Mariner, loved by all ... and Barcelona
But hotshot smiled when Robson blocked his move... then went to Nou Camp as boss
SIR BOBBY ROBSON was never one for faint praise.
“I was lucky to work with great strikers all over the world,” he said, “Lineker, Romario, Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy, Shearer, Figo – and Paul Mariner at Ipswich.”
That quote is on the front cover of Mariner’s autobiography, launched last week – just four months after the forward’s death on July 9, aged 68.
It charts a full life – lived well, alongside such star names as Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan – but, on the pitch, it was a case of “What might have been?”.
Even at the very start of his career, Mariner had a brush with celebrity.
It was said that the money raised from a friendly between Brazilian side
Santos and Plymouth Argyle – in which legend Pele was the star turn – at the start of the 1970s was used to pluck the raw forward from non-League Chorley.
As Mariner’s star rose, he attracted the attention of one of the biggest clubs.
He was a core part of the Ipswich side of the mid-70s and early 80s that won the FA Cup, UEFA Cup and narrowly missed out on the First Division title.
It was at the height of his powers that Barcelona came knocking.
Mariner recalled: “I asked Bobby after training if Barcelona had made an enquiry. They wanted me and asked how much it would cost, but Ipswich told them I wasn’t for sale – and that was the end of the matter.
“Would I have gone, if Bobby had relented? Yes, 100 percent.
“Getting to play with Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens? Yes, please.
“Do I resent Bobby for blocking a potential move to Barcelona?
Not really, but I must admit there was a wry smile on my face when he went there as manager in 1996.”
There is no question Mariner played during an era when hard-drinking off the pitch mirrored the hard tackles on it.
But perhaps it went one stage too far when, the night before a UEFA Cup quarter-final against a St Etienne team containing
French legends Michel Platini and Patrick
Battiston, along with Dutch maestro Johnny Rep, Robson made the error of letting the players go on a shopping trip.
The only “shop” worth visiting for seven of the squad – including Mariner – was one that sold alcohol and when the players concerned returned to the hotel, Robson pounced, fining them a week’s wages.
Ipswich destroyed the French side 4-1. Robson rounded on the seven, and said: “Right, I’ll forget the fine – but don’t you dare go out drinking the day before a game ever again!”
Mariner eventually
joined Arsenal after a row over money curtailed his time in Suffolk. It brought him into contact with Charlie Nicholas... and the booze flowed on.
After playing, Mariner coached in the USA, alongside former Liverpool star Steve Nicol.
ESPN journalist Mark Donaldson finished the
book after Mariner’s death from brain cancer. He said: “Paul had been diagnosed when I started it. So, we knew it was coming, although when Stevie Nicol’s text came through it was a hammer blow.
“He had been a very, very good footballer. But, over the time I knew him, he was an even better bloke.”
MANCHESTER CITY will fend off interest in their Republic of Ireland keeper Gavin Bazunu by handing the teenager a new deal. Liverpool head a host of clubs monitoring the progress of the 19-year-old stopper.