BARTON: I’D NEVER HAVE SIGNED ME
the fourth division to the first, but they didn’t do it on a budget of bobbins.
“The way we played frightened teams, and we got pigeon-holed for being the rough kids from Bash Street, but if those lads couldn’t play, how come most went on to be sold for big money and play international football?
“Explain how Beasant, Winterburn, Wise,
Sanchez, Fash, Vinnie and
Hodges won almost 60 caps between them?”
Bassett, now 75, hated the way his empire was dismantled, repackaged and exported to Milton Keynes. But he believes the trauma enabled the Crazy Gang to find its soul again, saying: “In a way, going out of the League, and out of existence, was the best thing that happened to them. We’ve all got an opinion on what happened with the move to Milton Keynes, but going back to square one gave them the energy to rebuild.
“Wimbledon was 14 years of my life as a player, coach and manager. It will be massive for them when they move back to Plough Lane.”
Bassett’s career took a wrong turn when he agreed, ‘The way we played frightened teams. We were pigeon-holed for being the rough kids from Bash St, but if those lads couldn’t play, how come most were sold for big money?’
hastily, to replace the departing Graham Taylor at Watford. “With hindsight, I didn’t do due diligence because Graham was revered at Watford, and rightly so,” he said. “But when you come home from the FA Cup final to find Elton John in your living room offering you a job, it’s not easy to turn him down.”
Bassett soon regained paradise at Bramall Lane. He fired up the Blades (left), and two promotions later they were back in the big time.
He said: “When I went to Sheffield United, they had no money and we were dropping into the Third Division.
“No disrespect to Chris Wilder, who has done a fantastic job and deserves all the praise he gets, but I was never in a position to spend £20m on a single player.
“What would I have changed about my time there? Not much – selling Brian Deane to Leeds was a big mistake, and being relegated on the last day of the season at Chelsea, when two late goals cost us, was a horrible way to go down.
“But that team could play.
“It’s nice to be held in high regard by more than one set of fans. Does it matter? Of course it does – ask any manager and he will tell you it’s better to get the accolades than the sack.”
JOEY BARTON admitted he would not have signed himself as a player because he was too much of a handful.
The former Manchester City star, who served a jail sentence for assault and who was regularly banned for on-field flare-ups, was asked what he as a manager would have made of himself as a player. “I don’t think I’d sign him,” joked Fleetwood boss Barton. “He’s a nuisance.
“When I think about how (Burnley manager) Sean Dyche handled me as a manager, at the back end of my career, I thought he was outstanding in terms of the way he allowed me to use my strengths to impact the team.
“Any time I came close to the line, as I invariably do because I’m so passionate and I want to win so much, he had great ways of putting checks and balances in place. He’s a really strong leader and that’s what I needed.”