Welcome to
my weekly blog “The Igor Bišćan Hall of Fame” every week I’ll be adding two new
additions, one will be a Liverpool Legend or fans favourite, the other a
Player, Manager or Club who have contributed to the world game we all love
(Gary Neville need not worry). Please comment below who you’d like to see make
the IBHoF, here are this weeks entries. YNWA
IAN ST JOHN
1961/62 -
1970/71
Ian St John
was the spark that lit a flame destined to burn triumphantly for the next three
decades and beyond. When quizzed by his board about the wisdom of paying
Motherwell £37,500 for the Scottish international centre-forward, Bill Shankly
described him as the man the Reds couldn't afford not to buy, the most urgently
needed component of his brave new team. The manager's judgement, as usual, was
impeccable.
From the
night of lan's first appearance in a red shirt - a Liverpool Senior Cup Final
against Everton at Goodison Park in August 1961- it was clear that he and his
new club were made for each other. He moved with a jaunty swagger, 5ft 7l/2in
of concentrated aggression topped by a pugnacious crew-cut - and he scored a
hat-trick. His rapport with the fans was instant and complete; a folk hero was
born.
The opening
matches of the Division Two title campaign showed that Ian needed time to
adjust but there was no doubting his quality. He was strong, cunning and
courageous, devastating in the air for such a small man and adept at delicate
flicks which did much to promote a fruitful scoring partnership with Roger
Hunt. Ian notched 18 goals as the Reds went up, following that with 19 as a
First Division new boy and 21 in 1963/64, on the way to the Championship.
That season
saw a turning point which meant 'The Saint' would never score as heavily again
but would contribute even more significantly to the eternal Anfield trophy
quest. When schemer Jimmy Melia was injured, Shankly withdrew Ian into a
deep-lying role in which he revealed his full potential for the first time. He
became mastermind of the attack, feeding colleagues with possession and
creating space for them to use it with his intelligent running. It didn't mean
the goals dried up entirely - witness the jack-knife header which won the FA
Cup against Leeds in 1965 - but simply that lan's vision, mobility and
all-round skills were employed to bring a new dimension to Liverpool's game.
Hunt
continued to be prime beneficiary of his former front-running comrade's
talents, as he acknowledged after scoring against Standard Liege in the
European Cup Winners' Cup tie in December 1965. Ian had run half the length of
the field, drawing defenders with him, before slipping the ball through for an
unmarked Roger to net.
By the dawn
of the seventies, with the Reds' first wave of Shankly-inspired honours behind
them, Ian was into his thirties and his fitness had declined but, used
sparingly, he remained capable of transforming a game with his subtle touch and
slick, close passing. Rumanians Dynamo Bucharest were the victims in December
1970 when he was taken off the bench to turn a shaky 1-0 lead into a
comfortable 3-0 margin by laying on two late goals in the European Fairs Cup.
Throughout
his playing days 'The Saint' was no stranger to controversy. Often he was
criticised for flashes of bad temper, such as the clash with Preston's Tony
Singleton in March 1962 which led to a joint dismissal, but fire was an
integral part of his make-up and, crucially, there never appeared to be malice
aforethought.
On
retirement he tried coaching and then management but didn't excel as many
people thought he might and eventually became a TV personality. But in years to
come it should not be as Jimmy Greaves' chat show sparring partner that he is
recalled. In assessing his place in Liverpool's modern history, students of the
Reds would do well to heed the wisdom of one Bill Shankly when he said:’ In the
beginning was Ian St John ...'
BORN:
Motherwell, 7.6.38. GAMES: 418 (5). GOALS: 118.
CLUBS:
Motherwell 57-61; Liverpool 61-71; Coventry City 71-72 (18, 3); Tranmere Rovers
72-73 (9, 1).
HONOURS:
League Championship 63/4, 65/6. Second Division Championship 61/2. FA Cup 64/5.
INERNATIONAL
CAREER: 21 Scotland caps (59-65).
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FRANZ
BECKENBAUER
Franz
Beckenbauer stands alone in the annals of football -the one man to win the
World Cup both as a captain and a manager. As a player, he led West Germany (as
they were then known) to victory on home soil in 1974 and sixteen years later
completed a unique double by managing the team that defeated Argentina 1-0 in
Rome.
Yet there
was much more to Beckenbauer than mere statistics. Even those who considered
the German game to be robotic and physical, paling in comparison alongside the
flamboyant Brazilians, were forced to admit that Beckenbauer had style.
Upright, elegant and unruffled, he strode across the turf in a manner that
suggested he owned every blade of grass. He exemplified German superiority -
some would say arrogance - as he pioneered the role of the attacking sweeper.
Before
Beckenbauer, defenders only ventured forward for set pieces but he had the
confidence, the audacity, to carry the ball from the back on long powerful runs
with an authority that almost dared the opposition to tackle him. No wonder
they called him 'Der Kaiser'.
England
came to regret Beckenbauer's development more than any other nation as it was
his surge forward, culminating in a speculative shot, that brought the Germans
back into the 1970 World Cup quarter-final. From a seemingly impregnable 2-0
advantage, England crumbled to bow out of the tournament 3-2 - a result that
raised the first question marks against the tactical expertise of Sir Alf
Ramsey.
Beckenbauer
was born amid the ruins of post-war Germany on 11 September 1945. At the age of
fourteen he joined the youth team at his local club, Bayern Munich, and three
years later relinquished his job as a trainee insurance salesman to become a
professional footballer. He made his first-team debut in 1964 as an
outside-left but was soon switched into midfield and within a year had won his
first international cap in a vital World Cup qualifying win in Sweden.
Arguably, the 1966 finals came too soon for him. Although he scored four times
en route to the final, he was unable to contain Bobby Charlton in the match that
mattered. Beckenbauer himself later reflected: ‘England beat us in 1966 because
Bobby Charlton was just a bit better than me.'
His revenge
came four years later by which time he had also guided Bayern to domestic and
European honours, including a 1967 European Cup Winners' Cup final success
against Glasgow Rangers. In 1971 he was made captain of his country, a role
that enabled him to perfect the sweeper role. At the following year's European
Championships Beckenbauer, revelling in the freedom of being unmarked, became
the focal point for every German move and steered his nation to a crushing
victory over the Soviet Union in the final. His reward was to be named European
Footballer of the Year - a title he also won in 1976. This was truly
Beckenbauer's golden age. In addition to the 1974 World Cup triumph, he
captained Bayern to three successive European Cups between 1974 and 1976. Under
Beckenbauer's influence, Bayern were probably the finest club side in the
world.
In 1977 he
joined the exodus to the fledgling North American Soccer League, helping New
York Cosmos win the Soccer Bowl three times in four years. Despite possessing
no coaching experience, he was appointed manager of West Germany in 1984 and
proceeded to take an indifferent German team to the World Cup final in 1986
where they lost 3-2 to Argentina. Four years later Beckenbauer's team made
amends. His place in history was assured.
Moving into
club management, he had a brief and uncharacteristically barren spell with
Olympique Marseille before returning to his beloved Bayern in 1994 and leading
them to the Bundesliga title. He duly became club president - a role he would
occupy with the same grace and polish that he did as a player.
BORN:
Munich, Germany 11.9.45.
CLUBS:
1964–1977 Bayern Munich, 1977–1980 New York Cosmos, 1980–1982 Hamburg, 1983 New
York Cosmos.
INERNATIONAL
CAREER: West Germany 1965–1977 Caps 103 Goals 14.
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