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.

Photo: Action Images

Uhlenbeek added 11:20 - Apr 16 Loving these ‘best XI' pieces. Keep them coming Great to see some old names from my earliest town supporting days. Marshall and taricco are 2 of my all time fave players and for some reason I used to love Stockwell which always surprised my Dad. Perhaps it was because you could always feel how much effort he put into every game
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midastouch added 11:34 - Apr 16 Good article, I echo the above, enjoying these pieces. I have to confess though, I was never a huge Geraint Williams fan. You certainly couldn't criticise his commitment but he just struck me as a hard-working and tough-tackling type who tended to move the ball more sideways than forwards. He wouldn't of been our first and he certainly won't be our last! Being Welsh maybe he might of been better suited to rugby! All joking aside, he'd still probably walk into our existing team! Probably been harsh on Williams who was a good servant of the club, every team needs at least one in midfield who can win the ball. But like it or not, those sort of players are rarely the sort that people want printed on the back of their new shirt! Just out of curiosity, how many people do you reckon ever had Coke printed on the back of their shirt? Remember Giles? Anybody ever seen anybody with Coke printed on the back of their shirt at Portman Road? I suspect not! And Coke is S**t doesn't qualify either! :-)

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monty_radio added 12:11 - Apr 16 I think Coke's shirts were on a diet.
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Chutney added 12:32 - Apr 16 Milton had more than a 'decent spell', he was a very good footballer for Town for a decade. And how Kiwomya isn't in this side I'll never know.
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midastouch added 12:32 - Apr 16 @monty_radio I agree as there was certainly no added sugar with Coke in the team! :-)
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ArnieM added 12:39 - Apr 16 Interesting how they are all going with a 442 diamond . Do we have the players to go that now ?
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midastouch added 12:48 - Apr 16 @ Arnie M, not sure if we have the players to make any sort of diamond sparkle these days. All the ones that might have some sort of sparkle seem to end up needing repolishing in the treatment room. All joking aside, that's an interesting point. If that's the system the players then felt most comfortable with, makes you wonder how it would work today. Maybe we need a master diamond jeweller back in the Town dressing room. Would the real George Burley please step forward!

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NthQldITFC added 18:49 - Apr 16 I think Adam Tanner may have had Coke on his shirt?
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NthQldITFC added 18:51 - Apr 16 'Right-back Mick Stockwell - Versatile and a good football brain... and an inch or two shorter than me to boot'
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