In the second part of our new series, Kieron Dyer catches up with former Blues midfielder and academy coach Geraint Williams, who selects the best Town XI he played alongside at Portman Road before Dyer runs the rule over his old team-mate’s side.
Goalkeeper Richard Wright - Great attitude and work ethic.
Right-back Mick Stockwell - Versatile and a good football brain.
Left-back Mauricio Taricco - Win at all costs.
Centre-half John Wark - Goalscoring midfielder to strolling centre-half.
Centre-half David Linighan - Competitive.
Defensive midfield Geraint Williams - Someone has to work in this midfield!
Centre midfield Kieron Dyer - Brain nearly as quick as his feet.
Centre midfield Jason Dozzell - Could do it all.
Attacking midfield Paul Goddard - Intelligent. He made us all look better.
Striker Ian Marshall - Unplayable when he was at it.
Striker Alex Mathie - Can’t break up him and Marshie.
Kieron’s View
Like David Johnson, George [Williams's nickname] has picked Richard Wright in goal, even though he played a lot of his career with Craig Forrest, who was another fantastic goalkeeper. He’s not in the Hall of Fame at the moment but he’s definitely going to be one day, that’s how good a career he had at Ipswich.
And that just goes to show how good Richard Wright was and how highly his fellow players thought of him.
I like how George has described that back four, especially the centre-halves. Warky, "Goalscoring midfielder to a strolling centre-half” and for Linighan he just puts "Competitive”! I like that.
If you think about George’s era, a lot is said about the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup-winning teams and there’s always a lot of talk about the team that got promoted at Wembley in 2000, while most of us weren’t around when Town won the First Division championship in 1962, but that 1991/92 team are to some extent the forgotten men.
They got promoted to the Premier League by actually winning the Second Division title and they stayed in the top flight for three years, while the team that went up in 2000 were only in there for two. They get adulation, and rightly so, but the 1991/92 team, Warky, Jason, Linighan and the rest with George coming in just after they got promoted, they deserve more recognition I think.
Linighan was the captain of that team so it’s good to see him included. The two full-backs, they pick themselves you can’t really argue with them, although maybe Neil Thompson might have been in with a shout at left-back but it’s difficult to argue with naming Taricco ahead of him.
I like that George has put himself in the team because "Someone has to work in this midfield!’. That did make me laugh, as did the comment about me having a "brain nearly as quick as his feet”.
He’s said some good things about everyone, Jason "had it all”, he’d have Paul Goddard at the top of the diamond, who he says made everyone "look better”. He played for England and was a fantastic link-up man, especially for someone so small.
As he says, Ian Marshalll and Alex Mathie were a dream combo together, they had a bit of everything.
Another strong team, perhaps a bit surprising Chris Kiwomya is left out. Chris is a notable absentee.
Like David Johnson, George has gone with a diamond formation and there’s no place for Steve Whitton, Milts, Paul Mason and Stuart Slater, they all had decent spells. But certain formations suit certain players.