Never change

As a post script to yesterday's diatribe on Sam Allardyce I should say that, while I have probably always come across as anti-Allardyce, I did want him to succeed. Nothing would have delighted me more than had Everton done well enough for everyone to be happy with him seeing out his contract to the end of next season and beyond. It's simply that I couldn't see that happening. Nevertheless, I am disappointed that it hasn't turned out that way.

You can tell when Everton aren't going through a good spell: when I go to a game I look forward to the curry and chips and pint of beer consumed in the streets near the ground (weather permitting - which it usually does) more than the football. For the recent game against Newcastle I bought a programme. I always used to buy a programme but, as I have several crates of them in my loft, I now limit it to one a season. I find it interesting on occasion to look at how they have changed over the years as I file the latest one away, with Mrs H's protest of "you'll have to throw them out one day!" ringing in my ears.

This time I bought one because I was going to be waiting a bit for my drinking buddy (ok, older son, who will no doubt have to throw out my programmes or store them in his loft) to arrive, the plan being to read it in the chip shop queue. Which I did, though some conversation ensued when I asked the chaps in front of me if they thought Rafa Benitez, Newcastle's Wirral-based manager and my preference when Allardyce was appointed, would have been a better choice. As an ex-Liverpool manager many Everton fans would bridle at the idea. But the response was a deadpan "I'd have been a better choice than Allardyce." The atmosphere around the ground was totally flat, with none of the buzz of excited chatter when times are good, which tells you all you need to know about what the fans are thinking.

Anyway the programme, which usually is a fairly boring read - I much preferred reading the fanzines* at their scurrilous peak before many libel actions** tamed them from printing the more outrageous stories - had an interesting snippet which made me yearn for more interesting, albeit equally trophy-less times.  It featured extracts from a 1970s interview with then Everton star Duncan Mackenzie. Now Mackenzie, famous for his tricks as much as his silky skills, was a bit too much of a fancy dan player for me - not enough end product - but he was capable of moments of sublime magic and showmanship. He was reported to be able to leap over a mini on the Leeds United car park (not sure he'd be able to that with the modern mini!) and to be able to throw a golf ball out of the stadium, as well as remarkable juggling skills with a football. Mackenzie was signed for Everton by Billy Bingham, who was soon replaced by the more pragmatic Gordon Lee. Mackenzie made Lee tear out what little hair he had left while having the crowd roaring with delight. The programme recounted Mackenzie's story of how he scored a winning goal in an FA Cup tie against Cardiff City. After running clear into the penalty area, he took the ball part way around the keeper, then doubled back to do it again, while several defenders ran back onto the goal line. When he eventually decided to shoot, Mackenzie mishit it through the legs of a defender on the line. The fans would have assumed it was a deliberate nutmeg; Lee was not impressed and, after playing 48 times for Everton, Mackenzie was sold.

But I knew all this. The snippet was Brian Clough's comment to Mackenzie the day Clough got sacked from his short tenure at Leeds United: "You, you little so-and-so, with all your fancy flicks and your back-heels and nutmegs - NEVER CHANGE!"

Oh, how I wished some entertainment like that was going to be on offer the other week!

* My favourite Everton zine was the much missed "When Skies Are Grey". It inevitably went digital and I guess many, like me, then became much less frequent readers. However my favourite fanzine title was the Norwich City fans' "Norfolk'n'Good". Yes, that can be read two ways!

**the stupidest of these actions in the case of When Skies Are Grey was when the creator of Brookside, Grange Hill  and  Hollyoaks, Liverpool-born Phil Redmond, sued his namesake, another Phil Redmond who happened to be one of the editors and leading writers for the fanzine. The famous Redmond's case was that many people naturally thought the Redmond writing for the fanzine was the same person. The judge, quite correctly, said too bad. I never thought much of Brookside and this episode made me think even less of its creator. Fancy trying to stop someone using their own name. I know only one version of a name is allowed by Equity, but that's acting, it ain't the real world!