Current player most like Colin Bell

[OB1]

and could tackle like Pab Zab

Rubbish.That was King Colins only weakness to his game.

Weakness!!?? Tackling ?!!

I can still remember some Bell tackles amongst the highlights of watching city. Fantastic tackler. Sometimes tried to nick the ball instead & got it wrong, ala Fernandinho, but if Bell went in for a tackle, it was one of the best sights in football.

I have no memory of him being crap at tackling but I am not as old as oakie.

 

[oakiecokie]

and could tackle like Pab Zab

Rubbish.That was King Colins only weakness to his game.

Weakness!!?? Tackling ?!!

I can still remember some Bell tackles amongst the highlights of watching city. Fantastic tackler. Sometimes tried to nick the ball instead & got it wrong, ala Fernandinho, but if Bell went in for a tackle, it was one of the best sights in football.

It certainly was because it was so infrequent.He was certainly no Mickey Doyle,George Heslop and Alan Oakes.I don`t know was the worst tackler,Bell or Neil Young ?

 

[Shaelumstash]

Judging Colin Bell on what the team did, rather than what he did, is the absolute biggest load of old bollocks & not adding any kind of useful input.

How can our league finishes have no merit whatsoever within the context of this debate? It is an utterly absurd thing to suggest.

You might not agree with what I'm saying, but to suggest, as you have, that the league positions we achieved in that time add nothing to the debate is utterly preposterous. I'm sure if we'd won the league two or three times in that period you would be using that as evidence of his prowess as a player, likewise if we'd been relegated in that period that would also carry weight in this discussion. As it happens neither of those things are true, but where we did finish is a valid part of the debate, as he was part if that team, by consensus a a underachieving team, with him at its heart. He was part if the reason for those finishes.

How many league titles did Gazza win? Or David Platt? Le Tissier? Even Gerrard! How about Alan Shearer, was he a great player? What was his average league finish? Was he a player that dragged teams through? He scored 260 league goals, I'd say he was. He won one trophy in his whole career.

This idea that great players can carry teams on their own is just absolute bollocks, perpetuated by the bollocks that Maradona won the world cup on his own. I'm sure Passarella, Burrachaga, and Valdano don't think it was a one man team.

Probably the best 5 or 6 players of all time are Pele, Maradona, Messi, Ronaldo, Cruyff and Zidane. How many of them dragged average teams to trophies? Possibly Maradona, but none of the others did. They all played in brilliant teams and won loads of trophies as the stand out player. Ronaldo plays in an average national team, and they get average results, even with him in it.

Pele played in the best national team of all time and is often lauded as the best player in history because of his performances in the world cup. Messi is today considered by many as the best player ever to play, but he's also playing in the best club side ever.

Put Pele in Wales team in the 60s and 70s, would they have won 3 world cups? Put Messi in Everton's team over the last 10 years, would they have won 3 Champions League's? I don't think they would.

A great player can drag an average team to the odd trophy, but it takes a great team to win trophies consistently.

I can't judge Bell as I never saw him play, but to say he can't have been that good because the team he played in didn't do better is just absurd. Alan Shearer is the best example, how many titles would he have won if he'd signed for the shite? Does that mean he would have been a better player? Of course not, he'd have been the same player, playing in a better team.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Judging Colin Bell on what the team did, rather than what he did, is the absolute biggest load of old bollocks & not adding any kind of useful input.

How can our league finishes have no merit whatsoever within the context of this debate? It is an utterly absurd thing to suggest.

You might not agree with what I'm saying, but to suggest, as you have, that the league positions we achieved in that time add nothing to the debate is utterly preposterous. I'm sure if we'd won the league two or three times in that period you would be using that as evidence of his prowess as a player, likewise if we'd been relegated in that period that would also carry weight in this discussion. As it happens neither of those things are true, but where we did finish is a valid part of the debate, as he was part if that team, by consensus a a underachieving team, with him at its heart. He was part if the reason for those finishes.

How many league titles did Gazza win? Or David Platt? Le Tissier? Even Gerrard! How about Alan Shearer, was he a great player? What was his average league finish? Was he a player that dragged teams through? He scored 260 league goals, I'd say he was. He won one trophy in his whole career.

This idea that great players can carry teams on their own is just absolute bollocks, perpetuated by the bollocks that Maradona won the world cup on his own. I'm sure Passarella, Burrachaga, and Valdano don't think it was a one man team.

Probably the best 5 or 6 players of all time are Pele, Maradona, Messi, Ronaldo, Cruyff and Zidane. How many of them dragged average teams to trophies? Possibly Maradona, but none of the others did. They all played in brilliant teams and won loads of trophies as the stand out player. Ronaldo plays in an average national team, and they get average results, even with him in it.

Pele played in the best national team of all time and is often lauded as the best player in history because of his performances in the world cup. Messi is today considered by many as the best player ever to play, but he's also playing in the best club side ever.

Put Pele in Wales team in the 60s and 70s, would they have won 3 world cups? Put Messi in Everton's team over the last 10 years, would they have won 3 Champions League's? I don't think they would.

A great player can drag an average team to the odd trophy, but it takes a great team to win trophies consistently.

I can't judge Bell as I never saw him play, but to say he can't have been that good because the team he played in didn't do better is just absurd. Alan Shearer is the best example, how many titles would he have won if he'd signed for the shite? Does that mean he would have been a better player? Of course not, he'd have been the same player, playing in a better team.

You lost me a little when you claim that I said Bell wasn't "that good". Not sure how you've arrived at that conclusion based on what I've posted - and without a shadow of doubt Alan Shearer made Newcastle more than the sum of their parts. As did Platt at Villa, Gerrard at Liverpool and Le Tessier at Southampton. The same could not be said about Bell. By common consent that City team of the early 70's under, not over-achieved.

And no Everton wouldn't have won three Champions Leagues if Messi had been playing for them in the last ten years, but I can say with some confidence they'd have qualified routinely for it over that period with him in the side.

I agree that no player can win a tournament "on their own", but again, I haven't made that point.

 

[Thanks joe]

How can our league finishes have no merit whatsoever within the context of this debate? It is an utterly absurd thing to suggest.

You might not agree with what I'm saying, but to suggest, as you have, that the league positions we achieved in that time add nothing to the debate is utterly preposterous. I'm sure if we'd won the league two or three times in that period you would be using that as evidence of his prowess as a player, likewise if we'd been relegated in that period that would also carry weight in this discussion. As it happens neither of those things are true, but where we did finish is a valid part of the debate, as he was part if that team, by consensus a a underachieving team, with him at its heart. He was part if the reason for those finishes.

How many league titles did Gazza win? Or David Platt? Le Tissier? Even Gerrard! How about Alan Shearer, was he a great player? What was his average league finish? Was he a player that dragged teams through? He scored 260 league goals, I'd say he was. He won one trophy in his whole career.

This idea that great players can carry teams on their own is just absolute bollocks, perpetuated by the bollocks that Maradona won the world cup on his own. I'm sure Passarella, Burrachaga, and Valdano don't think it was a one man team.

Probably the best 5 or 6 players of all time are Pele, Maradona, Messi, Ronaldo, Cruyff and Zidane. How many of them dragged average teams to trophies? Possibly Maradona, but none of the others did. They all played in brilliant teams and won loads of trophies as the stand out player. Ronaldo plays in an average national team, and they get average results, even with him in it.

Pele played in the best national team of all time and is often lauded as the best player in history because of his performances in the world cup. Messi is today considered by many as the best player ever to play, but he's also playing in the best club side ever.

Put Pele in Wales team in the 60s and 70s, would they have won 3 world cups? Put Messi in Everton's team over the last 10 years, would they have won 3 Champions League's? I don't think they would.

A great player can drag an average team to the odd trophy, but it takes a great team to win trophies consistently.

I can't judge Bell as I never saw him play, but to say he can't have been that good because the team he played in didn't do better is just absurd. Alan Shearer is the best example, how many titles would he have won if he'd signed for the shite? Does that mean he would have been a better player? Of course not, he'd have been the same player, playing in a better team.

You lost me a little when you claim that I said Bell wasn't "that good". Not sure how you've arrived at that conclusion based on what I've posted - and without a shadow of doubt Alan Shearer made Newcastle more than the sum of their parts. As did Platt at Villa, Gerrard at Liverpool and Le Tessier at Southampton. The same could not be said about Bell. By common consent that City team of the early 70's under, not over-achieved.

And no Everton wouldn't have won three Champions Leagues if Messi had been playing for them in the last ten years, but I can say with some confidence they'd have qualified routinely for it over that period with him in the side.

I agree that no player can win a tournament "on their own", but again, I haven't made that point.

Anyone can find a negative about anyone player, you choice to use our league positions back then to make a fair but in my opinion wrong example,

1.. In the good old days, clubs didn't have the squads to play so many games as they do today..
2.. We had EUROPE to contend with ( in the days only 1 club from a certain country would play in it..could you imagine asking players today to play a full season plus european games with a squad of 15ish..
3.. and if that wasn't enough, the div 1 had more teams in it back then..
4.. I was lucky enough to have seen him live, ( bit of a kid ) but I was old enough to realise at the time how good this guy was, only when I got to know the game more, did I realise he was one of the greats of yesterday, today & in the future.. it difficult to judge players from different times.. but not in Colin's case.. He would piss it in today football, that's how I look at it, what he offered 30 odd years ago to football and is still needed today makes him a class act, true greatness imho..
so hopefully you see, being successful back Then was a big disadvantage on the domestic front..!!!
I'm sure this had more to do with city underachieving then Colin's lack of greatness..

 

[Notinmylifetime]

We presently have some truly great footballers such as Yaya, Aguero, Silva and Kompany. We've also witnessed special talents in the past such as Gio, Lake and Ali, who were all sublime to watch. The late sixties and early seventies we were blessed with Lee, Young and Summerbee. Like many older Blues I've relished watching them all in the flesh. I have also been fortunate enough to watch world greats up close in the flesh such as Pele, Cruyff, Maradonna, Gullit and Messi. All wonderful, wonderful players. My favourite player of all time was Colin Bell. No one comes close.

He had everything. Modest to boot, so he was the ideal role model for many Blues my age. The Maine Road crowd reaction to his return from injury after half time cannot be described. I saw many grown men cry when we won the title in 2011/12....I saw more cry when Colin 'tried' to return from that injury. If any younger Blues want to know how good he was, forget old Youtube clips and look at the Etihad stadium plan. We have North, South and East Stands....but only one Colin Bell Stand. No current player is most like Colin Bell. I rest my case.

 

[City Raider]

I remember reading Keegan's autobiography. In the bit about his England call up he mentioned the great players in the squad, the captain etc, then said 'but everyone knew Colin Bell was the man'.

Managers of our own golden generation never got to grips with Gerrard and Lampard being unable to play together. If they had Bell they wouldn't have had to. He had Gerrard's drive and energy and Lampards timing and eye for a goal.

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

Ok, then.

The "COLIN BELL STAND"........................................penny.................................
drops.

If they were naming it now it would probably be the Sergio Aguero or Dave Silva Stand

Totally different scenarios , Colin Bell was a 19 year old unknown who grew with the club to become an england international and cost our club £45k , (which at current values would be aprrox £3.5m) , who was tragically cut down in his prime and has been asscoiated with the club for 40 odd years . Sergio and Merlin cost £38m and £25m respectively , and were full internationals , established players , they have progressed with the club , but they were not uknowns and hopefully they will never suffer King Colins injury woes. Arguably at the end of their careers , they will return to their homelands to spend their zillions , and Manchester City will be a pleasant but distant memory , there is no comparison

 

[urmston]

Take a bit of Schweinsteiger, Gerrard, Yaya and Milner and you just might get near to Colin.

He was the most complete footballer I have ever seen.

Don't forget a dash of Vincent Kompany.

 

[Corky]

We presently have some truly great footballers such as Yaya, Aguero, Silva and Kompany. We've also witnessed special talents in the past such as Gio, Lake and Ali, who were all sublime to watch. The late sixties and early seventies we were blessed with Lee, Young and Summerbee. Like many older Blues I've relished watching them all in the flesh. I have also been fortunate enough to watch world greats up close in the flesh such as Pele, Cruyff, Maradonna, Gullit and Messi. All wonderful, wonderful players. My favourite player of all time was Colin Bell. No one comes close.

He had everything. Modest to boot, so he was the ideal role model for many Blues my age. The Maine Road crowd reaction to his return from injury after half time cannot be described. I saw many grown men cry when we won the title in 2011/12....I saw more cry when Colin 'tried' to return from that injury. If any younger Blues want to know how good he was, forget old Youtube clips and look at the Etihad stadium plan. We have North, South and East Stands....but only one Colin Bell Stand. No current player is most like Colin Bell. I rest my case.

Pitty Franny Lee didn't think the same when the club sacked him.