The Diary

26 October 2004: An Open Letter To Gary Megson

Dear Gary:

So ? it?s all over, finally. I?m genuinely sad that you had to be told to leave, rather than quit of your own volition ? your position was clearly untenable the moment you reported problems on the training-ground last week, and the Palace defeat finally put the lid on it ? but at least the agonising is now all over, and Albion can fire the starting-gun on the frantic hunt for your successor.

I find the situation rather poignant, purely and simply because from the moment you came to our club, you sold us a dream, a fairy-tale, a vision of the Premiership, then finally realised that dream for us one sunny day in April 2002. A shame you subsequently found it impossible to provide us with a happy ending to this particular Albion fable, really.

Sure, we were at odds in later years, but I will always retain fond memories of you in my heart; when you first came, the way you went through our collection of underachievers, meal-ticket-grabbers and lethargic no-goods like a dose of salts; the news that in order to impress upon a certain Fabian De Freitas what was required from him as a professional footballer, during training, you grabbed him by the neck and physically pushed him into the position you wanted him was music to my ears. He didn?t last long, and neither did his underachieving peers. In their place, you brought in some good, honest pros; not the top of their particular trade, ?tis true, but solid enough in their own way, and, more importantly, right on transfer deadline day. And, completely won my heart by bringing back a much loved Hawthorns favourite, SuperBob, as one of those signings. Just as well, really; thanks to your sterling efforts and hard work, we avoided relegation by the skin of our teeth, beating an already-promoted Charlton Athletic 2-0 on the last day.

Having stabilised the ship, you then took us very close indeed to glory on your first season proper, losing out to Bolton on the second leg of the play-offs. A remarkable achievement for someone who had very little leeway, financially speaking. Considering the bookies made us odds-on certs to drop to the Second at the start of that season, it makes what you did do for us all the more remarkable.

But it was the campaign after that, 2001-02, when you finally captured the hearts of every Baggie, myself included. What fond memories I have of that promotion season, made all the more sweet by overtaking our local rivals to a promotion spot on the last day. And of those present, who will ever forget our victory over Bradford City? Ninety minutes gone, the game still bloodless, and us needing an away win to put the promotion ball firmly in our court ? and then the referee awarded us that penalty. Time flowed like treacle as Igor Balis strode imperiously up to the penalty-spot, placed the ball, then, despite the opposition?s attempts at distraction, belted it like a rocket into the back of the net a frantic heartbeat later. A microsecond?s pause ? then the whole place erupted. Howling, shrieking Baggies everywhere, tears, even. Sixteen years of hurt almost avenged, and yes, you were the architect of so much happiness for so many people.

The final drama had still to be played out, though; fast forward to the last game of the season, versus Crystal Palace, at home. Wolves manager Dave Jones had already lit the fuse with his remarks after the early winter Molineux encounter, which we won. What was it he said? ?They?ve had their day, but we?ll have ours at the end of the season.? You didn?t forget, did you? Before the Palace game, you pinned Jones?s remarks on the dressing room wall, then added one of your own: ?Not today, they effing well won?t!? Quite a tactical ploy also, bringing all the players? wives and girlfriends, plus children, to the dressing-room just before kick-off, and telling our finest it was for them and their futures they were flogging their guts out that sunlit Sunday afternoon. And it certainly got results: in a fully-packed Hawthorns totally awash with emotion, we triumphed 2-0, and quite rightly, you got the credit. What you achieved reduced proud Black Country blokes to tears that day, and that takes quite some doing, believe you me. I know because I?m born and brought up in the area. Also, you might say there was quite an accumulation of saline liquid in my own eyes by the time the final whistle went, so I was in the best position to judge, wasn?t I?

And that?s when things started to go wrong, it would seem. First of all you had that almighty spat with then-chairman Paul Thompson over issues surrounding the scouting system, and, in a reversal of the usual form in these cases, it was Thompson that blinked first, not you. And went. Not surprising, really; being the nearest thing to a combination of Jesus Christ and Mahatma Ghandhi in most Baggies? eyes by then, you could hold the moral high ground no matter what. That tiff with PT should have set alarm bells ringing ? you?d fallen out with many directors before coming to our place - but what the hell. We were back in the Promised Land, and you could, metaphorically, at least walk on water, feed the entire Brummie with but a few loaves and fishes at your disposal, and while you were at it, heal the sick, and resurrect the dead. Why upset The Lord Of The Manor Of West Bromwich?

Four months later, August 2002 saw those sacred blue and white stripes take to the blisteringly-hot field of Old Trafford for our first league encounter since 1986. That away end, jam-packed and sweaty as it was, positively bristled with passion, pride, call it what you will, and a cheerful, never-say-die fervour that was to astonish the whole nation as the season unfolded. Despite losses versus the likes of The Red Devils, Leeds, Arsenal, we then hit something of s purple-patch with an away win over West Ham, then narrow home victories versus Fulham and Southampton, which left us seventh in the table, albeit briefly. But it wasn?t to last.

The problem was, you were very quickly rumbled, tactically speaking. It was defensive play that got us promotion in the first place; let the opposition come at us, soak it all up, then hit them on the break with a sucker-punch. Or bore them to death. Only 29 goals conceded the entire campaign?s one hell of a record by anyone?s lights. This worked fine in the lower plane, but the Premiership demanded much, much more in the way or sophistication ? and the truth of the story was, you simply couldn?t adapt. Further on into the season, our game-plan simply didn?t work any more, and as a result, we then commenced dropping like a stone.

Then the rumours began ? tales, from the training-ground, that Lee Marshall had incurred your displeasure, and because of that, was now banished to train with the reserves and the kids. A story also that Bob Taylor, a much-loved Baggies favourite, had tried to intercede on Marshall?s behalf, and had also been ostracised as a result, although, to be fair, Bob did subsequently deny the story when asked about it. What I couldn?t forgive, however, was the way you treated him just before he left the club; to tell him not to bother coming in for training any more, then change your mind abruptly at one o?clock, before the Newcastle home game, our last of the campaign simply wasn?t on. This, when the poor sod, now firmly in? close-season mode? so to speak, was, by then, well and truly out of condition? No wonder he was crocked.

And then there was Jason Roberts. A highly-intelligent, articulate young man off the pitch, he was also an extremely talented and quick goal poacher on it, when not injured, that was. It was because of this we had great hopes for him at the higher level, and for the first few games, he looked as though he would rise to the challenge of the Premiership, but his form suddenly slumped, and quite dramatically as well. Once more, the rumour-mill began to work full-blast, culminating in a disturbing tale, subsequently verified from other sources, that you?d bawled him out for around 20 minutes in front of both his own team-mates and some very shocked members of the public. And only because he?d had the temerity to criticise, in a constructive and positive sort of way (I know, because I read the remarks concerned with my own eyes) the ultra defensive mindset behind your team selections and tactics on his own website.

We knew Jason quite well; the season before, he?d done an interview for the fanzine, and came across as quite a sensitive type to me, and not someone likely to respond to heft and bluster. Clearly, what had happened had brought into being a wide rift between the pair of you; as the old song went, ?This town ain?t big enough for the both of us?, and it was Jason that was to leave, under a considerable cloud. A shame, that, as he?s now going great guns with his present club, Wigan, with ten goals to his credit already. The way they?re going, I suspect they?ll be taking our place in the top-flight come the end of the current season. A shame you couldn?t have been more accommodating and flexible, then, isn?t it, Gary?

And, to the surprise of no-one at all, least of all those in the media, we were relegated, and with one of the lowest points-totals in our history. I strongly suspect that a good deal of the problem lay in your inability to adapt to the demands of the higher sphere. That, plus the problems inherent in dealing with players more used to being assertive at team talks, expecting to have some input and participation in decisions, even. At the time, I compared the situation to that of a good Army NCO who, in wartime, had distinguished himself on the battlefield and progressed to commissioned rank as a result. It?s one thing to command a group of men on the battlefield and get them to willingly get killed on your word, but it?s another thing entirely to come to grips with the minutiae of peacetime soldiering, knowing in what order to pick up your knives and forks, pass the port, how to address a dowager Duchess, and so forth. After the first conflict, many good officers commissioned from working-class backgrounds couldn?t hack it. They were like fishes out of water in that environment, and it showed. I fear the same principle applied to you, Gary, both two seasons ago, and, sad to say, now.

Following our fall from grace, our hope was to get back with the minimum delay and, the opening Walsall game excepted, you did us proud. Up the table we shot that autumn of last year, but, disturbingly, employing similar tactics to the time before. We?d endured negativity previously, both in the Nationwide and The Premiership, because the end then seemed to justify the means, but despite your indignant assertions that it was the only way to reach The Promised Land again, we football purists ? don?t forget the name ?West Bromwich Albion? is synonymous with that of good, attacking play world-wide, even now ? insisted there was another way. After all, Fulham, Charlton, Ipswich, Norwich, Man City ? they?d all won promotion on the back of entertaining, flowing football, so it could be done.

We also knew that your chairman, Jeremy Peace, was most unhappy with the way you?d handled some matters over the past few months, also ? again ? with the scouting system. I?m not divulging secrets here, purely and simply because those remarks from Jeremy were made in public, during a Shareholders For Albion AGM in the close-season. In fact, the word was, you had ten games to get it right, otherwise you?d have been out long before now. The only constraint on our chairman was the opinion of grass-roots supporters. And, even though we were cemented in the top-three for pretty much all of last season, there were those of us who did question what was going on. Sure, promotion looked pretty much a dead cert, those results heady fare, but the meals laid on the table for supporters by you were as dull as dishwater. We quickly realised that unless something changed, once promoted, we?d be carted straight back into the same sort of morass that led to our relegation before. We, as a fanzine, even tried to make our dissent public, but were shouted down as a result, disgracefully so, sometimes. My other half was threatened, and so was I; the wife of one of our contributors also got similar treatment. Perhaps a certain local journalist should examine his own conscience for a good deal of what happened around that period.

Not wishing to inflame matters any longer, we simply bided our time, and rejoiced with the rest when our second promotion came to pass with a massive three games to spare, following our injury-time mugging of Sunderland a week before, plus their failure at Wigan in a game that kicked off some two hours before ours. I?m not blaming you per se, but, as far as I was concerned, to me, it seemed the sheer magic, the fairy-tale quality of our triumph, was totally absent this time round. I knew that in order to keep up with the big boys this time round, you?d have to evolve as a manager, as Sam Allardyce at Bolton had done, also Alan Curbishley of Charlton Athletic. Could you actually change to the degree required, I wondered, as we dispersed for the close-season?

It has been said that your preparations for our inaugural Premiership season were disrupted somewhat by the internal strife permeating the upper echelons of the club at the time, and in some ways they?d be right. The unexpected change of chairmen didn?t make it at all easy to engage in talks to bring in better players. No surprise, then, with stability now guaranteed at the top, we had high hopes indeed of being more adequately prepared this time round. And you couldn?t say you weren?t given the money to buy the tools to do a satisfactory job; the board allocated you an astonishing (by Albion standards) ?11 million to spend on better players, and come they did. Before the window finally closed, come the end of August, there was, among others, Greening, Albrechtson, Scimeca, Darren Purse, Contra, Gera, and, possibly the most mouth-watering acquisition of the entire lot, Kanu. I?m still at a loss, though, as to why you felt it necessary to dispense with the services of Sean Gregan, a bloke who?d done us proud at the back during most of last season. Did he, also, say or do something to upset you?

And, come that sunny opening day at Blackburn?s Ewood Park, you totally surprised us by putting out a side that tried to play balls to feet, pass and move, and attractively so, as well. Although we took the lead, we couldn?t hold it, but the post-match verdict was, on the whole, a positive one. We readily acknowledged the fact you?d tried to play in an entertaining manner and although we hadn?t been able to capture all three points, we all reckoned it was the first step along the road to establishing ourselves in the top-flight this time round. And, versus Villa, we were unlucky not to win, despite going one down within minutes of the start. The Tottenham game was one of the legendary ?two halves? but once more, we?d done well. That was when things began to turn a little pear-shaped.

A defeat versus Everton in which we were hit by two set-piece sucker punches, followed by a worse drubbing at Anfield ? I?m still trying to work out the rationale behind your team selection that day, Gary ? and we were on the slide once more. Dumped out of the League Cup by Colchester, at their place, then thumped at Newcastle; once more, those voices of dissent began to maintain a shrill clamour. Sure, you?d bought all those players in, plus a whole lot more from the previous season ? Sakiri, Berthe, O?Connor, for example ? but, for whatever reason, most, skilful ones at that, were left languishing in the reserves. You don?t buy a high-performance car then only use it for the weekly shop and the school run, so why waste talent in this way?

I really thought you?d finally meet your Waterloo come the Bolton game ? they were top four material at that time ? but, totally against all expectation, we won that one. Fair play, it was no fluke; Bolton thoroughly deserved to lose, but even so, that last fifteen minutes was a complete nightmare as the old defensive tendencies asserted themselves once more, resulting in total panic on the pitch. It was pure luck, nothing more, we didn?t concede a last-minute equaliser. A break for the World Cup, then that Hawthorns encounter versus Norwich, a ?must-win?, really ? and we were totally outplayed. Fair dues to them, they played good, attractive, entertaining football; in short, they were everything we were not.

Oh, and another thought. Huckerby. Yes, the bloke you nearly signed, but turned us down at the last minute. The reason why? Because he didn?t relish the thought of your dictatorial managerial style, that?s why. Come to think of it, the main part of your recent acquisitions have been foreigners. Is that because your bully-boy reputation has preceded you elsewhere in this country, Gary, leaving that the only option left open to you? I?m well aware how these things go, because a similar system prevailed in my former employment; you want a move to ?so-and-so?, and negotiations are well under way, so you ring someone who works (or plays) there, and ask for their candid opinion of the gaffer; the response one gets, positive or otherwise, percolates through the grapevine at light-speed, almost, believe you me. In fact, if I put my mind to it, I can almost hear the exchanges.

And so, we come to the present. A thoroughly-demoralised side, totally worn down by Neanderthal man-management practices that should have died out years ago, and heading rapidly for the Premiership rock-pile. I?m not surprised Palace proved to be your swan-song; to be thoroughly pasted by a side that only employs one up front at home is a bit of a disaster, isn?t it? By that stage, the players couldn?t give a toss; there's only so many times you can play 'Mister Nasty'. Even you have to give me that one. The worm finally turned the week before the Palace game, according to what you said to the media, post-Selhurst. If ever there was a press statement calculated to get you the sack, that was the most convincing one I?ve heard since the days of Brian Little, your predecessor. Why am I not surprised? Why is it that it?s only now that we?re hearing, from Sakiri and Contra, of total frustration and bewilderment among players who can?t, for the life of them, figure you why you bothered to sign them in the first place? Your constant insistence upon playing a defensive type of game despite convincing evidence (that of two seasons ago) that to do so was suicide at this level? And, despite your constant assertion you didn?t have favourites in the side, your automatic inclusion of Andy Johnson, in the face of increasingly-convincing evidence he was a man of almost ?Duracell? endurance for the cause, but as far as tangible contribution to the game was concerned, little else could be seen. Whatever happened to Jason Koumas for the Palace game? You might have argued to the contrary last season, and engaged the help of some in the media to do it, but this time round, you really had ?lost the dressing room? by the end, and unquestionably so.

Although we part in somewhat acrimonious circumstances, I genuinely wish you the very best of luck with your new post. Yes, you?ll get one, without question; your undoubted ability to hoist clubs into the Premiership on a minimal budget is highly sought after these days. You and many politicians have much in common; self-belief, determination, and a massive ego. But even popular leaders have to bow to the inevitable, sometimes; look what happened to Churchill after the end of the war. A case of ?horses for courses?, there; despite brilliance as a leader during the dark days of hostilities against Germany and Japan, the public wanted Attlee and Labour to oversee reconstruction efforts, for which a totally-different leadership style was required.

And, single-mindedness will only get you so far; once it descends into bullying and downright intimidation, you make a whole lot of enemies, even unintentionally. Although your inflexibility whilst with us prevented you from correctly utilising the many foreign players with great talent you signed, I?m sure that within their ranks there already exists the nucleus of a highly entertaining and skilful side, who might just get us out of this mess, but that?s a problem for the next gaffer. And, if things do work out that way, then I?ll willingly acknowledge your part in making that happen. You might bear an almighty grudge when players upset you, but I don?t.

Yours sincerely,

Glynis Wright.

 - Glynis Wright

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