An attempt to draw some comparisons between Liverpool and Manchester City from the 1960's and where it went wrong for the 'Blue Moons'
Before all Liverpool fans hit the delete button let me explain that I am from the blue three-quarters of Manchester and share your antipathy towards the club from Salford (hereinafter called the CFS). Having been a City fan since the 1950’s I have suffered first hand the roller coaster ride to nowhere whilst watching, with not a little envy, your almost steady state of triumph from the mid 60’s. Just as an aside I was on the Kop on the 18th April 1964 when Liverpool beat Arsenal 5-0 to win the first division title.
My purpose here is to attempt to draw some similarities between our two clubs (certainly not in the trophy cabinet) and to look at the cultural differences which have ultimately led to the massive gaps in performance on the field and kinship behind the scenes. I began to think of this seconds after I turned the television off 34 minutes into the Liverpool v City game on the 11th April this year. Most readers I am sure will recognise this as being the time of Liverpool’s third goal.
My thoughts at the time, at least the printable ones, centered on the reasons that give rise to success and the capacity to sustain it for generations after. As far as the City story goes we started a few years after the Liverpool train took off in the mid 1960’s, lost the capacity to sustain it less than 10 years later and have struggled to come anywhere near past glories ever since.
I may be going out on a limb here but I believe that the affinities of the fans towards their respective clubs are of a similar nature with the small exception of the need for a healthy dose of eternal optimism at City coupled with a sense of irony bordering on the hysterical. As I say many times to the CFS fans “you can’t take the Mick out of us because we do it to ourselves first.”
The comparisons between Liverpool and City fans lie in their ability and disposition to be constructively critical of their team’s performances and managerial decision-making. Whereas those from the CFS lack the analytical capacity to see much beyond their own narrow-minded biased perspective.
By the end of the 1960’s City were playing catch-up with Liverpool and appeared to have laid the foundations for their tide of success to endure as a League title, FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners triumphs in quick succession demonstrated. The Joe Mercer/Malcolm Allison partnership had proved its worth, with the avuncular Mercer’s steady hand of experience complementing the dynamic coaching techniques of Allison. Allison’s methods created a self-belief in the players that took them to heights of performance not seen at Maine Road in generations, if ever before.
In the background Albert Alexander had been appointed as chairman in 1964 handing the reigns over to his son Eric in 1971. The Alexander family was well established in the folklore of City through Albert’s father who was a founder, President, Chairman, Vice Chairman Director and Manager of the club. Oh yes, he also drove the bus round Manchester in 1904 after they had won the FA Cup at Crystal Palace. City was very much a ‘family club’.
My purpose here is to attempt to draw some similarities between our two clubs (certainly not in the trophy cabinet) and to look at the cultural differences which have ultimately led to the massive gaps in performance on the field and kinship behind the scenes. I began to think of this seconds after I turned the television off 34 minutes into the Liverpool v City game on the 11th April this year. Most readers I am sure will recognise this as being the time of Liverpool’s third goal.
My thoughts at the time, at least the printable ones, centered on the reasons that give rise to success and the capacity to sustain it for generations after. As far as the City story goes we started a few years after the Liverpool train took off in the mid 1960’s, lost the capacity to sustain it less than 10 years later and have struggled to come anywhere near past glories ever since.
I may be going out on a limb here but I believe that the affinities of the fans towards their respective clubs are of a similar nature with the small exception of the need for a healthy dose of eternal optimism at City coupled with a sense of irony bordering on the hysterical. As I say many times to the CFS fans “you can’t take the Mick out of us because we do it to ourselves first.”
The comparisons between Liverpool and City fans lie in their ability and disposition to be constructively critical of their team’s performances and managerial decision-making. Whereas those from the CFS lack the analytical capacity to see much beyond their own narrow-minded biased perspective.
By the end of the 1960’s City were playing catch-up with Liverpool and appeared to have laid the foundations for their tide of success to endure as a League title, FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners triumphs in quick succession demonstrated. The Joe Mercer/Malcolm Allison partnership had proved its worth, with the avuncular Mercer’s steady hand of experience complementing the dynamic coaching techniques of Allison. Allison’s methods created a self-belief in the players that took them to heights of performance not seen at Maine Road in generations, if ever before.
In the background Albert Alexander had been appointed as chairman in 1964 handing the reigns over to his son Eric in 1971. The Alexander family was well established in the folklore of City through Albert’s father who was a founder, President, Chairman, Vice Chairman Director and Manager of the club. Oh yes, he also drove the bus round Manchester in 1904 after they had won the FA Cup at Crystal Palace. City was very much a ‘family club’.
 Malcolm Allison |
However, the foundations of the 1960’s had been built on shifting sands and the welfare of Manchester City became a poor second to the personal ambitions of one Peter Swales who became a Director in 1971 and was appointed Chairman in 1973. Becoming Chairman of Manchester City was secondary to Swales’ real objective as his sights were firmly set on the Chairmanship of the Football Association. Couple Swales’ megalomania with the ego of coach Malcolm Alison and voila! you have a club on the verge of self-destruction. Notwithstanding the coaching genius of Allison the inmates were definitely in-charge of the asylum.
Frustrated by Joe Mercer’s continuing status as manager and in particular Mercers cautious attitude to the transfer market Allison engineered a Boardroom shuffle that brought Swales and other new directors to the club. Allison’s men were now firmly in place and the Board finally gave him the reins in 1971-72 with Joe Mercer being ‘booted upstairs’ before finally leaving the club for Coventry City.
On the field though it was business as usual with City well placed for a second league title in four years. It was at this point in the clubs history that the self-destruct button was finally pressed. Allison’s personal proclivity for flamboyance was clearly not enough for him. Despite the fact that City had been playing an exciting brand of football since re-joining the First Division he had to go that one step further and persuaded the Board to sign Rodney Marsh from QPR. This finally put pay to the dynamics of a team that, over the past four years, had put more trophies in the City cabinet than any other in its history.
Frustrated by Joe Mercer’s continuing status as manager and in particular Mercers cautious attitude to the transfer market Allison engineered a Boardroom shuffle that brought Swales and other new directors to the club. Allison’s men were now firmly in place and the Board finally gave him the reins in 1971-72 with Joe Mercer being ‘booted upstairs’ before finally leaving the club for Coventry City.
On the field though it was business as usual with City well placed for a second league title in four years. It was at this point in the clubs history that the self-destruct button was finally pressed. Allison’s personal proclivity for flamboyance was clearly not enough for him. Despite the fact that City had been playing an exciting brand of football since re-joining the First Division he had to go that one step further and persuaded the Board to sign Rodney Marsh from QPR. This finally put pay to the dynamics of a team that, over the past four years, had put more trophies in the City cabinet than any other in its history.
 Rodney Marsh |
Unfit, uncommitted to the club, overweight and with a threshold of arrogance that put him beyond any team principles Marsh single handedly did for City what most opposing teams had been unable to do for some years – stop them from playing the flowing brand of football which took them to the pinnacle of the domestic game.
Leading the First Division at the time City barely won another match after signing Marsh and finished the season in 4th place on the same number of points as Leeds and Liverpool, one point behind the eventual winners Derby County. In the time-honoured ironic Man. City tradition they went on to beat Derby County in the last match of the season by which time it was all over.
A further example of the bungling that prevailed was the transfer of Steve Daley from Wolves for, at that time, a record British fee of £1.45m. Allison claimed that, whist he wanted Daley, he had already agreed a lower fee with the Wolves manager and Swales’ intervention behind his back only served to drive the fee to the record level. Whatever the worth of Daley his performances on the field were nothing short of abysmal and he soon left.
Swales held the Chairman’s post for 20 years during which time he turned over 17 managers. Since 1993 City have gone on to employ a further 11 managers including the current incumbent; a grand total of 28 managers in 38 years. And yet the ‘Blue Moon’ will always be rising in Manchester thanks to the binding affinity and perverse loyalty of the fans.
Meanwhile back to the 1960’s and Bill Shankly is building a bond between players, backroom staff, and fans across the whole Liverpool club with little or no apparent interference from the Board. After all why would any Board of Directors want to break up a winning formula?
Even when the ‘Great One’ retired in 1974, the Liverpool foundations had already been established in the ‘Boot Room’ where Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Reuben Bennett had set the management philosophy that established Liverpool's success over the next three decades. Rueben who? I hear the non-Scousers call. Just as they asked who Bob Paisley or Joe Fagan was when they were appointed as managers. For the uninitiated check it out.
Len Shackleton, a truly great player for Newcastle and Sunderland in the 1940’s and 50’s, in his book ‘The Clown Prince of Soccer’ titled one of the chapters ‘What the Average Director Knows About Football’. It was followed by a number of blank pages before moving on to the next chapter. Prospective Directors of football clubs should be required to sit a written examination of their knowledge of the game and in particular how good managers create great teams.
Instead the FA advocate their ‘Fit and Proper’ Person Test’ against which anybody with an unspent criminal conviction involving dishonesty, or who has run a football club into administration twice (only twice mind you!) cannot take over at a club. Using this test such ‘honest and upright’ citizens of humanity such as Taksin Shinawatra, who tripled the City’s losses during his one-year ownership and was eventually convicted for corruption in his home country of Thailand, should never pass muster. But he and others of a similar dodgy persuasion have.
It is not for me to pontificate about where Liverpool’s successes may have gone astray in the mid 1990’s. However, the appointment of Graeme Souness in 1991 and the silly situation of Roy Evans and Gerrard Houlier becoming joint managers could only have served to complicate what was a proven formula for managerial attainment. In terms of the Boardroom enough has been said and written about that previously and one can only hope now that Kenny Dalglish’s interim situation will be resolved and he will be allowed to continue his ‘back to the future’ journey. If the Board give him the job on a permanent basis Liverpool will be a force to be reckoned with again next season.
So where have I gone with this comparison between two great football clubs? My final contention is that first and foremost managing a team is best left to those whose knowledge and passion for football transcends their own personalities whether they are quiet and apparently unassuming or outspoken and extravagant. Added to that the top managers have leadership qualities that unite a team and gives average players a self-belief that exceeds their apparent hitherto ability. Malcolm Allison had it all in terms of football knowledge and coaching skills. His downfall was in putting his rampant ego before club values. Bill Shankly had opinions in spades but they only served to fuel his ambitions for Liverpool Football Club.
Having said that any manager, however committed he is to the cause, will find success difficult to achieve if his Chairman and Board of Directors fail to walk a fine line between support and interference (ask Carlo Ancelotti). Both clubs have new owners but Liverpool, with ‘King Kenny’ back in the managers seat, will I am sure establish a modern day ‘Boot Room’ philosophy and the blossoming of young talent coming through to the first team is surely the first signs of the shoots of recovery.
City, for their part always have the cheque-book handy!
Leading the First Division at the time City barely won another match after signing Marsh and finished the season in 4th place on the same number of points as Leeds and Liverpool, one point behind the eventual winners Derby County. In the time-honoured ironic Man. City tradition they went on to beat Derby County in the last match of the season by which time it was all over.
A further example of the bungling that prevailed was the transfer of Steve Daley from Wolves for, at that time, a record British fee of £1.45m. Allison claimed that, whist he wanted Daley, he had already agreed a lower fee with the Wolves manager and Swales’ intervention behind his back only served to drive the fee to the record level. Whatever the worth of Daley his performances on the field were nothing short of abysmal and he soon left.
Swales held the Chairman’s post for 20 years during which time he turned over 17 managers. Since 1993 City have gone on to employ a further 11 managers including the current incumbent; a grand total of 28 managers in 38 years. And yet the ‘Blue Moon’ will always be rising in Manchester thanks to the binding affinity and perverse loyalty of the fans.
Meanwhile back to the 1960’s and Bill Shankly is building a bond between players, backroom staff, and fans across the whole Liverpool club with little or no apparent interference from the Board. After all why would any Board of Directors want to break up a winning formula?
Even when the ‘Great One’ retired in 1974, the Liverpool foundations had already been established in the ‘Boot Room’ where Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Reuben Bennett had set the management philosophy that established Liverpool's success over the next three decades. Rueben who? I hear the non-Scousers call. Just as they asked who Bob Paisley or Joe Fagan was when they were appointed as managers. For the uninitiated check it out.
Len Shackleton, a truly great player for Newcastle and Sunderland in the 1940’s and 50’s, in his book ‘The Clown Prince of Soccer’ titled one of the chapters ‘What the Average Director Knows About Football’. It was followed by a number of blank pages before moving on to the next chapter. Prospective Directors of football clubs should be required to sit a written examination of their knowledge of the game and in particular how good managers create great teams.
Instead the FA advocate their ‘Fit and Proper’ Person Test’ against which anybody with an unspent criminal conviction involving dishonesty, or who has run a football club into administration twice (only twice mind you!) cannot take over at a club. Using this test such ‘honest and upright’ citizens of humanity such as Taksin Shinawatra, who tripled the City’s losses during his one-year ownership and was eventually convicted for corruption in his home country of Thailand, should never pass muster. But he and others of a similar dodgy persuasion have.
It is not for me to pontificate about where Liverpool’s successes may have gone astray in the mid 1990’s. However, the appointment of Graeme Souness in 1991 and the silly situation of Roy Evans and Gerrard Houlier becoming joint managers could only have served to complicate what was a proven formula for managerial attainment. In terms of the Boardroom enough has been said and written about that previously and one can only hope now that Kenny Dalglish’s interim situation will be resolved and he will be allowed to continue his ‘back to the future’ journey. If the Board give him the job on a permanent basis Liverpool will be a force to be reckoned with again next season.
So where have I gone with this comparison between two great football clubs? My final contention is that first and foremost managing a team is best left to those whose knowledge and passion for football transcends their own personalities whether they are quiet and apparently unassuming or outspoken and extravagant. Added to that the top managers have leadership qualities that unite a team and gives average players a self-belief that exceeds their apparent hitherto ability. Malcolm Allison had it all in terms of football knowledge and coaching skills. His downfall was in putting his rampant ego before club values. Bill Shankly had opinions in spades but they only served to fuel his ambitions for Liverpool Football Club.
Having said that any manager, however committed he is to the cause, will find success difficult to achieve if his Chairman and Board of Directors fail to walk a fine line between support and interference (ask Carlo Ancelotti). Both clubs have new owners but Liverpool, with ‘King Kenny’ back in the managers seat, will I am sure establish a modern day ‘Boot Room’ philosophy and the blossoming of young talent coming through to the first team is surely the first signs of the shoots of recovery.
City, for their part always have the cheque-book handy!
