In part 19 of the series, Kieron Dyer catches up with Steve McCall, who selects the best XI from his time playing for the Blues before Dyer runs the rule over his team.

Goalkeeper Paul Cooper - Excellent distribution and one of the quickest players in our squad. A little unlucky to be playing at a time which saw Peter Shilton and Ray Clemence dominate the England jersey.

Right-back George Burley - Set the standards for quality, fitness and application. Brilliant example to all youngsters in the game. Up and down the right side for 90 minutes every game. From debut to his final game didn’t drop his standards.

Left-back Mick Mills (c) - Captain and leader. At times under-appreciated by the fans but not those in the game. Captained his country at the World Cup on his way to making 42 England appearances and more than 700 for Ipswich. Could adapt and play in defence or midfield.

Centre-half Terry Butcher - Led by example. Warrior who didn’t give up. Dominant in the air and read the game superbly. Comfortable also at left-back.

Centre-half Kevin Beattie - Had absolutely everything, strength, power, pace, a thunderbolt of a left foot and a dynamic spring. Only his importance to the team cost him a longer career as injuries took their toll and he was pushed to perform when with hindsight a little more care would have preserved his knees.

Centre midfield John Wark - For a defensive midfielder he scored a bag full of goals! Great athlete. Read the game brilliantly and timed he runs to perfection as he arrived in the box at the right time. Excellent in the air and a composed finisher.

Left midfield Arnold Muhren - His arrival coincided with a change of style for Ipswich. Played alongside Johan Cruyff at Ajax and showed why with his vision, touch and range of passing. An honour to have played alongside him.

Right midfield Frans Thijssen - Like his fellow countryman, Frans brought another dimension to the team with his dribbling and close control in tight areas, however he could also play early and score goals when the occasion required.

Attacking midfield Eric Gates - Bobby Ferguson found him a position which suited the team and himself. Not quite a striker and too lazy to be a midfielder but caused havoc to teams playing in behind the strikers. Moaned like f**k but probably the best finisher at the club and won penalties galore.

Centre forward Paul Mariner - Led the line. Good in the air, excellent strength and mobility. Tough as they come and happy to mix it if required. Excellent foil for Brazil and Gates and didn’t get enough credit for that.

Forward Alan Brazil - Possibly the most skilful striker I’ve ever seen. Mobile with a superb first touch and excellent finishing skills. Combined well with Mariner and Gates with service coming from the left foot of Muhren. A match winner.

Probably a little lop-sided in defence with two left-footed centre-backs however I just couldn’t bring myself to leave either Beattie or Butcher out in favour of balance, which is very harsh on Russell Osman and Allan Hunter.

Subs
Allan Hunter, Russell Osman — Both candidates for the right centre-back spot if I had to send a balanced team out on the pitch.
Jason Dozzell — A real talent who would fit seamlessly into the team if there had been an injury to any of my front three.
Mark Brennan — Good engine, lovely left foot, excellent range of passing.
Brian Talbot — Excellent competitor with a huge heart and engine to match.
Trevor Whymark — Best header of the ball I’ve ever seen. Not the tallest but a great spring and perfect timing.

Kieron’s View

Steve’s team speaks for itself, I think Charlie Woods had much the same team, George Burley had the exact same team and Terry Butcher’s first team was the same as Charlie’s.

We’ve spoken about the centre-halves of that era and across those teams and Steve’s the only ever present has been Kevin Beattie. Beat has been in all four of those teams, Allan Hunter has been in two of the teams and Butcher’s been in two of the teams.

That just goes to show how great Kevin Beattie is that we’re talking about four unbelievable centre-halves, you could say four world class centre-halves, and Beattie has made every one of the teams.

One of the fascinating things about doing these XIs is when players go into detail about other players they played with and you find out something new. When George was talking about Arnold Muhren he mentioned his cross for Marco van Basten’s iconic goal in the European Championships, which I didn’t know about, now Steve McCall tells me Arnold Muhren played with Johan Cruyff.

For me, I don’t think you can get any more admiration for Arnold Muhren or you don’t think he can get any bigger but then you hear of him gracing the same team as Johan Cryuff, the great Ajax team.

Messi and Ronaldo in current times are probably forcing their way in, but Cruyff is probably in the top five or six players to ever have played the game of football and we’ve got our own Arnold Muhren who played alongside him. That’s staggering.

Steve has also given honourable mentions to a few who might have made the cut, among them Jason Dozzell and Mark Brennan.

When I first started to watch Ipswich the three players I vividly remember are Dalian Atkinson, Jason Dozzell and Mark Brennan, and Steve has recognised the latter two by saying they had a good chance of being in his team. Brennan is a new face to these XIs that some fans might have forgotten about. He had a very good career at Ipswich, a good player.

Brian Talbot was a terrific player, a full international, played for Arsenal as well. An excellent player who, like one or two others, hasn’t featured in more XIs because he’s up against world class players from that 81 team, and you can’t really argue with that. If he had played in my era in the late 1990s or early 2000s, Brian Talbot would be in the team. Me, Matt, Jim or Jamma would have had to make way I’m afraid.

Overall, anyone from that era, they’ve got the best teams, they’re the ones with the world class talent. Now I know why TWTD was called Those Were The Days because they really were the days.

Photo: Action Images

r2d2 added 10:07 - Apr 24 Looking at that team its so sad to see how far we have fallen. Evans should hang his head in shame.
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tractorintheloft added 10:32 - Apr 24 ME has a lot to answer for but can't blame him for Robson taking the England job.
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Azzuromark added 11:37 - Apr 24 I can understand those who have a gripe against Marcus Evans, especially when you compare our current team and plight, with those of Robson (too young [even at 50] to truly appreciate those years), Burley and others. No, for me, one thing and one thing only is to blame! That is MONEY! Money has ruined the beautiful game. Money from Tv deals especially. Money has created a grossly uneven playing field! Apart from a few possible examples, you need a mega-rich person/enterprise to truly stand a chance. Is it any wonder that Ipswich (when a Championship team) were left behind, when clubs like Derby were throwing silly sums in their endless, unsuccessful pursuit of the cash-cow Premier League. Personally, i wish all clubs had caps on what they can spend (with VERY severe punishment for breaking it), and while some will argue that Ipswich's debt increases, at least we seem to play as near to the rules as possible. Sadly money rules everything these days. Formula 1 is dominated by the rich teams and no doubt there are countless other examples!

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Elwood added 12:15 - Apr 24 Brilliant team. Bit conflicted because big Al was my favourite. Would like to see a team selection from a few years before, Whymark, Woods, Hamilton, Johnson all very good players.
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Elwood added 12:16 - Apr 24 and Viljoen
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Fatboy added 12:36 - Apr 24 I suspect that if we had won the league in 1975 then a lot more players from that team (Johnson, Whymark, Talbot etc.) would be popping up in these best XIs. We fell two points short that season and would have been champions if it had been three points for a win. That achievement has been somewhat eclipsed by the trophies won by the teams of '78 and '81.
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Epiphone added 13:12 - Apr 24 Loved the comment about Gates' moaning!
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Toperz added 13:35 - Apr 24 Has anyone put dalian Atkinson in their team he was a beast
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PhilTWTD added 17:09 - Apr 24 Toperz Jason Dozzell put Dalian in his team: My Best Town XI: Jason Dozzell 19th Apr 2020 09:50 In the ninth part of the series, Kieron Dyer catches up with Jason Dozzell, who selects the best XI from his time playing for the Blues before Dyer runs the rule over the side. 6
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ronnyd added 20:34 - Apr 24 Oh, What an era that line-up reminds me of. It was a pleasure to come to PR as entertainment was a given. Yes, i know that i,m living in the past, but, what a past. Magical times.
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