First centre half

[den]

Might as well wrap this one up now Den, Colin Hendry will win this by a country mile.

Whoa, Brownie, don't be so sure. Colin Hendry isn't the best centre half to have played for rovers and I'll tell you why in the next few days.

Youre probably correct Den, my point was CH will win by a country mile, and he will.

Probably.

[Manchester Blue]

Bravo Mr den! I'm afraid you're whistling in the wind, however. I said the same of Keith Newton but the great unwashed just aren't interested.

Listen you ignorant person, Newton didn't get in because at right back he was beaten by Crompton and at left back he trailed Eckersley by a mile regardless of how Le Saux did. Just because you don't get your own way is no reason to chuck your toys out of the pram and start slagging people off.

p.s.

Fully agree with Capt Kayos below. If it stays at 4-4-2 then it will be England & Hendry for me and Sherwood won't be near my side.

Edited September 29, 2004 by den

[CAPT KAYOS]

If Sherwood gets into the greatest Rovers team ever then I'll start to agree with Jim that the whole thing is a farce. He wasn't even the best midfielder in the Championship squad FFS!

And so will I

Excellent Post Den think this has contributed towards my decision - Jim take note rather than bitching all the time.

[Scotty]

Listen you ignorant person....

Nice to see that age has mellowed you.

[Al]

Great post Den. You put it much better than I did.

However neither of us mentioned that as well as all his other attributes Mike was fast as well.

England and Hendry for me. Practically unbeatable as a pair.

[Manchester Blue]

Listen you ignorant person....

Nice to see that age has mellowed you.

I thought age made you more cantankerous.

Edited September 29, 2004 by den

[TROOPER]

Interesting some of the names that HAVEN'T been mentioned... Is this the greatest ever Rovers players? In which case Faz would be a shoo in - or is it the greatest ever players to pull on the famous halved shirt? If the latter then I think Patrick Andersen will have a strong case. We may not have seen the best of him, but I think his career CV is even better than the lauded Mike England, who got most of his acclaim for his Spurs rather than Ewood days...

I grew up idolising Killer Keeley & remember watching him on TV in his Everton debut with mixed emotions, but he was soon found to be woefully lacking & or me that rules him out from greatness...

The next real idol at Centrehalf would be Hendry, but his relationship with the club disintigrated in a farce.

The sheer grit drive & determination of Kevin Moran makes him a contender, but was he a 'great' player?

For me Henning Berg must be a favourite as he was class on & off the field as well as earning more international caps whilst playing for Rovers than any other player.

Please stick with the 442 formation Den, it's the only one I have really seen the club stick with.

[Alan75]

However neither of us mentioned that as well as all his other attributes Mike was fast as well.

I did. on page 1 of this thread

He was skilful with the ball and also had the speed to recover should a player get away from him.

There again I'm over 50 so I must be one of the old gitts.

[Hanks]

The one major omission from the list is allan hunter who went on to be as good for ipswich as colin hendry was for us.

I saw mike england play and although i was too young to be able to compare him to hendry i do remember being gutted when he left for spurs, a quote from him at the time which went something along the lines of "wanting to play for a big city club with an opportunity to play in europe" set me up for an anti-spurs bias for the rest of my life. still colin buggered off twice and while i remain a big fan of his, england would get my vote as he was widely regarded as the best centre half in britain in the mid to late sixties

i would prefer to be able to pick 2 central defenders anyway as having a three man defence that included le saux would look a bit vunerable

Edited September 29, 2004 by hanks

[Rich]

Hendry will win because the pimple-faced oiks on here can only see as far as the end of their nose.

Yes Jim, forgot being young was a crime.

Hendry all the way for me, being part of the pimple-faced oik crew.

Rich.

Edited September 29, 2004 by Rich

[Al]

Yes Jim, forgot being young was a crime.

The crime is not being young but being blinkered to anything that you did not personally witness.

Having said that Hendry would be my second center half.

[Brownie]

If the team formation is 4-4-2 surely both Hendry and England will be in.

If Sherwood gets into the greatest Rovers team ever then I'll start to agree with Jim that the whole thing is a farce.  He wasn't even the best midfielder in the Championship squad FFS!

Full name: Tim 'this ball's a hot potato' Sherwood.

Or maybe Tim 'First time ball- inspirational leader' Sherwood

[den]

However there seems to be a stand off situation developing between the "pimple faced oiks" © Jim and the "old giffers" © Scotty.

Quality, Tris.

[northernrover]

I haven't voted yet. I will hold back until i've read more reports on England.

The poll isn't up yet. Watch this space for Mike England profile.

And that's why i haven't voted yet !!

D'oh

[colin]

but the great unwashed just aren't interested.

That'll be the cause of the pimples then.

Just out of interest Jim, will you let us know when you put forward a case for a "best" player who you have not seen on the pitch.

With a few notable exceptions, I suspect it would be very difficult to do.

[mick]

mike england is the best centre half ever to play for the rovers beyond any shadow of a doubt.

it is well documented and it does not diminish colin hendry's contribution to the rovers one little bit. but the best centre half is mike england.

the question of why he left was asked earlier and i am able to shed some light on that matter.

i was a big fan of mike's and was the last young lad to get his autograph the day he left ewood...which was devastating. i met him years later in toronto after the welsh team had finished playing an exhibition game and i asked him why he had left. he stated that he was very reluctant to leave as he loved the rovers and the whole set up, however, the money that he would be paid by spurs was outrageous compared to what he could earn at brfc. and so he made what he termed a business decision not a personal decision.one that would help him take care of his family. that made the young lad in me, who had idolized mike, feel a whole lot better.

a world class player and a classy man.

[den]

Nice story Mick.

Memories

[1864roverite]

For my worth

Colin Hendry is going to win hands down, a great talisman, good defender and converted goal scorer.

I idolised Keeley at Ewood and knowing him quite well in Leyland were he ran a favourite hostelry he is a very down to earth person. Best memory of him is the infamous tackle on Len Fucillo when he cut him in half on the ice that was Ewood Park !

I am surprised that not may have gone for Faz or Graham Hawkins. Both were stalwarts in the good old days.

One name that I think should be added is that of John Waddington. Not a delightful looking chap, not a particularly fast defender but one with grit, determination and effort. he would put his head where others feared and my best memory of him would be the winner at Burnden Park against the winkers a long long time ago - that is of course if your an OINK !

[thenodrog]

Perhaps if some of the old giffers on here actually pull their fingers out their arse

Carefull laddie unless you want a toe up yours!

[thenodrog]

Full name: Tim 'this ball's a hot potato' Sherwood.

Or maybe Tim 'First time ball- inspirational leader' Sherwood

Well done Brownie. Sherwood may or may not make the top table in this poll but I bloody well wish we had him at his best now! Sherwood was imo vastly under-rated by fans and media alike.

Some of the posters on here obviously do not know a footballer from a cows arse! Sherwood was up there with Big Col and second only to Shearer in his personal contribution to us winning the title in 1995. Never flashy, never fast or free scoring but Sherwoods ability to find colleagues in space, switch play and control the tempo of the match provided the heartbeat of the entire team.

KMD had him down as a proper player and made him captain in front of both Hendry and Shearer! So which of our over-critical smarmy numpties wish to publically argue with his judgement?

..........Oh and btw he was hardly ever out injured either!

[Manchester Blue]

Some of the posters on here obviously do not know a footballer from a cows arse! Sherwood was up there with Big Col and second only to Shearer in his personal contribution to us winning the title in 1995.

Couldn't agree more about the first sentence, one poster on here seriously suggested that Savage was as good a footballer as Ferguson and labelled him as bad a buy as Grabbi.

As for the second sentence well I'd suggest a certain Tim Flowers may well lay claim to that spot behind Shearer but you know best. I wouldn't want to be labelled an over-critical smarmy numpty for daring to disagree.

[Alex Rover]

I am surprised that not may have gone for Faz or Graham Hawkins. Both were stalwarts in the good old days.

Absolutely. As well as "Killer" I'd like to add a quick mention for David Mail as well. He was one of the archetypal second division centre halves. His distribution was poor, he'd hoof it at the first given opportunity and wasn't really a crowd favourite but every time he didn't play due to injury we'd concede goals. He often went unnoticed but as soon as he was paired with either Killer or Faz we looked secure. He's not a great but was great in his time.

Also I agree with Trooper. We should keep it as a 4-4-2 because as I understand it, probably since Alf Ramsey made it fashionable, we've pretty much played this formation. Recent managers often tried 3-5-2 but never to any success.

4-4-2 is Rovers so we should keep it this way.

Edited September 29, 2004 by alex sci fi

[Duff's Minder]

Got to be big Colin, if only for the time he tackled Paul Ince in the box with his head...

On a seperate note it's all very well the 'old giffers' going for the 60's players (and Clayton and Douglas have to be in the team). But how can we have a greatest ever team without anyone from the 1890's? Do we have any historians on here? who was the star of the treble cup winning team?

[speeeeeeedie]

Whose decision was it to adopt a 3-5-2? I'm leaning toward the 4-4-2 brigade. I've never seen a Rovers team play anything less. This is not because of the current Mike England/Colin Hendry face off, the same thing happened with the left back debate, and will do throughout the side.

I've not decided on my vote yet. Hendry was great, a crowd pleaser who played with his heart, he had to, his skill level wasn't up to much. Mike England from all accounts was a class act centre half who could play. Both internationals. Two completely contrasting styles, both fantastic players for BRFC.

England left for Spurs for more money, Hendry left for Rangers for more money. I'll vouch that more fans were fed up with Hendry's departure because of the way he did it, but we got £4 million for a 34 year old, we'd faint if that happened today.

It's a tough one.

[Blue blood]

I'd go for 4-4-2 since we've had a lot of great centre halves over the years, and narrowing it down to one seems a bit harsh on these quality players. Besides which 4-4-2 is a more traditional and standard football formation.

My first vote would go for the underrated Henning Berg, a modern player who unlike Hendry did not leave the club in such disappointing circumstances. To me Berg was part of a great back four when winning the championship and who continued to put in good performances even under Hartford's regime. I can remember Henning playing left back, right back and centre back within a matter of weeks under Hartford yet always managed to pull out some strong performances.

Perhaps more importantly is his contribution during his second spell at Ewood. It was little coincidence to me that we became a stronger prospect defensively when Henning signed during the promotion season which saw us stop conceeding so many silly goals. This also showed itself in the Premiership where for two seasons we were defensively very strong - resulting in the successes of 6th place and a league cup (where he was captainin the final.) Again, I think that the loss of Berg was a major contributory factor for the defence often engaging in suicide mode. Added to which he is our most capped international player and was a great ambassador for the club.