Red Card Roy

[Neil 15GB]

Agree it's a good read and he was a real character. However, I would remind people that he regularly sat behind the wheel of his car whilst ****ed. When I think about the vilification of the Plymouth Goalkeeper Luke McCormack I find it quite difficult to understand why one is a 'bit of a character' and the other is an evil criminal.

 

[Shrimper in India]

I read the first chapter online and won't be buying the book.

Personally I thought McDonough was massively overrated in the two seasons I saw him at Roots Hall, he didn't score much and always got sent off...

In the book he prides himself in his thuggish antics, drinking sprees and womanising, not something I think is particularly praiseworthy. Granted, he was more of a character than most of today's anodyne professionals, but in my opinion it seems he threw away opportunities and could have succeeded at a much higher level if not for his attitude.

I also read an extract where he slags off David Moyes and the "God Squad" during his Cambridge days and showed his contempt for players with a faith. Moyes is now Man Utd manager...what is Roy doing now?

I realise this is heresy for many Blues fans, but this is my opinion, so feel free to take it or leave it.

 

[Kevin Hogg]

Roy is Roy. A bit of a character and wholly un-PC. If you don't like that ..then don't buy the book.

A memory of Roy was an FA Cup replay (86 or 87??) at Northampton Town in the days when there was plenty of hatred and it was a big "kick-off" game. It was absolutely ****ing down that night (i think the game at Roots Hall had ended 3-3) and we were in the open end that took up a corner of the cricket field at The County Ground..a three sided affair.
Before the game, myself and Ginge had enquired about the complimentary tickets that Roy had promised us but club officials said the Southend team were having a rather uneccessary team meeting and Roy was not available. Bearing in mind they had hours on the team coach to discuss the match and free tickets should have been the priority..we retired to the Northampton pub - The Hotel.
Drinking amid an atmosphere you could cut with a knife, we then heard a familiar sound. The sound of studs on a hard floor. There stood Roy, in kit with tracksuit top..and the tickets in his hand! Astonishing but true.
During the game, Roy would defend a corner and listen to any information home fans discussed about the planned ambush of a few of us outside. When we finally won a corner at the open end..Roy trotted up to shout information and possible location of the attack.
Different days indeed!

 

[Gremlin]

However, I would remind people that he regularly sat behind the wheel of his car whilst ****ed. When I think about the vilification of the Plymouth Goalkeeper Luke McCormack I find it quite difficult to understand why one is a 'bit of a character' and the other is an evil criminal.

Roy was a bit luckier than Luke, that's all there is to it.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

I read the first chapter online and won't be buying the book.

Personally I thought McDonough was massively overrated in the two seasons I saw him at Roots Hall, he didn't score much and always got sent off...

In the book he prides himself in his thuggish antics, drinking sprees and womanising, not something I think is particularly praiseworthy. Granted, he was more of a character than most of today's anodyne professionals, but in my opinion it seems he threw away opportunities and could have succeeded at a much higher level if not for his attitude.

I also read an extract where he slags off David Moyes and the "God Squad" during his Cambridge days and showed his contempt for players with a faith. Moyes is now Man Utd manager...what is Roy doing now?

I realise this is heresy for many Blues fans, but this is my opinion, so feel free to take it or leave it.

I understand where you are coming from, but this is the bit I find most surprising. Despite what he says, Roy would not have made it at a higher level. He wasn't that great, he was more of a human battering ram. He played for Southend 208 times in Two spells, and only scored 34 Goals. It would have been an even worse ratio at a higher level.
I remember at the time the fans all calling for a better, faster goalscorer. He was possibly the slowest forward we ever had.
And then when he kept getting sent off, he drove us potty.
He got games because he was good in the air, he would soften defences up, he could hold the ball up, and he made space for the better striking partner.

 

[Rob Noxious]

I understand where you are coming from, but this is the bit I find most surprising. Despite what he says, Roy would not have made it at a higher level. He wasn't that great, he was more of a human battering ram. He played for Southend 208 times in Two spells, and only scored 34 Goals. It would have been an even worse ratio at a higher level.
I remember at the time the fans all calling for a better, faster goalscorer. He was possibly the slowest forward we ever had.
And then when he kept getting sent off, he drove us potty.
He got games because he was good in the air, he would soften defences up, he could hold the ball up, and he made space for the better striking partner.

Not forgetting that fantastic chest pass he used to do. Sometimes I was surprised by his skill. Remember the cracking game we had against Wolves in April '87 - 1-0 to us, Lingy header from a Cadette cross - when he trapped the ball on his thigh from a throw-in. Even I can't do that.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Not forgetting that fantastic chest pass he used to do. Sometimes I was surprised by his skill. Remember the cracking game we had against Wolves in April '87 - 1-0 to us, Lingy header from a Cadette cross - when he trapped the ball on his thigh from a throw-in. Even I can't do that.

Ha!You're not as tall as him though.:smile:

 

[Jam_Man]

Quite simply the best book I have ever read.
The highs lows and musings and recollections from an honest pro.
Compare that to all the cheating today
Can't praise the book enough and 10/10

Says a man who clearly hasnt read Andy McNab. :smile:

Must get around to getting Red Card Roy myself.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

I thought that there might be some very unpleasant stuff left out of the book and Roy has rightly dropped stuff that was & is no good to anyone; things done or said worse than the comments to Ian Holloway.
And with the "robust" team rooms that Roy describes there must have been many talented lads lost to the game; especially from lower league starts.
It has been suggested on this thread that Roy glorifies the booze, birds: true, he does: however at the end of the book I read a change in attitude that struck me as regretful and self disapproval.
Although he also seems to keep the same mindset towards getting physical in play with the likes of Pulis and a distrust of officials and their motives.

 

[Bernie Friend]

Kevin, just been speaking to Roy and read him your comment, which he loved and remembered that night very well.
Could you imagine any of the current lot doing that now? Roy might have been a drinker, a shagger and a red-card magnet, but his heart was always in the right place.
An extinct breed of footballer that is sadly missed in today's sterile game. All the characters are long gone!

 

[chapperzUK]

Kevin, just been speaking to Roy and read him your comment, which he loved and remembered that night very well.
Could you imagine any of the current lot doing that now? Roy might have been a drinker, a shagger and a red-card magnet, but his heart was always in the right place.
An extinct breed of footballer that is sadly missed in today's sterile game. All the characters are long gone!

Don't think all the characters are gone. Look at Ibrahimovic and Balotelli, they might not please everyone but at least they give an extra spark back to the game.

As for the book, not finished it yet as left it at my uncle's and couldn't read it for a few months, but enjoying it so far.

 

[Bernie Friend]

I see what you are saying, but it's not the same thing. Could you imagine either of these guys going to a bar in their kit to give away tickets, or even buy fans a beer in the bar. And we are talking about players on hundreds of thousands a week, not £400 a week. I thought Balotelli might be a new breed of character and was gutted when he denied any of the rumours about his out-of-football activities, buying people petrol, giving kids presents dressed as Santa, going to a school to stick up for a bullied kid, in his interview with Noel Gallagher. So, he doesn't tick the character box for me, just another overpaid, overpampered footballer, who couldn't give two flying f**ks for the people paying his wages in the not-so cheap seats.

 

[chapperzUK]

Different times I'm guessing. Those days were a bit before my time and you'd rarely see any footballer having alcohol now a days and they would be heavily criticised if they were.

 

[Bernie Friend]

No, you're right, they just smoke cigs and shag porn stars instead. Don't sound too bad, though! :winking:

 

[Jam_Man]

Different times I'm guessing. Those days were a bit before my time and you'd rarely see any footballer having alcohol now a days and they would be heavily criticised if they were.

How do so many get done for drink driving then ? :smile:

 

[chapperzUK]

How do so many get done for drink driving then ? :smile:

Most are foreign so they have alcool instead :winking: