What were they like as players?

[danielsroundabout 9]

I always think it''s useful to look at a prospective manager''s playing days as a bit of a pointer to the playing style of any team they might build.

Lambert - brilliant mid-fielder, Hughton and both his sidekicks - never ventured past their own 18 yard line. Yes, there are plenty of instances of craftless players who have excelled in management, Ferguson for one but there are so many others they haven''t.

I fear that McKay falls into the category I describe and to keep referring to him affectionately as Malky annoys me greatly. In the moneyed world of football, thinking he is "one of our own" is a ridiculous argument.

It appears to me that many of the most vociferous Hughton outers are now calling for Malky. Weird.

And as many others have said, just what do the Lennon advocates base their thinking on? Literally anybody to manage Celtic since the two-horse race became a one-horse run-out.

[Phillip J Fry 0]

[quote user="danielsroundabout"] Lambert - brilliant mid-fielder[/quote]

A brilliant defensive midfielder who was once given the ''honour'' of man-marking Zidane.

I always find this ''mangers make their teams play as they would play'' argument as kind of strange. For as many cases where this is true there are plenty of cases where it is false. George Graham was a skillful attacking midfielder during his playing days but his teams were known for their defensive resoluteness when he managed them. Arsene Wenger was a sweeper, yet his teams play some of the most technically demanding football possible. Going back even further, Stan Cullis was known as a graceful centre-half (in the old sense of the word, essentially a midfielder) yet his highly successful Wolves team that dominated the English league at the time were amongst the earliest proponents of long-ball theory.   

It just isn''t true that defenders play defensve football whilst forwards play attacking football. Mike Walker was a goalkeeper FFS.

[Holtcantshoot 0]

[quote user="Phillip J Fry"][quote user="danielsroundabout"] Lambert - brilliant mid-fielder[/quote]

A brilliant defensive midfielder who was once given the ''honour'' of man-marking Zidane.

I always find this ''mangers make their teams play as they would play'' argument as kind of strange. For as many cases where this is true there are plenty of cases where it is false. George Graham was a skillful attacking midfielder during his playing days but his teams were known for their defensive resoluteness when he managed them. Arsene Wenger was a sweeper, yet his teams play some of the most technically demanding football possible. Going back even further, Stan Cullis was known as a graceful centre-half (in the old sense of the word, essentially a midfielder) yet his highly successful Wolves team that dominated the English league at the time were amongst the earliest proponents of long-ball theory.   

It just isn''t true that defenders play defensve football whilst forwards play attacking football. Mike Walker was a goalkeeper FFS.

[/quote]Agreed. Chris Hughton was a defender in his playing days and his Norwich teams couldn''t defend for toffee. They couldn''t attack either and looked overrun in Midfield but that''s beside the point.

[danielsroundabout 9]

I did say there are plenty of exceptions and you have listed some. Wenger is a real example of the point you make but Stan Cullis is more difficult to accept. The old style centre half could never be considered a mid-field player, he would be at the heart of defence dealing with the threat of the centre forward. In those days, there was no possession play in defence, full-backs and centre-halves would simply unload and that applied at any level of the game.

I just don''t see much in McKays CV to suggest him to be any better than our last manager, I see him in the same style as the guy at his former club - Allardyce. Another ex- central defender whose style today matches his playing days.

[danielsroundabout 9]

I am afraid your right Holty, on all three points.

[Phillip J Fry 0]

[quote user="danielsroundabout"]I did say there are plenty of exceptions and you have listed some. Wenger is a real example of the point you make but Stan Cullis is more difficult to accept. The old style centre half could never be considered a mid-field player, he would be at the heart of defence dealing with the threat of the centre forward. In those days, there was no possession play in defence, full-backs and centre-halves would simply unload and that applied at any level of the game.

I just don''t see much in McKays CV to suggest him to be any better than our last manager, I see him in the same style as the guy at his former club - Allardyce. Another ex- central defender whose style today matches his playing days.[/quote]

Read ''Inverting the Pyramid'' by Jonathon Wilson if you get the chance. He goes into detail about the development of the centre-half and the development of the third-back game under Herbert Champman. The centre-half started out as a defender/midfielder mix who was expected to help build up the attacks in those teams that played in a ''Scottish'' style (i.e. a game plan based on passing). Stan Cullis was regarded by many contemporary journalists as a fine example of the more complex type of centre-half when compared to the ''stoppers'' who played in the style of Herbie Roberts.