This Season
talks to NUFC.com....Part 4
Malcolm answers another of your questions, this one
sent in by Afsheen (a London-based Toon fan):
"Over the past couple of years, there has been much comment that
Shearer is not the same player he was. I was watching some old Toon
games (in particular, the 5-0 drubbing of Manu when Shearer was the
best thing since sliced bread/). It is in my opinion that his movement was
no better then, than now. I think the difference was simply the fact that
Newcastle were a better side then, as were England. Ssurely a forward is
only as good as the team behind him e.g. Dwight Yorkes and Andy Cole's
improvement since their moves to Manu, Michael Bridges etc. What is your
opinion?"
"Dear Afsheen
Not necessarily, although being in a side that flows forward is a bonus,
it
Hence Alan Shearer is not freely scoring at present. He has other things on his mind when it comes to shooting opportunities, and he doesn't recognise the chance when it presents itself. Last season, Newcastle finished in the bottom half, while Shearer finished joint top scorer with Phillips. Sunderland finished 7th.
So where are the top scorers
from the top 6 clubs? On an all competitions basis, not one scorer was within
six goals of these two.
Phillips and Quinn scored 44 Premiership goals between them last season,
while Yorke and Cole got 39 in total.
So this statistic would make Sunderland a much more attacking side than Man
U
according to your theory.
Best wishes
M"
We then asked Malcolm about the service from the players he played with at
Newcastle, expecting him to name Terry Hibbitt at the top of the list.
However.....
Stewie Barrowclough was the best crosser of a ball I ever played
with, and it was his directness that made him a joy to play with.
As soon as the ball was at his feet Tude (John Tudor) and I knew his only thought was to get to the dead-ball line by the quickest, straightest route. Once there wouldn't delay his cross by looking, but would power it across the area like a driven shot.
This made it a simple enough task for us to get in the box and make our near and far post runs accordingly. Unlike modern wide-men who want to "drop it on to foreheads", it was up to Tude and I to get on the end of Barrer's bullet.
Such was the velocity of the incoming ball, "space" to Tude and I became as short as a centimetre, so long as we got that distance in front of the defender when the ball arrived.
The only player in today's game with a similar crossing ability is Craig Hignett, now at Blackburn."
Finally, Malcolm celebrated the 25th anniversary of one of his 14 England appearances:
30th October 1975 Czechoslovakia 2 England 1 (Channon)
European Championship Qualifier played in Bratislava.
|
England: Ray Clemence (Liverpool) Paul Madeley (Leeds) Ian Gillard (QPR) Colin Todd (Derby) Roy McFarland (Derby) Gerry Francis (QPR) Colin Bell (Manchester City), Mick Channon (Southampton) Malcolm MacDonald (Newcastle) Alan Clarke (Leeds) Kevin Keegan (Liverpool) |
 |
|
Mac in action for England v Cyprus |
Mac remembers:
"England were managed by Don Revie at time. The game was originally abandoned after about 30 minutes, on the Wednesday evening, and replayed the following afternoon. In the original game Ray Clemence was playing in goal, I was on the half way line and the ball would suddenly drop down near to the centre half and myself from the fog.
Having kicked
from the edge of his area, Clem lost sight of it and the centre half and myself would suddenly start
fighting over it as it loomed out of the mist. I remember scoring with a header from the edge of the penalty
area, only to be given offside by the linesman.
Unfortunately, he couldn't see the defender
on the other side of the pitch who had played me on by about 6 yards ! This
incident
prompted the ref
to abandon the game."
Intro
Malcolm's own website can be accessed
from here