tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8956327811676495518.post8635712082660069333..comments2023-07-12T23:55:06.525-07:00Comments on Clarke Chroniclers Viewing: 347 World Cup 1978MikeMCSGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04225624258826057505noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8956327811676495518.post-86724214035350277952016-03-03T12:18:12.738-08:002016-03-03T12:18:12.738-08:00Ah you have to wait till the next World C...Ah you have to wait till the next World Cup for Greavsie . He was in an alcoholic fug around this time and would hardly have been aware who was playing.MikeMCSGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04225624258826057505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8956327811676495518.post-7200208883998968972016-03-03T11:59:28.163-08:002016-03-03T11:59:28.163-08:00Ha, Blyth was being brought in to replace Roche (w...Ha, Blyth was being brought in to replace Roche (who had replaced the ancient Stepney)... instead, Gary Bailey got the nod and kept the number one shirt for seven years. Blyth, on the other hand, saw his career pretty much over, replaced by one Les Sealey, of whom I also know a fair bit. <br /><br />If nothing else, the whole 1978 fiasco kept Jimmy Greaves supplied with "Scottish goalkeeper" jokes for the next decade or so. D.C. Harrisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03587977127699723708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8956327811676495518.post-33168141531475382392016-03-03T10:41:46.945-08:002016-03-03T10:41:46.945-08:00Even half -fit Blyth would have been better ...Even half -fit Blyth would have been better than Paddy Roche ! <br />Wood did wear contact lenses- that story came from his team-mate Duncan McKenzie's after-dinner routine.<br />Maybe re Leeds - Frank Gray was left out too although Willie Donachie was capable enough.<br />MikeMCSGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04225624258826057505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8956327811676495518.post-20077577047844390852016-03-03T10:05:27.027-08:002016-03-03T10:05:27.027-08:00Blyth was in the squad... nearly signed for United...Blyth was in the squad... nearly signed for United, too, but failed the medical. Lucky miss, bearing in mind his subsequent career. <br /><br />Actually mentioned George Wood to my old man just a moment ago, and he reckons the guy was practically half-blind and needed defenders to warn him of oncoming strikers! Possibly an urban myth.<br /><br />Harvey, perhaps, but I guess Stewart's lack of constant first team action (and age, 31, at the time) counted against him. I can only guess Rough did something to impress the coaches... Perhaps Harvey suffered from the erasing of the Leeds influence in the Scottish team... Bremner had left, Lorimer had gotten too old, McQueen and Jordan had come to United. D.C. Harrisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03587977127699723708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8956327811676495518.post-56408099082926464662016-03-03T07:22:49.942-08:002016-03-03T07:22:49.942-08:00Among the alternatives were George Wood ( Ev...Among the alternatives were George Wood ( Everton ), Jim Blyth ( Coventry ) David Harvey and David Stewart ( both Leeds ). All those sides finished in the Top 10 of the English First Division in 1977-78.MikeMCSGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04225624258826057505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8956327811676495518.post-34332243263333518532016-03-02T16:26:50.649-08:002016-03-02T16:26:50.649-08:00Alan Rough was shorthand for "useless goalie&...Alan Rough was shorthand for "useless goalie" even when I was a kid! But you could question whether there was anybody better about - and he was still Scottish #1 when Jock Stein took them to Spain in 1982. And even Fergie had him in the squad in Mexico four years after that! So I guess some folk rated him... <br /><br />My dad told me once it never failed to amuse how a Scottish World Cup squad always looked great, with a decent share of real quality players, yet would always someone self-implode at the crucial moment. Don Masson's pen miss may be the moment here. D.C. Harrisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03587977127699723708noreply@blogger.com