BBc NI are running a vote on the above topic and when I voted it was:
Healy 33% and Best 67% >:(
IMHO it should be Best 100%, Healy should not be compared to Best, not good enought to lace the guys boots
Are you joking?
This admiration for Best is something I just don't get. Pissed away his talent, beat up women and wasted a Liver.
Don't think I'd describe myself as Healy fan but he comes across as a down to earth fella who has a far better international record than Best. I know who I'd vote for.
Quote from: pintsofguinness on November 20, 2007, 09:38:45 PM
Are you joking?
This admiration for Best is something I just don't get. Pissed away his talent, beat up women and wasted a Liver.
Don't think I'd describe myself as Healy fan but he comes across as a down to earth fella who has a far better international record than Best. I know who I'd vote for.
He might have a better internationl record but i don't think we'll ever see Healy winning a European Cup Final on his own
Quote from: pintsofguinness on November 20, 2007, 09:38:45 PM
Are you joking?
This admiration for Best is something I just don't get. Pissed away his talent, beat up women and wasted a Liver.
Don't think I'd describe myself as Healy fan but he comes across as a down to earth fella who has a far better international record than Best. I know who I'd vote for.
Well I suppose it's down to whether the question is who was the better soccer player or who was the better person. I have no idea about the latter, but I'd say it's 100% Best on the former.
(But I know nothing about soccer).
Quote from: pintsofguinness on November 20, 2007, 09:38:45 PM
Are you joking?
This admiration for Best is something I just don't get. Pissed away his talent, beat up women and wasted a Liver.
Don't think I'd describe myself as Healy fan but he comes across as a down to earth fella who has a far better international record than Best. I know who I'd vote for.
Come on Pints! Best might have pissed it all away and may not have been much of a role model in terms of how to handle fame and fortune, but no other player from the British Isles has ever come close to him in terms of footballing ability.
the question was:
David Healy has scored a record-breaking 13 goals in the Euro 2008 campaign. Is he now better than George Best?
a resounding NO,NO,NO.
POG, this man may have wasted his talent, but he was still better with a hang over than most premiership players, and that included Healy. in 25 yrears time will Healy be remembered? he maybe, but not in the same terms as Best.
Best was 100% the better footballer but Healy has been a much greater servant to Northern Ireland than Best ever was.
Indeed I'd rather someone like Healy on my team than someone like Best.
If the vote is simply about who was the better player for Northern Ireland than surely it's Healy
Quote from: pintsofguinness on November 20, 2007, 10:07:38 PM
Best was 100% the better footballer but Healy has been a much greater servant to Northern Ireland than Best ever was.
Indeed I'd rather someone like Healy on my team than someone like Best.
POG, while i agree that Healy may be a greater servant, if i had the choice who I would pick in a team, no contest
Quote from: pintsofguinness on November 20, 2007, 10:07:38 PM
Best was 100% the better footballer but Healy has been a much greater servant to Northern Ireland than Best ever was.
Indeed I'd rather someone like Healy on my team than someone like Best.
I doubt your gonna get too many posters who are gonna agree with ya there pog...
I'd rather have a half fit,half blind and fully drunk Best on my team than Healy
Quote from: The Real Laoislad on November 20, 2007, 09:42:17 PM
Quote from: pintsofguinness on November 20, 2007, 09:38:45 PM
Are you joking?
This admiration for Best is something I just don't get. Pissed away his talent, beat up women and wasted a Liver.
Don't think I'd describe myself as Healy fan but he comes across as a down to earth fella who has a far better international record than Best. I know who I'd vote for.
He might have a better internationl record but i don't think we'll ever see Healy winning a European Cup Final on his own
or getting European player of the year for that matter
Quote from: stephenite on November 20, 2007, 10:11:37 PM
If the vote is simply about who was the better player for Northern Ireland than surely it's Healy
Well maybe thats what the Poll is but Square Ball never mention N.Ireland in his orginal post,The question he posted was Best or Healy ?
For f**k sake he isnt even a regular in one of the worst teams in the Premiership.
Quote from: J70 on November 20, 2007, 09:55:48 PM
Come on Pints! Best might have pissed it all away and may not have been much of a role model in terms of how to handle fame and fortune, but no other player from the British Isles has ever come close to him in terms of footballing ability.
::)
Quote from: The Real Laoislad on November 20, 2007, 10:14:02 PM
Quote from: pintsofguinness on November 20, 2007, 10:07:38 PM
Best was 100% the better footballer but Healy has been a much greater servant to Northern Ireland than Best ever was.
Indeed I'd rather someone like Healy on my team than someone like Best.
I doubt your gonna get too many posters who are gonna agree with ya there pog...
I'd rather have a half fit,half blind and fully drunk Best on my team than Healy
Depends on who you'd want on your team - I'd take a hard working ordinary player over pissed up prima donna anyday.
I have just heard that the BBC are looking into the voting patterns as they have traced 90% of Healeys votes to a Jack Fullerton and a Stephen Watson.
Quote from: pintsofguinness on November 20, 2007, 10:19:56 PM
Quote from: The Real Laoislad on November 20, 2007, 10:14:02 PM
Quote from: pintsofguinness on November 20, 2007, 10:07:38 PM
Best was 100% the better footballer but Healy has been a much greater servant to Northern Ireland than Best ever was.
Indeed I'd rather someone like Healy on my team than someone like Best.
I doubt your gonna get too many posters who are gonna agree with ya there pog...
I'd rather have a half fit,half blind and fully drunk Best on my team than Healy
Depends on who you'd want on your team - I'd take a hard working ordinary player over pissed up prima donna anyday.
Ah come on pog the man was a footballing genius, And while no one can argue with you over his drinking habits he done more for Man Utd in the few years he was with them than Healy will do over his whole career with lowly Premiership and lower league teams
Quote from: dodo on November 20, 2007, 10:18:33 PM
Quote from: J70 on November 20, 2007, 09:55:48 PM
Come on Pints! Best might have pissed it all away and may not have been much of a role model in terms of how to handle fame and fortune, but no other player from the British Isles has ever come close to him in terms of footballing ability.
::)
You disagree that there haven't been any better players, or are you disapproving of my use of the term "British Isles"?
I don't care LL a woman beating drunk gets no respect from me.
Quote from: pintsofguinness on November 20, 2007, 10:26:23 PM
I don't care LL a woman beating drunk gets no respect from me.
Fair enough, but I don't think the poll is addressing their conduct in their private lives.
Quote from: pintsofguinness on November 20, 2007, 10:26:23 PM
I don't care LL a woman beating drunk gets no respect from me.
Im not gonna get into that with you Pog and in fairness that hasn't anything to do with the question posted
Quote from: J70 on November 20, 2007, 10:28:13 PM
Quote from: pintsofguinness on November 20, 2007, 10:26:23 PM
I don't care LL a woman beating drunk gets no respect from me.
Fair enough, but I don't think the poll is addressing their conduct in their private lives.
Yes but Best's private life affected his football.
Quote from: J70 on November 20, 2007, 10:25:52 PM
Quote from: dodo on November 20, 2007, 10:18:33 PM
Quote from: J70 on November 20, 2007, 09:55:48 PM
Come on Pints! Best might have pissed it all away and may not have been much of a role model in terms of how to handle fame and fortune, but no other player from the British Isles has ever come close to him in terms of footballing ability.
::)
You disagree that there haven't been any better players, or are you disapproving of my use of the term "British Isles"?
The latter.
This is the dumbest thread I have ever read on this board.
Quote from: heganboy on November 20, 2007, 10:33:35 PM
This is the dumbest thread I have ever read on this board.
Why
I'd have to go for Best as Healy has Kyle Lafferty playing off him. I would score the guts of 7-8 campaign goals if I was playing alongside Kyle Lafferty.
Why do people get so worked up about these polls which are basically the preserve of age group 10 - 16, none of whom would ever have seen Best play?
For the record - he was the best ever player to grace a British or Irish soccer pitch bar none. Only Thierry Henry comes anywhere near.
Do not answer this post unless you saw Best in more than one live game. I've been attending games for over 35 years.
By the way I am seriously impressed with Healy's NI record - I just can't figure it out.
It would help if someone could post the exact question!
But in its absence, as someone who has seen both play live, in footballing terms, Healy has moments of genius, but Best was a genius, so there is no real comparison. (Sorry David) Best was European Footballer of the Year at 23 - who knows what he might have achieved had he carried on playing, instead of just carrying on!
However, if the assessment is of their worth for the NI football team, I'd have to say Healy wins every time. (Sorry, George). Statistics can be used to mislead as well as illuminate, but George scored 9 goals in 38 appearances for NI, whereas David has already got 33 in 61. And since strikers tend to get better as they gain experience; at 28, Healy is probably just approaching his peak.
This thread is just ridiculous.
Quote from: hardstation on November 20, 2007, 11:37:38 PM
Quote from: magpie seanie on November 20, 2007, 11:31:31 PM
This thread is just ridiculous.
I agree. Unless the question is, who has been ni best player in the last year? The answer will always be Best.
Strange that ni supporters have always compared Best with Pele and Maradona and are now comparing him with Healy.
I've not heard one NI fan compare Best with Healy, not one.
Mind you, if he goes on scoring like he has been lately (25 in 32 internationals)... ;)
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
absolutely shocking thread
george best was described as the best player ever to grace the planet by the player who i think was the best ever to grace the planet (pele)... healy hahahahahaha compared to best hahahahahh :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
anybody who thinks that george best isn't in the top 5 players OF ALL TIME watch his performance in the european cup winning side for man utd, players tried to bust him every time he got the ball and he still practically won it on his own....
Before the likes of pog starts to argue yes i think his talent is wasted and no i don't agree with what he did in his personal life but noone can dispute he was a footballing genious
Quote from: dodo on November 20, 2007, 10:33:21 PM
Quote from: J70 on November 20, 2007, 10:25:52 PM
Quote from: dodo on November 20, 2007, 10:18:33 PM
Quote from: J70 on November 20, 2007, 09:55:48 PM
Come on Pints! Best might have pissed it all away and may not have been much of a role model in terms of how to handle fame and fortune, but no other player from the British Isles has ever come close to him in terms of footballing ability.
::)
You disagree that there haven't been any better players, or are you disapproving of my use of the term "British Isles"?
The latter.
Oh well.
Quote from: pintsofguinness on November 20, 2007, 10:07:38 PM
Best was 100% the better footballer but Healy has been a much greater servant to Northern Ireland than Best ever was.
Agreed.
Quote from: 5iveTimes on November 20, 2007, 11:23:57 PM
I think with Best it is a case of what might have been. Best had it all, but threw it all away. I dont even think he can be classed as one of the greats, certainly not alongside the likes of Pele and Maradonna.
Hmm. Best had possibly the greatest sheer raw talent of any footballer ever. And he achieved a lot with it - English Championship, European Cup, European Footballer of the Year. Though he could've achieved a lot more.
I think he belongs in the same company as Pele, Maradona, di Stefano and Cruyff.
Actually I think Pele tends to got automatic top spot just a little too quickly. He played on two excellent Brazilian teams, two of the greatest international teams of all time - in fact they were able to win the World Cup without him in 1962.
Maradona carried Argentina to their World Cup win in 1986, and to some extent to their very ugly passage to the final in 1990.
On cold facts Maradona was perhaps even more of a flawed genius than Best - twice-banned drug abuser, in fact drug cheat the second time, his most unsporting goal as famous as his most brilliant (in the same game which kind of sums him up) but up there as arguably the most skilful player of all time.
Quote from: Leg End on November 21, 2007, 01:25:16 AM
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
absolutely shocking thread
:D :D :D :D
Christ almighty. Anybody who chooses Healy over Best is an idiot. Last year he was languishing in the Leeds reserve side and been completely anonymous for Fulham this year and now he is being compared to Best, f**king ridiculous.
Quote from: pintsofguinness on November 20, 2007, 10:07:38 PM
Indeed I'd rather someone like Healy on my team than someone like Best.
Holy fcuk pog, will you ever catch a grip ::)
Healy's achievements over the last 18 months have been superb but to even mention him in the same breath as Best is an insult
I would say Healy himself would be embarassed if he saw the poll
If healy single handedly hands NI qualification tonight, he may be in the same breath as georgie.
It's trying to compare apples and tractors. Best is probably the best footballer that ever lived, he could do things with a football that nobody else, before or since could do. Healy is an out and out striker, he's never going to dribble the ball 70 yards, beat 6 defeneders and then dummy the keeper but if you give him the ball anywhere around the box, he'll score more than he misses.
As far as service to NI (which is obviously a different question) then it's Healy by a mile.
Quote from: SammyG on November 21, 2007, 03:28:05 PM
It's trying to compare apples and tractors. Best is probably the best footballer that ever lived, he could do things with a football that nobody else, before or since could do. Healy is an out and out striker, he's never going to dribble the ball 70 yards, beat 6 defeneders and then dummy the keeper but if you give him the ball anywhere around the box, he'll score more than he misses.
As far as service to NI (which is obviously a different question) then it's Healy by a mile.
Thats a no, Madonna or Pele top of that pile. If you can show me footage dribbling a ball past 6 international players in an international competion that counts, then I will listen.
Its Maradona by a country mile.
Best or Healy:
Who has been the best player for Fulham?
Quote from: Will Hunting on November 21, 2007, 03:48:09 PM
Best or Healy:
Who has been the best player for Fulham?
You would have to give that time, I mean Healy is just in the door, and Best played in the same side and Marsh and Moore LOL
If Healy turns out for Tobermore we could ask the same question in 15 years time ;)
Quote from: SammyG on November 21, 2007, 03:28:05 PM
It's trying to compare apples and tractors. Best is probably the best footballer that ever lived, he could do things with a football that nobody else, before or since could do. Healy is an out and out striker, he's never going to dribble the ball 70 yards, beat 6 defeneders and then dummy the keeper but if you give him the ball anywhere around the box, he'll score more than he misses.
As far as service to NI (which is obviously a different question) then it's Healy by a mile.
My God...I agree with SammyG :o
Taking into account that about half Healy's goals have been scored against so called minnows...how many goals would he have got had it not been for the debacle that was the Sammy McIlroy reign??
Quote from: Maximus Marillius on November 21, 2007, 03:44:36 PM
Quote from: SammyG on November 21, 2007, 03:28:05 PM
It's trying to compare apples and tractors. Best is probably the best footballer that ever lived, he could do things with a football that nobody else, before or since could do. Healy is an out and out striker, he's never going to dribble the ball 70 yards, beat 6 defeneders and then dummy the keeper but if you give him the ball anywhere around the box, he'll score more than he misses.
As far as service to NI (which is obviously a different question) then it's Healy by a mile.
Thats a no, Madonna or Pele top of that pile. If you can show me footage dribbling a ball past 6 international players in an international competion that counts, then I will listen.
But its accepted fact on this board that top european club teams are much better than international teams
Quote
Hmm. Best had possibly the greatest sheer raw talent of any footballer ever. And he achieved a lot with it - English Championship, European Cup, European Footballer of the Year. Though he could've achieved a lot more.
I think he belongs in the same company as Pele, Maradona, di Stefano and Cruyff.
Actually I think Pele tends to got automatic top spot just a little too quickly. He played on two excellent Brazilian teams, two of the greatest international teams of all time - in fact they were able to win the World Cup without him in 1962.
Maradona carried Argentina to their World Cup win in 1986, and to some extent to their very ugly passage to the final in 1990.
On cold facts Maradona was perhaps even more of a flawed genius than Best - twice-banned drug abuser, in fact drug cheat the second time, his most unsporting goal as famous as his most brilliant (in the same game which kind of sums him up) but up there as arguably the most skilful player of all time.
Agreed, Pele was an All Time great player and goalscorer, but he always seems to be number one by default - why?? George Best or Maradona should be 1!
As a talented club player Best would win hands down. As a Northern Ireland player Healy would win hands down. Best deserves a fair bit of credit for his games in the green shirt, especially after it was reported he played through a death threat. Both will be remembered fondly for many years to come, but the comparison would not be fair as Best will also be remembered for the wrong reasons.
Quote from: full back on November 21, 2007, 03:24:06 PM
Quote from: pintsofguinness on November 20, 2007, 10:07:38 PM
Indeed I'd rather someone like Healy on my team than someone like Best.
Holy fcuk pog, will you ever catch a grip ::)
Healy's achievements over the last 18 months have been superb but to even mention him in the same breath as Best is an insult
I would say Healy himself would be embarassed if he saw the poll
yes I'd rather have healy on my team than a unreliable woman beating drunk.
Quote from: pintsofguinness on November 21, 2007, 05:47:27 PM
yes I'd rather have healy on my team than a unreliable woman beating drunk.
The team isnt like the suffragettes FFS
Quote from: full back on November 21, 2007, 05:49:49 PM
Quote from: pintsofguinness on November 21, 2007, 05:47:27 PM
yes I'd rather have healy on my team than a unreliable woman beating drunk.
The team isnt like the suffragettes FFS
Best was better than Healy is on raw ability but I think POG has a couple of points though.
I'm not sure which manager it was recently said he had more affection for the players who had to work hard on their game than those who it came easy too, because it meant so much more to them.
And on the more general point of players as people a quote from "Any Given Sunday" says it all - "When a man looks back on his life he should be proud of all of it, not just the time he spend in pads and cleats."
Whi gives a fcuk what was said in a film
Healy is not a better footballer than Best, end of
Quote from: full back on November 21, 2007, 06:06:27 PM
Whi gives a fcuk what was said in a film
Who's whi?
Only kidding
Oh, me for starters. A man should be judged on his life, not just on whether he could dribble a ball. On that front George left a lot to be desired.
Agree with you mentalman about judging a man,
but the question was regarding the best footballer
Quote from: full back on November 21, 2007, 06:12:13 PM
Agree with you mentalman about judging a man,
but the question was regarding the best footballer
On that then we agree, first thing I conceeded in my post.
Quote
Oh, me for starters. A man should be judged on his life, not just on whether he could dribble a ball. On that front George left a lot to be desired.
Agree.
And then they go and name an airport after him. ::)
Quote from: Mentalman on November 21, 2007, 06:13:42 PM
Quote from: full back on November 21, 2007, 06:12:13 PM
Agree with you mentalman about judging a man,
but the question was regarding the best footballer
On that then we agree, first thing I conceeded in my post.
Yes, everyone knows his reputation off the field, shouldnt take away from the talent he had on it
look it is this simple their private life or anything else apart from football doesn't come into the equation. this thread is Best v Healy in football not life now catch yourselves on.
Picking a team and you have one space left and u only can choose one of the two......everytime its george best and anyone who says anything different has a huge chip on their shoulder about george best or is a relative of healy's >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(
Quote from: nrico2006 on November 21, 2007, 05:07:20 PM
Quote
Hmm. Best had possibly the greatest sheer raw talent of any footballer ever. And he achieved a lot with it - English Championship, European Cup, European Footballer of the Year. Though he could've achieved a lot more.
I think he belongs in the same company as Pele, Maradona, di Stefano and Cruyff.
Actually I think Pele tends to got automatic top spot just a little too quickly. He played on two excellent Brazilian teams, two of the greatest international teams of all time - in fact they were able to win the World Cup without him in 1962.
Maradona carried Argentina to their World Cup win in 1986, and to some extent to their very ugly passage to the final in 1990.
On cold facts Maradona was perhaps even more of a flawed genius than Best - twice-banned drug abuser, in fact drug cheat the second time, his most unsporting goal as famous as his most brilliant (in the same game which kind of sums him up) but up there as arguably the most skilful player of all time.
Agreed, Pele was an All Time great player and goalscorer, but he always seems to be number one by default - why?? George Best or Maradona should be 1!
I think Pele gets the 'automatic' number one slot from many people because he's Brazilian. And associated with that, because when you think of Pele, you think of him leading the fabulous Brazilian team of 1970 to World Cup victory - all in glorious techniciolour in their canary yellow. That and a young 17 year old Pele starring in another great Brazilian team in 1958, crying tears of joy as he celebrates a win he helped create with a legendary goal in the final.
Maradona wasn't Brazilian, and had an ugly side. He led his team to World Cup glory in 1986 with his individual brilliance, along the way scoring probably the greatest individual goal of all time. However even that goal, and his genius throughout Mexico 86, are tainted by possibly the most notorious example of cheating in world football history - the 'Hand of God', in the very same game. That's the thing about Maradona, his ugly side was never far away. Whereas Pele's first World Cup ended in glory, Maradona in 1982 left in disgrace having been sent off for violent conduct (having been brutalised by Brazilian players, I may add). He led his pretty ordinary team to the final again in 1990 but while he showed flashes of brilliance, there was the diving, the whinging at the referee and in the end the fact he was a very sore loser in the final. Unlike Pele's last World Cup, Maradona ended his (1994) in disgrace - testing positive as a drug cheat, having used banned stimulants to get himself back to his physical peak. There floowed a long ban: he'd already served an 18 month ban a couple of years earlier having tested positive for cocaine - another indication of his flawed nature, as well as how he wasted some of his talent.
In saying all this, I'd say Maradona was a flawed genius, but one I would perhaps rank above even Pele. But I thik these are all reasons for Pele's 'untouchable' status for many at the top of the pile.
As for Best - he deserves to be in the same company (along with as I said the likes of Cruyff and di Stefano). But he suffers from having played for unfashionable Northern Ireland, and never having played at the World Cup or the European Championships. His well-known off the field vices and the fact his career highlights were in his early 20s play a big part. He was probably never seen at his peak - quitting top flight football at 26 and already not quite who he was a few years before. He wasted what should have been his peak years in the NASL and hitting the bottle hard.
From OWC issue 13
Did anyone else get fed up with the dreadful Kelly chat show on UTV last autumn featuring our former winger, Georgie Best? I watched it for a while, but in the end switched off in disgust and went off to get my beauty sleep. There was George Best, looking dreadfully emaciated; in fact he looked like death warmed up. Beside him was his latest blonde. In front of him was Kelly's invited "celebrity" audience. It was the audience that got up my nose.
It was clear that most of them had never been to a football match in their lives. Of those who had, many had clearly never gone back to an international at Windsor Park once Georgie Porgie had retired. Their purpose in being on the show was to worship at the shrine of Ulster's greatest ever footballer. I would not have been surprised if the audience had all risen up together and bowed their foreheads to the floor before the ex-player, chorusing "We are not worthy!". The whole show was dreadfully embarrassing.
Now I am not one to kick someone when he is down. I am glad that George is obeying his doctor and defying death at long last. I am delighted that he now has a home in Northern Ireland. I am glad that he has found a good woman to put up with him. All of us wayward males can thank God if we have found the woman of our dreams, for often she is more than we deserve. However it annoys me dreadfully when people see the history of the game in Northern Ireland as consisting of George Best and nothing else. He only played thirty-seven times for our team. He should have played more often. He did give us one unforgettable game when he beat Scotland single-handedly in 1967. But in the other games he turned on the brilliance only in fits and starts.
Of course I loved to see George in a green shirt putting the fear of doom into opponents from Bobby Charlton to Johan Cryuff. But my first loyalty is and has always been to the Northern Ireland team. Unlike the folk with short memories who formed the audience on the Kelly show, I recall being shattered too often by the news that Northern Ireland had to into yet another crucial World Cup or European Championship game without their one genius, because George could not make the trip.
Many so called "experts" have said that it is a shame that George, being from Belfast, never played in the World Cup finals. Well the opportunity did present itself. Among the celebrity guests in the audience at the Kelly show was Billy Bingham. Billy mentioned the fact that he had taken a look at George in 1981 in the hope that he might make a comeback in a green jersey in the crucial World Cup qualifying matches of that year. However, Billy had concluded that George was not up to it. On the Kelly show, George agreed at once that Billy was right not to bring him back. If only George had looked after himself! Veteran though he was, he could have gone to the 1982 World Cup finals and graced the world stage in a green jersey. But he missed out and Bingham's Braves had to do the business without him, which they did with remarkable success. But perhaps with a fit George Best they would have bowed out in the semi-final rather than the quarter-final.
Let's face the facts about George Best's international career. In 1972 after he had gone absent without leave, Northern Ireland beat England at Wembley without him. From 1980-86 we qualified for the World Cup finals twice and won the British Championship twice without him or any similar genius. George scored nine times for Northern Ireland, but so did Norman Whiteside. A case could be made that Big Norm's contribution to the team in his day was greater than Bestie's in his. I am not saying that Norman was a better player, only that he achieved more for Northern Ireland.
In fact it is worthwhile comparing Best with Bingham, the man he replaced in the number seven shirt. Bingham played fifty-six times for Northern Ireland. He looked after himself and continued playing international football until the age of thirty-five. As for his achievements as our manager, his record speaks for itself. So don't expect me, or any other dedicated Norn Iron fan, to start worshipping at the shrine of Bestie. Unlike Kelly's so-called "celebrities" we support Northern Ireland with or without a genius in the line-up.
Cunningham Peacock
Quote from: Donagh on November 22, 2007, 12:17:36 PM
Many so called "experts" have said that it is a shame that George, being from Belfast, never played in the World Cup finals. Well the opportunity did present itself. Among the celebrity guests in the audience at the Kelly show was Billy Bingham. Billy mentioned the fact that he had taken a look at George in 1981 in the hope that he might make a comeback in a green jersey in the crucial World Cup qualifying matches of that year. However, Billy had concluded that George was not up to it. On the Kelly show, George agreed at once that Billy was right not to bring him back. If only George had looked after himself! Veteran though he was, he could have gone to the 1982 World Cup finals and graced the world stage in a green jersey. But he missed out and Bingham's Braves had to do the business without him, which they did with remarkable success. But perhaps with a fit George Best they would have bowed out in the semi-final rather than the quarter-final.
I made this point in a fanzine article before 'Cunningham' wrote this one.
For all that was said about Best's talent being wasted because he didn't play in the World Cup, the fact is, id he'd looked after himself he would have. Not at his prime, but he was 36 when NI played in Espana 82. Without his off-the-field vices, he could have played in this World Cup. (Indeed, he could conceivable also have played in Mexico 86).
Than again, maybe having a Best on the team could have destabilised what was was very much a great
team effort.