Joe Royle - has he been acknowledged enough?

Blue Llama said:
You can look at it the other side on Dickov, his best season for us he scored 10 goals. Admittedly a very significant one. If he had been a decent striker instead of a headless chicken we would not have been in the third division.
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In a parallel universe he could have gone down in history as the bloke who cost us promotion with his virtually forgotten about missed penalty.
 
Uncle Wally One Ball said:
I was at that game. They had a Scottish left back who could have been anywhere between early 30s and mid 50s with a Yosser Hughes tache. He had Holden in his pocket all game
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Only two things I remember from that night are every fucker robbing the supermarket behind the away end and Holden “sprinting “ the full length of the pitch celebrating his goal ( that we didn’t actually need anyway )

He was the best crosser of the ball in Europe though.
 
Blue Llama said:
You can look at it the other side on Dickov, his best season for us he scored 10 goals. Admittedly a very significant one. If he had been a decent striker instead of a headless chicken we would not have been in the third division.
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Oh don't get me wrong,Dickov will never be a huge legend in my eyes,albeit he scored a very important goal in the scheme of things,I agree completely with what you say.

But this is my thoughts about Royle,and Dickov saved his bacon,and reputation purely with that goal.
 
I have great respect and affection for Joe Royle. He did a truly great job for us, at a time when City was a total mad house and we came close to complete meltdown. He is also one of the nicest and most polite blokes you could wish to meet.
Funnily, I was told last week that Joe had attended a supporters club branch meeting recently and stated that he didn’t rate Rico Lewis, and that in Gary Mason he had managed a young player who did much the same thing. I can only think with all due respect, that Joe’s memory is fading a bit, but even so, a top bloke In my eyes.
 
Whether or not said:
I have great respect and affection for Joe Royle. He did a truly great job for us, at a time when City was a total mad house and we came close to complete meltdown. He is also one of the nicest and most polite blokes you could wish to meet.
Funnily, I was told last week that Joe had attended a supporters club branch meeting recently and stated that he didn’t rate Rico Lewis, and that in Gary Mason he had managed a young player who did much the same thing. I can only think with all due respect, that Joe’s memory is fading a bit, but even so, a top bloke In my eyes.
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I rated Gary Mason too, think he had a good debut.

It was also around that time that I gave up making predictions about footballers.
 
A true City legend, key member of the team that won the League Cup in 1975/76, then were runners-up in the league in 1976/77 as well as putting in some fantastic performances in Europe for us. Then there is his invaluable service as manager, taking us from our lowest ebb, back to being a healthy club capable of playing in the Premier League.

Happy birthday Sir Joe!.
 
Stephen230 said:
Only two things I remember from that night are every fucker robbing the supermarket behind the away end and Holden “sprinting “ the full length of the pitch celebrating his goal ( that we didn’t actually need anyway )

He was the best crosser of the ball in Europe though.
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A fun night
Half our end were calling Holden ‘Zico’ after he scuffed home a shitty winner
 
Royle only being relegated or promoted as City manager is pretty good, IMO. I think he was out of his depth in the Premier League with us by then but arguably deserved his chance to keep us up.

A hugely important figure in City’s history nevertheless.
 
I loved Joe Royle, When he took over we were in massive trouble as a club, He done a marvellous job for us. It's no joke being in Division Two and every single team treating it as a cup final against us.

When we got promoted into Division One being realistic about it we possibly punched above our weight to finish second in the league because other teams in the league possibly had better players than us, Royle had us a better team than the rest which is the main thing.

On top of all that I've met him quite a few times and can't speak highly enough of him he's an absolute gentleman.
 
Happy Birthday Big Joe. I am struggling with the lack of respect and affection that some Blues who posted in this thread a couple of years ago seem to have for him. Arguably his finest body of work was at Oldham where he built an amazing attacking team from other players cast offs. Getting them promotion to the top flight and to an FA semi-final against the rags was an amazing achievement. His football at Everton was functional but he won a trophy and his time at City was good even if things were on a knife edge at times.
Living proof that some scousers are admirable gentlemen.
 
jamesha said:
Happy Birthday Big Joe. I am struggling with the lack of respect and affection that some Blues who posted in this thread a couple of years ago seem to have for him. Arguably his finest body of work was at Oldham where he built an amazing attacking team from other players cast offs. Getting them promotion to the top flight and to an FA semi-final against the rags was an amazing achievement. His football at Everton was functional but he won a trophy and his time at City was good even if things were on a knife edge at times.
Living proof that some scousers are admirable gentlemen.
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2 FA semis and a LC Final with them. 6 nil at home v West Ham in a Semi-Final (Pellegrini style), plastic pitch blamed.
 
Great admiration for Joe both as player and manager, and one with a sense of humour. However, David Bernstein's book, and particularly the chapter 'The Bubbles burst', and observations on the drinking culture give another insight.
 
It wasn’t Scunny the next season and it may not have been Pep etc many seasons later thanks to Mr Bernstein and yourself.

Happy Birthday and thank you.
 
Great fella, so down to earth and a proper unit.
Me and his lad Darren played in the same Sunday league team as kids and Joe was there every week supporting.

Did a great job for us. As a club we was dead, skint and players who didn't give two fucks about us was sucking us dry. He came in and with help from David Bernstein and Andy Morrison got the club breathing again. Joe Royle will always be a part of City's history and future history.
 
The Promotion season under Joe Royle was one of the most enjoyable as a City fan, 30 years of hurt under Swales was gone and for once we had momentum and genuine hope.

The blackburn away final game one of the best away days ever, I will always look back on that day fondly, incredible atmosphere and on pitch celebrations.
 
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