Thanks to @City_Shirts for another great interview. I really enjoyed it and Steve comes across very well.
I always felt sorry for him. For the fee we spent on him, the fans thought we were getting the new Colin Bell. He simply wasn't that good and couldn't cope with the expectation levels. He was, though, a decent player who was, as he says, not far off getting into the England squad when he joined us. You could almost visibly see his confidence ebb away over time.
He actually put in some really good displays at the start of his time with us. Results were a bit inconsistent but at Christmas we were around halfway in the league. We'd beaten Forest (European champions that season) and United (who finished second in the league), looking very good in the process. Watching those games, I felt I could see the method behind Malcolm's madness and Daley was excellent in both matches.
Unfortunately, from Christmas onwards, the wheels came off. We lost at Halifax in the Cup and couldn't win a league game. Daley's personal form mirrored that of the team. The nadir came at home to Everton in a midweek game early in April. This is the infamous backpass that someone raised above and that I've discussed on here before.
City had thrown away a two-goal lead against bottom-placed Bolton the previous Saturday and, having not won for months, were looking serious relegation candidates ourselves. We'd led Everton for quite a long period but had started to sit back, looking to protect the lead. Daley's terrible backpass to gift them an equaliser ensured that our winless run continued.
That's the moment I always think of as summing up his time with us. The early promise dissipated and it was a pretty desperate period for both him personally and the club as a whole.
I always felt sorry for him. For the fee we spent on him, the fans thought we were getting the new Colin Bell. He simply wasn't that good and couldn't cope with the expectation levels. He was, though, a decent player who was, as he says, not far off getting into the England squad when he joined us. You could almost visibly see his confidence ebb away over time.
He actually put in some really good displays at the start of his time with us. Results were a bit inconsistent but at Christmas we were around halfway in the league. We'd beaten Forest (European champions that season) and United (who finished second in the league), looking very good in the process. Watching those games, I felt I could see the method behind Malcolm's madness and Daley was excellent in both matches.
Unfortunately, from Christmas onwards, the wheels came off. We lost at Halifax in the Cup and couldn't win a league game. Daley's personal form mirrored that of the team. The nadir came at home to Everton in a midweek game early in April. This is the infamous backpass that someone raised above and that I've discussed on here before.
City had thrown away a two-goal lead against bottom-placed Bolton the previous Saturday and, having not won for months, were looking serious relegation candidates ourselves. We'd led Everton for quite a long period but had started to sit back, looking to protect the lead. Daley's terrible backpass to gift them an equaliser ensured that our winless run continued.
That's the moment I always think of as summing up his time with us. The early promise dissipated and it was a pretty desperate period for both him personally and the club as a whole.