The Diary

28 November 2003: SuperBob, Super Sutton Guest!

?Bobby?s gone ? he was a bit strange ? and we?ve got a Dingle in charge now!?

Thus spake former striker and modern-day Albion folk-hero Bob Taylor at Sutton Branch WBASC tonight ? and only Bob could have summed up the past few months of his Cheltenham sojourn in such a forthright but delightful manner! The ?Dingle? of course, was John Ward, Cheltenham?s new gaffer, formerly Dave Jones?s side-kick, and replacement for our old friend Bobby Gould, who had his services terminated by mutual consent recently. The attendance was tremendous, and a packed venue listened enthralled to Bob?s hilariously told stories of people and places connected with both Albion in particular and the beautiful game in general.

We know tonight was going to be special when the great man offered to the committee a somewhat ? erm - unusual T shirt for a raffle prize, but of the picture printed on the front, perhaps it?s better for everyone I don?t elaborate on it! We kicked off by asking Bob how he was doing at his new club, which explains the above remark! Apparently, things are run somewhat differently to our place ? the fines are so much less, because people earn less, of course ? and as far as Bob?s concerned, their new gaffer is a fresh start, new faces have come in, and everyone?s had to buck their ideas up.

Was he regarded as something of a father-figure down there, someone wanted to know. Bob said he tried not to look one. Things could be frustrating at times at that level, ?It?s a learning process for me.? Yes, there is an automatic extension on his contract should he appear in 25 games this season, apparently, and he?s well on course to achieve that. He?s scored 6 goals so far for Cheltenham ? that?s a ratio of 1 goal for every 2 appearances for the club ? and does all he can to keep fit, but plays it by ear as to whether he feels he needs to do more. Oh, and down there, he has to wash his own kit, much to the bemusement of his missus!

The last game he played for Albion (against Newcastle) came as a complete shock to him because as far as he was concerned, he had been told not to bother coming in for training any more, consequently his fitness had suffered. (The circumstances have been dealt with at length in previous issues of GD.) As for the precise reason why he fell out of favour, Bob still doesn?t know! In fact, Bob was very candid indeed about his most recent time with us, and the events of the last 12 months or so. ?Nuff said! Bob then went on to praise Jason Koumas to the hilt, but pointed out that by moving to us, he?d had to adapt considerably from the style of play Tranmere normally utilised, to the one Albion wanted, which was, of course, considerably different.

The Premiership? That was literally a different ball-game. At that level, chances are few, but those you have, you have to take and make them count. It?s no good sitting back $p and hoping to catch someone on the break. The lads did well, but sometimes, they were simply overrun; they simply battled, gave it 110%, sometimes, but it wasn?t enough. If we do go up again, we need to progress to the next level, and to do that, you need top-class players, who, of course, cost money.

Bob was then asked how he saw his future in the game. Much laughter as he said he might try to do a ?Tony Ford?! (Tony, one of our ?exes?, is the current holder of the record number of League appearances for an entire career, bless his little chubby face!) Bob said he didn?t know what he wanted to do, but didn?t want to ?make a fool of himself?, my interpretation being he didn?t want to enter the ranks of ?clapped-out? old pros lumbering their way steadily down the lower Leagues. Coaching was a possibility, and he wanted to try to start off doing a bit of coaching lower down the ladder and seeing how it went. Yes, the PFA were very good at organising courses for players who wanted to pursue radically different careers once they?d hung their boots up for good, and their expertise was available even to those currently out of the game. Bob, needless to say, was keeping his subscriptions up.

Did Bob still keep in touch with his old team-mates? Yes, and he especially mentioned Dobes and Des Lyttle in that context, and then went on to mention Lee Hughes. As the subject is a somewhat delicate one, perhaps it?s better I gloss over what was actually said, but far as that issue was concerned, Bob had what I?d regard as a very reasoned, mature and balanced approach to the whole situation, and I have to say I agreed wholeheartedly with the main thrust of Bob?s views. (Incidentally, tonight?s E and S showed Lee being driven to the training-ground in the company of Big Dave, which is, in my opinion the best thing for the lad. If anyone can sort him out, Big Dave can. How do I know? Simple; I?ve been on the other end of one of his inspirational ? and totally sincere, by the way ? talks myself, so I know he?s more than capable of doing the biz.)

On to the subject of the oval-ball code, as posed by The Fart, Bob reckoned that there were good things about that game that could conceivably cross over into association football, and vice-versa, and one could learn quite easily from the other. There was no on-pitch dissent purely and simply because any ?lip? to the referee from a ?rugger-bugger? would invariably result in the instant punishment of 10 or so minutes in the ?sin-bin?. Bob thought well of the idea of ?wiring up? referees so that everyone could hear the official?s reasoning behind the award of a decision. Then, the million-dollar question ? in his playing career, had Bob ever ?dived?? Let?s just say an enigmatic smile crossed his face right then, and with a wealth of implication underlying it! No, we never really got a direct answer to that one!

The Fart, again. What did Bob think of Bully as a striker? Well, said our hero, he did have a good record; he was loyal to Wolves, they looked after him, and he looked after them. Maybe he should have left for the experience of playing at a more challenging place.

Then, a complete change of subject, this time, concerning Albion?s pre-match warm-up routine. Wasn?t there a risk of players expending so much energy on such exertions, they?d find themselves ?running on empty? come the last ten minutes or so? No, said Bob, these warm-ups were vital to make muscles supple and warm players up, because if this wasn?t done properly, injuries could result quite easily. As a matter of fact, Cheltenham also followed a similar pre-match on-pitch routine, as did most clubs at League level these days.

Bob then made some very complimentary comments about the levels of our support, plus the noise we made, and the fact quite a lot of opposition players had commented on it at one stage or another. He then contrasted this with Cheltenham?s followers, who he described as a ?quiet lot? but did rouse themselves enough to chant Bob?s name when he scored! Did he have an agent? ?Yes ? he?s there!? at the same time, pointing to Alan Cleverly and John Homer, both of Main Branch fame!

The subject of Michael Appleton?s premature retirement due to injury, and Andy Hunt?s attempted comeback with Charlton then cropped up. Bob said he had spoken to ?Appy? on the phone at some length when he heard he?d had to pack the game in, and was sad it came to what it did. Bob said Appy had planned ahead, had thought about eventualities at great length, and was looking at becoming a coach. He thought that, perhaps, it was better for Appy to retire now and acknowledge defeat rather than try to battle back and then not succeed anyway. Apparently, the lad was covered against such an eventuality, and will therefore get a substantial pay-out from the insurers. As far as Andy Hunt was concerned, Bob hadn?t spoken to him at all.

So ? what was, in Bob?s opinion, his best game for Albion? Lots of candidates, of course, but on the balance of things, possibilities were the 1993 Wembley play-off final, and, of course, that marvellous second-leg versus Swansea at our place, plus, of course, getting promotion in 2002 versus Palace. An interesting insight in to the thought-processes of our players after ?that? Bradford game; no wild celebrations on us finally catching ?them?, the players simply got changed and just got out of there! ?Everywhere you looked, you saw a ?Big Dave? ? but they weren?t all walking straight!? Bob then went on to say it really hadn?t looked like we were going to score ? ? and then I came on in the last 15 minutes!? And when did Bob first realise we could do it? ?The last ten games,? he said, ?Wolves? a***holes went!? There was also the additional comment that had we won versus Rotherham ? we were denied, of course, by a disallowed goal that was subsequently shown to be perfectly ?legit? - that would have made the task a lot easier. In fact, apropos of that incident, Bob believes that there should be a fourth official sat in the stand with a screen in front of him to rule on precisely that sort of thing; the technology already exists, and it could quite easily be done.

As far as the Palace game was concerned, Bob hadn?t realised Wolves had scored first, but did hear cheering from our lot later on in the half, and assumed Wolves had gone one down at Sheffield Wednesday, but in actual fact, the score then stood at 1-1. And what were his thoughts at Bradford, having been tripped, and lying on the ground? ?I?m not getting up!? was the succinct answer! Mention of Igor Balis?s difficulties with our language ? he didn?t understand a word of what the Bradford players were telling him in order to wind him up! ? led one questioner - The Fart, who used some very dubious grammar to put the poser to our hero himself, to much laughter from the audience! ? to ask him if he ever had any trouble communicating with foreign players? ?I talk the Queen?s England very well!? said Bob, indignantly!

One final question, then. Best referee? Roger Milford. According to our ex-striker, you could have some banter with him, but there was a line, and if you crossed it, he had you! He was fair, and players respected him for that.

And that, folkies, was that. An excellent night, as is normal for Sutton, and some very searching questions, coupled with some very astute answers from our guest, some of which I am unable to report upon in depth for obvious reasons. A raffle for that very ?unusual? T-shirt, and the night was at an end, although many stayed to nosh sandwiches in quantity (as prepared by branch secretary Mandy?s mum!), and to bat the breeze a little more with the star guest. And, not long after that, it was time for us to depart, also, but not before the management of the establishment concerned ?trapped? us and others inside the car park. They told us a token wasn?t necessary to lift the barrier ? but guess what? Yep, a banana for the gent in the blue and white strip!

And finally?. One. Sorry the delay in mentioning this, folks, but what with everything else going on right now, it completely slipped my mind. Totally unforgivable, so here I am to make amends. While we were mixing it with the leek-crunchers and sheep-worriers of deepest Cardiff last Tuesday, our youth side played Tottingham Hotspur in the Youth Cup, at The Shrine ? and, guess what? They were the victors by the odd goal in three, which was a tremendous feather in their collective caps, and gives them the right to progress further. The Fourth Round draw for the competition is next Tuesday lunchtime, so another tie against Premiership opposition would be ample reward for Craig Shakespeare and his merry bunch of lads, n?est ce pas? Keep everything anatomically suitable crossed for those kids on the day ? you know it makes sense.

Two. An update on my observation last night about the advisability of ?investing? some hard-earned moolah on our Midlands gruesome twosome going through the trap-door come May. According to my turf-accounting guru Steve Sant, Villa and Wolves suffering the drop is on offer at a fairly measly 4-1 at present (3-1 Villa and 1-4 Wolves). Add Leeds and you can make it 5-1 the treble, still miserly, but that?s bookies for you! Worth a go? Don?t ask me ? if you?re feeling that malicious, just go and do it!

 - Glynis Wright

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