davyhulme blue
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- Joined
- 13 Dec 2010
- Messages
- 835
I think he was in shawe view rest home behind the bird maybe then
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Malcolm Allison
- Thread starter Gary James
- Start date
The most charismatic man in the history of the club, amazing personality , he could walk into any room in the world and everyone would stop and look at him and be in awe.
Great coach but as so many have said, a very poor manager.
Still a legend and icon of our great club.
Great coach but as so many have said, a very poor manager.
Still a legend and icon of our great club.
Hes the left back remember
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 15 Dec 2009
- Messages
- 1,044
Great coach,some say ahead of his time.
His book Soccer for thinkers was the first football book i ever read
His book Soccer for thinkers was the first football book i ever read
Yes that makes more sense, thanksI think he was in shawe view rest home behind the bird maybe then
superwatsonwatson
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- Joined
- 6 Jul 2009
- Messages
- 658
I was in the Kippax the day of the Palace FA Cup game. Not convinced he came over out of pure love for the City fans, part tactical. I remember the response from the Kippax loudly singing ‘Johnny Bond’. Always loved big Mal.
When Mercer & Allison arrived at Maine Road, we'd been through three years of absolute dross including the relegation season of 1962-63.
Every so often you'd think we'd reached the nadir of our fortunes, only for us to go and scratch another line we shouldn't cross.. yet cross it we did! (eg getting thrashed 6-1 home and away by West Ham; being beaten at home in the League Cup by Mansfield Town; losing the FA Cup replay at Shrewsbury Town; the lowest ever home attendance against Swindon Town; and so on and so on..)
And all the while that lot across town were recovering from the Munich disaster and winning the FA Cup and the League title. No local bragging rights for us, especially at school!
But then, all of a sudden 'Genial Joe' and 'Big Mal' began turning it around. The football got better, as did the players (most notably Neil Young, Alan Oakes and Glyn Pardoe) The press and TV were beginning to take notice of us.
And that was largely down to 'Big Mal'. Joe was a genius manager but 'Big Mal' was the genius coach, always introducing new coaching techniques, new ways to motivate and improve the squad (from the Swedish system of 'Fartlek training' to designing the cool second strip of red and black stripes borrowed from AC Milan..)
But he was also bullish and genius communicator. He took no prisoners when it came to talking up 'his' club, all in the name of getting us noticed and talked about.
There were loads of examples of him taking our part, of him 'getting' what City fans were about but here's just one; Paddy Crerand over at the Red Filth publicly stated City would never again attract a crowd over 30000 again and be destined to live in 'United's shadow', so 'Big Mal' took him up on it with a bet.. within a few weeks of that promotion season of 65/66 beginning City got 32000+ against Norwich in a table-topping clash in midweek no less; cue 'Big Mal' telling the press that City were going to be a force to reckon with.. and my, how we loved him for it!
And then the results and the trophies began to come our way, as 'Big Mal' had predicted all along, bringing with them with plenty of bragging rights over the Red Filth after years of putting up with them crowing over us!
Believe me, it was one of the coolest times ever to be a Blue!
That decade or so that Mercer & Allison set up for us to enjoy was, in many ways, as good as everything we've been privileged to enjoy since 2008. And 'Big Mal' should always be thanked and remembered by us all for his part in what the two of them did for us.
Every so often you'd think we'd reached the nadir of our fortunes, only for us to go and scratch another line we shouldn't cross.. yet cross it we did! (eg getting thrashed 6-1 home and away by West Ham; being beaten at home in the League Cup by Mansfield Town; losing the FA Cup replay at Shrewsbury Town; the lowest ever home attendance against Swindon Town; and so on and so on..)
And all the while that lot across town were recovering from the Munich disaster and winning the FA Cup and the League title. No local bragging rights for us, especially at school!
But then, all of a sudden 'Genial Joe' and 'Big Mal' began turning it around. The football got better, as did the players (most notably Neil Young, Alan Oakes and Glyn Pardoe) The press and TV were beginning to take notice of us.
And that was largely down to 'Big Mal'. Joe was a genius manager but 'Big Mal' was the genius coach, always introducing new coaching techniques, new ways to motivate and improve the squad (from the Swedish system of 'Fartlek training' to designing the cool second strip of red and black stripes borrowed from AC Milan..)
But he was also bullish and genius communicator. He took no prisoners when it came to talking up 'his' club, all in the name of getting us noticed and talked about.
There were loads of examples of him taking our part, of him 'getting' what City fans were about but here's just one; Paddy Crerand over at the Red Filth publicly stated City would never again attract a crowd over 30000 again and be destined to live in 'United's shadow', so 'Big Mal' took him up on it with a bet.. within a few weeks of that promotion season of 65/66 beginning City got 32000+ against Norwich in a table-topping clash in midweek no less; cue 'Big Mal' telling the press that City were going to be a force to reckon with.. and my, how we loved him for it!
And then the results and the trophies began to come our way, as 'Big Mal' had predicted all along, bringing with them with plenty of bragging rights over the Red Filth after years of putting up with them crowing over us!
Believe me, it was one of the coolest times ever to be a Blue!
That decade or so that Mercer & Allison set up for us to enjoy was, in many ways, as good as everything we've been privileged to enjoy since 2008. And 'Big Mal' should always be thanked and remembered by us all for his part in what the two of them did for us.
Last edited:
Gray
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- Joined
- 30 May 2004
- Messages
- 24,772
- Team supported
- ABU & The Bus Wreckers
He lived in an apartment at Regency Court on Grove Lane Hale, it was on the site where the Wellgreen Hotel once stood.
Big Mal and genial Joe were made for each other, 65/66 was a great time to be a City fan and over the next few years the football we played was unbelievable considering the state of the pitches then that were more like mud and the ballet on ice with Spurs. Fabulous memories which unfortunately didn’t last long enough but what a time to be a blue.
Remember Big Mal at the swamp before kick off walking up to the stretford end to wind them up, someone chucked what looked like an orange at him so he just picked it up and threw it back at them. Could have been the 67/68 season.
Big hero of mine was Malcolm.
Big hero of mine was Malcolm.
remember arthur mann
Well-Known Member
Sir Joe Mercer was the calming influence on Big Mal, a fantastic time, very happy days.Agreed him and Joe gave us the most successful period in our history before the present time.