RIP jack

I was very saddened to hear the news today.

Of course he will be remembered as a 1966 World Cup winner.

I remember him as a boss (a a good one ) at Boro and Wednesday.

But most of all his time as Ireland manager, He literally changed Irish football forever. Turned them from mediocrity to lead them to finals of Euros and World Cups. He brought pride back to the national team.

It was a great time to be an Ireland fan.

He had class written through him like a stick of rock as a person, player and manager.

My memories...

- Town never really got the better of his Wednesday sides.

- Him going absolutely f*****g ballistic on the telly after the Wednesday supporters had been locked in after an away game.

- An ROI press conference where he said “same team same subs” then he got up and went for a pint apparently.

For me he was one of the “man in the street footballers” every current pro or player could learn from what Jack stood for.

RIP World Cup Winner and a true GIANT of the a game that day by day lacks real characters!!

Perhaps the only time I went into the Kingsway Hotel and Big Jack and Laurie Mac came in, as they were staying there and they were both so normal and friendly and we had a nice chat with them.

RIP Jack.

Quoted from Heisenberg

I disagree about the England thing. I loved jack,  although admittedly I was one of those who resented him a little for managing ireland. But no matter what he achieved with Ireland,  the way he did it would not have cut the mustard with England fans. His mantra was “do not lose”, which they very rarely did, but it was anti-football in many ways, sometimes even worse than what we saw under graham Taylor.

Anyway, a great man who is loved equally both sides of the Irish Sea - that’s some feat.

Agree with that.  I quite enjoyed watching his Ireland side, very much in the sense of how Wimbledon were enjoyable to watch.  Very much a up and at 'em style.  Watching them just bully sides at USA '94 was a definite highlight, especially in the absence of an England side there.  I dare say they became the supported side of most English fans during that tournament because we had no team of our own to support and the fact most their side were born in England and qualified through very distant relations!

But there's absolutely no way the media would have accepted that style of football.  Bobby Robson got hit with pelters all the time, despite this historical belief that it was all rosy in the garden under him and he was loved by all.  Graham Taylor was treat in a disgusting manner and then Terry Venables was hounded for long periods too.  The media in this country see it as their mission to hound out the manager of the national team, Jack's style of football would have made him easy pickings.  It would, however, have been interesting to see how he reacted to them.  

Lovely to see that Jack's legacy as a human being is equally mentioned alongside his football achievements when people are remembering him.

Quoted from Heisenberg

I disagree about the England thing. I loved jack,  although admittedly I was one of those who resented him a little for managing ireland. But no matter what he achieved with Ireland,  the way he did it would not have cut the mustard with England fans. His mantra was “do not lose”, which they very rarely did, but it was anti-football in many ways, sometimes even worse than what we saw under graham Taylor.

Anyway, a great man who is loved equally both sides of the Irish Sea - that’s some feat.

Sorry, not so. Charlton was a thinker and he never used a plan slavishly. He played and studied under Revie and Ramsey who were both clever tacticians. Like Ramsey he had an idea of the sort of formation he wanted to use but the manner of playing varied. He studied the opposition, Tony Cascarino has said how he worked out the way to beat Italy with a pressing game in certain parts of the pitch. Remember that the Italians play ugly as well when they need to.

Jack liked flair players. He loved Gazza for instance who is on record about his debt to Charlton.

Yes Jack was pragmatic too. With the players available to him for RoI he had to be. He was managing in a World Cup not a league. Every game needed a result regardless of style. They played to their strengths ...... because they had to. What else could he/they do? Get beat 7-0 trying to emulate Brazil?

If he had not said his bit about the little black book the suits at the FA might have considered him as manager. I am absolutely certain an England side under Jack would not have been anything like a Graham Taylor one. The selections, the formations, the tactics would all have been completely different because Jack worked out the best way to use what he had.

I know a story about Jack (not sure if true but made me smile), that when manager of Ireland when he had to buy a drink in a pub over there (which wasn’t that often considering how revered he was), he would pay for it using a cheque, knowing full well that the bar owner would frame it and hang it behind the bar and would never cash it as it proved big jack had been in his pub.

RIP Jack. You were a character, something that football is sorely missing in the modern game.

My Leeds mate has a good anecdote about Big Jack (true or otherwise).  He used to go into pubs in Leeds and buy everyone a drink.  He was canny and used to pay with a cheque, knowing that it was unlikely to be cashed.  The pub would often frame it and put it on display!

.................

If Jack had managed England he had better players to use.  At the ROI he was acutely aware that he had no pace in the team.  He adopted his tactics accordingly, often playing the long-ball.  Crude but
often effective.

  He was quoted as saying that all his forwards lacked the pace of a Gary Lineker.

Favourite Jack Charlton anecdote concerns him taking the Irish players to the Vatican to meet Pope John Paul before Italia 90. Pope John Paul had a good conversation about goalkeeping with Packy Bonner, as JP used to play between the sticks himself in his younger days.

Fast forward the team coach after the Italy vs Ireland game at Italia 90 where a Packy Bonner mistake gifted the Italians a one goal win. Jackie was commiserating, and having a craic with the players, and left Packy while the end and told him - laughingly - that "even the f*cking Pope would have stopped that one going in...."