Footballs' Hardmen

nickmcfc1 said:
Read a book about him called The Greatest Footballer No One Saw. A real maverick of a player who only played lower leagues. The cover of Super Furry Animals single The Man Don't Give A Fuck shows him sticking his fingers up to the Luton goalkeeper
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Great song.
 
I think there's two types of player who are "hard" - the ones like Vinnie Jones who made a living out of assaulting people and had little ability and others like McMahon, Reid etc who could dish the studs out but would also take them as well. It used to be good fun watching a tackle that must clearly have hurt but the guy on the ground would get up, clock who did it and a few minutes later get his revenge!

Players like Duncan Ferguson were seriously good players. He could play, no doubt about it, but if he needed to dish the dirty stuff out it was there. If you were a central defender you would earn your wage playing against him.

In the modern era, you just can't get away with filth and it's a miles better game now than watching clowns just hammer each other with assaults. Just thinking about the City players in who are seriously hard and could easily have gone back and been amazing in the 70s/80s:

Kompany - could mix it with anyone. If you wanted a fight, he'd give you one and he would out football you as well. One of the best battles I've ever seen between two players was back in 2010ish when we played Newcastle away when Andy Carroll was decent and at his 'peak'. Kompany and Carroll absolutely dished it out to each other! Great to watch and two proper hard men who would go hell for leather but not in a dirty way.

Tiatto - he might not have been the biggest player and when I met him he was sooo quiet, but Jeez he loved the rough stuff. One of my all time favourite players. I'd pick him for left back now! That Norwich game is legendary for me - go on Danny lad!!

Zaba - nothing to add!

Fernandinho - forget the wonderful talent and nice smile, this guy can mix it up. I'd loved to see him up against clowns like Vinnie Jones, Fern would be too clever for them and given them a f**king good hiding. This guy would've been the best player in the world against Jones etc.

Morrison - legend. He could play against 11 "hard men" on his own and still be on the pitch at the end of the game. Absolutely what we needed at the time and he's probably THE most important signing this clubs made in the last 40 years, easy. He single handedly sorted every "hard man" in Div 2 out and made the club, players and fans realise what was needed.

Tevez - must have been a nightmare to play against. Rock hard, skillful and a club legend. I'd sign him tomorrow if I could.

I think what a lot of these players have, apart from skill, is absolutely mental strength. When they walk out on to the pitch they don't care if its at Anfield, San Siro, Bernabeu - these guys are winners and nothing scares them. It's been a privilege to watch them.
 
As a long time Rugby League fan, the use of the term 'hardmen' in football gives me a bit of a chuckle.

There nothing particularly hard about any of them, really.
 
I worked with a lad who was an apprentice (EDS) at Bolton in the early 70s... He said he'd never seen a harder bloke than Same Allardyce. Apparently, even the senior pros were scared of taking on Sam and Peter Reid... Neither took any prisoners.

From the many stories I've heard over the years, I would suspect that Mick Harford and Duncan Ferguson are very rarely more than one step away from being thrown in jail.
 
GoatersLeftShin said:
I think there's two types of player who are "hard" - the ones like Vinnie Jones who made a living out of assaulting people and had little ability and others like McMahon, Reid etc who could dish the studs out but would also take them as well. It used to be good fun watching a tackle that must clearly have hurt but the guy on the ground would get up, clock who did it and a few minutes later get his revenge!

Players like Duncan Ferguson were seriously good players. He could play, no doubt about it, but if he needed to dish the dirty stuff out it was there. If you were a central defender you would earn your wage playing against him.

In the modern era, you just can't get away with filth and it's a miles better game now than watching clowns just hammer each other with assaults. Just thinking about the City players in who are seriously hard and could easily have gone back and been amazing in the 70s/80s:

Kompany - could mix it with anyone. If you wanted a fight, he'd give you one and he would out football you as well. One of the best battles I've ever seen between two players was back in 2010ish when we played Newcastle away when Andy Carroll was decent and at his 'peak'. Kompany and Carroll absolutely dished it out to each other! Great to watch and two proper hard men who would go hell for leather but not in a dirty way.

Tiatto - he might not have been the biggest player and when I met him he was sooo quiet, but Jeez he loved the rough stuff. One of my all time favourite players. I'd pick him for left back now! That Norwich game is legendary for me - go on Danny lad!!

Zaba - nothing to add!

Fernandinho - forget the wonderful talent and nice smile, this guy can mix it up. I'd loved to see him up against clowns like Vinnie Jones, Fern would be too clever for them and given them a f**king good hiding. This guy would've been the best player in the world against Jones etc.

Morrison - legend. He could play against 11 "hard men" on his own and still be on the pitch at the end of the game. Absolutely what we needed at the time and he's probably THE most important signing this clubs made in the last 40 years, easy. He single handedly sorted every "hard man" in Div 2 out and made the club, players and fans realise what was needed.

Tevez - must have been a nightmare to play against. Rock hard, skillful and a club legend. I'd sign him tomorrow if I could.

I think what a lot of these players have, apart from skill, is absolutely mental strength. When they walk out on to the pitch they don't care if its at Anfield, San Siro, Bernabeu - these guys are winners and nothing scares them. It's been a privilege to watch them.
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Morrison = over-rated
 
Lavinda Past said:
I worked with a lad who was an apprentice (EDS) at Bolton in the early 70s... He said he'd never seen a harder bloke than Same Allardyce. Apparently, even the senior pros were scared of taking on Sam and Peter Reid... Neither took any prisoners.

From the many stories I've heard over the years, I would suspect that Mick Harford and Duncan Ferguson are very rarely more than one step away from being thrown in jail.
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Ferguson was! He did time in Barlinnie.

Allardyce was a right bastard as a player. He'd definitely be quite handy in a fight.
 
GoatersLeftShin said:
Haha I should've clocked that one!!! Yeah, we deffo agree he's a legend! :)

Enjoy the game tonight mate!
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Unbelievably, I bumped into Andy Morrison outside the stadium after the game on 13/05/2012. Told him my username on here and re-iterated that I thought he was crucial to us being in the position we were in that day. He was incredibly humble and didn't want to take any credit. An absolute fucking legend. Wouldn't want to mess with him mind - have you read his autobiography?!

Got a bad feeling about tonight for some reason. I've predicted a 2-1 win but I'm really not confident.
 
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