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Must say, and I'm clearly biased as part of the BM team but I found it absolutely fascinating.
I knew Burley was obviously good, but he seems somewhat underrated compared to some of the others, maybe as 'just a full back' which isn't fashionable position.
But to come down from Scotland at 15, win Reserve League player of the year at 16/17 then make debut marking George Best at Old Trafford at 17 and then basically never look back and play every game from that point until you leave the club is very special. I noticed when Dyer did the 1-11s during lockdown on here all the comments were saying how GB was just a totally modern full back and would fly in todays game.
Some real key messages re practice, practice, practice and just how dedicated both he and the whole squad were. Matt Holland mentioned it when we interviewed him as well that sometimes it was boring but was just pure repetition until it could be done in your sleep - an interesting note on who he thinks the only better crosser is than him who he worked with.
I'm more looking forward to the management one dropping tomorrow morning as is an era that I lived and loved - but this was a fantastic listen
George Burley interview here.... on 13:51 - Jan 18 by Churchman
GB was a smashing player. Nobody who was lucky to see him play would say otherwise.
Burley was good in the tackle, more robust than he looked, rarely caught out of position, deceptively quick and could cross a ball. I don’t think he scored too many goals, but boy did that screamer to open the scoring at Millwall (and restart the riot!) made up for it. He nearly scored in the Cup Final too. How the Jennings saved it, goodness only knows.
George worked well with the rest of the defence and gave the team so much. I know people disagree with me, not least because McCall did so well, but I think the team lost a little bit of balance in the 1980/81 season when he got injured.
I always enjoyed watching him and there was no better full back than him in the game at that time.
[Post edited 18 Jan 2022 13:55]
As always, much to agree with you there - especially the bit about the 80/81 season. Steve McCall was a good and steady replacement who never let us down, but he didn’t have the certain something that GB (and most of the others in the team at the time) had.
I guess the similarity is that where George waved his arms around when he ran, McCall also had a funny run, - like his legs we tied together by elastic and he could never really get into a full sprint stride!
That’s a terrific interview. Interesting how much strength of character GB had to come from that injury. I’d never truly appreciated how many games he played after it or what he’d gone through to play them.
I don’t remember him being the same player after, though he was still a very good one, but that’s hardly surprising.
Bobby Robson’s attention to detail was interesting too. I like the way he looked after George’s parents with tickets for his debut. It’s not difficult to do your best for somebody that does stuff like that.
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