The Diary

06 February 2004: At Kiddy Tonight: Cyrille And Rich, Havin' A Laugh!

Back again, after my short lay-off, and with that, a confession. Tonight, I clean forgot we were due to attend Kiddy Branch?s meeting ? for some reason, I had it in my head it was scheduled for next Monday - and it was only when The Fart banged on our front door around seven this evening I realised I?d screwed up the dates! Oh,well ? I thought I was doing well writing the bulk of this piece this afternoon; just as well I did, as it transpired. Ah, Kiddy Branch, and what memories I have of past meetings there; for those of you who don?t know, their base is Kiddy Cricket Club, on the outskirts of the town, and the branch is run by the redoubtable Haden family, bless their little raffle tickets and Player Of The Year voting-slips. Tonight?s guests? Two former members of the Albion backroom staff, now busily engaged in other pursuits, but better known to our followers as Cyrille Regis and Richard O?Kelly.

Cyrille has now put aside his tracksuit, whistle and coaching manual, and instead, does passable Henry Kissinger impersonations in his new incarnation as an agent. As most of you will know, one of the players on his books is our former striker, now at Wigan, of course. Richard O?Kelly? Well, he?s still active in the game, but with Conference high-flyers Hereford United, currently second in their heap, and with upwardly-mobile aspirations of their own. Not only is he their coach, he?s also their physio as well, which must keep the bloke pretty busy; The Bulls? squad is not one blessed with the luxury of great numbers of players to play with. For the first time ever, there are now two Football League places open to Conference sides; the first is, of course, as of right, and the second via success in the play-offs. United are currently three points behind the leaders, Chester, and Richard is quietly confident the cider-gulpers can go ?all the way?.

That?s all the introductory stuff done with, then, so what did they have to say? No surprise what the first question put to Cyrille was about; Jason Roberts, Cyrille felt, ?wasn?t given a chance? by our club. Cyrille had hoped Jason would get his career back on the rails with Pompey, but it didn?t work out, sadly, which is why the move to Wigan happened, basically. The dispute over Jason?s surname was correctly reported; his name is really ?Robert?, not ?Roberts?, and according to Cyrille, his nephew (and client!) Jason would have played for the club, but had doubts as to whether his manager would play him therefore he felt it was better to simply move on.

The Fart then asked Richard O?Kelly why he?d felt constrained to move on from Albion. Richard replied by saying both he and John Trewick felt they had to get away from the place, basically because of the lack of funds for the youth set-up at the time. Sure, at Hereford, he was now in a similar situation regarding finances; Richard quite openly admitted he had to beg, borrow or steal to get things done there, but there was compensation by virtue of the fact that both supporters and locals were magnificent. He enjoys training now, and would like to move upwards eventually should someone give him the chance to do so. Another pertinent observation: the game has changed considerably, and it?s no good to simply bawl and shout at people any more.

Then it was Cyrille?s turn. After he?d hung up his boots for the last time, he started his coaching career with Ray Harford, and he admitted the transition from the playing side to the backroom was something of an eye-opener for him. Cyrille said he got on well with Ray, and then he left of course. A couple of manages came and went after him, and John Trewick was sort of half-promised a crack at the manager?s job around that time, but it never materialised. Not long after that, Megson came, and after a while, Cyrille resigned. Nothing to do with our present manager, Cyrille hastened to add; it was just that he felt there was little prospect of further advancement for him as reserve team coach there. There was one interesting observation about our present manager from our former centre-forward, though. He feels he won?t successfully make the transition from being a successful First Division gaffer to one capable of taking a side to the Prem, and keeping it there on a more permanent basis. Cyrille said he did have reservations about our manager?s style, and fears about our ability to consolidate in the Prem once we got there again. He opined that we hadn?t made a lot of progress, but had made a lot of money; Terry said there was speculation among supporters this was the main aim of the club. Right or wrong? Well, if we do manage it come the end of the current campaign, we?ll have a jolly good chance of finding out, won?t we?

Richard?s turn this time: he was an Albion supporter as a kid (born in Stone Cross, he didn?t have much chance of being otherwise, really!), and as far as he was concerned, there was no other group of supporters like then anywhere as above all, they like (and expect) to see good football played at The Hawthorns. Richard then went on to discuss some aspects of Conference football, especially the quality of players at that level. The reason why standards had improved was because there was a greater tendency to see players released by clubs at a higher level dropping down to the Conference. No longer a backwater, given the right breaks, it was quite feasible for such a player to resurrect their career there, and be given a chance of a comeback at League level. One example, of course, was that of Paul Parry, scorer of 25 goals last season and recently sold by Hereford to Cardiff; Richard thought he would do well at that level, but didn?t quite have the necessary footballing intelligence at the moment. If he got the breaks and coped with the pressure that comes from playing at that level, he would do OK in Richard?s opinion. Incidentally, in the Third Division, average wages are around ?700 per week, and in the Conference, there are a couple pulling in a couple of grand a week, but the reality for the majority is much, much lower than that ? most Conference clubs are part-time, of course.

Cyrille said he also took in Conference games, especially those featuring Hereford, a lot. He also mentioned former Baggie Matt Collins, now at Notts County ? he?s one of Cyrille?s little flock. Cyrille reiterated what Richard had to say; dropping into the lower divisions or the Conference wasn?t necessarily a death sentence for a playing career ? Danny Gabbidon was an excellent case in point. In short, if a player showed determination and a positive attitude, there was every chance he?d ultimately come good. Our former striker then said a few words about the role of an agent in the scheme of things. These days, in order to operate at the highest level, they have to be FIFA qualified, which involves studying, then taking and passing an examination, which, the lad assured us, was quite difficult to achieve. The syllabus not only covers the obvious stuff, but also the necessary administration behind a transfer deal, relevant aspects of the law, financial matters, and so forth. Cyrille reckoned half the job was about negotiation: ?maximising the player? he called it. Before the advent of agents, players, younger ones, na?ve about contracts and so forth, could be quite easily intimidated by managers, especially those with stronger personalities, and bullied into signing contracts less advantageous for the player concerned.

Not all players have agents, however, even today. It?s usually the older ones, either more intelligent or more wordly-wise, and, in some cases, it might even be the player?s father doing all the talking when contract negotiations commence. Cyrille did say that a problem had been created in the past whereby some players had been getting the big sums of money, but not earning it on the pitch. And, Cyrille said, some players had more than one agent. This usually happened in the case of players from a foreign club; one bore the actual responsibility for a player?s interests, the other, based in the country where the player actually earned his coin was more in the way of a ?go-between?. Normally, negotiations were conducted between the agent and the club chairman, but Cyrille made it abundantly clear that in any negotiations, the player always had the final word on what he wanted to happen. Another interesting aside: Cyrille said that his philosophy regarding situations where relations between player and manager had soured was that you had to build bridges. Using an analogy from industry, if you bought machinery for ?0.75 million, and it cost you ?10K a week to run, you simply had to make it work.

Come the interval, some nosh from the buffet ? and a surprise! In an uncannily-similar scenario to the one when The King purchased a GD from me for the first time, around 12 or 13 years ago, who should pop up but Cyrille! ?I remember you,? said the Albion legend to me, grinning from ear to ear, ?You were on my video!? Blimey, I?m flattered to think he remembered me from 1997, when we Dick Eds were both roped into the production; the filming was done at The Moat House, if my memory serves me correctly. Another little cameo? ?Im Indoors kneeling at the feet of Richard O?Kelly! Now I knew all-too well that The Bulls were my other half?s second footballing love, and were his first during both childhood and his teenage years, but don?t you think that was taking things a little too far, Simon?

Back to the nitty-gritty, then, and Richard once more, with a few observations about our current youth policy. Richard felt that our club had enjoyed a good tradition of bringing kids through in the past (we can all furnish examples of that, my words, not Richard?s), but the current management was seemingly reluctant to do so, and unless the policy underwent a radical rethink the proposed new academy was going to be a waste of money. Richard did take pride in the fact that whole he was at the club, a few nuggets had emerged, and on a negligible budget, as well. Players who came through the ranks usually had a greater affinity for the club, as was demonstrated by the great numbers of former Baggies choosing to settle in the area even after their playing days were over.

Richard was then asked what he thought of Crewe Alex?s much vaunted youth policy. Richard felt that sure, they brought youngsters through, but were, more often than not, put straight in the first team when very young. Unlike Albion, their aspirations wer different, and it didn?t really matter if they were relegated, as they were punching well above their weight anyway. Cyrille then interjected by saying his personal role model for a football club bringing youngsters through was that of Charlton Athletic.

?How good were the 1978 side??, asked The Fart. Very good, said Cyrille, all of a sudden, it ?gelled?. At that time, of course, there was no great financial disparity between First Division clubs, Albion were in Europe, we had a good side, packed with top-class players, all well-motivated. Unfortunately, we then brought in players who were not as good as we?d thought. Enlarging on our wealth of talent at that time, Cyrille mentioned Laurie Cunningham, who came from Orient, himself ? he came later, of course ? but the problem with Laurie arose because although he?d arrived first, Cyrille was on a better contract, and the club wouldn?t change Laurie?s to one on more favourable terms. As Cyrille pointed out, if you (clubs) don?t act quickly enough, another club will dive in, and that?s precisely what happened. After Laurie went, the club went in for Barnes, but he didn?t quite come up to expectations, for whatever reasons. Cyrille reckoned what he termed ?team dynamics? was important for any side. He then said one player with a ?bad attitude? (I don?t think he was talking about Barnes in this instance) could quickly sour a whole dressing-room. He also said that around the time, French club St. Etienne wanted to pay ?6m for his services, but he didn?t want to move then. When he did finally go, though, it was on a bit of a ?down?. At Coventry, he was a big fish in a little pond, in a team of good players giving their all for the cause.

Now it was Richard?s turn to chip in. When Richard was with Walsall, he was Alan Buckley?s team-mate. Alan had a ?passing? football philosophy when he came to the Albion, following Keith Burkinshaw?s departure, he looked at all the players at the club, and thought they couldn?t really do what he wanted them to do, so he decided to go down the road of bringing in ex-Grimsby players. Alan rated Paul Groves very highly, and thought him a tremendous character, and a leader on the pitch. He was brought to the club primarily to go from box to box and get goals, but towards the end of his time at the club, came in for a considerable amount of ?stick? from the crowd.

On to the subject of Big Ron, then. Did he have a nasty side to him, someone asked. Apparently so; according to Cyrille, he could get quite aggressive at times. One example was when Ron was manager of Villa, and Cyrille was playing there himself. The claret and spew were playing Man City at Maine Road, and come half-time, they were a goal in arrears. Ron had been watching events rom the director?s box, and he wasn?t amused at all; come the interval, he hot-footed it down to the Villa dressing room, and laid into his finest in no uncertain terms; flying crockery, what Fergie would later term the ?hair-dryer treatment?, the lot.

The thing was, said Cyrille, Ron had the happy knack of instinctively knowing what was the appropriate response to any given situation involving games and his players? role in it, and this time, he?d clearly decided ?going nuclear? would have the desired effect, which it did in this case. Apparently, Ron was never a good coach, and that was the way sometimes; some aren?t good managers, but are excellent man-managers, and that was the case with Mr. Bojangles, apparently. When he left The Hawthorns Cyrille reckoned that Ron promised faithfully to come back for him, Derek Statham, Bryan Robson, and Remi Moses, but we all know what history had to say about that one. Apparently, when Cyrille was at Coventry, he heard a whisper Ron wanted him at Sheffield Wednesday to link up with Dalian Atkinson, but that one never materialised either.

Another memory of him time at Coventry was, of course, the year they won the FA Cup; it made him realise what the game was all about. ?Awesome? was his description of the open-top bus ride through the streets of the city the day after that Wembley final, and the civic reception held immediately afterwards.

And that was about it, folks. As my old mother would have said, a ?bostin? nite? ? well, Richard having a West Bromwich accent you can spot a mile off if you come from the area yourself, it?s an appropriate way of drawing the proceedings to a close! Not every word verbatim, of course, much more was discussed, but lacking shorthand, I?ve tried to do the best I can given the circumstances.

A few short words, now, about tomorrow, when Hughsie attends Coventry Crown Court for plea proceedings concerning charges of causing death by dangerous driving and leaving the scene of an accident. Yes, I have covered this ground in the past, but judging from some of the stuff I?ve been seeing on both the internet and mailing-list lately, it might be timely to explain once more what?s likely to happen. In any case, those of you who live overseas might not be all that familiar with British court procedures, so it might well be worth doing it on those grounds alone.

Firstly, I doubt very much as to whether we?ll reach a conclusion one way or another on the day. If Lee pleads not guilty, then his court appearance will, literally, be a ?five-minute job?. I suspect, also, that given the intense media interest in the case, the listings clerk at Coventry Crown Court will endeavour to put the case on early in the day, if only to get rid of all the hacks doing vulture impersonations outside comparatively quickly. The clerk of the court will ask for confirmation of Lee?s full name and address, then will ask him how he wants to plead, either guilty or not guilty. Lee will give his answer; if he goes ?not guilty? then the judge will simply pronounce the case adjourned for trial at a date to be fixed, and bail extended. I?d be extremely surprised if bail was withdrawn, as to the best of my knowledge, Lee hasn?t broken any of the conditions previously imposed. If he does plead ?guilty?, however, then the procedure is slightly different.

Because of the serious nature of the charges, the judge will probably ?respite judgment? to allow pre-sentence reports? to be prepared. These are done by the Probation Service and take around three or four weeks to compile. I?d say it would be highly unlikely (unless the defence agreed, of course), for sentence to be passed without these reports being done. Were the judge to do that without the consent of the defence, I reckon that would constitute strong grounds for any subsequent appeal against sentence. Assuming the case is put back for that reason, then again, I can?t see any reason why bail shouldn?t be extended once more. It?s quite common procedure to extend bail to people pleading guilty to quite serious charges, as it gives then a chance to put their affairs in order before going down. Usually, this is a privilege granted to women with childcare responsibilities, to give then a chance to make alternative arrangements. Either way, it?s very likely we?ll theoretically have Lee available for selection for the Preston game, although common sense does dictate that were that to be the case (and even more so should he choose to plead guilty), then there?s a strong possibility Lee?s mind wouldn?t be on his game. Given the circumstances, would anyone?s?

Sure, the press will probably be there in droves tomorrow, but when you look at all the possible options, there?s very little they can report on, really. The proceedings will literally take minutes; given the paucity of actual words spoken by both sets of combatants, even the most diligent journo will find his/her scribbling abilities severely limited. In any case, unless Lee does plead guilty, whatever they say will be severely restricted by the laws governing contempt of court ? and, believe you me, it?s not a wise move to incur the wrath of the judiciary!

Well done to The Horse on grabbing the PFA players? award for January, thanks to that recent goal-glut of his. In retrospect, getting him to The Shrine was a very shrewd bit of business indeed, and, it has to be said, one I was very dubious about when he finally put pen to paper for us. As far as I was concerned, he didn?t seem like a player who could offer us what we needed up front, but, hey, we all make mistakes, and I freely confess I called that one totally wrong. As did The Bluenose Butcher, when I poked my nose around his shop doorway the other day. Clearly, the news of The Horse?s impressive scoring streak had finally percolated through the protoplasm of whatever passes for brain cells in that dark little cranium of his, because the first thing he wanted to know ? and sod the meat order ? was a detailed description of all those strikes, which I gladly furnished him with, of course. And, once I?d done the deed, did I see a teensy flicker of regret cross that hirsute face of his? I ruddy well hope so, because nothing gives me greater pleasure than extolling the virtues of one of their ?exes? to supporters of our local rivals, of whatever persuasion; must be that sadistic streak inside, I suppose.

And finally?. Yes, Im Indoors?s 44th went swimmingly, and he was the recipient of numerous pressies and cards, including a surprising one from his mum, who really isn?t the sort of person to happily go out and buy this sort of stuff. What is it? A framed picture of The Shrine, aerial view inset, and to one side, a cartoon figure of an Albion supporter doing something unspeakable to a Wulves shirt! Where is it now? Why, in our bathroom, of course ? where else?

 - Glynis Wright

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