Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
LES: OUR FANS WEREN’T GUNNER LOVE GEORGE
IN his many years in football, Les Ferdinand thought he had heard every version of every chant.
But, in March 1999, one resounded around Wembley that left him dumbfounded.
Ferdinand was part of the Tottenham team that had beaten Leicester in the League Cup Final for the club’s first trophy in eight years.
As the final whistle blew, “Man in the Raincoat’s Blue and White Army” was sung by the Spurs fans.
The man in question was manager George Graham.
According to Ferdinand, he was one of the best managers he had ever worked with in his career. But to many Spurs MANCHESTER UNITED might have won their Treble, but manager Sir Alex Ferguson was furious about the trophy that got away.
He couldn’t believe that a United star hadn’t been named Footballer of the Year. Instead, the award went to Tottenham’s David Ginola (above).
Fergie would turn on football hacks and say: “What do you fans, Graham’s strong Arsenal pedigree meant he would never be accepted. His name could never be sung.
Graham had taken over in late September 1998 after Christian Gross had endured a nightmare start to the season.
Ferdinand said: “I believe we could have finished much higher in the Premier League – possibly second – if George had been put in charge earlier.
“But the simple fact is that so many fans were never going to accept him because of his history with Arsenal. That was a great shame. But because of his time at Arsenal as a player and manager, there was always going to be a problem winning over Spurs fans.”
A YOUNG midfielder called Steven George Gerrard made his league debut for Liverpool on November 29, 1998.
The Liverpool backroom staff were convinced they had a gem to burnish in this 18-year-old.
Stevie G was not so sure. That season he made 13 appearances and later reflected: “I was out of position and out of my depth.” lot know? You gave David Ginola the Footballer of the Year in our Treble season... for one good game against Barnsley!”
United stars Roy Keane,
Paul Scholes and Peter Schmeichel carved each other up to split the vote and pave a way for the L’Oreal hair ad star, who also won the PFA award.
JUST four years after being crowned Premier League champions, Blackburn suffered the ignominy of relegation. Rovers had only won two games by November when they sacked manager Roy Hodgson. Brian Kidd (left) was prised out of Manchester United to take charge, but he couldn’t guide them to safety. Their relegation was confirmed when United visited Ewood Park and drew 0-0.