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The Tactics Board

I wrote this for Simon Curtis in November 2017, and it was published in October 2018. #200 Wordsworth

"Peter Dermot Doherty was a flame haired Irishman who signed for City in February 1936 from Blackpool, for a then record fee of £10,000.

He made his debut against Preston, the only time both Doherty and Matt Busby appeared in a competitive City game. It was an undistinguished start, being a defeat, and Doherty was ribbed during the game by Bill Shankly.

A wag in the crowd shouted 'Ten thousand pounds? More like ten thousand cigarette cards!'

Doherty made up for it the following season, scoring 30 goals in 41 games in our first championship win, including a vital goal against Arsenal during a 2-0 win in the run in to the title before a crowd of nearly 75,000.

Overall, he scored 74 goals in 119 league games, comparable at the same stage to Sergio Aguero, so who knows how he might've been a presence in City's records had the second War not affected his career like so many of his contemporaries?

He won 6 Northern Ireland international caps at City, and later took them as manager to the 1958 World Cup, and it was thought Doherty was in the frame for the City job when Joe Mercer was appointed".
 
A real interesting piece, I wish there had been cameras at games in those days and we could have seen how good Peter was, especially the playing pitch, boots and ball made the great players stand out and if they had the playing conditions we have today, they would be super stars.
 
Following the Super League debacle there have been calls for the clubs involved to be subject to sanctions. Maybe these will be blanket and apply to all but if they were individually tailored for each of The Evil Six what do you think they might be?

In City's case I maybe they could try and handicap us by restricting our possession. Say if in any 10 minute period it exceeds more than 50% then the game would be stopped and a free kick awarded to our opponents? Maybe they could make none of our players touch the ball more than twice.....oh hang on, that doesn't happen too much anyway (except maybe for Rajevv at the moment 🙄)..... Or every time we score we have a player sent off? 🤔 Or Maybe any goal we concede counts double for the opposition?

How could this apply to the others?
 
Skoorb said:
Following the Super League debacle there have been calls for the clubs involved to be subject to sanctions. Maybe these will be blanket and apply to all but if they were individually tailored for each of The Evil Six what do you think they might be?

In City's case I maybe they could try and handicap us by restricting our possession. Say if in any 10 minute period it exceeds more than 50% then the game would be stopped and a free kick awarded to our opponents? Maybe they could make none of our players touch the ball more than twice.....oh hang on, that doesn't happen too much anyway (except maybe for Rajevv at the moment 🙄)..... Or every time we score we have a player sent off? 🤔 Or Maybe any goal we concede counts double for the opposition?

How could this apply to the others?
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brilliant, but seriously they wont do anything that would punish the fans or players of the clubs as it was the fans themselves together with the players and various managers, they should punish the owners, but how I don't know
 
Buzz Lightyear said:
brilliant, but seriously they wont do anything that would punish the fans or players of the clubs as it was the fans themselves together with the players and various managers, they should punish the owners, but how I don't know
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If they do anything that is perceived to be too harsh by the clubs, it might accelerate the move to form a new league. Some of the clubs are getting desperate, and will look for any financial lifeline that comes along.
 
Seriously I think punishments will most likely involve administrative changes (removal from influential positions on committees etc), perhaps changes in voting rights and probably financial penalties. The remaining 14 clubs, the authorities and broadcasters are in an uneasy alliance - the PL is a massively successful product globally and they are in danger of killing the goose that lays the golden egg if they get it wrong.
 
Skoorb said:
Seriously I think punishments will most likely involve administrative changes (removal from influential positions on committees etc), perhaps changes in voting rights and probably financial penalties. The remaining 14 clubs, the authorities and broadcasters are in an uneasy alliance - the PL is a massively successful product globally and they are in danger of killing the goose that lays the golden egg if they get it wrong.
Click to expand...

I heard the rumour for a points deduction but I doubt that will happen, as you say removal of people in influential positions will hurt them more.
 
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