Timmy Elms

Can’t ever remember him having a howler, or getting skinned by a speed merchant. Phenomenal footballer

Small bastard. Not as if he’s gonna put a growth spurt on at 24

1982 that is

Was Spurs FA Cup Quarter Final All Ticket? Pretty sure it was.

I do think they’re sometimes an element of playing to the gallery with players looking totally devastated after defeat. Sometimes genuine, other times becomes it’s the image they wish to project. No excuse for yesterday however

I got the sack for laughing once. Then again I was driving a hearse

When it was Romans hobby horse he put his hand in his pocket to the tune of hundreds of millions. The yanks came in and made him look like Scrooge- Drunken Sailors on Shore Leave. If we spend a Billion on a new stadium, how long would that take to pay for itself- 30 years? Since the formation of the Premiership 30 years ago it’s been the same story. Jam tomorrow

Football finances baffle me. As you said, most clubs loose money or struggle to break even, and yet their book prices continue to rise based on future earnings. Jam tomorrow.

That’s one way of putting it. What’s a world beater is the sheer scale of our transfers hiccups- sometimes the arrows don’t hit their mark- nothings guaranteed-,however if one were to compare prices paid for theses players- versus current market value should we sell on- we’d all be crying till Xmas

Should have made clear, Charlie Cooke was in a semi pro, National 5 A-Side League out there.

In 1989 I did the FA Prelim Coaching Badge, with the idea of spending a summer in the states with North American Soccer Camps. Charlie Cook was a big wheel with this crowd. It didn’t actually happen but a mate went out there and got to know Cookie. He paid semi pro out there ( Cookie) even though he was probably mid 40’s. Because he basically played with a ball all day, every day, coaching or playing, he reckoned he was more skillful then than in his prime. I had another mate who was an apprentice at Palace when he moved there. He was marching on a bit by then, but apparently the fastest bloke in the team.

Know quite a few West Ham fans who are marching on- bad knees and hips- struggle with the walk from Stratford Station to the ground. There’s talk of a shuttle bus service for the infirm, but still only talk atm. 40 years back they were taking the Shed, now struggle with a half a mile walk

Still gets picked for Belgium. Don’t like the geyser one bit however provided with service think he’s got goals in him.

Exception to coaching rule, set pieces, which are vitally important. Other than that think the basics are installed at a young age

Largely agree, however for fees paid- unprecedented outlay in the history of world football. In terms of coaching, football is a fairly simple game. These players have been coached since whenever they became attacked to clubs at 11 years old. If anything in my experience skill can become nullified by over coaching. You’ve either got it or you haven’t

Take the money and run. What’s the point of being a World Class Crock. Full backs, particularly forward pressing, chance providing, non mistake making players are an asset, but 100 M for one sounds improbable. What would Ashley Cole’s value be at RJ’s age I wonder

Just checked. Goodison Stand was 71. Btw working with a scouser recently, who told me they introduced random drug testing of the new stadium build workforce. Failure rate was so high they stopped drug testing.

Regarding East Stand chatter. I can’t think of any other stands being built during this era. Think Everton’s triple decker went up late 60’s, Villa, Forest Wolves and Spurs has new developments around the 1980 mark. Agree that any replacement would struggle to match the capacity of the existing, then again bums on seats now runs secondary to corporate boxes and catering.

Night game versus West Ham- midweek either 78 or 79. Remember at Fulham Broadway Eastbound Platform, they were doing Knees Up Mother Brown- train was bouncing around so much though it would fall off the rails. On our Wimbledon bound platform there was a one on one fight with a ginger skinhead and some other chap- got the impression they were both CFC, probably with some history between then- platform opened up and let them get on with it- good old scrap- West Ham on opposite platform gave it a round of applause

My old man used to love the top tier. Before The West Stand was rebuilt, you could see the floodlights at Craven Cottage. My Mum came with us only once-,she got vertigo in the top tier, left after 10 minutes, met us at the motor with a new lampshade she purchased on New Kings Road. Remember being up there v West Ham 1980- was transfixed by the action in Shed by the Tea Bar- pocket of West Ham got in early- Chelsea were above them and for the course of the game police separated the two, with the odd skirmish every ten minutes or so…” Old man…stopping looking at the Shed, there’s a game going on down here” Love the view East from the window at the very top looking across our great city- night games you’d sometimes see activity with people up to no good on the gravestones at Brompton Boneyard. Good nightclub underneath “ Under The Bridge” Spent numerous times there over a 35 year period. Not the most practical stand but would be sad to see the old girl go

Always enjoyed a half time drink. Quite a social scene, particularly at away games

Yes big queue at bar. Years back there were two morons pouring pints- kept serving people out of turn- geyser next to me was giving them a hard time - Pinky and Perky he called them, which made them reluctant to serve him- eventually them handed him one they’d already poured. ” f**k off. You’ve probably been bathing your plonkers in that “

50 years. Time flies. Think that indebted us to 3 million in 1975, which equals about 23 million now. Then we got relegated, cue headlines for the next 5 years about Dept Riden Chelsea, Sleeping Giants Chelsea…etc

I agree but not sure that will get us to 58-59 K capacity. With regard to hosting additional events to boost revenue, I can’t see local residents being delighted at the prospect of say, rock concerts being staged on their doorstep. They’d probably prefer it if the football club moved elsewhere. They’d be setting up action groups and moaning like f**k. Rich turds.

Approx 10 million in wages. Training with the kids, being sent to Coventry, didn’t weaken his resolve. Hardly kicked a ball in anger in five years with us, and never signed for another club afterwards. Not a bad retirement plan. He went into management. It must have been ethically difficult ,for him to turn on the thumbscrews in order to sell on unwanted players given his past behaviour.