The Carling Cup final is not normally something that makes one think of the Shrimpers, but this weekend something was reported that made me very nearly spit my large extra hot skinny mocha all over the back page of the Times... Man Utd's goalkeeping coach is one Mr Eric Steele. Amongst his history is one season as the worst goalkeeper Southend United ever had.
Let me take you back to the summer of 1987. Dave Webb the ex Chelsea star who had shown great promise as a manager had stormed out, and after appointing Paul Clark as caretaker the chairman, Vic Jobson, PBUH, appointed Dick Bate as manager. The season started with two average 2-2 draws to keep us guessing which way the season was going to go... and then started a run of 6 consecutive defeats. And they weren't 1-0. 8-1 Gillingham stuffed us. I know, i went to Kent and counted each one of them... And our goal was an own goal so you could call it 9-0. Then 2-1, then 6-2 to Notts County, and a 3-2, 4-1 and 1-0. Eight games into the season, and 28 goals conceded. All past Eric Steele. And then Dick Bate got sacked, and effectively the same team beat top division Derby 1-0 in the League (now Carling) Cup. Roy McDonough scored the winner and the local paper headlined it Roy Boy's Derby Joy. Those amongst you in the know will remember Roy McDonough as the man who holds the English league record for red cards, with something like 14 in his years at Southend and Colchester. (A man i fondly remember knocking out a Newport defender with a beautiful right hander in the 6th minute of an FA Cup game - he didnt even look for the referee but strode majestically straight off the pitch and down the tunnel.)
A few weeks later they did share a 7 goal thriller at Sunderland (attendance about 12,000 in those days) - we scored none of them...
We finished the season winning 7 of our last 10 games, including the last one 4-0 against Blackpool when defeat would have relegated us instead of Rotherham. So i remember Dick and Eric as the biggest clowns in one of the most eventful seasons at the Hall. Dick went on to be England U19 manager before another ex Shrimpers boss Peter Taylor took over. How Eric got to be a goalkeeping coach anywhere is a miracle, but at Old Trafford????
My thanks to statto.com for confirming my worst memories....
And no thanks to ericsteelecoachingservices.co.uk which was last updated about 4 years ago...
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