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Jack Charlton: I'll Never Forgive John Aldridge


Plewggs
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Sad news even if he did have a good innings. I remember first seeing charlton play for leeds. Fuck me he was as tall as Rowdy but because he was thinner seemed even taller.

 

Charlton played at a time when challenges in football were different. Tackles and challenges that would see a player off today with a straight red, often went unpunished with the fouler and fouled often just getting up glaring at each other or shaking hands and getting on with it.

 

You wouldnt have called charlton a culture player but, he did the job a centre half in those days was expected to do. And that was boss the opposing centre forward in the box, nod the ball clear from corners and if you could weigh in with a goal or two down the other end, all the better.

 

Despite winning the Division One title twice, the FA Cup, League Cup and Fairs Cup, he probably doesnt get the recognition he deserved because he played for 'dirty' Leeds and, they finished 2nd so many times in the league, people considered them a nearly team. Plus he had his 'little black book' of people in the game he was going to get retribution on which didnt endear him to most of the public!

 

I was actually shocked for him when the story came out after an England manager was ousted. He applied for the manager's job and he said the FA didnt even acknowledge his application. Some things at the FA never change.

 

Whether you dislike Leeds or Jack Charlton himself, he was an immense player in his time. RIP.

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Devastating news. I started supporting the Irish when I was 12 (simply because England didn't pick Liverpool players). They weren't the prettiest to watch, but my god they could fight. 7 minutes away from putting the Dutch out of Euro 88, the penalties against Romania at Italia 90, beating Italy at USA 94, just marvellous!

 

I stopped giving a shit about Ireland, and international football full stop after they gave in and picked Roy Keane again in 2003, but it was never the same after Jack left in 1996.

 

RIP Big Man! There'll be some Guinness raised in your memory tonight!

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30 minutes ago, El Rojo said:

RIP. He achieved brilliantly for Ireland and his critics in that regard are always quiet on why the national team never scaled the same heights before (with arguably better players) or after. 
 

 

Yeah I used to be always amazed at how Ireland never did better before he came along. They had some players down the years. 

 

I never supported any national team, but have a big soft spot for Ireland being from Liverpool. At a time when Liverpudlians were getting Victorian style abuse from the rest of the country in the 80s and Maggie was sticking the boot in to us, it seemed right suppirting Ireland over England and I loved when Houghton scored that goal.

 

 

 

 

 

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Sad day, proper character, reminds me of one of my uncles who was a proper eccentric and loved footy and drinking. 

 

Did well for ireland and got them punching well above their weight. Always remember the two world cups in 1990 and 1994. The 1994 game against italy must have divided New York for a day. 

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40 minutes ago, Strontium Dog™ said:

Always used to pay for his ale with cheques, because he knew Irish landlords would frame them rather than cash them.

Yeah, he was on about that on Irish tv one night. Saved him thousands.  

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3 hours ago, Strontium Dog™ said:

Always used to pay for his ale with cheques, because he knew Irish landlords would frame them rather than cash them.

Mark Lawrenson said earlier he was notoriously tight, and he mentioned this. For what he did for Irish football, fair do's to him!

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I've never been much a fan of international football, even less so in recent years, but for me in my late teens-early twenties, it was impossible not to be taken along with the ride and the buzz, simply because I and we, as a nation, had simply never known it before.

 

There was no delusion. Ireland was not a sleeping giant of football being woken from its slumber. It was a pure novel thrill of Ireland not losing every game and even actually winning some. There was at last, a plan. Not pretty, just pretty effective. Not  But everybody knew it, and could get behind it, because we knew what to expect. The 'Put 'em under pressure' ethos was one everyone could get on board with. It was a mix of 'route 1' football mixed with a lot of pressing to force mistakes. This was disruption football. It produced results. It gave Ireland, at a time of dreadful politics, mass unemployment and mass emigration, including myself, something to sing and shout about.

 

There had been some great players in the recent past, like Liam Brady and John Giles, but they were like Rushy, destined never to be lucky enough to have another half dozen decent players around them so that they might get to a Euro or World Cup tournament.

 

The 70s & 80s were the days when if Ireland lost only 4-0, it was a moral victory. The days of Eoin Hand, as the manager, 1980-85, were as dire as could be imagined. He'd only ever managed League of Ireland teams, and had won the FAI Cup with Limerick City in 81/82, in all reality was all the smalltime & incompetent* FAI were deserving of.

 

And then came Jack, as a result of more bungling politic wrangling, which was characteristic of the FAI, particularly for the incident in 1980, in the list quoted by Gav.

 

He immersed himself in Irish culture, the drinking, the craic, and he loved the fishing. There was one story told by himself, where there was traffic chaos one day, in a town in Mayo, when the bridge over the river was thronged with people all gathered for the spectacle of Jack fishing. It was very much a case of hero worship, because here was a guy giving Irish football fans something they'd never experienced before. Being a Northerner, he had a common, working class touch, and appreciated the adoration, even if sometimes feeling a little taken aback and embarrassed by it. But he was always a gentleman and the centre of attention in company, and he loved the honesty of the Irish as they loved his.

 

He chose his own time to leave, after 10 years, and a final defeat by Netherlands at Anfield, which meant they failed to quality for Euro 96. Keen not to hang on until he was hounded out and fired, and risk losing the affection and respect of the Irish people, he resigned straight after the game. He knew he'd got as much as he could have from the group pf players he had, and moved on to give somebody else an opportunity.

 

He didn't outstay his welcome, and was always greeted with open arms and more of the same old adoration when he subsequently visited Ireland, where as noted, he was wily and canny with his money, and no less loved because of that. Publicans were perfectly happy to forego the money, simply for the privilege of having Jack drink in their bar, the custom that brought in, the stories they were able to tell, and to able to pint to the framed cheque on the wall.

 

Thanks for the memories, Jack.

 

 

 

On 23/10/2008 at 21:53, Gav said:

* Now we know where Bill and Uzzy took their inspiration from. 

 

1999 – The FAI announced a plan to spend £65m on a new stadium, but forgot to include the £16m cost of the site, then spent years debating which of two non-existent stadiums they would use. During the optimistic FAI bid to host Euro 2008, the UEFA panel was photographed examining an empty field.

 

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