1986 youth team

[mscenterh750]

I think the difference is, that the 86 team with lake, redmond, brightwell, hinchcliffe, white, moulden all went on to play in a team that got promoted and will be remembered for their performances in the 5-1 v utd (and in those days we had to rely on the youth), so that is something us fans bond to, whereas the lads from the 89 team didn't have that and the lads weren't really given a chance by whoever the managers were, to play in that era, but all the lads mentioned in the 89 team, went on to have good careers elsewhere, and in hindsight would've done, just a good a job as the players we had at that time.

 

[flinty1975]

Sorry guys but Paul Lake is a myth, one good game in 6.

 

[Lavinda Past]

Lake possibly you must be joking....he would have walked into our team now, the only player I can think of in football never mind only City who could play and did play in every position on the pitch and play as if he had played there all his life, there is no doubt but for injury he would have played regular for and even captained England and would of no doubt moved for a British transfer record to whom ever, they all wanted him Liverpool who were the top team then, the Rags, Arsenal, Spurs, Everton the lot

Peter Reid was on that fantasy football show on Sky with Fenners and Merson, he was asked to pick his all time greatest team of players he played with, bear in mind that Peter Reid won the league, European Cup Winners Cup, FA Cup etc with Everton, he played for England so has played with some top players, he picked Lakey in his all time 11 at Centre Half and said he could of actually put him in anywhere in the outfield players he was that good he said he would have been one of the greatest players this country has produced but for his injury,

this for me sums up how good Lakey was especially as Reid will have only played with him for a short period of his own career, so those who don't think he would be good enough for the current team obviously are to young to remember or something

Good points made BBB, but I still think Lakey would struggle to be a first choice in City's current team. He was very special but despite his obvious talent was still very much a 'work in progress' when he got injured. Andy Hinchcliffe was good enough to walk into any top team.

I think we all tend to look at injured player's careers through blue tinted glasses... Lakey was a giant among some good / some average players. Had he stayed fit, I doubt very much we'd have seen him at City for too long.

Having watched the Blues for over 50 years, the only past player I can honestly say I believe would walk into the current first team is Colin Bell.... But all that's history.

We are watching the greatest City squad ever - Enjoy.

Colin Bell for sure but how about Waggy on the wing for a bit of width?

I thought Waggy was great when I was a nipper, but he never improved after leaving City for Wolves and we didn't really miss him. He was pretty well forgotten within 6 months, but let's face it... we'd never seen anything like Joe and Malcolm's team before.

Waggy was our 1960's Adam Johnson.

Harsh perhaps, but probably true...

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

Sorry guys but Paul Lake is a myth, one good game in 6.

[bigimg]http://www.anglingfish.net/images/fishing-rod31.jpg[/bigimg]

 

[Lavinda Past]

Sorry guys but Paul Lake is a myth, one good game in 6.

Perhaps a little harsh but not miles off the mark.... I'd say one in 4.

But when he was good, he was very, very good. When he was 'bad', he was still better than most!

 

[Platini Pollock]

Sorry guys but Paul Lake is a myth, one good game in 6.

So a bit like Yaya then ?

 

[tidyman]

No probs, know what you mean. Warhurst (who played in between the 86 / 89 finals) was the one I thought was criminal to sell...)

If I remember right, he suffered from asthma when he was young and City decided this was going to hold him back sufficiently for it not to be worth taking a chance on him. Not for the first time, it proved a bit of a boo boo as he went on to win a league champions medal with Blackburn of course.

 

[Pubteam Lomas]

Sorry guys but Paul Lake is a myth, one good game in 6.

Was a great player, but he rarely dominated games.
I used to sit and there and wait for him to join in, but as Lavinda Past said, "when he was good, he was very, very good. When he was 'bad', he was still better than most!"
I think it boiled down to self confidence and I'm not sure he knew just how good he was?
However Kendall (I think it was him) made him captain and played him at centre half to get him more involved. He was a class above anything we had and would've been one of the best players in the club's history.

 

[Gary James]

Another spoiler for 'Teenage Kicks'

<a class="postlink" href="http://i50.tinypic.com/16kx7gi.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://i50.tinypic.com/16kx7gi.jpg</a>

That was the pre-FMC final youth game with Ian Brightwell, John Bookbinder and David White (plus Book & Pardoe). Youth Captain Steve Redmond was unable to play that day as he was appearing in the first team for the FMC final straight after.

John Bookbinder's story is of course quite tragic and I'm sure you'll be covering it. His part, like Steve Macauley, in the FA Youth Cup final is often ignored as, unfortunately, are so many unused subs (another is first teamer Bobby Kennedy at Newcastle in 1968). In the days before squad rotation and so on when only 1 sub was allowed subs were used much more sparingly - injury or a tactical change when absolutely necessary - and they often did not get mentioned or properly recorded which is a major shame.

Glad to see that John and Steve are to be featured in this book. Looking forward to it.

 

[TFS]

I think White would've been a different player in this modern era. He had the natural attributes to be a truly great player but I always felt he needed more intensive coaching. He had one outstanding season for us, scoring 20-odd goals (including the 4 away at Villa) but we never got the best out of him on a consistent basis.

If you gave a modern coach a player like White now, he'd be right up there with the best. On his day he could be unplayable and I really think that the set-up we have now would have made sure he reached that level. What would Edin be like if he had Whitey's pace?