nevthelodgemoorowl Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 (edited) Wilkinson brought Hirst and Siggy Johnsson around the same time, my own feeling is that Howard offered both of them far too much protection. I lost count of the times I arrived at Hillsborough peed off because one or both were on the bench ! In different ways they both had everything Johnsson the most elegant midfielder since Eustace (first time around) would stride elegantly around the pitch, beating players with ease and had a range of passing to compare with Beckham. Hirst on the other hand was a fearless charger, he had an ability to bring down difficult, awkward balls, tease in his marker with an crescent turn and be gone. He had strength and sprinting power not just over 20 yards but could go equally from 70 yards if a deffece was pushing up. People would question his finishing but he was so unlucky, I don't think in all my years of watching football I have ever seen anyone be denied by the woodwork so often. But, he was far more than a power house runner, his close control in the box earned him loads of goals. One against Barnsley at the Leppings Lane was a 6 yard line drag back step inside and plant into the corner of Ferenc Puskas style. Another against Manchester United where he was presented with a difficult ball on the half way line in front of the North Stand saw him battle to be on the ball, back to the Kop 55 yards out, step over and drag back in one motion and leave deffenders in his wake to then plant a near 30 yarder past the startled Schmeichal. Quixall had the skills but not the power, Dooley had the power but not the skills. Hirsty had everything. Looking back now I feel so ashamed that I was one of the many fans that bayed for him to stay when Manchester United offered £5 M. He was the undersudy to Garry (Walker) Linacre when he went on to make his England debut ahead of Shearer. But we did not recon with the dirtiest of tackles from Steve Bould that would ultimately cut short his career. Some nonsense on here about him not looking after himself ...All this was after the Bould tackle and during that period Pleat had a personal issue with Hirsty were he tried burning him into the ground both on the pitch and training pitch; He once made him limp through 40 second half minutes at Bolton or Blackburn just on the suspicion Hirsty was swinging the lead...That cost him 6 weeks. Johnsson by the way was finished in similar fasion in a Scotland International, the culprit Grahem Souness. Edited July 1, 2011 by nevthelodgemoorowl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4MinsOfTimeAddedOn Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Hirsty would have been even more flattered if Bobby Robson had have said it In fairness I was waiting for someone to say yeah but he was drunk at the time! Seriously though when a contemporary of England's retiring joint leading goal scorer of all time says there's no question who is going to replace him its you, that has to be a big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JabtheOwl Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 He was immense, he was the complete striker Highlights for me are: 4 goals v Hull (particularly the one where he starts on the half-way line) Equaliser at the lane (92/93 season? set up by Waddle?) Scoring in FA Cup Final Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOOTIE AND THE SHIT TU Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 He was immense, he was the complete striker Highlights for me are: 4 goals v Hull (particularly the one where he starts on the half-way line) Equaliser at the lane (92/93 season? set up by Waddle?) Scoring in FA Cup Final 1st of September 1990. I remember it well, I was in church getting married and missed the game. Here's a hard to find cracker. Just a bloke, who used up all his luck in one go when he met his wife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrickyTrev Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Bobby Robson was probably the greatest England manager the national side has had since Sir Alf Ramsey. When asked during an interview who would replace Gary Lineker in the England side when he retired, Robson replied "it's not a question of who will replace Gary Lineker, it's who's going to partner David Hirst". He was that good. The complete striker, he had pace, power, was good in the air, could hit it with his right and left, had the hardest shot in football and were in not for a series of serious injuries, would have had a long career at the top of the game. David Hirst... Legend!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOOTIE AND THE SHIT TU Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 David Hirst scored against everyone, you name it, Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal. Ferguson preferred Hirst over Shearer, I think in both careers, Shearer scored against Man Utd once, and that was late in his career. Man U always had an answer to Shearer, whereas Hirst scored against Man U at will, they couldn't contain him. Here's another cracker. Just a bloke, who used up all his luck in one go when he met his wife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrickyTrev Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 David Hirst scored against everyone, you name it, Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal. Ferguson preferred Hirst over Shearer, I think in both careers, Shearer scored against Man Utd once, and that was late in his career. Man U always had an answer to Shearer, whereas Hirst scored against Man U at will, they couldn't contain him. Here's another cracker. At the time he seemed to score at will against 2 of the best keepers the Premier League has ever seen, Schmeichel and Seaman on numerous occasions. In fact I remember watching him score past Seaman with a broken leg at Highbury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorfolkNChance Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 The best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SWFC24 Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 heard some rumours that he was GOD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malek Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Hirsty had that deadly combination of pace and power, and almost fanatical determination to score goals. He had a cannon in his left boot, and was decent enough with the right as well. He understood football, his of the ball movement was good enough and had more then a bit of flair about him, could get past the players with skill, as well as pace and play cheeky back heel when no one expected it. Certainly not as good as Shearer when it comes to scoring headers, but decent enough in that department too. Btw. Doesn't it make you sad to see what a pool of excellent talents England had back then to chose from, compared with what you have now ?! Hirst, Shearer, Wright, Le Tissier, Fowler, Cole, Collymore, Ferdinand, Sutton, Dublin, Beardsley, Sheringham, etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lʍO‾ǝsnoɥpooM Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 looks like megson wipes the floor with him! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1G8DZsWM10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest davylowe Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Wilkinson brought Hirst and Siggy Johnsson around the same time, my own feeling is that Howard offered both of them far too much protection. I lost count of the times I arrived at Hillsborough peed off because one or both were on the bench ! In different ways they both had everything Johnsson the most elegant midfielder since Eustace (first time around) would stride elegantly around the pitch, beating players with ease and had a range of passing to compare with Beckham. Hirst on the other hand was a fearless charger, he had an ability to bring down difficult, awkward balls, tease in his marker with an crescent turn and be gone. He had strength and sprinting power not just over 20 yards but could go equally from 70 yards if a deffece was pushing up. People would question his finishing but he was so unlucky, I don't think in all my years of watching football I have ever seen anyone be denied by the woodwork so often. But, he was far more than a power house runner, his close control in the box earned him loads of goals. One against Barnsley at the Leppings Lane was a 6 yard line drag back step inside and plant into the corner of Ferenc Puskas style. Another against Manchester United where he was presented with a difficult ball on the half way line in front of the North Stand saw him battle to be on the ball, back to the Kop 55 yards out, step over and drag back in one motion and leave deffenders in his wake to then plant a near 30 yarder past the startled Schmeichal. Quixall had the skills but not the power, Dooley had the power but not the skills. Hirsty had everything. Looking back now I feel so ashamed that I was one of the many fans that bayed for him to stay when Manchester United offered £5 M. He was the undersudy to Garry (Walker) Linacre when he went on to make his England debut ahead of Shearer. But we did not recon with the dirtiest of tackles from Steve Bould that would ultimately cut short his career. Some nonsense on here about him not looking after himself ...All this was after the Bould tackle and during that period Pleat had a personal issue with Hirsty were he tried burning him into the ground both on the pitch and training pitch; He once made him limp through 40 second half minutes at Bolton or Blackburn just on the suspicion Hirsty was swinging the lead...That cost him 6 weeks. Johnsson by the way was finished in similar fasion in a Scotland International, the culprit Grahem Souness. They were all out to brake his legs every time he got the ball no protection at all in them days my hero always will be. Have a photo of him presenting me with a signed Football on my 50th birthday Takes pride of place on my wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cragswfc Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 In his 1992 prime, he'd be attracting offers of £15m+ today i'd say 30+ million Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAT OWL Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Hirsty had that deadly combination of pace and power, and almost fanatical determination to score goals. He had a cannon in his left boot, and was decent enough with the right as well. He understood football, his of the ball movement was good enough and had more then a bit of flair about him, could get past the players with skill, as well as pace and play cheeky back heel when no one expected it. Certainly not as good as Shearer when it comes to scoring headers, but decent enough in that department too. Btw. Doesn't it make you sad to see what a pool of excellent talents England had back then to chose from, compared with what you have now ?! Hirst, Shearer, Wright, Le Tissier, Fowler, Cole, Collymore, Ferdinand, Sutton, Dublin, Beardsley, Sheringham, etc... i Thought you were talking about the Spanish Inquisition then..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Fish Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Anyone got the goal against Man City (Hillsborough about 1993) where Hirst turns Michel Vonk on the half way line, absolutely skins him for pace and then belts it into the bottom corner from aboout 20 yards. Absolute class Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BoomTownOwls Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 (edited) Wilkinson brought Hirst and Siggy Johnsson around the same time, my own feeling is that Howard offered both of them far too much protection. I lost count of the times I arrived at Hillsborough peed off because one or both were on the bench ! In different ways they both had everything Johnsson the most elegant midfielder since Eustace (first time around) would stride elegantly around the pitch, beating players with ease and had a range of passing to compare with Beckham. Hirst on the other hand was a fearless charger, he had an ability to bring down difficult, awkward balls, tease in his marker with an crescent turn and be gone. He had strength and sprinting power not just over 20 yards but could go equally from 70 yards if a deffece was pushing up. People would question his finishing but he was so unlucky, I don't think in all my years of watching football I have ever seen anyone be denied by the woodwork so often. But, he was far more than a power house runner, his close control in the box earned him loads of goals. One against Barnsley at the Leppings Lane was a 6 yard line drag back step inside and plant into the corner of Ferenc Puskas style. Another against Manchester United where he was presented with a difficult ball on the half way line in front of the North Stand saw him battle to be on the ball, back to the Kop 55 yards out, step over and drag back in one motion and leave deffenders in his wake to then plant a near 30 yarder past the startled Schmeichal. Quixall had the skills but not the power, Dooley had the power but not the skills. Hirsty had everything. Looking back now I feel so ashamed that I was one of the many fans that bayed for him to stay when Manchester United offered £5 M. He was the undersudy to Garry (Walker) Linacre when he went on to make his England debut ahead of Shearer. But we did not recon with the dirtiest of tackles from Steve Bould that would ultimately cut short his career. Some nonsense on here about him not looking after himself ...All this was after the Bould tackle and during that period Pleat had a personal issue with Hirsty were he tried burning him into the ground both on the pitch and training pitch; He once made him limp through 40 second half minutes at Bolton or Blackburn just on the suspicion Hirsty was swinging the lead...That cost him 6 weeks. Johnsson by the way was finished in similar fasion in a Scotland International, the culprit Grahem Souness. Nobody loved David Hirst more than me but I think you are kidding yourself a bit here Nev. Hirst was well past his best by the time Pleat came to Hillsborough. The Bould tackle was about 4 years prior to Pleat. Unfortunately, every time he got injured he came back a bit heavier and as a result was more likely to get injured again....and did,..... and came back heavier....repeat, repeat, repeat.. * Just checked, the Bould tackle was 1992, Pleat took over in August 1995. Edited July 1, 2011 by BoomTownOwls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stereophonics Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Better than Shearer just without the goals record or status in English football to back it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonofbert2 Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Nearly as good as Sibon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Duran Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 pity the footballers these days don't seem to have the drive/passion and self belief that Hirsty showed.. Love to see another local lad like that burst onto the scene in his style.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madowl47 Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 In his prime ............................ UNPLAYABLE His strength was his strength and awesome power........... unfortunately right at the top of his game injury struck and was never the same. INCREDIBLE TALENT ......... Will probably never see anyone with such "RAW" talent at HILLSBOROUGH ever again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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