So many players owe him plenty!
WHEN Richard Money wants to make a point, he does not mess about with pepper pots and whiteboards. He calls on Russell Crowe and Mel Gibson.
In 2013, after his Cambridge side beat Hereford 1-0 amid grumbles from the home crowd, Money invoked Ridley Scott’s Gladiator to give them a ticking off.
“I wanted to walk into the middle of the pitch like Russell Crowe in the first half and say, ‘Are you not entertained?’” he said.
And a decade earlier, during an 18-month spell in Sweden, he’d baffled the players of AIK Stockholm by treating them to a screening of Braveheart.
“We compared Mel Gibson’s character with Krister Nordin’s role on the field,” Money told Swedish daily Aftonbladet in 2003. “And I asked who would be his lieutenant because I think he sometimes feels a bit lonely up front.”
Money, then, is a man who appreciates an epic. And the 58year-old should know – he was involved in one of his own.
Back in 1980, Money was the freshest face on Liverpool’s books, a 25-year-old defender who had just skippered Fulham to promotion from Division Three. He actually signed on the same day as Ian Rush.
With internationals like Phil Neal and Alan Hansen blocking his path, opportunities were scarce. But in May 1980, an injury to left-back Ray Kennedy saw Money thrown into a European Cup semi-final against Bayern Munich.
Having drawn 0-0 at Anfield, the Germans were in bullish mood, skipper Paul Breitner calling Liverpool ‘unintelligent and unimaginative’. They had even given fans information packs on how to reach the final in Paris.
Worse still, Money – who had made just 12 top-flight appearances – was up against Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, then the world’s greatest striker.
Magnificent
Yet he excelled, bombing forward, crossing with menace and never giving the German a kick as Liverpool triumphed with a 1-1 draw.
“Richard Money was magnificent that night,” said Kenny Dalglish.“It was a huge occasion but he played like he’d been on the European stage his whole career.”
Overlooked for the final and sold the following year, it would prove to be the highlight of an admirable playing career that brought more than 500 appearances for Scunthorpe, Fulham, Luton and Portsmouth.
Yet it was as a coach and manager that Money would make his greatest mark. As youth coach of Aston Villa, he learned from Graham Taylor, Josef Venglos and Ron Atkinson.
“I had the full spectrum in those four years,” said Money in 2006.“Taylor was very organised and methodical. Ron Atkinson was a master of motivating players. In between them came Josef, who was much maligned but probably ten years ahead of his time – he was all about psychology, diet and recovery.”
Next came a brief stint in charge of Scunthorpe before a successful decade in the back- ground as assistant to Frank Clark at Nottingham Forest and Man City, then academy director and first-team coach for Coventry.
Yet it wasn’t until 2006 – after spells in charge of AIK and Vasteras in Sweden and Newcastle Jets in Australia – that he managed another English club, guiding Walsall to promotion from League Two. That was followed by a stint at Luton and, last year, promotion from the Conference with Cambridge United.
Money isn’t much into public relations. That pop at U’s fans was just one of many outbursts. In 2008, after a 17-game unbeaten run, he blasted Walsall’s stay-athome supporters and blamed them for a lack of transfer funds.
And in 2010, he confronted a stand full of Luton supporters at Tamworth over “unacceptable” criticism of defender Pavel Besta.
In Sweden, his style was described as “totalitarian” by AIK midfielder Martin Aslund.”
Yet nobody can dispute Money’s record. In Sweden, he qualified for the UEFA Cup then rescued Vasteras from near certain relegation. He won promotion with Walsall, took Luton to the Conference play-offs and ended Cambridge’s agonising nine-year stay in Non-League. In a career spanning 20 years and 400 games, he has a win percentage of 43 per cent. And for every critic there are men like Danny Fox, given his break by Money at Walsall and going on to play in the SPL for Celtic and Premier League with Southampton. “Richard is top class,” said the 28-year-old, now at Forest. “Everyone will tell you he is a great coach. I wanted to improve myself and play at a higher level and I am doing that because of the help he gave me. I owe him a lot and I’m not the only one.”