Alan Ball: Did Franny Lee Really Think He Would Bring Trophies?

We all know what Alan Ball did and didn't do, it was frankly appalling. The Walsh for Gerry the fat useless twat is well spoken about. However the 'love in' for Brian Hortons team staggers me? They weren't good at all. A couple of results aside they were dross. Yes he was a nice guy who still bigs City up now but Jesus wept.......
 
Yes, was sat in the Wednesday main stand and the Uwe song was very loud.
Decided to go on the Saturday with a wednesday mate, got there early and was told to go and a ticket from ticket office, my mate couldn't understand it as it was pay on day for the cantilever stand, but we got 1 and went into the ground. Me being a nosey git asked someone in ground why and he said 1 of the office staff who lived in new Mills had got on a train and it was full which was never the case in midweek, anyway when he got to wednesday there was hundreds buying tickets and he notice some who was on train, he put 2 and 2 together and knew they was city fans so told ticket office which after stopped selling tickets. My mate said to me dont cheer if city score and when teams came out there was more city then wednesday in that part of ground
 
City also bought Nicky Summerbee (albeit under Horton) purely because Franny Lee was trying to use the Summerbee name to keep his narrative of "good times back again" going. In reality, Nicky Summerbee was a fraction of the player his dad was, and would not have been bought were his name Smith.
I agree with this but would say that Summerbee had impressed in the 2-1 win over Swindon the season before. I seem to remember him ripping us down the right wing and we were lucky not to go 0-2 down.

My mate’s uncle turned his back as the ball hit the net with his hands on his head facing the back of the Kippax. When he turned back round, the offside had been given and we’d re-started. He had no idea it was still 0-1 but we assumed he did.

After the game, he was ranting along Claremont Road about “drawing at home to Swindon fucking Town”. We were understandably confused until one of us braved it and told him we’d won 2-1. He took some convincing. It was funny seeing a man go from pissed off to happy.
 
Probably the wrong thread, but my niece did some work experience as a radiologist at the Christie last week. The specialist she was attached to was Dr Jim Bell. Said he was a specialist in a few fields and had won a lot of awards.

I had to explain to her that his dad was one of our greatest ever players and probably her dad's favourite City player.
 
We all know what Alan Ball did and didn't do, it was frankly appalling. The Walsh for Gerry the fat useless twat is well spoken about. However the 'love in' for Brian Hortons team staggers me? They weren't good at all. A couple of results aside they were dross. Yes he was a nice guy who still bigs City up now but Jesus wept.......
Brian Horton would also of took us down in 95/96
 
Horton always struck me as a very decent and down to earth guy. With a squad full of injuries, and no money, he managed to bring in Walsh, Rosler, Beagrie, Rocastle and saved city from relegation. 1994/5 was my first full season as a city fan, and it was genuinely exciting to see how city loved to attack and get stuck in. I genuinely believe Horton was on the verge of winning something when they fired him.
Win something? Horton would also of took us down in 95/96
 
Immel was part of the West Germany team from 1980-88. It would have been longer but he retired from the national team following Euro 88. Crazy to think he was part of 2 Euro squads and 2 world cups.

He’s got three runners up medals from those tournaments.

Frontzeck played from 1984-1992 and was part of the Euro 92 squad.

Also getting a runner up medal.

Shame when they came to us that they had degraded so badly from what they must have been as you didn’t get to play for Germany if you weren’t half decent.
 
I agree with this but would say that Summerbee had impressed in the 2-1 win over Swindon the season before. I seem to remember him ripping us down the right wing and we were lucky not to go 0-2 down.

My mate’s uncle turned his back as the ball hit the net with his hands on his head facing the back of the Kippax. When he turned back round, the offside had been given and we’d re-started. He had no idea it was still 0-1 but we assumed he did.

After the game, he was ranting along Claremont Road about “drawing at home to Swindon fucking Town”. We were understandably confused until one of us braved it and told him we’d won 2-1. He took some convincing. It was funny seeing a man go from pissed off to happy.
The Swindon game was the only game I missed that season. I’d been suspended from school and was grounded so had to listen to it on the radio.
 
We all know what Alan Ball did and didn't do, it was frankly appalling. The Walsh for Gerry the fat useless twat is well spoken about. However the 'love in' for Brian Hortons team staggers me? They weren't good at all. A couple of results aside they were dross. Yes he was a nice guy who still bigs City up now but Jesus wept.......
At last. Some true perspective regarding Horton. Take out the back end of the 93/94 season when Lee gave him the money to buy Walsh, Rosler, and Beagrie - signings that arguably kept us up - and the first half of the 94/95 season, and there isn't much left to write home about. Just because Ball was a disaster for us, doesn't mean that Horton should've kept his job.

I say all this as someone who was seemingly in a minority of City fans who knew who Horton was when he was appointed! I also backed him to the hilt from day one, starting with that warm midweek evening when we won 3-1 at Swindon in his first game in charge. The way I saw it was that even though Swales was a twat and Maddock was an even bigger twat, none of that was Horton's fault. He came in during a very difficult time but once the takeover happened and we strengthened the squad, we should've kicked on a bit more than we did IMO. Everyone talks about the 3-0 v West Ham, the 4-0 v Everton, and the 5-2 v Spurs in those opening couple of months or so of the 94/95 season, and to be fair they were all very entertaining matches - along with the back-to-back 3-3 home draws against Forest and Saints - but nobody talks about all those heavy away defeats in the same period. I seem to remember that after beating Ipswich away in December 1994 we were 6th in the league but then once our unbeaten home record went against Arsenal the following week, the wheels came off and we weren't far off going down. When Easter came, I remember buying my ticket for (I think) Forest away from the ticket office on Good Friday 1995 - same day we played Liverpool at home - and telling people in the queue that I couldn't see where our next win was coming from. Nobody disagreed with me. As it happens, we went on to beat Liverpool that same day and famously beat Blackburn away 3 days later in 2 very good performances and those wins ultimately saved us from the drop. But don't anyone tell me that we would've won things under Horton or that he was the long-term answer. He wasn't, and nothing he has done before or since in management will convince me otherwise, including that couple of months or so as Huddersfield manager where he briefly had them top of the 2nd tier. Ultimately, he was sacked a couple of years later with them bottom of the division.
 
Highly unlikely. I can’t see Brian Horton instructing City to waste time and play the ball into the corners when 2-2 and in a relegation position!
Highly unlikely? We were woefull 2nd half of the 94/95 season. Would of took us down with a couple games to spare
 
Highly unlikely? We were woefull 2nd half of the 94/95 season. Would of took us down with a couple games to spare
Horton's biggest weakness was defense. If he could have paired a good defense with the attack her already had, things could have been different. City's relegation risk was due to the defense. With Ball, EVERY part of the team seemed to be comedically flawed.
 
Yes, was sat in the Wednesday main stand and the Uwe song was very loud.
Great atmosphere with us all singing Uwe, Uwe Rosler for about 20 minutes non stop on the away end. One of the best atmospheres ever. Just happiness and enjoyment of a decent end to the season where Horton and some cracking signings Beagrie, Walsh and Rosler saved City playing some good attacking football.

Remember the stirring in the home end which turned into a murmur then a buzz then a few cheers then a resounding loud cheer when news came Chelsea had scored to relegate Blades. It took a little bit of shine personally as I have friends on both sides of the Sheffield divide.

Still a most memorable 1-1 draw for the atmosphere on the away end and a certain East German striker more than anything.
 
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I don't agree. He had better moral, tactics selection and results than Ball.
But he never built a team with a solid spine and he should have been sacked after the 0-5 at the swamp. Playing David Brightwell at LB against Kanchelskis was asking for trouble, not that there was much logic with the rest of his team selection.
 
It was that moment I'd heard we'd swapped Walsh for Creany.,...I did ask myself WTF
is going on . There were no words to speak. What was that man doing to my club ?
Very painful memory that.
I am appalled about Creaney because of the lack of effort whereas I can forgive Bradbury who tried but just couldn't handle playing for a bigger club and it affected his all round play especially his finishing. Bradbury looked petrified whereas Creaney looked like he couldn't be arsed.
 

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