Tommy
Does a Turn
An evening with Coakley and Kelly turned out
well in the end. Okay, there was no David Kelly as he was being injected in the
knee in Sheffield. A man's got to know his limitations, I guess. He's promised
us a new date for early next year and he'd better show up, or we'll be sending
the boys round. I had enough of rejection when I was 15.
There were 50-odd (not 50 odd) punters in,
having to contend with Tommy's hushed tones, two loud barmaids, one drunk and
the lure of the Birmingham game in the other room. How can any self-respecting
Saddler rather watch that than listen to TC?
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The first-half saw TC open up about his
relationship with the club. He told us how he didn't know he was going to get
the job and was asked by Ramsden to attend a meeting in the Midlands where
the bombshell was landed. The shock of his life! We moved onto how he roused
the team after the 2-0 home defeat to Bristol City in the play-offs. TC also
told us about his equivalent of brown paper envelopes and the transfer
system. The half ended with a few words on how his ties with the club were
severed and how the team prepared for his last game, away at Bournemouth. |
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Half-time saw a few pints being sunk, a
drunk being given a talking-to by the referee, and the raffle. The two shirts
(sponsored by Performance Through People of Walsall, and Quinn Castle Windows
of Brownhills), signed picture book, golf vouchers from TC's very own
Swingers Golf Club, and box of choccies were gratefully accepted. The raffle
raised £81 - nice one! TC kicked off the second-half by telling
us how managing Molden and Bishop Stortford gave him the ability to move up
to manage WFC. He was frank in stating that we weren't at all impressed with
him at first, and that it was a spittle-soaked half-time team talk that saw
us recover from 2-0 down to draw with Bolton 3-3 which was the turning point.
He reviewed his career at Arsenal and Motherwell, and his life after WFC, and
his humility and honesty was warmly received. He finished by wishing the team
well and I think that we all know he genuinely meant it. |
The Trust raised £117 from ticket sales and
with the £81 from the raffle, this meant that after advertising costs we could
donate a reasonable amount of profit to Pelsall Villa Colts. It was nice to
hear TC state that both he and Kelly would be interested in helping the Trust
out again.
Okay we were disappointed that Kelly and,
earlier, Franksy had to pull out. I guess that injections and Radio shows (even
if they are to do with the Bag-Ladies and Blues) can be more important.
However, the best thing that came out of the evening was meeting TC. Those who
attended couldn't fail to be taken in by his warmth and affection for the fans
and the club. He had a wealth of anecdotes to tell and opened up as the evening
wore on. Answering questions for 1.5 hours is not my idea of fun, but he took
to it like a pro. This was the kind of guy you want as your favourite uncle. He
is someone who has taken the best bits from life and enjoyed them to the full,
but who has rolled with the bad times and come out the other end smiling.
So here's to TC!