sally cinnamon wrote:
I remember that crazy summer too. We were being linked with Billy McGinty, Paul Terzis, Mike Ford, Neil Kelly and Edwards. I think even Phil Clarke was linked with coaching us!
I was quite pro-Edwards as well for the reasons you say: he was just a relentless winner and there were times (eg when Dorahy was Wigan coach and Wire and Bradford were pushing them all the way) where Edwards seemed to take charge when they were under pressure and act as player-coach.
The main argument against him (other than people just hating him for his achievements with Wigan) was that he would never be anything other than a short-term option for us. If he started to turn us round, we knew that trigger-happy Maurice would sack Stuart Raper and bring Edwards in. Also memories were still fresh of Dean Bell - a similar 'winner', struggling with Leeds.
I think the papers reported that our board had met Edwards but he didn't want to relocate from down south...? does that ring any bells with anyone?
I was also pro-Hanley and in the latter Cullen years I was always banging on about how we should get Hanley in.
Some blasts from the past there, Sally
I'd forgotten the Clarke rumour, and can't remember Terzis' name. Old age, eh?
I think you're right about the Edwards relocation issue. Iirc, he'd recently had a kiddy with that foghorn from M People, so that might have been a spanner in the works. However, I don't think he'd have jumped ship, if the dodgy bookmaker had come calling. You can tell from his cV, he's a loyal fella, plus there's his dad's links with the club.
Regards Hanley, I was keen, too. HOWEVER, apart from Ellery himself, there's only one other love in his life, and that's money. I remember BBC Breakfast doing a film on him, 20 odd years ago, when he was on one of his Aussie season jaunts (May, June, July, when there was no tours that year), and the Aussie press had nicknamed him Salary Hanley (a bit like Money Bill Williams, recently). He WOULD have cost a proverbial arm and leg, and buggered off at the first paycheque waved at him.
