FOOTBALL: THAT WAS THE WEEKEND THAT WAS
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THE PREMIERSHIP'S
LEADING SCORERS
Ian Wright
(Arsenal)
Premiership 17;
Coca-Cola Cup 5; Europe 2. 24
Robbie Fowler
(Liverpool)
Premiership 12; FA Cup 1
Coca-Cola Cup 5; Europe 3. 21
Alan Shearer
(Newcastle)
Premiership 20; FA Cup 1
Coca-Cola Cup 1; Europe 1 23.
Fabrizio Ravanelli
(Middlesbrough)
Premiership 10;
FA Cup 3; Coca-Cola Cup 7. 20
The first week of February 1979 will always be remembered as a ground-breaking time in English football; the moment the prophets of doom proclaimed would be the beginning of the end.
Just three weeks after West Bromwich Albion broke the pounds 500,000 barrier with their British record purchase of the Middlesbrough striker David Mills, Birmingham said they will let their England star Trevor Francis go - for pounds 1m.
They found takers in the Nottingham Forest management duo of Peter Taylor and Brian Clough, who were so busy with a team challenging for honours on four fronts that they resigned from their duties with the England Youth team during the course of the negotiations.
The deal went through on 8 February. Forest paid pounds 975,000, but the newspapers decided that the 10 per cent levy on transfers and eight per cent VAT took the deal over the pounds 1m mark.
By the autumn the gloom-mongers were not alone in perceiving that the game had become consumed by market madness.
In August, Manchester United paid Chelsea pounds 825,000 for Ray Wilkins and it seemed only a matter of time before the Francis record fell. It lasted until 5 September, when Malcolm Allison spent a total of pounds 1,437,500 to secure the services of Steve Daley from Wolves. Three days later, Wolves used their windfall to bring Andy Gray to Molineux in a deal finally calculated at pounds 1,469,000.
"There is a danger of the whole set-up going berserk and the game being ruined," Bob Paisley said on the eve of the Wilkins transfer. Given the Gray record has now been multiplied 10-fold, one wonders what he would make of things today.
THE SEASON'S RED AND YELLOW CARDS
1 Leeds United
Two bookings in two matches for new signing Molenaar
2 Middlesbrough
Ninth caution of the season for Emerson
3 Chelsea
Three more see yellow at Tottenham
4 Arsenal
Nine yellow cards in last three matches
60
1
54
0
52
4
MISTAKEN
IDENTITY
Les Dennis
Dave Bassett
Evidence has emerged that laugh-a-minute Crystal Palace manager Dave Bassett may owe his ready supply of one-liners to a double life as a comic and TV game-show host, going under the stage name of Les Dennis. "At the end of the day it's up to Craig Brown - and he's already got 40,000 Jocks telling him what to do!" joked "Harry" when asked about David Hopkin's international prospects on Saturday. Hilarious.
Take a bow
THE PORTUGUESE FA
For showing the progressiveness so many of its equivalent governing bodies lack: professional matches in Portugal over the weekend featured the use of substitute cards to show how much stoppage time would be added to the normal 90 minutes.
Red card
BRIGHTON FANS
Whose feelings towards the club's chief executive David Bellotti are understandable, but whose conduct at away grounds - Mansfield Town's Field Mill on Saturday was the venue for their latest attempts to disrupt a match - is in danger of costing them sympathy for their cause.
Missing person
Jordi Cruyff (Manchester Utd)
A two goals in two games start to his Premiership career must seem a distant memory to United's pounds 1.4m signing from Barcelona, who has faded into the background at Old Trafford. He has not started a match since facing Leicester more than two months ago, when some fans gave him the bird. Saturday's appearance on the bench was a first sighting since 8 December.
Watch out for...
Lee Hendrie (Aston Villa)
Not put off by being sent off on his debut last season, the 19-year-old midfield player has forced himself back into Villa's plans with some outstanding reserve team form. Lee, whose Scottish cousin, John, recently joined Barnsley from Middlesbrough, made his fifth entry of the season from the substitutes' bench on Saturday, having earned his third senior start in the Cup at Derby
PREMIERSHIP TEAM OF THE WEEK
MAIK TAYLOR
Southampton
GARY NEVILLE
Man Utd
PAUL McGRATH
Derby
GARY BREEN
Coventry
IAN NOLAN
Sheffield Wed
LEE BOWYER
Leeds Utd
DAVID BECKHAM
Man Utd
ROBERTO DI MATTEO
Chelsea
JUNINHO
Middlesbrough
DUNCAN FERGUSON
Everton
ALAN SHEARER
Newcastle
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