Lofty. Posted March 28, 2013 Posted March 28, 2013 Bobby Tambling: Frank Lampard is Chelsea's greatest ever player and I hope he breaks my recordFrank Lampard can often be relied upon to restore people’s faith in the modern footballer and he was at it again last week. After scoring his 200th Chelsea goal, one of his first thoughts was to pick up the telephone and contact Bobby Tambling, the only other person to have reached that landmark in the club’s 108-year history.Tambling is suffering from Martorelli’s ulcer, a painful leg condition, and had been unable to leave his hospital bed in Cork for three months.Yet having also battled pneumonia last Christmas, there has been a marked improvement in his condition over recent days and he has now begun a programme of rehabilitation aimed at getting him walking again.For the first time since falling ill, Tambling is also ready to talk about all things Chelsea; from Lampard and the imminent prospect of having his all-time goalscoring record overhauled to his own legendary career during the swinging sixties alongside such icons as Jimmy Greaves and Peter Osgood.“It was lovely to hear from Frank,†Tambling said. “Ever since this problem has started, I’ve spoken to Frank a number of times. I’ve been in bed for the last three months so I’ve got to rehabilitate myself to standing up and getting back to walking.“I’ve done a bit of that today and you feel a bit heady and giddy. I’ve been fairly bad but everyone who is coming to see me has realised that I have made big strides back to better health.“Frank is always asking how I am and telling me to get well soon. He tells me to stay positive, take my time and that I will get better. He is a complete gentlemen and he knows that it has been a long haul.â€Tambling’s respect for Lampard the person is matched by his admiration for Lampard the footballer. Having played alongside or carefully observed all of the Chelsea greats, Tambling is clear about who should be regarded as the very best in the club’s history.“If you take what Frank has done personally and then add in what Chelsea have done as a team in the last 10 years, he must surely go down not just as one of the greats but probably the greatest player Chelsea has had,†he said. “This has been the greatest Chelsea team ever. He thinks like a striker, performs like a striker.“I think that he will certainly get to the record now. At different times, people thought, ‘this guy could do it’. We all thought Kerry Dixon was going to do it but I believed from four or five years ago that Frank would be the one.â€With Lampard as prolific as ever this season and needing just three more goals to break the record, Tambling shares the general bafflement at the club’s failure to extend his contract beyond the end of this season. “I find it difficult to understand,†he said.“If he wasn’t performing like he is, you might understand it a little bit and say he has run his course. But he is still performing well and still scoring.“It is not just one or two managers he has done it for, he has done it for every manager. He is a tremendous pro and great for the game so I find it difficult that something can’t be worked out but I’m not the club. I’m an outsider to all this so can only know the situation from what I read in the press. I think if he doesn’t reappear next year, there will be a lot of disappointed supporters.â€Tambling is also enthused by the possibility of Jose Mourinho returning this summer as manager.“He is different – he brings places to live, wherever he has gone and whatever people think of him. I think even after he left, Chelsea was still running on his fumes for two or three seasons."He really started the run of trophies and I don’t think they have ever lost it really. He gave them a winning mentality and the lads who are still there from his time carry that spirit into the team.“I think Jose had such a good time with Chelsea that he would probably love to come back. People would be very excited – he would get a tremendous welcome from the fans.â€Tambling often refers to the “Chelsea family†during our conversation and, even amid such vast change at the club, it is reassuring to hear that his generation remain involved.A suite at Stamford Bridge is still named in his honour and, before his recent ill health, he would return regularly from his home in the coastal Irish village of Crosshaven, just outside Cork. He has met club owner Roman Abramovich and many of the current players. “You think a lot of people wouldn’t remember us but we are given a great welcome and made to feel part of the family,†he said.While this generation have come to embody playing success and financial excess in almost equal measure, Tambling’s era was clearly very different. Frugal, fun but, in its own way, the Chelsea team of the sixties was equally glorious.Abramovich would certainly have appreciated the flair – if not the consistency – of a squad containing Tambling, Greaves, Osgood, George Graham, Terry Venables and Charlie Cooke. He might also have seen something of John Terry in the leadership qualities of Ron Harris.The only actual trophy of Tambling’s Chelsea career arrived in the League Cup of 1965, when he scored along with Venables and Eddie McCreadie to secure a 3-2 aggregate victory against Leicester City.Chelsea regularly flirted with other silverware during Tambling’s 11 years at the club, finishing third in the League in 1965 and losing a Uefa Cup semi-final replay to Barcelona the following year. It was the FA Cup, however, that produced both his biggest disappointments and greatest memory.“The highlight has got to be the FA Cup final,†he said. “Back then, it was the trophy everyone wanted. The Cup final was massive, not just for the players but the fans.“Near enough every year in the 1960s we would have a good run. It was almost like a volcano building up. We had lost in two semi-finals in the mid 1960s, which was the most sickening round to go out, and then we reached the final in 1967. Driving down Wembley Way, I just remember thinking, ‘God, we have made it at last’. We gave the supporters a day out but we didn’t turn up ourselves. We had a shocking day.â€Tambling did score Chelsea’s only goal, a late consolation, in a 2-1 defeat to Bill Nicholson’s Tottenham.“Throughout the 1960s we were on the fringe of everything,†Tambling said. “We had some great players but probably didn’t win the trophies we should have. It was an education to play with Jimmy Greaves. I don’t think there has been a striker quite like him.“Ossie came along in the mid-1960s and he was so skilful for a big guy, his passing was absolutely incredible. You would make a run and he would always find you.â€It was also an era when as much enjoyment was to be found off the pitch, often in the bars and clubs of the King’s Road, as on it. Lampard may be able to command £150,000 a week in wages compared to the £100 ceiling for the top players in Tambling’s team but there is still no hint of bitterness.“People always say to me, ‘I bet you wish you played now’,†Tambling said. “Obviously we would like to have earned a bit more money but we played in a great time. The world was beginning to change, coming out of the war. People were starting to find their feet and the 1960s was a great time just to be alive.“We’d be looked upon as idiots if we said we wouldn’t like to earn the money they do now but with it comes different things we didn’t have. One of those is that we could live our own lives away from the stadium and just do our own thing in normal life. We didn’t have the television coverage there is now and we were just like anyone else.“Football is forever changing and you have to change with it. I never thought I’d see a game like Spain playing with no central forward. The game changes – 4-4-2, 4-3-3 – you have to be a mathematician to work it out.â€The constant evolution, of course, is part of the fascination and Tambling will be tuning in from his hospital bed to see if fixtures against Southampton on Saturday and then Manchester United on Easter Monday will be the moment when Lampard creates history.“I’ve been very pleased to be the record holder,†he said. “It’s lovely but, in the end, you know that someone else will come along. That’s how it should be and who could be better than Frank Lampard? You couldn’t meet a nicer guy and he’s the best player Chelsea has probably ever produced.â€
Lofty. Posted April 16, 2013 Author Posted April 16, 2013 Looking through my archives, I've just come across this interview with Bobby Tambling published in the Irish Examiner way back in February 2005. As far as I know this article is no longer available online, hence the lack of the link. Interesting to look back and well worth taking the time to read: Rolling Back The Years HISTORY, they say, has a funny way of repeating itself. The Chelsea class of 2005 will be hoping this old adage doesn’t ring true this week.So before Jose Mourinho's Premiership leaders step onto the Camp Nou in Barcelona tonight, they'd do well to heed the advice of their greatest ever goal-scorer. Thirty nine years ago, Chelsea were also pushing for a league title, and Bobby Tambling was a key member of their side.Tambling scored 202 goals for the Blues between 1958 and 1970 a record that remains. Older Blues fans still rate Tambling as one of the club's all-time greats.Now living in Crosshaven in Co Cork, Tambling has painful memories of playing in the Nou Camp against the Catalans, also on the back of a bitter FA Cup exit."We played them in the Fairs (UEFA) Cup semi-final in 1966," recalls Tambling. "We lost 2-0 at the Nou Camp but then beat them 2-0 at our place. In those days there was no extra-time in the competition. A coin was tossed to decide where a third match would be played. We lost the toss and had to play in Spain again."The weekend before we went out for the third game we had just been beaten in the FA Cup semi-final. We were low in confidence and they thumped us 5-0."Tambling, a League of Ireland winner with Cork Celtic in 1974, warns the present Chelsea side must not be intimidated if they are to avoid a similar FA Cup hangover."Even though all this Chelsea side are internationals, Barcelona is still a very daunting place. They have got to go over there with confidence although I'm sure the manager will have the players up for this game."Nevertheless, Tambling, a star at inside-forward, admits doubts over Chelsea's current striking options. "Didier Drogba is a good player but he still has to prove he is world class."Gudjohnsen has done well to get a couple of goals and seems to be preferred by the manager but with Robben already injured, you'd be very worried with Duff also now out."I still don't think this Chelsea side will concede many goals. Barcelona might not have the kind of Chelsea style to grind out results. They don't often win 1-0 and this is going to be much tighter than they're used to. I'd still fancy Chelsea for the tie."It's hard to believe the Russian money machine dominating west London is the same club Tambling joined as a 15-year-old in 1957. While Chelsea's stars of 2005 earn up to £100,000 per week Tambling's rewards were more modest."A couple of weeks ago, my family actually found my first professional contract which I signed in 1958. I got £10 per week during the season and £8 a week in the off-season."Even the best players at the club then would only get £20 a week. There was no such thing as agents. If you were looking for a new contract, you'd go into the manager's office with a couple of notes of what you were looking for scribbled on the back of a cigarette box."While Chelsea 2005 have the mighty Mourinho, the Swinging Sixties Chelsea had the dictatorial Doc. "It's very hard to compare Mourinho with Tommy Docherty," laughs Tambling. "Docherty wasn't very aware tactically. He would annoy players so much, they would play well to show how much they hated him."Docherty's other motivational method was more to Mourinho's liking. "He'd keep telling players they were world-beaters, even when they weren't."Tambling believes the cocky Portuguese has something extra, however. "All the players want to win for him. I met John Terry and Damien Duff at Stamford Bridge and they spoke of how they adored Claudio Ranieri. It seems they want to play for Mourinho even more. He has brought this loyalty to another level."This loyalty is all the more amazing when you consider the nationalities of the players another big change at the Bridge. "It seems funny now but we used to think a Scot and a Welsh lad or and Irish lad were a lot of foreigners in a team," says Tambling, now active in coaching at Crosshaven."I would prefer if there were more local lads in the team. It's good that John Terry is there. I think it's important youth is given a chance."When I was at Chelsea, the manager felt if young players had talent, they were given the chance. I know fans want to win the league no matter who the players are, but they'd prefer if it was with lads from their own area."Some young players won't get the chance at the big clubs. And it's bound to effect the national teams. Look at Scotland: the top teams are dominated by foreign players. Scotland used to produce players with an awful lot of talent. Now, I couldn't name three Scottish internationals."Times change, and utterly at Stamford Bridge since Tambling played for the Blues alongside the likes of Terry Venables, David Webb and Ron Harris in the great Chelsea sides of the 1960s a side that almost ended Chelsea's championship thirst.The swagger of 1960s side is back in the Chelsea step. Like all fans, he is excited. As Chelsea approaches its centenary, the days of being the almost club could be over. Almost.THE Chelsea side Bobby Tambling starred with was one of the great sides of the 1960s, yet their self-destruction meant they had just a 1965 League Cup win to show for the decade.Tambling, from Hayling Island, near Portsmouth, joined Chelsea in 1957 and soon found himself pushing for the first team at Stamford Bridge.In the early days he played alongside Jimmy Greaves, while as a young player he grew up and blossomed alongside a bold young generation including Terry Venables, George Graham, Ron 'Chopper' Harris, Peter Bonetti and David Webb.With this talented group, the club seemed destined to add to their sole league title of 1955.The squad was torn apart before its time, however, sparked by a 1965 bust-up between then boss Tommy Docherty and eight players who broke a pre-match curfew with two games left in the season and Chelsea just two points behind Manchester United.Headstrong captain Terry Venables led the revolt. "Docherty felt let down, and he had lost the trust of the players."Within a year and a half, players like Barry Bridges, George Graham and Terry Venables had moved on. Eddie McCreadie said he could never feel the same way for the club. We were still getting better. Nearly all these players were under 23 and the side was never really allowed reach its peak."Tambling made three appearances for England, scoring against France, and was in Alf Ramsey's training squad for the 1966 World Cup."I had a decent run of form coming into the end of the season, and was in with a chance on the back of that," recalls Tambling. "I remember Geoff Hurst was something similar but his form carried on at the training squad. Everything he touched went into the goal."A lot of the press in England at the time thought it was a bit of a surprise I didn't make it but I wasn't overly surprised. I didn't think I did enough really to be in the squad."Tambling continued as a stalwart for Chelsea, and eventually left in 1970 after losing his place in the side through injury, only to fail to get it back in a historic season for the club."I was gutted at missing the FA Cup final in 1970, because I'd already lost in an FA Cup final and in semi-finals."The time to leave his beloved Chelsea arrived, and he moved across London to Crystal Palace. Injuries were now taking their toll and he was advised to quit the game."The doctor told me I couldn't play on hard ground, that I could only play on softer pitches. An Irish lad with Palace at the time, Paddy Mulligan, said I should play in Ireland because the pitches were always much softer."It started as a joke but Paddy actually did an awful lot of work to help me move to Ireland."Tambling won a league title with Cork Celtic in 1974 a win that gave him a chance to play in the European Cup after years of trying with Chelsea.He is still fondly remembered at Chelsea, and last year, as the Abramovich regime tightened its grip on Stamford Bridge, the club honoured Tambling by naming a suite after him at Stamford Bridge.The thought of returning there to celebrate a Premiership title brings a wry smile to his face.
erskblue Posted April 16, 2013 Posted April 16, 2013 Couple of great interviews. Cheers for posting them mate.
Lofty. Posted April 17, 2013 Author Posted April 17, 2013 You're welcome, and yes I agree, these are a couple of excellent interviews with a genuine Chelsea legend, so all credit to the Telegraph and Irish Examiner. With the benefit of hinsight, I'd have renamed this thread "Bobby Tambling: now and then", because even though the earlier of the two interviews only dates back to 2005, much of the content concerns Bobby's memories of playing in the 1960's Chelsea side.
dkw Posted April 17, 2013 Posted April 17, 2013 Excellent interviews, and from a legend who obviously loves our club. Cheers Tommy.
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