In a recent Channel 4 documentary celebrating so called 'soccer
hardmen' from past and present, a certain Bobby Gould was seen
lashing out at mild-mannered Leeds 'keeper Gary Sprake. Sprake
responded with a punch in the mouth that sent Gould to the floor
like a sack, clutching his face like a girl.
From the viewpoint of a Wales fan shocked at the efforts of the
team under Gould it was great. Contrary to the views of Sam Hamman,
Gould is a laughing stock in Wales. Under Yorath Wales were ranked
in the top 30 in the World which, if you think about it, was about
right. In other words we were just about knocking on the door
of a World Cup appearance. Given the breaks (and I mean you, Paul
Bodin) we might just have made it.
With Gould in charge we fell outside the top 100. Good results
like the wins against Belarus and Denmark were deemed to be achieved
in spite of Gould not because of him. Indeed, there was a feeling
that those results merely prolonged the agony of his reign. Few
supporters shed tears at his departure.
It's easy to understand why Hamman has appointed Gould as manager
in waiting at Cardiff City. They have a good working relationship,
they trust each other and in Hamman's eyes, Gould is a winner.
Gould is credited with talking Hamman out of renaming the club
- I could have done that. Hamman associates Gould with winning
the FA Cup but we associate Gould with swallowing bile.
I'm not automatically saying that Gould will fail at Cardiff,
this might even be the chance for Gould to re-build his reputation.
As his reputation is tied in exclusively with the success of Cardiff
City I wish him well. But I can't help but feel that his appointment
sums up the relationship between a club and its supporters. For
all the meetings with Hamman, for all the claims of listening
to the views of fans we have ended up with a manager that very
few supporters would have choosen.
His appointment is symptomatic of the weakness of Steve Borley.
Earlier this year Borley was led a merry dance by Clive Sullivan
and the mysterious 'Mr X' from Jersey in their abortive attempt
to take over the club. Borley bent over backwards to such an extent
his spine audibly cracked. Now he has allowed Hamman, who does
not yet own the club, to appoint a manager. That's like letting
someone who's buying your house to build an extension before the
deal is complete. If the deal falls through you're stuck with
the extension even though it's not your choice. This is what happened
when Jim Cadman (remember him?) allegedly bought the club from
Rick Wright and appointed Terry Yorath as Director of Football
and subsequently manager.
Billy Ayre has been relegated to the position of assistant manager.
So much for Hamman's pronouncement that he would give him a chance
to prove himself. When push came to shove Hamman would not trust
Ayre with the promised £500,000 for team building. It won't
be too long before we see the back of him. At least Borely's offer
of a two year management contract will give Billy something to
take to the Industrial Tribunal Board. Ayre should never have
been offered the manager's job in the first place. Last season's
efforts to escape relegation were, frankly, risible. (0-4 at home
to Cambridge, anybody?) Bring on Gary Sprake!
Some supporters have said that it's a strange move to sack a manager
days before the opening of a new season but I couldn't have cared
less if Ayre was sacked half an hour before the start of the Exeter
game.
In Gould's favour, he does have a knowledge of the Welsh game.
He famously included Barry Town's Gary Lloyd in a Wales' squad
and on Radio 5 he correctly identified Jason Bowen and Andy Legg.
Of course, he did this kind of thing for effect. Knowing key players
on the Welsh scene was the kind of thing Gould believed the FAW
thought a Welsh manager should know. And Gould has the
eyes and ears of the media. Only days after resigning as Wales
manager, Gould appeared on the Nicky Campbell show on Radio 5,
bleating about what a lonely job managing was. He was quickly
installed as pundit and sidekick on coverage of lower division
games (ie.Cardiff matches).
To sum up. Gould's appointment was totally predictable but the
outcome, on the other hand, is totally unpredictable. City will
either go up as champions or be relegated from the Football League.
It's impossible to be any more specific than that.