In part 28 of the series, Kieron Dyer catches up with Blues legend Russell Osman, who selects the best XI from his time at Town before Dyer runs the rule over his team.

Goalkeeper Paul Cooper - Paul never got the credit he deserved, he would be outstanding with his distribution in the modern game. A great goalkeeper with a very good footballing brain.

Right-back George Burley - George had pace, aggression, great delivery, understood the game well, and was brave in an era when you had to be brave!

Left-back Mick Mills - I would play Mick at left-back, he was pretty adaptable and could swap sides if needed or even slip into midfield. Mick was born to captain Ipswich Town and was a proper team and club captain!

Centre-halves Allan Hunter and Kevin Beattie - Was there ever a better, more consistent partnership during the mid-to-late 70s? They brought the best out of each other and later brought the best out of the people who were filling in while one or the other were injured.

Right midfield Frans Thijssen - Frans possessed unique qualities and could create something from nothing, and did so regularly. A pleasure to play and train with on a daily basis, a proper gentleman.

Centre defensive midfield John Wark - As the holding defensive midfielder in this team you could put money on him topping the goalscoring charts as usual, but he was never lacking in his defensive duties either, a truly remarkable player!

Left midfield Arnold Muhren - Arnold gets in this team simply because he was the best passer of a ball that I played with at Ipswich. It was not just his accuracy but also his timing and weight of pass which was just so good. Remember that the pitches were not that great back in those days!

Attacking midfield Eric Gates - Eric was a one-off, probably the best player who I ever played with in that role, the player in the hole or just behind the strikers. Eric had a great footballing brain, he could tear teams to pieces without even getting the ball just by causing positional chaos for the opposition.He was totally unselfish, brave as you like and scored wonderful goals.

Striker Alan Brazil - Alan was one of the best goalscorers that I ever played with, he was so calm in front of goal, superb in one on one situations with the goalkeeper, had a great left foot, superb pace and was a supreme athlete, and the life and soul of the party!

Striker Paul Mariner - A leader, brave as you like, hard as nails, and as tough mentally as physically. Paul was brilliant in the air and a great hold-up centre forward. If you had any doubt what to do with the ball then you just hit it towards Paul and most of the time he would make it look a good pass. Paul scored a lot of great goals for us, but it was his presence and leadership as our target man that focused everybody else. If we had to go to war on the pitch you could guarantee that PM would the one leading the way.

It is nearly 40 years since we won the UEFA Cup and that side included Terry Butcher, Steve McCall and myself. Nothing would give me more pleasure than seeing an ITFC team winning titles or cup competitions again because that would mean everything is good at the club once more.

Kieron’s View

The team Russell’s picked is no surprise. When everyone from his era has selected their team 10 players are always the same, the only one which is up for debate is one of the centre-halves and he’s gone for Allan Hunter over Terry Butcher.

It might make the fans miserable when he says he hopes we get back to having successful teams, it seems a long way away at the moment, but you never know.

When I picked my team, the reason I selected Mark Venus was because he was so good on the ball and I don’t think Terry, Kevin Beattie or Allan Hunter were as good as Russell on the ball.

Maybe defending, heading and other stuff they perhaps outdid Russell but for a ball-playing centre-half in today’s football he would be ideal. He’d be a Pep Guardiola player and I think that’s the biggest compliment I can pay to Russell. Pep Guardiola would go out of his way to sign a player like him, who is great with both feet, loves to play, has a range of passing.

Charlie Woods said George Burley was like a prototype for the modern-day full-back and similarly Russell was like a current centre-half back then.

And the same with Eric Gates playing that number 10 role, something which was an innovation then but is now commonplace.

When I was playing at Newcastle, the local radio had a three legends show covering Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough. Eric Gates used to represent Sunderland, Malcolm McDonald Newcastle and Bernie Slaven Middlesbrough.

There was a time when Eric Gates was battering me on the radio, hammering me, giving me loads of stick.

So I went into training and said to Bobby Robson “What about Gatesy with the Ipswich connection giving me stick on the radio?”. And Bobby said “Don’t worry about him, he’s just jealous!”. I said “What do you mean he’s jealous?”. “Because you’re a better player than he ever was!” Bobby responded.

Now obviously that’s not true, that was just Bobby’s man-management to make me feel better about myself. From feeling so low I'm now feeling so high, I’m thinking that this was the guy who was ripping it up in Europe and what a player he was and Bobby Robson's saying I'm a better player.

At the time I was buzzing and believing it but obviously I know it wasn’t true and it was just his man-management, just spinning it to give me a lift. And that’s a sign of a great manager.

But, Eric Gates, if you’re reading this, Bobby said I was better than you!

Photo: TWTD

Cakeman added 09:51 - Apr 30 Excellent team selection and it is interesting to note that Paul Mariner was highlighted as a front line leader. Very true and without doubt the best number nine I've had the pleasure to see play. Not just Paul being a leader as there were many others including John Wark and Mick Mills. That just indicates we need more than just one commanding voice on the pitch. We certainly could do with some in our current team.

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Bigbigg added 10:08 - Apr 30 Love the story about Bobby Robson and Eric Gates at the end, what a man manager Sir Bobby was. You hear countless numbers of these stories about him and they never stop making you smile! The best.
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Epiphone added 10:34 - Apr 30 THE classic team,doubt many sides would match them in their heyday!
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OldClactonBlue added 10:44 - Apr 30 Quite simply our best team. Good debate about Hunter and Beattie vs Butcher and Osman but anyone who watched Big Al and the Beat would always pick them, they were just awesome. Would happily have Butcher and Osman at any other time though.
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BlueandTruesince82 added 13:34 - Apr 30 Cracking team. Great story about Bobby, I know we all say it all the time but what a complete and utter gent that man was.... greatest football man ever. How about that as a way to deal with a frustrated young lad whos taking a kicking from the local pundits? Sheer class that is, no other way to put it. Total, utter, undiluted class.
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jabberjackson added 14:44 - Apr 30 Not to blow smoke up Keiron's behind, but to be fair I think he was a better player overall than Gatesie overall I think KD might underrate himself, but his career and transfer fees would suggest as much. I think they were both one offs, and I saw EG score lots of brilliant goals, and make a fantastic contribution overall But when KD was on the pitch (albeit at a lower level for ITFC) it was so obvious that he was on a different level to the majority of other players

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carlo88 added 22:00 - Apr 30 Loved Eric Gates, he was probably my favourite ever Town player along with Muhren. Particularly the way he hung around when some of the bigger stars had moved on.
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fergalsharkey added 08:17 - May 1 Kieran hate to say it m8 but I saw you both play a lot for Both Ipswich and other clubs and a fully fit Eric would make my team I'm afraid. He was fantastic .
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Dockerblue added 10:08 - May 1 Note the word Leader applies to a lot of players in that team. Russel says Mick Mills was born to Captain ITFC, I liked that! Other Leaders/Winners include Big Al, Paul Mariner, Warky. This is the problem with the current team, no Leaders/Winners, hence last season's relegation without a whimper. Whilst l like a lot about PL and the way he has brought club and fans together l would love to have a manager in the Bobby Robson image, always a gentleman, gracious in defeat and always had time for the fans. And of course his teams played fantastic football. I was lucky enough to see Sir Bobby,s first game and last and everything in between, what a journey that was! Those were the Days!

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Pecker added 17:07 - May 1 That won't be beaten.
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DifferentGravy added 22:56 - May 1 Totally respect any team selection Russell Osman would choose. He was a fantastic player....also had a few lines in escape to victory. Appreciate what KD said and a nice story about Bobby Robson. But Dyer simply wasnt as good as Gates. Nice to see Wark in there......again............seriously one of THE best players of his era. That team is so strong, even when you sub in Mcall and Butch

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