is the cover of the match programme:

View attachment 29474

Haha. I don't even remember that thread. Always us lot, the same old party bores, contributing to these 70s/80s history threads!

Hope you're well mate. I forgot to thank you for the brilliant post in this thred last week which went into ten times the forensic detail that I could remember from 78-79.

 

[Stevieatlasblue]

I remember going to Bill Taylor’s testimonial. City v England at Maine Road. I think he might have died so testimonial is probably the wrong word.

I was at that game too.. for me skip should have been in sole charge of footballing matters but we had the dictator and ego driven Swales who ruined our club bit by bit. Also remember some Man U were in the Kippax and showing their colours. They took a battering and the police dragged them out and also had a go at them.