Dream Team - The Centre halves!

[TommyCraig]

I picked Lyons and Walker. Feel vindicated after reading comments. You'll never beat either of em. 

[Pablo Bonvin]

7 minutes ago, Pablo Bonvin said:

Nigel Pearson for me. Awesome performance at Wembley 91, MOTM that day, and to date the only Owls captain I’ve seen lift a major trophy aloft. 

 

Please please let him not not be the last.

Just re-read my post. Of course I meant please let him not be the last. For the pedantic Owlstalk grammarians I know I’d mistakenly put a double negative in there....

[Lord Snooty]

50 minutes ago, alanharper said:

Another Walker and Lyons combo here, imagine those two playing together.

 

But now I feel bad about not picking Pearson. Or Smith. Or Shirtliff.  Or Madden. 

 

This really is a tough one.

Shirty was just shy of 300 games over his two spells. Terrific player for us.

 

And i still maintain we might have nicked one of those trophies in '93 if he'd not been injured, along with Pearson.

 

Having to use Carlton and then Warhurst there made all the difference.IMO. 

Edited May 4, 2019 by Lord Snooty

[fpowl]

Could Only vote for the ones I’ve seen in my time watching (early 90s)

 

and its a stand out partnership of 

 

you’ll never beat des walker 

and captain serious big Nigel Pearson 

 

got every thing that height, aggression good in the air and pace 

 

theu don’t need to play football apart from the keeper the other 8 on the field can look after the ball 

[Lord Snooty]

1 minute ago, fpowl said:

 its a stand out partnership of 

 

you’ll never beat des walker 

and captain serious big Nigel Pearson 

 

got every thing that height, aggression good in the air and pace 

 

 

I'll never for the life of me understand why Trevor flogged Pearson and replaced him with Pearce.

 

I know it has been cited it was his age, and him not being the same after the leg break.

But he want on to play for another 4 years for 'boro, captain them to promotion and 3 Cup finals. 

 

Can only think it was a personality clash. 

[Hirstys Salopettes]

Mick Lyons and Nigel Pearson for me ... proper old school centre halves with the added threat at set pieces ... non of this fancy dan passing it around the back ball-ocks  

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Lord Snooty said:

 

I'll never for the life of me understand why Trevor flogged Pearson and replaced him with Pearce.

 

I know it has been cited it was his age, and him not being the same after the leg break.

But he want on to play for another 4 years for 'boro, captain them to promotion and 3 Cup finals. 

 

Can only think it was a personality clash. 

 

As we now know what Pearsons personality is like, i'd say there was some aggro.  

[fpowl]

10 minutes ago, Lord Snooty said:

 

I'll never for the life of me understand why Trevor flogged Pearson and replaced him with Pearce.

 

I know it has been cited it was his age, and him not being the same after the leg break.

But he want on to play for another 4 years for 'boro, captain them to promotion and 3 Cup finals. 

 

Can only think it was a personality clash. 

I must admit I thought it was strange 

 

it’s not like Pearson was ever going to lose a yard of pace and he was going to be changing his style of play. The fact he went on and was very successful suggested that maybe a bit of hindsight in there but to replace him with Pearce go god at that period we should have been looking at replacing him with someone world class we was a team challenging 

 

francis made some great upgrades too Waddle being a stand out 

 

Andy Pearce? 

 

And we wonder why we started to decline 

 

 

[sternlad]

Mick Lyons and Des Walker for me also. Lyons for sheer hardness and Des for speed and culture.

[shandypants]

It’s interesting to see Pearson leading Lyons. Pearson was good but not as good as Lyons. 

[Avon barksdale]

1 hour ago, Lord Snooty said:

 

I'll never for the life of me understand why Trevor flogged Pearson and replaced him with Pearce.

 

I know it has been cited it was his age, and him not being the same after the leg break.

But he want on to play for another 4 years for 'boro, captain them to promotion and 3 Cup finals. 

 

Can only think it was a personality clash. 

A number of the ex players on the after dinner circuit/booze ups have suggested Trevor struggled with the big personalities in the dressing room at that time. Pleat was the same ,meaning we lost players who still had a couple of years left in them. 

[JOCOWl]

3 hours ago, OwlBiSeeinThi said:

What about big Viv Anderson. Regardless though. Des Walker for me with Pearson.

Same here. Des walker and Pearson... Lyons a just a few years too early for me to see in action. 

[Sham67]

2 hours ago, Lord Snooty said:

 

I'll never for the life of me understand why Trevor flogged Pearson and replaced him with Pearce.

 

I know it has been cited it was his age, and him not being the same after the leg break.

But he want on to play for another 4 years for 'boro, captain them to promotion and 3 Cup finals. 

 

Can only think it was a personality clash. 

 

TF made the mistake of asking his Captain, what the players thought of him.  Nigel told him in his usual blunt style. 

[S36 OWL]

Mick Lyons and Des Walker for me every time.

[ReginaldD]

I'd been to some matches the 90s though didn't have a season ticket until 2000. So with that in mind I've gone Loovens and Lees

[Groundhopping Owl]

As if someone voted for Richard Wood 

[Holmowl]

2 hours ago, sternlad said:

Mick Lyons and Des Walker for me also. Lyons for sheer hardness and Des for speed and culture.

 

I recall a famous ex-pro (Merson?) saying that Des let you know he was there too. 

 

Difference being you you could run away from Lyons. Des would always catch you....then kick you. 

[asteener1867]

Was torn between Lyons and Des Walker..Went Des

John Holsgrove...

Do you know the week before we signed Holsgrove he was on MOTD..He scored an own goal or got sent off..or maybe both..I can't quite remember...

I thought..."Do Wednesday actually watch the f.ookin' telly!!?"

[asteener1867]

4 hours ago, Lizzie Birdsworth said:

Also a special mention for Ian Knight who would have gone on to captain England if it wasn't for that thugtard Gary Bennett. 

I was just about to post about Knight....I was there that evening..The whole ground went quiet

[MoorfOwl]

When you speak of central defenders, the first name to mind for me is always going to be Peter Swan. Most people, sadly, remember him for the betting scandal, but I remember simply the best centre half in England. He’d played 19 consecutive England games up to May 1962 before missing out on the 1962 World Cup after suffering first tonsillitis and then dysentery. I can’t say I actually remember Peter playing in a 4-4-2 for Wednesday; the idea that you needed a second centre half to help him out would have been thought of as ridiculously superfluous, though England were moving over to the more defensive formation at that time.

 

I don’t want to rake over matters best left to history, but let me say in passing I do hope today’s young people, who live in an era of millionaire footballers, don’t judge too harshly those whose careers spanned the 1961 ending of the £20 per week maximum wage (reduced to £17 in the offseason) and the 1963 ending of the retain-and-transfer system.

 

Not listed in the poll, but I’d like to give an honourable mention to Ralph O’Donnell, who would also have been likely to reach the top if he’d been full time. For most teams, the absence of a player of Swan’s class would have represented a severe weakening, but I never recall anyone expressing concern that Ralph was not a more than accomplished deputy. He himself played 170 games for Wednesday before leaving in 1964, and he scored three goals, which was three more than Swanny!

 

Probably the first central defensive pairing I saw for The Owls would have been Vic Mobley and Gerry Young, though I think those more recent players who grew up with the system probably understood it best. My chosen pairing belong to different generations, but both at their peak were sheer class – Des Walker and Glenn Loovens.

Edited May 4, 2019 by MoorfOwl