Remembering the City manager who stuck to his guns..
EX-POTTERS MANAGER RICHIE BARKER DIED THIS WEEK, AGED 80. PETE SMITH LOOKS AT HIS RISE AND FALL WITH STOKE CITY
RICHIE Barker has a unique place in Stoke City history as the manager who built – but then destroyed – one of the club’s most exciting sides. Barker, who has died this week at the age of 80, gave the Boothen End a midfield of its dreams when he had Sammy Mcilroy and Paul Bracewell flanked by Mickey Thomas and, perhaps above all others, Mark Chamberlain in full flight.
It was a team which was fighting to qualify for the Uefa Cup, even if the budget was stretched, producing scintillating attacking performances and wins – and, in one case, a quite bonkers 4-4 with Luton Town in a game that had everything.
There was a 45 minutes at Birmingham which was up there with anything the club has ever produced; an opening day victory over Arsenal which left England defender Kenny Sansom utterly embarrassed; and sizzling wins over West Ham, Manchester United, Brighton, Swansea, Nottingham Forest and Watford.
Yet that glorious midfield would then be bypassed after Barker attended an infamous FA coaching course at Lilleshall.
Barker had always been fixated on tactics, long before he arrived at Stoke from Wolves, where he had been assistant to John Barnwell, in the summer of 1981. He had been recommended to the board by Alan Durban, his old Derby County teammate who had just left the Victoria Ground to take charge of Sunderland.
Barker, who was also wanted by Wrexham, Gillingham and West Brom, later recalled: “Alan wanted me to go with him to Sunderland but this was a good opportunity. The task was made pretty clearly to me just to keep Stoke in the division.
“I didn’t make too many changes but we brought in some good signings over the season, like Dave Watson – who won England caps with us – and Sammy Mcilroy from Manchester United. “We stayed up and tried to keep building.
“In came George Berry and Mickey Thomas and I remember the first game of that next season, also against Arsenal, when Mark Chamberlain made a tremendous debut and we beat them again 2-1 at the Victoria Ground.
“We had a good run, we were pushing for the Uefa Cup, and we had decent players. At one stage we had eight or nine on international duty.”
Watson was a key figure and Stoke, who were running out of gas, missed him in the final four winless games of 1982/83 when he left to sign for Vancouver Whitecaps.
From fifth on April 9 they ended up in 13th. Worse was to follow when Barker went on an off-season course to learn about Position of Maximum Opportunity.
The philosophy had been spawned by Stan Cullis’s kick-and-rush post-war Wolves side and honed by Graham Taylor’s Watford, who had just finished second in Division One.
Barker believed that adhering to the theory was the only way clubs like cash-strapped Stoke could challenge the superior quality of the richer and more glamorous clubs.
Unfortunately, the success achieved by other clubs using the system was due to the fact they had players suited to it. Stoke did not.
Forwards like Ian Painter and Paul Maguire were not tall players, and the tactic meant bypassing that exceptionally talented and vibrant midfield, who absolutely hated the approach and weren’t shy of admitting that to Barker.
Bracewell moved to join Durban at Sunderland for a cut-price fee of £250,000 and the cash was used to sign Robbie James from Swansea and Watson replacement Paul Dyson from Coventry.
The season kicked off with a 1-0 defeat at Everton then a 3-1 home win over West Brom.
Stoke historian Richard Murphy wrote: “Could it be that Barker was a genius and Stoke’s new tactics would work wonders?
“Well, no. The next 16 games brought just one win to leave Stoke in 21st.
“A 5-0 defeat by Ipswich was followed by a 4-0 loss at home to Watford, who showed that POMO could work ... with the right players.
“Stoke’s players hated the system and many wanted to leave, the likes of Thomas and Brendan O’callaghan even handing in transfer requests.
“Exit from the Milk Cup at the hands of Second Division Sheffield Wednesday and then another defeat, this time 3-1 to Southampton at the beginning of December, led to the inevitable and Barker was sacked.”
Barker, below, was photographed popping a champagne bottle in his office when he was finally relieved of his duties – but, looking back in 2018, he remained unapologetic.
“It was quite hard trying to attract players to Stoke,” he said.
“What I needed was for everyone to buy into the system. I think that was a problem – in fact that was quite clear. Some of the players didn’t want to do it.
“I did feel let down because
I still
believe belie it would work. Leicester won the league playing playi direct football as a unit. Yes, Barcelona and Manchester M City can make 25 passes but for most it’s a waste of time. I can’t understand why more teams lower down don’t try it.
“I accept a it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but to be honest hone I get bored of watching Premier League sides endlessly passing it backwards and sideways wa before it ends up with their own keeper.” Barker did have a brief spell back at Notts County - but the rest of his front line managerial career would take place overseas.
He went to Greece to coach Ethnikos Piraeus and then Egypt with Zamalek, who he guided to the African Champions League. “We won the African Cup in 1986, which was a huge thing, a massive competition,” he told Backpass magazine last year.
“We’d fly all over the continent to the games in Cameroon, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In the final we beat a team from the Ivory Coast in a shoot-out.
“But the flying! I was not always confident that the planes were actually going to get over the next range of mountains!
“We made it to the second round the following year and lost in Accra, Ghana, so that was the end of me! But I had a great 18 months out there.”
Barker returned to English football, first helping Bracewell at Halifax Town, and then as assistant manager at Sheffield Wednesday and chief scout at West Brom.
He enjoyed retirement living down the road from Durban in Shropshire and they would go to watch games together.
“He was a top man and a top coach,” said Durban. “He will be greatly missed.”