In defense of Mr Greenwood/West Ham Utd (Sunday Indo 12/02)

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In defense of Mr Greenwood/West Ham United

I read an article in the Sunday Independent today by Dion Fanning entitled "Ron was not a man of passion" which appeared to damn the late Ron Greeenwood with faint praise of being "a decent, intelligent football man who had an unremarkable personality". The article also quotes the Millwall journeyman pro Eamon Dunphy from his book "Only a game" with regard to his thoughts on local rivals West Ham United.

"they had some of the aristocrat's qualities; indolence and an unwillingness to sweat, a reluctance to soil their hands. In a way they were con-men. Like all good con-men they had a cetain style. Their play had a smooth slick quality; it was seductive".

It's fair to say that Eamon Dunphy has never been fond of the hammers; it seems that everytime he's obliged to review the club's performance in any match he will visibly flinch if forced to utter positive words about the club. What the article fails to mention is that West Ham emerged as a pro football club from the shipyards of East London. Far from being West End aristocrats, Thames Ironworks was a club which slowly evolved and aspired to continual improvement away from the cliches of English kick and rush football from the 1950's onwards thanks to men like Noel Cantwell & later the likes of "passion killer" Ron Greenwood; a club that had no greater resources than the likes of Millwall, 2 miles down the road but aspired to greater things, not through money or political influence but through a hard ethos to continuously search to improve footballing theory and develop the skills of individuals and try to apply them to the best of their ability. Through the years the club faced criticism for it's apparent lack of achievement but rarely compromised in it's values (something which Mr Dunphy has said that the club lacked). Is it really non-achievement that the club provided 3 of the world cup winners of 1966, that it was only the second club from these islands to win the Cup Winners Cup, that it was one of the few clubs outside the top flight to win the FA cup? Taking Mr Dunphy's argument to it's logical conclusions should we all be sitting back and admiring the Wimbledon or Watford etc sides of the 80's for their route-one brute force methods and hankering for the return of "'Fash the bash" at the highest level of football? Can I ask you in these days of cynicism and football by numbers, where Bolton v Middlesbrough passes for entertainment worth your time and your hard-earned do you think Mr Greenwood wasted his life? When you think of Millwall do you think of a game worth spending half of your life thinking about? Or do you just think of football hooligans?

therecklessone

I think its ironic that people continually refer to Newcastle as a big side, great fans, blah blah blah, yet West Hame have achieved far more than them and with more style and verve.

That said, after their visit to White Hart Lane in November, when I think of West Ham I think of fans making gassing noises, singing racist songs towards Mido, and me not wanting to travel to Upton Park in May for our last league game 'cos I'd rather not get my head kicked in.

Every clubs has good and bad elements.

dannyd20

When Ron Greenwood arrived in 1961 West Ham were a club that was prepared to poodle along in the then 1st division. That was the sole ambition, the mentality of the West Ham board. Greenwood insisted that the club should be winning trophies. The die hard fans just could not believe that the club could get to cup finals and end up winners. Ron changed the mentality of the club, and West Ham went on to win the FA cup in 1964 and the ECWC the following year. We then went through an era of watching what Ron called the beautiful game. A style of football that will be long remembered, and hopefully continued.

Just one example of Ron's genius was the 'Near post cross'. It had never been heard of in the game before. It was always crossing to the far post. Opposing managers just could not work it out. They just did not realise why Hurst and Peters were scoring so many goals. Finally the penny dropped and others adopted the tactic. It should be remembered that this tactic was used to get England's equaliser in the 1966 world cup final against the Germans. As soon as England were awarded the free kick, Moore was looking up as he placed the ball for the kick, of course Moore delivered the ball, Hurst made for the near post and glanced in the equaliser. Simplicity is genius.
Much has been said about West Ham's three players winning the world cup. It should be remembered the part that Greenwood played.

He probably did more than anyone to make West Ham the club they are today. He was a forward thinking man in all ways of life. He was not afraid to try new ways of football and was instrumental in taking a "continental" style of football to England. He took West Ham from being an average and sometimes noticeable club to a national and internationally recognised club. Not only was he a great football man, he was also a gentleman. He always had time for supporters and never thought he was better than "the man in the street".

Sir Geoff Hurst said "It would not be overstating the case to say that Ron was the single most influential figure in my career. He opened the door to the world of modern football and I consider it a privilege to play for him."

He was a credit to football - both as a west ham and england manager, and a Chelsea player in their other title success.

Everything we hold dear as West Ham fans, the players, the way we play football, the 'Academy' can be traced back to this one person - a footballing genius. The Heaven XI now has it's manager.

PS absolutely scandalous that a minutes silence wasn't observed at all EPL matches this weekend. The very least he deserved. Wait for tonight against Birmingham.

therecklessone

dannyd20 wrote:

PS absolutely scandalous that a minutes silence wasn't observed at all EPL matches this weekend. The very least he deserved. Wait for tonight against Birmingham.

Bill Nicholson was a gentleman, the first manager in English football to win a European trophy, and the first to win the double in the 20th century.

Two clubs marked his passing, Spurs and Bolton. They were playing each other that weekend.

IMO, the passing of football icons should be marked by the clubs they played for/managed, and only for true national figures should a universal silence be observed (Sven is England manager, will he get one when he passes?)

dannyd20

therecklessone wrote:

Two clubs marked his passing, Spurs and Bolton. They were playing each other that weekend.

That is quite wrong recklessone, West Ham showed tremendous respect for Bill Nicholson when he died. A minutes silence though not enforced was observed. Remember that he did work briefly for West Ham and although we're not best mates with Spurs, I think we can all appreciate the entertaining play he encouraged.

It's not that I think minute's silences should be rammed down people's throats but I do wonder why a silence is imposed on everyone for the likes of Clough and Best but not for equally as important (personally I would argue more important) figures such as Nicholson and Greenwood. I guess that's the power of celebrity in football.

dannyd20

Oh and the performance tonight was a great tribute to Ron and his style of play. 7 wins on the trot, not too bad!

I also took particular satisfaction from the look on Brucie's ugly mug. Back in May 2003 Bruce revelled in West Ham's perilous position prior to the two clubs meeting in the final game of that season, which ended in a 2-2 draw - a result which condemned the Hammers to relegation.

Bruce's less than favourable comments came as a result of West Ham's 1-1 draw with Manchester United back in 1995 which cost the Reds - including centre-half Bruce - the title.

"I remember losing the league title by drawing at West Ham," Bruce said in 2003. "It's still in the back of my memory.

"I remember how delirious they all were, delighted at the way they denied us. I remember the way they were all whooping away.

"They were all giving the big high-fives down the tunnel just after we had lost the league.

"I don't bear grudges but I've waited a long, long time for this. I'm looking forward to it immensely. We will be fielding our strongest side.

"There is a bias in the media towards West Ham, the glamour club from London - and we live with that."

What goes around comes around Brucie.

therecklessone

dannyd20 wrote:

That is quite wrong recklessone, West Ham showed tremendous respect for Bill Nicholson when he died. A minutes silence though not enforced was observed. Remember that he did work briefly for West Ham and although we're not best mates with Spurs, I think we can all appreciate the entertaining play he encouraged.

Sorry danny, I wasn't aware of that. I don't recall it being widely reported, though maybe somebody can correct me on that. I do know there's a lot of anger among Spurs fans at the fact that Billy Nic's passing got so little attention while as you say the likes of Clough and Best fill the papers, front and back pages.

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I think its a indictment of our society that the nice guys of football get so little credit while the ones who tarnish their own image get so much. And this ain't a dig at Bestie or anyone else, just a lament that the good guys deserve better from us.