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Authors: Neil Young, Dante Friend
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comparison stopped though. On Merseyside there were
Liverpool
and Everton but even Bill Shankly had to exclaim: “ There’s only two teams in
Manchester
. City and City reserves!” How right he was!
As an aside, when my son Mark was seven I took him to
Liverpool
to watch us play them. When we arrived at the ground the man himself was there at the top of the stairs. The great man said: “Ah, Neil is that your son? Bring him to my office.” So we went up to his office and then Shanks said: “Wait there.” He came back with a little parcel and my son opened it. It was a
Liverpool
kit. Shanks said: “Try it on!” Mark would never take it off nor could I get him to change it. It just shows how quickly a young boy can be bought!
Despite a great start to our first season back in the big time, many people felt that we lacked something up front. So Joe went out and bought a real bubbly character from Bolton Wanderers in the shape of Francis Lee. He fitted into the team pattern majestically, replacing either Jimmy Murray or Derek Kevan . They were both internationals, both good players but Franny gave us something extra – he had that little bit more edge. Now when we played we didn’t fear anybody. Nobody enjoyed coming to
Maine Road
– it was an absolute fortress.
The first time
Bell
, Lee and Summerbee played together with the rest of our team we beat Wolves 2-0. That was October 1967. It must have been superb for the crowd in those days, especially if we were playing the Reds from the borough of
Stretford
.
Joe was very clever in the way he assembled the squad. He certainly didn’t buy a lot of defenders early on and try and build a platform from the back but he brought in one here and one there and he knew exactly the sort of players he wanted for each position. We finished up with about seven players who could score goals at City.
At one stage, for about three seasons, Malcolm gave me a role where I could pick up the ball anywhere I wanted. It was a little similar to the role Matt Le Tissier had at
Southampton
– he knew with my control and passing ability I would not give it away. I had no problem in switching the play thirty, forty or even fifty yards because I was so accurate when I passed the ball. I’d do that for Colin and often he’d return the favour.
We knew what we were doing because we took our instructions from earlier in the week and put them into practice on the Saturday. From Monday to Friday we trained hard and practised various moves, so that when we put them into operation during the game it seemed like second nature to us.
By now I was on the left but really I could play anywhere, Mike was on the right and while he made a few goals he didn’t score too many. Belly chipped in with a few from midfield but we still lacked that twenty goals a season man up front as the likes of Derek Kevan and Tony Coleman never scored too many either. Again, that’s where Francis Lee made such a difference to the team pattern.
*
As a coach and trainer Malcolm was second to none, in fact he transformed my game and one of the main reasons behind my continued improvement was the confidence he gave me. A master at mind games Malcolm always had something to say. Always. One instance I remember very well was a game we played at Craven Cottage against Fulham. I had one of those dream nights where we came off the pitch at full time, we’d won 2-0 and he came across to me and said: “You have just murdered the
England
full-back.” I wondered sometimes why I wasn’t in the
England
frame because I held my own against all the international full-backs I came up against: Paul Reaney of
England
, Peter Rodrigues of
Wales
and Alex Elder of
Northern Ireland
.
Another example of him building me up was when he literally bounded into the dressing room before a game at
Elland Road
and plonked himself down next to me. “I’ve just been past their dressing room and Paul Reaney [my marker] is
Liverpool
and Everton but even Bill Shankly had to exclaim: “ There’s only two teams in
Manchester
. City and City reserves!” How right he was!
As an aside, when my son Mark was seven I took him to
Liverpool
to watch us play them. When we arrived at the ground the man himself was there at the top of the stairs. The great man said: “Ah, Neil is that your son? Bring him to my office.” So we went up to his office and then Shanks said: “Wait there.” He came back with a little parcel and my son opened it. It was a
Liverpool
kit. Shanks said: “Try it on!” Mark would never take it off nor could I get him to change it. It just shows how quickly a young boy can be bought!
Despite a great start to our first season back in the big time, many people felt that we lacked something up front. So Joe went out and bought a real bubbly character from Bolton Wanderers in the shape of Francis Lee. He fitted into the team pattern majestically, replacing either Jimmy Murray or Derek Kevan . They were both internationals, both good players but Franny gave us something extra – he had that little bit more edge. Now when we played we didn’t fear anybody. Nobody enjoyed coming to
Maine Road
– it was an absolute fortress.
The first time
Bell
, Lee and Summerbee played together with the rest of our team we beat Wolves 2-0. That was October 1967. It must have been superb for the crowd in those days, especially if we were playing the Reds from the borough of
Stretford
.
Joe was very clever in the way he assembled the squad. He certainly didn’t buy a lot of defenders early on and try and build a platform from the back but he brought in one here and one there and he knew exactly the sort of players he wanted for each position. We finished up with about seven players who could score goals at City.
At one stage, for about three seasons, Malcolm gave me a role where I could pick up the ball anywhere I wanted. It was a little similar to the role Matt Le Tissier had at
Southampton
– he knew with my control and passing ability I would not give it away. I had no problem in switching the play thirty, forty or even fifty yards because I was so accurate when I passed the ball. I’d do that for Colin and often he’d return the favour.
We knew what we were doing because we took our instructions from earlier in the week and put them into practice on the Saturday. From Monday to Friday we trained hard and practised various moves, so that when we put them into operation during the game it seemed like second nature to us.
By now I was on the left but really I could play anywhere, Mike was on the right and while he made a few goals he didn’t score too many. Belly chipped in with a few from midfield but we still lacked that twenty goals a season man up front as the likes of Derek Kevan and Tony Coleman never scored too many either. Again, that’s where Francis Lee made such a difference to the team pattern.
*
As a coach and trainer Malcolm was second to none, in fact he transformed my game and one of the main reasons behind my continued improvement was the confidence he gave me. A master at mind games Malcolm always had something to say. Always. One instance I remember very well was a game we played at Craven Cottage against Fulham. I had one of those dream nights where we came off the pitch at full time, we’d won 2-0 and he came across to me and said: “You have just murdered the
England
full-back.” I wondered sometimes why I wasn’t in the
England
frame because I held my own against all the international full-backs I came up against: Paul Reaney of
England
, Peter Rodrigues of
Wales
and Alex Elder of
Northern Ireland
.
Another example of him building me up was when he literally bounded into the dressing room before a game at
Elland Road
and plonked himself down next to me. “I’ve just been past their dressing room and Paul Reaney [my marker] is
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