Which player from the 1968 championship winning side........

[crazyg]

sorry boys , watched the blues since 1966, all mentioned players fantastic but not a patch on todays pace and tactical play , sorry

Well Im only two years behind you and I can say that your wrong, Colin Bell was no Usain Bolt granted but the extra space he would get these days and the quality of the playing surface would more than compensate for any percieved lack of pace.... These are not CB tinted specs I wear... The Great Man was good enough,, End of

Seconded mate.
Bell would plough up and down a mud bath of a pitch for 90 mins.
It would have been intresting if they had the same technology to see how much he covered in a match.
I think only Milner could come near him for stamina in todays team.

On the first point, City used a British sprinter (Brian Green) to help their speed work. Bell beat him over 100m. Over 400m, he could have been in the Olympic squad, as his times were (apparently) faster than David Jenkins, the then European champion.

On the second point, they did measure his match performance, against QPR in the League Cup in 1970. He ran over 8000m, with a lot of sprint work in that figure. The pitch was in it's usual shit condition.

His nickname of Nijinsky was very apt.

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

Colin Bell was James Milner and David Silva rolled into one! With touch of Puskas if he needed it!

 

[crazyg]

Colin Bell was James Milner and David Silva rolled into one! With touch of Puskas if he needed it!

I thought he was better than that!

Amazing he's never included in any of the football "greats", when players such as Captain Fantastic are. Bell was a far better player.

 

[Blue Til Death]

Colin Bell can hold his head high and revel in the god like status Man City fans and others hold him in, as one of the greatest players England and Indeed Europe has ever produced. A model professional and a true gentleman on and off the pitch. I would challenge any modern player to run for 90 mins on the treacle laden pitches he played on and still play the brilliant football he did, without cramping up or going off injured every game.

He was my hero as a kid and remains so, now and forever.

All kneel before:

COLIN the KING

 

[TGR]

Tony Book.
Forget his age - class pure and simple.

 

[TonyBook]

Bell without a doubt. I'm sure I remember reading that he was put through a series of tests by Manchester Uni. back in the day. Turned out he had a very low resting heart rate, something like 40 bpm, which is typical of great middle distance athletes. He wouldn't have struggled with the fitness. Could score goals from inside and outside the box, could head a ball, ran with the ball and off it, wasn't greedy and covered bloody miles every game. Best value signing City ever made, I reckon, about £60 000 from Bury.

£45, 000 actually.

 

[hmblue]

Watching 1st team since 1954 season (4-0 win against WBA was my first game).
Only Bert Trautmann would be guaranteed a place in the present team. Franny, Belly and Bobby Johnstone would make the bench. imvho

 

[TonyBook]

Well Im only two years behind you and I can say that your wrong, Colin Bell was no Usain Bolt granted but the extra space he would get these days and the quality of the playing surface would more than compensate for any percieved lack of pace.... These are not CB tinted specs I wear... The Great Man was good enough,, End of

Seconded mate.
Bell would plough up and down a mud bath of a pitch for 90 mins.
It would have been intresting if they had the same technology to see how much he covered in a match.
I think only Milner could come near him for stamina in todays team.

On the first point, City used a British sprinter (Dave Green?) to help their speed work. Bell beat him over 100m. Over 400m, he could have been in the Olympic squad, as his times were (apparently) faster than David Jenkins, the then European champion.

On the second point, they did measure his match performance, against QPR in the League Cup in 1970. He ran over 8000m, with a lot of sprint work in that figure. The pitch was in it's usual shit condition.


His nickname of Nijinsky was very apt.

Really. I'm truly gobsmacked.

Not surprised about the 8km!

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

Colin Bell was James Milner and David Silva rolled into one! With touch of Puskas if he needed it!

I thought he was better than that!

Amazing he's never included in any of the football "greats", when players such as Captain Fantastic are. Bell was a far better player.

He was! Comparing him to others never does the guy justice. I've said it before and it won't be the last time - Whenever he was playing I thought we couldn't lose!

 

[TonyBook]

Colin Bell can hold his head high and revel in the god like status Man City fans and others hold him in, as one of the greatest players England and Indeed Europe has ever produced. A model professional and a true gentleman on and off the pitch. I would challenge any modern player to run for 90 mins on the treacle laden pitches he played on and still play the brilliant football he did, without cramping up or going off injured every game.

He was my hero as a kid and remains so, now and forever.

All kneel before:

COLIN the KING

Poetically written but true.