Big Jack’s England snub was the best thing that happened to Ireland
WITHIN a week of leaving the Republic of Ireland job, Jack Charlton was contacted by the English FA and invited to a coaching course.
He asked them blithely was he to ‘give it or listen to it’.
Either way, he turned down the invite, with a two-word negative. He was done with football management. Family, friends, and fishing beckoned.
He was only 60 years of age, younger than Martin O’Neill when he took charge of his first Ireland game, while Trapattoni was 69 for his opener against Serbia.
Just as Charlton was wise to turn down the FA overtures, so he was blessed the blazers didn’t reply to his application to succeed Don Revie as England manager in 1977.
Had he got the job, such was his sensitivity to criticism, he’d have been hounded out by the media in jig time.
Revie, who was labelled a traitor, Bobby Robson, Graham Taylor, Glenn Hoddle, Sven-Goran Eriksson, Steve McClaren and Sam Allardyce were all chased down and run out of the job by a relentless press pack.
Whether it was professional or personal, the England manager was constantly ridiculed.
How ironic that humourless Alf Ramsey, with his false clipped tones and dour tactics, was spared the excesses of the Fleet St rottweilers. Having won the World Cup helped, of course.
Charlton wouldn’t have lasted six months before telling his employers where to shove it, like he did at Newcastle United when a number of fans turned against him.
HERE, he got a fair crack of the whip from the press at the start and was possibly over-indulged.
His tactical approach was different and crude, quality and players were sacrificed on the altar of efficiency, yet once Jack got the breaks in Bulgaria, he and his players never looked back.
From the summer of 1988 to the summer of 1994, Ireland were a top five nation in Europe, alongside Holland, West Germany, Italy and England, ahead of Spain, France, Belgium and Portugal. Oh, for that now.
Charlton was principled in his coaching approach — flat back four, put ‘em under pressure, long ball and so on — but he was principled in life too.
He abhorred the coverage by The Sun newspaper of the Hillsborough disaster of 1989 and when they offered him £150,000 for 15 first-person articles, his response was immediate. ‘No f ***** g chance.’
His career CV was sufficient for a knighthood, which was bestowed on ‘Our Kid’ Bobby, a more complete footballer, whose personality froze in the slush and ice of Munich. As a socialist and supporter of miners’ rights, Charlton knew he’d never get the sword on the shoulder at Buckingham Palace, and while pleased for his brother, it annoyed him that Bobby Moore, a great player, great leader and humane to a tee, was overlooked.
Playful, petulant, practical and passionate, Charlton was held in high esteem by the Irish players he managed for almost 10 years. For his 85th birthday in May, I asked former players for a few minutes to tell a story or two about Charlton and they all obliged.
Tony Cascarino, always helpful, revealed how Jack would have taken a different approach to Ireland if he had access to Glenn Hoddle, who could land the ball on a six-pence from 40 yards, and Gary Lineker, a speedster. He also said how deeply hurt Charlton was when branded a traitor by some England fans at Wembley in 1991.
The great broad oak of Ashington, Leeds United, England and the Republic of Ireland, toppled on Friday evening, at tea-time, felled at 85 by lymphoma and dementia.
His family felt it best to keep the news quiet until the following morning, which somehow they did.
Across the British media platforms, Jack was duly saluted for his one-club loyalty, his medals with Leeds United and England, his promotions at Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday and his astonishing work with Ireland.
It got me thinking, had he ever been England manager, would the tributes and acclaim have been so genuine? I suggest not.
Missing the England job was the best thing that could have happened to the football career of Jack Charlton.
That he ended up here, after the jigs and reels of a topsy-turvy FAI vote, was a blessing. For him, and for us.