Bill Nicholson:in memoriam
Another sad event to note: the passing of Bill Nicholson. Nicholson’s great achievement was to manage the Spurs team of the early 1960s, which did the “double” in the 1960-61 season. That was a legendary team. Its mark of 12 straight victories to start the season still stands and will be hard to beat. What the straight facts don’t convey is the style of that team. They played football at its best. The comparison to Wenger’s current Arsenal squad is apt. At the heart of each team is “push and run” (as it was termed under Nicholson) or “one-touch” (as we’re more likely to say now) executed to perfection, supplemented by sublime individual skill (Blanchflower and White for “Bill Nick”; Pires, Henry and Bergkamp for Wenger). There’s another interesting comparison: if Dave Mackay has a modern counterpart it’s PatrickViera; both tremendous combinations of toughness, stamina, savvy and skill. It remains to be seen if Arsenal can repeat as Champs and, perhaps, do a Double (or Triple?) While Nicholson's Spurs were never quite the same after the tragic death of John White (struck by lightning) and Mackay's leg injuries, they produced much magical football. Good on yer, Bill!

Before this blog was started, two great English cricketers, Colin Cowdrey and Brian Statham, died fairly close together, around the same time as the incomparable Stan Matthews. Miller, like all three, was a “throwback” to a different era in sports, the like of which we will not see again. Very different people from very different backgrounds but with a common value system as far as sports go. Give it your all, but it’s only a game. Statham was a particular hero of mine. The archetypal Lancashire man. Soft spoken, laconic, gentle, honest but a fierce competitor. I watched “George” bowl for hours at Old Trafford, many from right behind his arm. He was relentless; off-stump on a length, ball after ball and quick, to the end. He must have been murder to face. He was also a joy to watch, in a different way from his Yorkshire “twin”, “Fiery Fred” Trueman. Fred had a classic fast bowler’s action, full of menace as he accelerated into the stumps. Statham’s was unique; lithe and whippy but just as smooth. We will not see his like again, either.

Gods or Flannelled Fools? That was the title of Keith Miller’s autobiography published in the 1950s. Sorry to hear of his death. I gather he leaned very much to the latter, which meant he didn’t get on well with the god-like Don or the rest of the Oz cricketing establishment. Despite that, my recollection is that he recognized Bradman’s supreme skill with the bat. Miller himself, qualitative factors aside, was the second-greatest all-rounder of all-time. Qualitative factors almost certainly fall in his favour against other contenders (but not Sobers). He competed for wickets with Lindwall, the no.2 all-time quickie to Marshall. He was known to give away his wicket when nothing was at stake, so his batting average is undoubtedly understated. A more detailed all-rounder analysis will appear later but, to repeat, this weekend saw the passing of a very great cricketer and, by all accounts, a convivial human being. Bradmetrics salutes Keith Miller’s memory!

Wayne Rooney has appeared in almost 100 games and scored 30 goals. This is impressive but does it warrant such appraisals as that of “Robbo” on the Beeb’s website that he will undoubtedly be England’s finest talent yet if he remains relatively injury-free? He does have a seeming head for the occasion, witness his Euro 2004 performance and his recent hat-trick debut for United. The answer is, of course, “no”. It would be wonderful if he becomes a great player. It’s far too early to even compare him to, say, Trevor Francis, or Kevin Keegan or Gary Lineker (or, for that matter, Michael Owen), much less Matthews, Finney, Charlton, Greaves among forwards or Moore or Brian Robson. Such are the times in which we live.

An interesting comparison is the young Charlton, the last true World-class forward /mid-fielder England has produced. At the end of Charlton’s first three seasons he’d played 63 games and scored 47 goals. Leaving aside the stats, the young Rooney is fast, strong, cocky, has good ball control and a very good right foot. The young Charlton, was faster, strong (but not as obviously so), had phenomenal ball control and natural swerve and two exceptional feet. He wasn’t that cocky. He switched from being a goalscoring winger to a commander of midfield, with a passing ability unsurpassed by even the great European and Latin midfielders. Rooney has a long way to go before he can carry Bobby’s jock.