Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
toftwood

Where have all the Hard Men gone?

Recommended Posts

I grew up with the likes of Tommy Smith, Norman Hunter, Jack Charlton, Dave MacKay and our own Duncan Forbes.

Do we have these type of players any more or are they all a bit girly?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Have you watched Bradly Johson play? Got kicked in the head the other week and kept playing as if nothing had happened.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
[quote user="chicken"]Have you watched Bradly Johson play? Got kicked in the head the other week and kept playing as if nothing had happened.[/quote]
Ditto that for Alex Tetty on Saturday. Anyone who has seen us play recently would know that we have plenty of battlers in this squad.
Not to mention that football has evolved beyond simply needing "Hard men" honestly OP makes me cringe somewhat.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Fortunately the rules have changed as well as the times have, less dirty players (or hard) but still some cynical players around these days, and all players have to be athletes to make it to the top, which means its usually the pace of some that catches them out, and makes tackles look worse than ever are, are we better for it ? I think so...............

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Where have all the hard men gone?

It’s a valid question. There’s nobody nicknamed “biteyerlegs”, “Anfield Iron” or even “Psycho” these days. Good, honest men that ate coal for breakfast and asked for seconds.

Norman Hunter and Tommy Smith laid foundations that allowed the likes of Jimmy Case, Graeme Souness, Vinnie Jones and Kevin Muscat to gouge the turf around the country. These guys kept the fancy-dans on their toes – or writhing in agony – there was no diving then, if a player went down, he stayed down because he’d been “done”.

No longer do the communal showers look like an abattoir as these hard men rinse the flesh from their studs; it’s all ice baths and massages now. If you’d tried to give one of these fellers a massage he’d have ripped your face off – unless it came with a happy ending.

It’s all gone to pot. Who wants to watch the more technically gifted players do things with a football that these guys could only dream of? Nah, it’s crap. Grassy pitches instead of mud, coloured boots, hair gel and you can’t even stand in the terraces and pee through a newspaper anymore, let alone get your head kicked in just for walking past someone.

I miss it. The three day week, power cuts, rubbish piling up in the streets, strikes….it was a man’s life back then, if only we could go back.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
We''re all pathetic now, and have been for decades. Grant Holt and Darren Huckerby didn''t exist recently, and John Inman (in man?) And Jimmy Saville weren''t big time Charlies back in the more manly 70s when long haired guys didn''t wear satin shirts.

Don''t get me started on the really manly 80s. Make up for guys was the new way. God, that''s when men were men!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yerrs, I fondly recall the days of Tommy Smith, when the Anfield crowd changed the words of You''ll Never Walk Alone to You''ll Never Walk Again .....

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Luckily not much place in football for players whose main intention was injuring their opposition any more.

Although, I think those ''hard men'' you mentioned would find themselves bouncing off many of the current Premier League players these days.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Gang

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I always remember, back in the day, how George Best would never go down injured even tho'' he was hurt, goal number 4 here  is just great, how many players today would have carried on when ''Chopper Harris'' tried to stop him with a last ditch tackle ?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
"stand in the terraces and pee through a newspaper anymore, let alone get your head kicked in just for walking past someone.

I miss it."

nahhh, Think I prefer football today.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
[quote user="The ghost of Michael Theoklitos"]Is this thread a bit gay? I think it''s great to see The Pinkun forum finally embracing a little more diversity. Bravo![/quote]You''re assuming Toftwood is a man, I just thought I was reading the ponderings of a middle-aged woman on after a few too many glasses of red.I do like players who have a bit of fight in them though. RVW always looked like he''d burst into tears if a toddler gave him a funny look.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...