Laws & Bonetti

Cannot believe how good the Town pitch looked in those days.
As for Ivano, he was brilliant and I enjoyed every minute he played. He could put low powerful crosses in, onto Livo’s head for him to score, even though Livo didn’t see it coming. Great memories.

as you might guess Ivano, for me, was the most talented footballer i've seen in atown shirt, and this is now my 50th season.
The WBA goal/game still makes the hairs stand up - was the greatest occasion/atmosphere/feeling i've ever experienced at BP
It only took us 15mins at Charlton to realise we had got something special
He could turn full backs both ways , like he did with Welsh international Mark Bowen at Norwich.
At Birmingham they doubled up on him, but still couldn't stop him
the football we played under Laws, especially when he graced the team, was by far the best I've ever seen

He, and the team, were just a joy to watch. great days

Quoted from pizzzza

As amiable as Laws seems during that interview do remember that it is only one side, his side, of the story.

Macca mentions it in his book.  I think the chicken wings story was to make it look more like an accident.   Read between Brian's lines in this interview couple with the fact that he said that he give is his all during the game, he obviously was miffed with a grown man sulking and clocked him.

Quoted from forza ivano

the football we played under Laws, especially when he graced the team, was by far the best I've ever seen

He, and the team, were just a joy to watch. great days

This.

Buckley before and after takes all the plaudits for many of us (those maybe not fortunate enough to see the teams of previous decades) but the Laws side often gets overlooked, I guess with justification as it never achieved promotion and ultimately the end of Laws' tenure was a disaster.

Completely echo those earlier posts about Laws evolving the football from what we had under Buckley.  It's not a popular opinion but it had become a bit stale under AB and we had become a little predictable.  92/93 was peak Buckley with a 9th finish that really should have been a play-off place. 12 points off the top 6 in the end but a very disappointing end to the season.  March we picked up  just 4 points from 21.  April was better with 4 consecutive wins to make it 12 from 18 before consecutive defeats in May to end the season (albeit against Champions Newcastle and 3rd placed Portsmouth).  

But overall we ran flat at the end.  16 points from the final 15 games (45 points).  Over the course of the season that would have given us just shy of 50 points.  That season the bottom side, Bristol Rovers, finished with 41 points with Cambridge and Brentford both going down with 49.

The next season, Buckley's final full season, for long periods we threatened to make a play-off challenge and then fell away when it mattered.  The final 7 games brought 4 points but more alarmingly just 2 goals.   We'd got a reputation as a nice side to watch but one without any real bite.  

The fans were getting restless and it began to show on the gates.  The start of the next season they really dwindled after a good opening number against Bolton and ironically when we looked a bit more free flowing and scoring more goals.  But it felt like the damage was done and I can recall Buckley often bemoaning the lack of fans at games in a style that wasn't ever going to bring people back.

Although it did take a bit of adjusting, Laws really kicked us on.  We looked more ruthless, more aggressive in our play and we mixed it up when we needed to.  10th in his first season, largely without his main striker (Clive Mendonca) who I don't think played all that season but you could sense something special was brewing.  

Next season we bumbled about a bit but then Autumn onwards it just went crazy.  For a 4-6 week period I honestly thought we were going to get promoted, again this was all without Mendonca.   It wasn't just the results but the way we were attacking teams.  I think it's easy to get caught up in the nostalgia of Ivano as a player, he was good but I wouldn't say he was that good.  He was lazy, a bit stroppy and didn't want to work for the team.  But it fitted what we had.  Laws had got a side (party inherited/partly brought in and also partly evolved) that could accommodate a luxury player), Ivano fitted that role perfectly.  

It's a common myth that the Luton incident burst the bubble, as the form had dipped off a bit before then but had we looked at this as a long term thing rather than an overnight one, I think Laws would have kicked the club on as genuine challengers.  That might have been with or without Ivano.

Alas, we'll never know.

Fair points DHM. You have to take the rough with the smooth and you have to say that in the final analysis Laws’ man-management let himself  (and the club) down. Spectacularly.

I remember him as the best crosser of a ball I have seen play regularly love. Came in incredibly fast, flat and accurate.How you strike a ball like that I don’t know.

Quoted from HerveJosse

I remember him as the best crosser of a ball I have seen play regularly love. Came in incredibly fast, flat and accurate.How you strike a ball like that I don’t know.

That's one of the things that stands out with top players, especially the wingers, that whip and accuracy,  other than Ivano , when we played Blackburn in the cup  Emerton (I think ) on their wing was pinging in similar deliveries with only half a yard of space.

Quoted from HerveJosse

I remember him as the best crosser of a ball I have seen play regularly love. Came in incredibly fast, flat and accurate.How you strike a ball like that I don’t know.

That's one of the things that stands out with top players, especially the wingers, that whip and accuracy,  other than Ivano , when we played Blackburn in the cup  Emerton (I think ) on their wing was pinging in similar deliveries with only half a yard of space.

Overall I think i would file Ivano under cult hero rather than legend.  For only a brief period  he captivated the town, not just the fans but the townand to some degree the wider area and even nationally/ internationally.
It seemed as if every pub in town was doing a fundraising night, every corner shop had a name card on the go.
It was brief , it was amazing , it was a roller coaster, highs lows and left you feeling sick at the end.

He was a really good player to be playing for us with a strong pedigree and a cult figure, hero to some.

It was great while it lasted but the length of time it lasted means he could never be labelled a Town legend.

Shane it ended like it did as we where half decent at the time.