Malcolm Allison - A Casestudy in Style over Substance

At the risk of being accused of being disrespectful, I am finding these eulogies for Allison more than a little stomach churning. Read some of the nonsense and you would think the guy was a coaching genius who stands alongside the likes of Shankly, Murinhio, Clough, Paisley and Ferguson for his achievements in the game. I've read stuff like "visionary" and "ahead of his time" but, the brutal truth is that Allison actually achieved precious little in the game.

At West Ham he is remembered affectionately as a mentor of Moore and for his stylish approach to the bruising business of playing centre half. No doubt Allison played his part in developing Moore as a player - but he also had a part in leading the young man astray too. Allison was always a superstar in his own mind and loved the playboy lifestyle. In that sense, he was ahead of his time, a forerunner of the mega ego merchants who see themselves as bigger than the game that provides them with a living. What did Malc win as a player at West Ham? The same as we have won for the last thirty years - nowt!

And so to management. Allison was the brilliant coach who guided Man City to the old First Division title and FA Cup glory but, oddly, when he replaced the aged Joe Mercer as manager, Man City's fortunes nosedived. If you want a modern parallel,  look no further than Redknapp and his "super coach" Glenn Roeder! 'Arry had a thing or two to say when Roeder was appointed and none of it was terribly complimentary. I remember something along the lines of "Coaching aint management and no coach has ever won anything." As a manager, Allison lasted less than a season at Man City - he just was not up to the job. Yes the players liked him but, as Zola showed, popularity with the players aint the same as winning!

And so began a career of failure as a manager - apart from a taste of glory at Sporting. That apart, what did Allison every achieve? Club after club were duped into appointing him, only to relieve him of his duties in next to no time - a bit like Glenn Roeder actually! Yes he took Crystal palace to an FA Cup semifinal but so what? John Duncan managed that with Chesterfield and he wasn't a guru in footballing coaching and management was he? Allison took Palace down to the old Third Division and failed to win promotion in his first spell and only lasted two months when he returned to the club. The Fedora hat nonsense was the enduring image of not only the cup run but of Allison's entire career as a manager. Never mind trophies, Allison wore a silly hat!

Allison was also a "visionary" because, in his second spell at Man City, he single handedly ushered in the era of the mega transfer fee, paying silly money at the time for Joe Ordinary players like Michael Robinson and Steve Daley, offering them absurd salaries into the bargain. He also recruited foreign players with big reputations but with no passion for the club or fans. Welcome to the modern era! Thanks Malcolm, the fans owe you everything!

Then there were the relationships with "celebrity" models and porn stars. In fact, if you look closely at everything that is considered wrong with modern football, you will see Allison's finger prints. He even introduced training regimes designed to manufacture the super fit, athletic footballer. Typically, he was also an alcoholic.

So great player? No, he won nothing and was never capped at international level. Great manager? No, beneath that Fedora, Allison was dressed in the King's new clothes. Great man? No. He knifed his mentor Joe Mercer in the back and always put himself first: before the club that employed him, before the players, before the fans and before the best interests of the game that made him into a superstar in his own egotistical universe. The media loved him because Allison and the media fed off each other.

It is a shame that Allison has died but a bright light in the football firmament has not been extinguished. He was a B Movie actor dressed as a Hollywood superstar but when it came to saying his lines, he was always found wanting.

Rest in peace Malcolm Allison - you will be missed no doubt by some, but not really by the game that you milked for all it was worth.