Game by Game - 13

Game 13 – Preston North End (H), Championship – 3-2

So we missed a couple of games in Game by Game - whilst our correspondents were at both Bristol City on Saturday and the Lane on Tuesday, time and other priorities have limited their writing opportunities. 

And so on the back of two results that can be described as disappointing for different reasons, the Blades went into a game that, based on the season to date form of both sides, looked imminently winnable. History tells us that is never the case when we face Preston, either home or away. This was a team that showed more hunger and fight when the two teams met at the end of last season in a must win game and their matchday squad was largely unchanged with 14 players named who were included back in April. Perhaps the biggest losses were the injured Maguire and Bodin, limiting their attacking options.

Chris Wilder made five changes midweek, perhaps too many and the disruption caused maybe contributed to so many of the team having a stinker on the same night. He then made four more changes on Saturday, but few would argue with re-instating the two wing backs and restoring Sharp and McGoldrick to frontline duties. The starting XI picks itself at present, assuming all are fit and able.

In front of a relatively sparse looking crowd, the ground slowly filling up as the traffic chaos around the city impacted so many journeys to the Lane, United started on the front foot. Plenty of possession but initially lacking that impetus in the final third, with O'Connell crossing over everyone's heads and Stevens and Freeman both wasting great crossing opportunities bursting to the sidelines. McGoldrick had a goal-bound header, cleared away by a Preston forehead, but for those who had witnessed the Birmingham game there were similar features. Preston were sat deep and rarely threatened.

We needed to find a way through and needed that bit of inventiveness that had been lacking for a couple of games. Each attack seemed to end with a groan from the crowd and sat on the Kop there was a sense of agitation rather than anticipation building. This cannot help the players. When on top like this the crowd needs to get behind the team and be the 12th man forcing the ball home, not sat waiting and then grumbling when it doesn't happen.

The goal, when it came arose from end to end football and one perfectly delivered pass. After a spell of prolonged United possession Basham tried turning in a tight spot on the right edge of the opposition penalty area. Robbing the ball from Basham, Preston broke at pace and United were on the back foot. But a superbly timed challenge, I think from Egan, saw the ball fall into the path of Freeman who advanced and hit a deliciously weighted through ball into the path of McGoldrick down the right channel. McGoldrick's cross shot could only be parried by Maxwell and, after what felt like an age, Sharp reached the ball to tap into the empty net. No more than United deserved.  

Shortly after McGoldrick stretched for a Stevens cross, but could only head wide. Just before the half time whistle, Preston had a rare break stretching the Blades back line and O’Connell and Egan made excellent blocks at crucial moments. Rarely had we been under pressure, but when we had been we felt a little panicky.

  

Bizarrely Preston didn't start the second half with any greater ambition and it felt like one way traffic with all the play coming towards the Kop. United won a free kick on the right-hand side and Norwood drove a hard, curling ball that only needed a diversion from the head of Basham to send it into the top corner. I thought no one could top the accuracy and quality of my childhood performance at Paperboy on the Spectrum, but Norwood's delivery is the best I have seen for a long time.

  

United were coasting and had a great chance to kill the game off, McGoldrick dragging it wide from the right side of goal with only the keeper to beat. This seemed to trigger Preston into action and the introduction of the tricky Daniel Johnson, just after the hour mark, and Barker ten minutes later really added some thrust to their attack, but for a lot of effort and possession the final ball was lacking. United were solid enough but without ever looking wholly comfortable, mainly due to not retaining possession for any decent period. Wilder changed formation, Marvin Johnson for Sharp and we switched to a 4-1-4-1 that also allowed us to go to 4-3-3 when attacking with Johnson and Duffy either side of McGoldrick, but nothing was sticking when the Blades were in possession. It felt like wave after wave of Preston pressure and when the goal came, you could sense the ground as one seemed to mutter, "Well that's been coming".

  

It was a completely preventable goal; as Barker advanced O'Connell stayed on his heels, Stevens went to close him down leaving Barker to slip in Fisher overlapping on the right. He laid the perfect ball across to Robinson who had dropped a couple of yards off Egan, who ended up slipping to a heap on the floor as the ball was knocked home. Preston now had belief and their second came down the opposite side. Freeman sucked inside leaving Hughes alone on the left and his cross was met by the lunging Johnson, whose shot was probably heading wide until it cannoned off O'Connell and wrong-footed Henderson. With 8 minutes to go, there was a sense a draw might be a good result right now as United had offered little for 20 minutes and Preston's dander was up.

Then out of nothing United had a third. Johnson, who up to that point had struggled to get into the game, linked up wonderfully with Stevens. The full back surging to the by-line, leaving a couple of defenders flat footed, before a perfect pull back that McGoldrick was never going to spurn. From dejection to joy in minutes and a goal celebration that further secures Dean Henderson’s place in the hearts of Blades fans. It reminded me of Simon Tracey’s celebrations against Wednesday.

There followed a ridiculous 6 minutes of stoppage time that became even longer with Stearman coming on to shore things up at the back. Given Maxwell had wasted time from minute one, it was odd that Scott Duncan loaded the stoppage time to the second half, but thankfully the Blades saw it out.

  

Three final thoughts:

PNEgative - There was an interesting tweet from Blades' fan and AUV contributor Phil Ridley post match.

It was a bizarre tactic from Alex Neill. For large parts of the first half they were under the cosh and had eleven men behind the ball, but having said that they rarely broke with any real threat or numbers, despite the impressive Callum Robinson working hard.

  

McGoldrick's missed one on one chance to make it 3-0 seemed to spur them into life and the period that followed was largely one way traffic. We seemed to panic under pressure, there was no outlet and as quick as the ball was cleared, Preston were back on the front foot. We were rocking. When the first goal came you felt that they could get another and even the most hopeful Blade must have feared a PNE winner after the equaliser, we were reeling. Daniel Johnson, a player who impressed in his Oldham days when we played them in League One, added some real impetus to their play and although Wilder's subs made sense to try and stabilise defensively and offer an alternative outlet wide in the pace of Marvin Johnson, we seemed to retreat further.

  

Would Preston have stood a better chance starting like this? That is hard to say, as the shift in gear when we were on top seemed to catch us out. Doing it from the off and maintaining it is a different issue. We may well have exploited the space created instead of playing the football equivalent of Arkanoid against a yellow wall for an hour. Clearly Neill has concerns about them defensively and their zero away goals before Saturday suggest that the tactics aren’t allowing their attacking talent to flourish, but neither is it working defensively. Give me The Wilder Way anytime.

  

A soft underbelly? - The one concern coming out of Saturday is that we are still susceptible to sloppy play defensively and when we don't get the goals to kill teams off we have a tendency to panic and concede possession too easily. The goals conceded were not great goals from an attacking perspective, more the result of continually knocking on the door until a hinge comes loose. In this case in both full back positions, although you could argue O'Connell being decisive and going to meet Barker, would have left Enda less exposed. We were nearly undone by Birmingham in similar fashion midweek and I am sure it is something the management team will look to address.

First choice striker - Probably lacking the goals his performances deserve David McGoldrick has to be topping the strikers’ pecking order right now. Tireless work rate, good link play and eventually got the goal on Saturday. A little more consistency in his finishing and staying injury free could see him up the top end of the Championship Top Scorers list.

A Gallon Glass Half Full of Magnet

In the past four years of putting my thoughts out to the world I have, at several points in time, been accused of being negative. It goes with the territory. Fans are clappers or slashers, there is very little middle ground in these categorisations.

There have been times where I would suggest that it wasn't so much me being negative as taking a questioning approach to events. I am a strong believer in not taking all at face value and ensuring that you dig below the surface a little. All that glitters ain't gold and what people want you to perceive and think may be quite different from the ultimate reality. 

This approach can be applied everywhere, but it is never more important than in football. You only have to look at events at clubs elsewhere and a short distance across the city to see why. Looking closer to home there have been several chancers and crooks in the Bramall Lane boardroom, some who claimed to be fans, now on the run or having served custodial sentences.

It is true that I have a glass half empty approach, my thirty odd years of attending the Lane have provided more disappointment than joy. I often try and manage my expectations and play down our chances. That way, if and when success comes, it feels all the better. Does that make me negative? Maybe. I prefer cautious.

But this season is different. When asked for predictions for United's final league position by When Saturday Comes and World Soccer, I have responded with "Automatic places". Yes, I have predicted Top 2.

As a result I am currently sat rocking in the corner, back and forth, to and fro. My head involuntarily shaking from side to side. A stiff brandy is being poured for my consumption. My wife's just got me a doctor's appointment. I am sure there must be some medication to help with this mental torture.

I am tapping these words out on the laptop keyboard as a form of written absolution for my brazen optimism and the unease I am experiencing as I deal with these alien feelings. So here is my train of thought....

Whilst many complain that the starting eleven is weaker, I disagree. It appears weaker in parts, a view skewed by positive memories of players who have left and loanees who haven't returned, but it is stronger in positions that matter. In any case, those perceived weaknesses may well be dismissed once players bed in. Who is not to say that with a stronger midfield we might not need a Brayford bombing on from right back and that Alcock will do a perfectly good job? Who can say whether McGahey might be a better all round central defender than Maguire? Therefore why think negatively?

The midfield has plenty of options and with McNulty and Higton no one can claim our forward options are not enhanced. Some may question whether they will score the goals required, but having a proper striker down the middle is more likely to bring other players into play and we should see more goal-put from Murphy, Flynn, Scougall, Baxter et al as a result. The squad is more capable and has a depth we lacked last season, with promising youngsters such as Reed, Khan and Dimaio who can augment it when required.

There will be pressure and expectation placed on the club by outsiders (thanks to the bookies favourites tag) as well as by fans. The run we went on in the final three months of last season was bound to strengthen belief amongst supporters and yes, kick-starting the season in the same manner will be difficult. The opening game is a great test. Along with PNE I expect Bristol City to be up there with us come May, but a draw or defeat isn't a disaster.

Remember the pleasure taken from our opening night victory over Notts County. The win that night was soon put into context, our reliance on a key player and the relative mediocrity of the opposition becoming apparent.

But this season the division is weaker. I don't see any of the promoted clubs doing a Rotherham. Of those coming down, Doncaster are in disarray and Barnsley don't look like anything to fear. Yeovil will slot back in to League One comfortably, although carry less of the threat, shorn of several key players. Of those that remain, Leyton Orient and Peterborough have lost key players and it will not be the same as last season for them. This season needs to be our time and we will never have a better opportunity.

The biggest factor though. That is faith and trust. In the people running the club and the decisions they are making, not just for the short term of this season, but for the long term future and stability of the club as well.  In the manager and coaching staff. In the way the manager goes about his business and how they handle their players. How they respond to set backs, how they handle the press and how they speak in an open, honest, straight-forward way.

I don't expect everyone to agree with me, or my reasoning. But step up, try and be positive, don't look for the negatives and be United. This could be the start of something good. 

By the way, my predictions are usually pretty good. See the excerpt below from When Saturday Comes' look back to last season's League One preview and what the fans of the 24 clubs thought the final table might look like. I may not have predicted the story en-route, but the final league position wasn't wrong.

Up the Blades!

Interview with Ian Bryson - Part 3 (A Champion Captain)

As we left Part 2, Ian had been approached by Dave Bassett to see if he would be interested in following up an enquiry from Rotherham United. Taken aback that Bassett was happy to let him go, Ian asked for his name to be circulated.

You ended up at Barnsley but only stayed three months?

I spoke to Viv Anderson and Danny Wilson and they were quite keen. Whether it was the right move for me who knows? I don’t think I should have left United, but Bassett didn’t really want to keep me. I signed and played most of the games, they wanted to play me as a striker, but although I had covered there for United it wasn't my natural position. I was only there 4 or 5 months. They were keen to sign Andy Payton from Celtic and Viv said they needed to move a player on to do it and Preston had made an offer for me.

I spoke to John Beck and, for some mad reason, I came to Preston. That meant me dropping a couple of divisions; it was a big change although they were flying at that time. I had come across John Beck before when he was at Cambridge, it was one of the hardest games I had ever played in, so I knew what to expect in terms of the pace of the game and how he played it.

The upside of this period was that making two moves in a year was an opportunity to make a little bit of money.

Preston were in a slump at the time, but they were soon heading in the right direction.

Yes, in the first season (1993-94) we reached the play off final versus Wycombe Wanderers at Wembley - so I did get my chance to play at Wembley and I scored the first goals as well. It was an overhead kick. I had mucked around in training, but I only ever tried it once on the pitch and I scored from it! I can claim a 100% record. I don’t know now what made me do it. I had a lot of family down from Scotland to watch me and they had all backed me to score first. I think they were still celebrating when Wycombe went up the other end and scored. We didn’t win and we didn’t deserve to, on the day Wycombe were the better side.

You can see the goal at about 30 seconds on this video clip here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg-Kb616pvI

It was play-offs again the following season.

The next season we lost to Bury in the play-off semi-final and we then followed it with a title winning season in 1995-96 when I was made captain. It was a big honour. John Beck had left, although he had brought some good players in, and his assistant Gary Peters had taken over. There was no point trying to change the style of play to be like a Barcelona so he just tweaked it here and there. It was a fabulous season we scored over 100 goals.

We had a good social life and great team spirit. Team spirit is the key thing, if you have eleven lads who work for the manager and each other you can achieve a lot. If there are good players involved you can go a long way. We played attractive football and scored a lot of goals. I think Andy Saville and Steve Wilkinson got 30 apiece and the midfielders were getting into double figures. Everything seemed to fit together.

A bit like at United then in that respect. In that second season you had a soon to be famous player join on loan?

Yes, David Beckham played 5 games for us, he was a great lad. Every credit to him when we won promotion at Leyton Orient, David came along to support the team and came to congratulate us all in the dressing room afterwards; a great lad. I’ve seen him a few times since. When I was doing my coaching badges, he was at Manchester United and when he saw me he always made a point of coming over for a chat. He remembered his time at Preston well.

Didn’t he take over dead-ball duties from you?

Yeah one or two of us thought we were the bee’s knees. When you’re an experienced pro of 33/34 you think you can do everything. This young whipper-snapper comes in from Man United and he is put on corners and free kicks and we thought this is not happening; we’ve been doing this for years! Within half a game we realised why! He could put the ball on a sixpence.

Fantastic lad, fantastic player and every credit is due for what he achieved.

You had a spell at Rochdale, but is it fair to say it didn’t work out as hoped?

Graham Barrow gave me a two year contract, but I hit a real bad spell with injuries. I think I played just 8 times in my first season and 25 games in the second season. It was a case of picking up the typical injuries for old men - calves and hamstring related. With one game to go in the season Graham was sacked and I got the job of caretaker for one game a 1-1 draw. Steve Parkin was then appointed manager and he released me. He wanted his own players in and injuries had taken their toll, it was fair enough.

I continued playing with Bamber Bridge in the Unibond League and amazingly, given the two seasons I'd just had with injuries, I played 58 games in a row. We had a great season and reached the second round of the FA Cup before a 1-0 defeat against Cambridge United thanks to a dodgy refereeing decision that led to a penalty which they scored.

Did you have a spell coaching once your playing career finished?

Gary Peters offered me a role coaching at the Preston North End Centre of Excellence which I did for 4/5 years, but I stopped when my son was 11. He was playing with a local boys' team and I wanted to watch him and support him and I couldn't do that with the Centre of excellence job as the matches clashed on a Sunday morning. I helped out at the training sessions, but didn't interfere, it wasn't my place.

To be honest am not a great believer in the Centre of Excellence model starting with players at 8 years old. It should be 14 or 15 years old and that's the age I worked with at PNE. It was incredibly hard telling players that they aren't going to make it.

So what are you up to now?

Now, I do press work for Radio Lancashire, sometimes on commentaries, but more often on the Friday night preview programme.  I also work for Premier League Productions who supply the coverage for Sky's Football First and for overseas coverage as well. I am based in the tunnel talking to the 4th official communicating back to the studio in London what is happening with potential subs, injuries, what's happening on the bench so the commentary appears seamless. I usually move between matches at the Reebok, the DW and Ewood Park. It's great; I get paid to watch Premier League football. 

Looking back to when you were through the tunnel and on the pitch, what are your best memories?

From a personal point of view, to say which was the highlight of my career is quite difficult. My time at United and Preston were similar in many ways. Although yes I got my only medal and lifted a trophy as Captain at Preston, I got to play at the top level with United and had two successive promotions. Sadly that was a time when the runners-up, as we were twice, got absolutely nothing. Meanwhile, the play off winners got them! 

And that is where our chat finished and we returned to watching the second half of Bolton v Spurs, from the comfort of our respective armchairs. Not tonight the Reebok tunnel for Ian. It was a pleasure talking to Ian, or Jock as we commonly referred to him during his time at United. He retains a humility that I have encountered in all the United players of that era that I’ve had the opportunity to speak to. To me, and many others who had the pleasure of watching him play, he remains a player much under-rated given his goal-scoring and wing play. Even, if he had picked up that further recognition, I doubt it would have changed him.  

Interview with Jamie Hoyland - Part 3 (New Challenges)

As we finished Part 2 of the interview with Jamie he was describing going on loan to Bristol City during the 1993-94 season and that is where we pick up his story.

You were back at United and back in the squad when we visited Stamford Bridge on our final day relegation in 1994. I was up in the Gods at the top of the main stand that day and I don't think any fans there could believe we were relegated. Did the players ever believe it would happen and how did you find out?

Alan Kelly and I were subs and we were warming up. Ray Stubbs was there for the BBC  pitch-side and we kept asking him for score updates and each time it was, “Yep, we are alright, we are alright.” Then Harry put me on and I nearly scored. They got to two all and we were still alright, then suddenly a cross from Dennis Wise, Glenn Hoddle (who has never headed a ball in his life) has flicked one on and Mark Stein has come in at the far post and steered it home. Even then, we thought we were okay. I came off the pitch and said to Ned (Alan Kelly); “So are we alright?” and he said, “No, I think we’re down”.  I said; “We can’t be down? All the other results can’t have gone against us?”. He said; “No, we’re down!”. We got into the dressing room and a guy from The Star tried to come in and take pictures and he just got shoved out. It was a horrible day.

A few lads from the South stayed down, the rest of us came back to Bramall Lane. When we got back there were fans waiting for us, we thought we were going to get lynched. Yet when we got off the bus they were so emotional, draping scarves on us and I thought, “Wow! We have just gone down and they are treating us like this.”

It was like the end of an exhilarating ride.

Yes we’ve come to the end, we have had our photo taken, got the mouse mat and keyring. It was over. Harry had done everything he could do.  It was time to move on and start a new era. He did that with players, shifted them on after time because they’d had enough of him and he’d had enough of them. Harry always made us feel underdogs with a great team spirit, which was brilliant, but after a bit, once you’ve established yourself playing at a certain level, you know you are not the underdogs. “Don’t keep telling us we’re crap, we are alright actually.” Eventually, it plateaus out and I think that is where it had got to.

Do you still have warm feelings towards Harry, despite the issues you have mentioned and your subsequent departure, early the following season?

Yes I still have good feelings towards Harry. I fell out with him at times, but I have bumped into him a few times since and he’s brilliant. His machine gun talks, he is still funny and I have taken so much of what he taught me into my coaching career; about what you need to be a good team and how he built it. It’s not all about players, it is how you make them work as a group, how you motivate them. How you make them feel a million dollars and how you make them want to prove you wrong. He got players wanting to run through a brick wall for him and that ran throughout the club.

Was it hard leaving United early the following season? You turned down a move to Blackpool, what drove the decision to move to Burnley?

Blackpool came in for me, but I was always going to Burnley. It was similar to United; everyone in the town supported them. Okay Sheffield is divided, but you are either United or Wednesday. There are few shirts of the big clubs like you see in Preston.... Everyone in Burnley and the surrounding valleys is passionate about the club and if they like you, they are brilliant to you, if they don’t...oh my God. It is another historic, special club.

A good team spirit as well highlighted by your LEJOG for Parky?

It was another close knit group of players under Jimmy Mullen, the spirit was similar to United, even if the players were not as good. Still there was Steve Davis, Marlon Beresford,  David Eyres, Liam Robinson, Gary Parkinson, myself...we had a great bond; one in, all in. You really enjoyed training and I know that sounds daft when you are a professional footballer, but not a lot of players do.

 What changed at Burnley?

There were changes of manager; Adrian Heath followed Jimmy Mullen and then Chris Waddle took charge. I mentioned before about how Harry brought players together, got them working as a team, Chris Waddle couldn’t do that. That’s why he only lasted a year at Burnley. Chris Waddle was a brilliant player, yet couldn’t understand why everyone else was “rubbish” and he had no respect for anyone who couldn’t live up to his expectations. It was a waste of time, he was never going to be a good manager, even though he was a fantastic player.

I read a great story on a Clarets fan site about you fetching a pie for a fan from the other end of the ground at Bristol Rovers whilst warming up as a sub. The away end refreshment bar had run out, a fan approached you as you warmed up on the touchline and you popped off down the other end returning with a pie. Please tell me this is it true?

Yes it is. It was whilst Waddle was in charge and you know my thoughts there!

Waddle’s reign very nearly ended with relegation to the fourth tier though?

Over the course of the season Wadds had bombed all the experienced players out of the team, (Jamie had been out on loan to Carlisle) he tried to bring players in, tried to bring new ideas in, but he was never there. He managed from Sheffield. He gave players three days a week off a week and the senior players often ended up taking training. In the end he brought us back in for the final game of the season, a must win home game against Plymouth Argyle. Defeat and we were relegated. Thankfully two goals from Andy Cooke got us to a 2-1 win.

From Burnley you ended up at Scarborough for a season, what eventually led to your retirement?

Scarborough was a big mistake. The club had three owners, some months you wouldn’t get paid, then you would get it in cash and you wonder what the hell’s going on. Former Rotherham chairman Anton Johnson came in for a spell and thing were going awry, it was a mess. We went down to Jimmy Glass’ goal on the last day of the season and that’s when I made my mind up; I’m not enjoying it anymore. At 33 I wanted to look for a different avenue in football. I didn’t want non-league football, or six month contracts here and there.

Along with Ned (Alan Kelly), Kevin Gage and Billy Mercer we always used to meet up for an end of season drink. We were known as the Menzel’s Four. When Gagey had packed in and we were still playing he said, "You will know the day you want to pack it in" and I was always telling him that was rubbish. He was spot on.

Was it always in your mind to get into coaching?

I’d started dipping my toe into coaching waters working with the u15/u16’s at Bolton’s academy and I enjoyed it. As a player I always knew I was going to be a coach. Not being the quickest in the world I always had to talk to people around me to get them to do it. I knew what I was doing playing-wise, I enjoyed that part of the game.

You have had spells as Assistant Manager at Rochdale and working with David Unsworth as caretaker managers at PNE. Is there an ambition to move into management, or are you settled developing young talent?

I went to Rochdale working with the youth side and then had a year as assistant to Simmo (Paul Simpson). We had started in digs together at City and we are still best friends now. We had a turbulent year. He was still playing, one of the better players, so I was doing more managing than coaching, doing more of the talking at half time etcetera. I didn’t want to do that, I wanted to learn more about the coaching side, but it was still a good experience.

At the PNE academy it has gone well, we have had 13 players make their debut in two years. I would like to move on in my career at some point, be it coaching senior players, not sure about managing as you sometimes have to be lucky to drop into that. I do love working with the kids though, they absorb everything and it is a great feeling to watch someone you have developed make their first team debut and then kick on from there. We have some great talent coming through, just like Pembo has at United.

So finally, you have committed to a huge undertaking in May. Raising money for friend and former team-mate Gary Parkinson who suffered a severe stroke in September 2010.

(After suffering the stroke, the then Head of Youth Development at Blackpool suffered locked-in syndrome where his body shut down, but his mind remains active. His only means of communication with family and friends is by blinking. He lives at the Priory Highbank neurological rehabilitation centre in Bury. The aim is to raise enough money to get Gary home on a permanent basis)

I had this idea before Xmas, I want to raise some money for Gary. Believe it or not I did a New York marathon before I was 40, I’d had 8 operations on my knees so that was a challenge. For this, I wanted something  different that offered a similar challenge. I was never going to swim the channel, so it was something on a bike.

My dad never let me have one round here, so it is all a bit new, but the hills around where I live give me a good test. I put the idea out there and Chris Gibson (Burnley Head of Catering) had done Lands End - John O’Groats before, so he is doing all the logistics. Some ex-players are going to join us for bits of it, Alastair Campbell as well. The plan is to do it from May 6th to May 15th, 100 miles a day.

A mammoth task, but one that I am sure they will succeed with. If you want to know more about the Gary Parkinson Trust Fund visit www.garyparky.co.uk To support Jamie on his cycling LEJOG a sponsorship form can be downloaded here

http://www.pnefc.net/staticFiles/3c/9e/0,,10362~171580,00.doc

And with that we head to our respective cars and a short drive over to Hillsborough, where a much less enjoyable afternoon awaited us. It was a pleasure spending 45 minutes in Jamie's engaging company and I hope some of the stories and memories here are just as enjoyable to read as they were to listen to first hand.

You can follow Jamie on twitter at @HoylandJamie


Other interview you may like:

Tony Agana

Alan Kelly

Guy Mowbray (Journalist & Commentator)

Alan Biggs (Broadcaster & Journalist)

Interview with Alan Kelly - Part 3 (Leaving the Lane, the Irish Rover and International Acclaim)

Part 2 of the interview had  Alan Looking back on some happy days and big occasions whilst playing for the Blades. All good things must come to an end and eventually the time came to leave Sheffield United. 

You left United after playing under 6 managers. Is it hard adapting to different management styles, or as a keeper are you largely unaffected?

Whenever there is a change in manager at a football club.  it is always an interesting and potentially unsettling time for any footballer because for those who are in the team you have to prove your worth all over again and for those whose face didn't fit , it is a clean slate and a chance to impress the new boss.

I have experienced this situation on over 17 occasions both as a player and a coach where each new manager has brought in his own ideas and style of play that the players and staff have to adjust to in a very short period of time. As a goalkeeper it is slightly different because the new boss generally looks at the rest of the team first!

What changed under Adrian Heath and what led you to leave Bramall Lane?

Aberdeen made a bid of £750,000 and it was accepted, I didn’t want to leave and I had a year left on my contract, but I was told I wasn’t going to get another. I spoke to the Aberdeen Chairman and told him I wouldn’t be moving to Scotland. Then Blackburn made a bid, which was also accepted, and it was made very clear to me that I had no future at Sheffield United.

I think Adrian Heath just wanted it all done and dusted and I was the least of his worries because Trace was staying. I can understand the situation because Simon was a top class goalkeeper, but it was a shame the way I was told because I was given very little time to say my goodbyes. However I did get to play in the pre-season friendly against Chelsea and it was great to play one last time in front of the Sheffield United faithful.

Were you at risk of leaving much earlier in your United career. Didn't Harry once drop you due to a contract dispute?

Harry being Harry….again! I had agreed the contract, Harry had the dispute. It took 7 games for him to get his head right and then it was all settled in an hour!

Whilst with United you gained full international recognition with the Republic of Ireland. What was Jack Charlton like as a manager/coach?  Did he have any key advice before your Republic of Ireland debut?

I made my full debut away to the world champions, Germany, and when he named the team the night before the game he turned to me and said;

“Right son, it’s your responsibility to organise all your defensive set plays, so you sort out the markers, everything. If we concede from a set play, it’s your fault."

No pressure then Jack! When you think of the players I had to organise, Denis Irwin, Paul McGrath, Andy Townsend, Ray Houghton, John Aldridge…..So there I am the night before my full debut, knocking on the players' doors and telling them where I wanted them on the pitch, Character building!

It was a happy debut too, we won 0-2 against Klinsmann, Koller and all.

After picking up so many Irish caps is it frustrating that you were on the side-lines for two World Cups?

I had a great career, with so many great highlights, to be part of two World Cup qualifying campaigns that resulted in qualification for the World Cup finals was brilliant. I get asked that question quite a lot and I genuinely believe that all I could do was my best and if I was picked then great. If I wasn’t, then I had to help the man in possession of the number one shirt. That was why Trace and I worked well at United, because we respected each other as goalies and helped the one who was playing, by training hard and with good quality.

I was lucky to be living, let alone playing, after being knocked over by that motorbike in 88 so I had a different outlook on life and football from other players and I could deal with the highs and lows in the same way.

How much were the players affected by the Keane/McCarthy Saipan incident in 2002? The results suggest it fired them up.

I don’t think I can type that fast and it is a subject that I have never spoken about publicly, but we had a great campaign and we should have beaten Spain to go through to the quarter finals. If Ian Harte had scored his penalty in normal time......we lost in a penalty shootout.

Do you consider yourself unfortunate to have been around with Packie Bonner and Shay Given in their prime, or just fortunate in that few players get the opportunity to win international caps?

I actually took over from Packie after the 1994 USA World Cup, after making my debut in 1993 and went on to win the majority of my caps under Jack Charlton. When Mick McCarthy took over I was having a few injury problems, Shay had made a massive entrance to football with Sunderland by winning promotion and Mick was blooding a lot of young players. Shay came in and played exceptionally well, so I had no problem with that as that is the nature of the game. He was and is to this day a world class goalkeeper.

In 1999/2000 season I played 9/10 games on the trot as Ireland lost out on qualifying for Euro 2000 by 9 seconds! But on a personal level I was awarded the International Player Of the Year Trophy ( the first time a goalkeeper had won it ) and as I was sat at the awards, I didn’t even give it a thought that I might be in contention as I was up against Roy Keane and Niall Quinn. So there I was still eating my dinner when the camera swings my way and it was announced I’d won! I looked up and thought, 'I am sure he just said my name?' My good friend and team mate, Alan McLoughlin, patted me on the back and said well done, so with a mouth full of steak off I went  and got the award. Like I say, the ups and downs of football! 

After leaving Bramall Lane Alan spent How did you find your 4 years at Ewood Park and was it injuries that led to your retirement?

I had nearly 5 years at Blackburn and in that time we won the Worthington Cup and gained promotion back to the Premier League. I only played 50 games, but that was due to the arrival of Brad Friedel, another world class goalkeeper and a great person.

Injury ended my career when I was teaching the young goalkeepers how to turn and react to save a shot. The young lad hit the ball a bit early and you can call it instinct, I just reacted. I threw out a hand and made the save, but my fingers dug into the turf and my body weight landed on top of them! My ring finger on my right hand was a mess and was hanging down the wrong side of my hand. I had surgery, but I couldn’t get the movement back and I nicknamed it the claw!

I had a wonderful time in football, played with and against some of the world’s great players. I started in a different era for football in the mid-80’s and witnessed the changing face of football through to the mid-noughties and I enjoyed every minute of it. 

After a spell coaching with the Blackburn Academy, you were asked by Steve Staunton to work as a goalkeeping coach with the Irish national team. With Euro 2012 on the horizon, is this your first major championships in a coaching role and what are you looking forward to the most?

Yes, it’s my first championship as a coach. I have been lucky enough to work in International football for the last 6 years and working with a master of his art, Giovanni Trappatoni, has been amazing. I can’t wait to pit our wits against Croatia, Spain and Italy!

Shay Given trains under the watchful eye of Alan

Who would you rate as the best young keeper in the country at present?

Joe Hart is a fantastic goalkeeper, A great lad, who should be England’s number one for the next 10/15 years barring injury.

Talking of young talent, have you seen much of the two Georges at Bramall Lane (Long & Willis, both England age group internationals). If so, how would you rate them and where do they need to develop?

I have to be honest and say I haven’t, but I have heard good things about them. Darren Ward is the Academy goalkeeping coach at Sheffield United and in his hands the future of Sheffield’s goalkeepers are in good hands.

On that positive note for Blades fans, the interview ends. He believes the Blades keepers are in safe hands and I think it is safe to say that so are both Preston’s and the Republic of Ireland's men between the sticks.

I want to thanks Alan for taking the time to answer my questions. By his own admission it was great to reminisce and hopefully you have enjoyed reading these posts as much as Alan and I enjoyed putting this together. There was plenty we didn't cover, maybe next time. Thanks for reading.

Interview with Alan Kelly - Part 1 (Father's Footsteps)

Following on from my interview with Tony Agana, it is a pleasure to welcome another Blades hero of the last 20 years to the pages of A United View; former Blades and Republic of Ireland international goalkeeper Alan Kelly.

As with Tony, Alan was generous with his time and his answers and so I will post this interview in 3 parts over the coming days. You will be able to read about Alan's early career at Preston - where surprisingly he didn't start out in goal, his move to Bramall Lane - where his performances led to international recognition and provided many happy memories for Alan and Blades fans alike, some fantastic cup nights and heroic goalkeeping displays. We also touch on his surprising departure from Bramall Lane, nearly five years at Blackburn and the present, which is goalkeeping coach for the Republic of Ireland and Head of Goalkeeping at Preston North End's Centre of Excellence.

Alan can be followed on twitter @keepingskills and his website www.goalkeepingskills.com provides training guides for goalkeepers at all levels. Even if you are not a keeper, Alan's blog on the site is well worth a read for insight into both goalkeepers' performances in the big matches and general thoughts on the wider game as well. 

The son of Preston North End and Ireland's legendary keeper Alan Kelly, I started by asking Alan whether it a natural decision to pursue a football career given his father's success?

Not at all, as a child I dreamed of becoming an astronaut or jumping over double-decker buses on a motorbike like Evel Knievel!! (I suppose being knocked over by a motorcycle in a road accident back in 1988 was the nearest I got to that stunt and that bloody hurt!)

I actually played outfield as midfield /defender for Preston North End's schoolboy team up until leaving school and then the goalkeeper got injured. I was put in goal and it just clicked!

On leaving school I got an apprenticeship with Leyland Motors and worked as an electrical engineer for the next 18 months ,while at the same time playing for Preston’s youth team on a Saturday and turning out for the Reserve team during the week.

I continued to work and play for PNE at the same time (can you hear the violin playing). I used to get up at 6 a.m. and cycle 11 miles to work for the first year. I then found out a lad who also worked at Leyland drove past the end of my road every day!

So it wasn't  always the case that you would wear the gloves, did your Dad support the decision to switch?

My dad was a time served plasterer back in Ireland, before he came over to Preston North End, and he was quite happy that I had a 4 year apprenticeship  when I left school because I don’t think he saw any future for me as a goalkeeper. That was largely because I had literally only fallen into the position during the summer of 1984 when I left school.

Who else did you look up to an idolise as a youngster and what made them stand out for you?

My Dad was the goalkeeping  coach at Everton in mid-80’s and I went over to Everton’s training ground with him a couple of times and watched the great title winning side train and to stand right behind the goal. watching  Neville Southall train was amazing! He was unbeatable and he sometimes saved a shot and threw it straight back to Graeme Sharp and said “go on son, have another go”. I think I wore a pair of Neville's hand me down gloves when I made my debut for PNE in 1986.

How did your youth career develop and how did you end up at PNE?

At the end of 1984, PNE were relegated to the old 4th Division so it was a time of despair at Deepdale.  I suppose with me costing nothing to play for the youths and later on that season for the reserve team, it would have seemed the least of their worries.

But in the summer of 1985, I knew that I had to make a decision, did I carry on with my apprenticeship, or did I ask to be given the chance to play football? I didn’t make that decision until the end of September 1985 and my dad was not happy about it! I was throwing away a good job, for the offer of an 8 month contract for a team playing in the bottom tier of the football league. The thing is, I was a bit head strong at the time and stood my ground. So I signed on 25th September 1985 with the management team of Tommy Booth & Brian Kidd.

The best thing that happened to me was going out and working for a living; it gave me an appreciation of how lucky I was to given the chance to play professional football for a living and I have always carried that experience with me throughout my professional career

I played for Ireland youths in the pre – Jack Charlton years and it was a world removed form today's international set ups. For instance, we had our pre match meals in a snooker hall next to the hotel, but the craic was brilliant.

Did playing at PNE place undue pressure and expectation on you?

I have to say that I didn’t feel the pressure or expectation because I was just enjoying being a professional. Mind you, I used to get a fair bit of stick if a made a mistake because I was a home-grown lad whose dad happened to be a legend at Preston!

But I now knew that this was what I wanted to do and I loved every minute of it. Brian Kidd used to take me out for extra shot stopping practice in the afternoons, so there I was, trying to stop a European Cup winner and goal scorer, who used to play alongside Sir Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best, from hitting the back of the net! Who wouldn't love it?

It still makes me chuckle!

Do you remember much about your debut?

It was at home against Crewe on 8th March 1986….we lost 2-1. It was a proud moment for me and my family. The club had not been out of the bottom 6 all season and first of all our experienced keeper Jim Platt got injured and then on-loan replacement Phil Harrington suffered a bad injury. In the end there was no one left….but me!

The match went by in a flash, but I did okay and stayed in for the last 13 games of the season. This run of games included a five on the spin winning sequence that gave everybody the belief we could move away from having to apply for re-election at the end of the season…..unfortunately that is what happened when we finished 23rd.

To be honest the place was in uproar, we didn’t have any floodlights until the back end of the season and when they were officially opened against Cambridge on a wet Tuesday night, the lights were set at the wrong angle so you couldn’t see the centre of the pitch….we lost 2-1, it was my third game in professional football!!

They say it's tough at the top but it’s even tougher at the bottom!

Tough indeed and given such a difficult start to your career, it's amazing the turnaround within 12 months. What was the highlight of your time there?

Winning promotion the very next season, when the club appointed John McGrath as manager and we had a new plastic pitch. John was a fantastic man & a character who transformed the club. We played five at the back, which included Sam Allardyce and (ex-Blade)  Bob Atkins. We had Frank Worthington up front with another ex-Blade, Gary Brazil, and we played some amazing football. The highlight being a 1-0 victory at home against eventual champions Northampton in front of full house at Deepdale.

I played the second half of the season and I was on Jack Charlton’s radar to play for Ireland Under 21’s on the night  we had a game against Tranmere  that, if we won, would confirm our promotion…I was desperate to play in the Tranmere match because I had been a ball boy at PNE, I had grown up around the place and to now have opportunity to be part of a successful Preston side was brilliant, we won 2-0 and the celebrations were great.

How did the move to Sheffield United come about? Did you need much persuasion?

I had decided to leave PNE because the plastic pitch was destroying my body. I had suffered two broken legs, a broken hand,  torn knee ligaments, the lot and the pitch was taking lumps out of me.

I had just come back from honeymoon and I got a phone call to go on trial….to Neil Warnock’s  Notts County for two weeks, so off I went. The pre-season was tough and I tore my thigh in the first week, but said nothing and carried on. I had a major collision with Notts County's star player, Craig Short in a training match, which resulted in us both being knocked nearly unconscious. When I came round the medics were carrying Shorty off on a stretcher, Neil called training off and everyone left me still dazed, flat out on the training pitch! I think it was a sign. Anyway, the two weeks finished, I decided Notts County was not for me and headed back up the M6 to Preston.

On the way home I got a call on my mobile (It was the size of a small brick and no one had called me on it before). Dave Bassett was on the line saying;

“Will you sign for me son?“ 

“Yes“,  I said

“Right, get yourself to Bramall Lane for 4 a.m. in the morning, we are leaving for our pre-season tour of Sweden”

“No Problem, see you  tomorrow morning  then”

Harry rang me back 5 minutes later;

“Oh and we will give you a two year contract on £25 a week more than you are on at PNE ……you have just got married , haven’t you?"

“Yes Mr Bassett” 

“Ok then I’ll give you an extra £25”

“Thanks very much Mr.Bassett”

“It's Harry son“

“Okay, thanks very much Harry” 

Now, I had never been to Sheffield before. Me, my new wife and my new father-in-law arrived at Bramall Lane at 3 a.m. and when we saw the front of the South Stand we all said “Wow!”.  It was just brilliant, I knew straight away that I was going to love it here. I got out of the car and standing in the doorway to the players entrance was the magnificent Derek Dooley.  Derek took one look at me and said;

“You, get in that office and sign that contract and get you’re arse on this bus …pronto. Oh... and welcome to Sheffield United ”

Derek was a fantastic man who all the players respected  and looked up to, God bless his soul.

So to answer your question, No it took no persuasion at all!

In Part 2 which you can read here, Alan talks about happy times at Bramall Lane.