LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Johnny Giles

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Selby White
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LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Johnny Giles

Post by Selby White »

Johnny Giles is our latest member of the "Hall of Fame" as voted by members.

Image

What a player Johnny Giles was and even more pleasing we mugged them from over the hills for him.
They say he could land a ball on a sixpence from 50 yards with either foot, I would argue and say its 60yards.

Will be best remember for been part of the greatest midfield pair (with Billy) that we will ever be likely to see.

Even has a song about him ;)



He also went on to be a very good manager unfortunately in the eyes of many it wasn't at Leeds.

Personally he was one of Don's players I didn't get to meet but I'm sure plenty on here may have done and hope will tell us more about the man.

Here is his story (worth a watch)-
Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you.
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Johnny Giles

Post by dunboyne white »

He is greatly respected in Ireland not just for his immense achievements at club and international level (he was player-manager of Ireland while still at Leeds) but also for a subsequent 30-year career as a pundit, particularly on national TV.
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Johnny Giles

Post by The Fonz »

Great player and very good manager, was a pleasure to see him play.
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Johnny Giles

Post by gilesdriveby »

He was one of the first football cards I got. A legend on and off the pitch and ahead of his time in Ireland. In our pretend games I always pretended to be Giles and I never got close to doing him justice.
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Johnny Giles

Post by Clarke One Nil »

At 80 he is the oldest surviving member of the classic Revie team.

A superb player, an intelligent manager, and an enlightening pundit.
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Johnny Giles

Post by kk white »

Johnny was born in Dublin's Ormond Square, a place he credits with learning his skills playing street football against guys twice his age.

There's a plaque in the square honouring him... close to a sign saying 'No Ball Games'...!!!
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Johnny Giles

Post by Westminster »

A superb player, Johnny Giles. Really central to Don Revie's great Leeds side and his partnership with Billy Bremner must be one of the best midfield duos ever, perhaps the best.

Giles had tremendous skill and could really pass the ball but he was, as I'm sure we all know, a controversial player too because he undoubtedly had a nasty streak and could really mix it too. Has anybody ever combined silk and steel as well as Giles? Maybe Graeme Souness at Liverpool.

For me, there's always a bit of a 'what if' about Johnny Giles though - and that's related to the question of him taking over as manager when Don Revie left. We know that Don wanted Giles to take his place and that the board appointed Clough instead, with disasterous consequences.

How would it have panned out with Johnny Giles as manager instead? Well, less fireworks in the short-term, I'm sure. But former players often don't do that well when they take over at their own club, so you just never know. It would have been interesting to find out though, that's for sure.
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Johnny Giles

Post by kk white »

Westminster wrote:A superb player, Johnny Giles. Really central to Don Revie's great Leeds side and his partnership with Billy Bremner must be one of the best midfield duos ever, perhaps the best.

Giles had tremendous skill and could really pass the ball but he was, as I'm sure we all know, a controversial player too because he undoubtedly had a nasty streak and could really mix it too. Has anybody ever combined silk and steel as well as Giles? Maybe Graeme Souness at Liverpool.

For me, there's always a bit of a 'what if' about Johnny Giles though - and that's related to the question of him taking over as manager when Don Revie left. We know that Don wanted Giles to take his place and that the board appointed Clough instead, with disasterous consequences.

How would it have panned out with Johnny Giles as manager instead? Well, less fireworks in the short-term, I'm sure. But former players often don't do that well when they take over at their own club, so you just never know. It would have been interesting to find out though, that's for sure.
Johnny has spoken openly about the manager role (or lack of). However, there's no doubt that the team was on the decline then, and regardless of Johnny's tough streak, he always wanted his teams to play pure football (eg West Brom, Ireland, Vancouver).

With those teams, he didn't always have the players available to be successful with that approach - he would not change tactics to accommodate the shortfall, therefore success was limited.
Would that have happened at Leeds when finances were tight and the old guard retiring? He possibly dodged a bullet there?

Speaking of his tough steak, he gets a bit spiky when interviewers bring that up.
He consistently maintains that he (and Leeds) were no worse than anyone else in that era (I agree).
He can then name a 'dirty' player on every team he has played, but says he never had an issue with them playing that way :D
"An astonishing number of people despise Leeds United or what Leeds United stand for. But this club was never made for them." - Phil Hay
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Johnny Giles

Post by Westminster »

kk_white wrote:
Westminster wrote:A superb player, Johnny Giles. Really central to Don Revie's great Leeds side and his partnership with Billy Bremner must be one of the best midfield duos ever, perhaps the best.

Giles had tremendous skill and could really pass the ball but he was, as I'm sure we all know, a controversial player too because he undoubtedly had a nasty streak and could really mix it too. Has anybody ever combined silk and steel as well as Giles? Maybe Graeme Souness at Liverpool.

For me, there's always a bit of a 'what if' about Johnny Giles though - and that's related to the question of him taking over as manager when Don Revie left. We know that Don wanted Giles to take his place and that the board appointed Clough instead, with disasterous consequences.

How would it have panned out with Johnny Giles as manager instead? Well, less fireworks in the short-term, I'm sure. But former players often don't do that well when they take over at their own club, so you just never know. It would have been interesting to find out though, that's for sure.
Johnny has spoken openly about the manager role (or lack of). However, there's no doubt that the team was on the decline then, and regardless of Johnny's tough streak, he always wanted his teams to play pure football (eg West Brom, Ireland, Vancouver).

With those teams, he didn't always have the players available to be successful with that approach - he would not change tactics to accommodate the shortfall, therefore success was limited.
Would that have happened at Leeds when finances were tight and the old guard retiring? He possibly dodged a bullet there?

Speaking of his tough steak, he gets a bit spiky when interviewers bring that up.
He consistently maintains that he (and Leeds) were no worse than anyone else in that era (I agree).
He can then name a 'dirty' player on every team he has played, but says he never had an issue with them playing that way :D
You might well be right about Giles having dodged a bullet regarding the Leeds' manager's job. Anybody would have had a tough time taking over from Revie at that point. On reflection, Jimmy Armfield didn't do a bad job in terms decline management, but things went off a cliff after he left.

Regarding the rough stuff: Giles is right inasmuch as every team had at least one hatchet man back then and some had several. But Leeds were probably nastier than most. They were a brilliant side, Don Revie's Leeds, of that there's no doubt, and it's a pity that sometimes gets forgotten because of all the rhetoric about 'dirty Leeds'. But, they were bad cats as well, I don't think we can pretend otherwise. Johnny Giles included.

Some player though, Giles. Maybe Don Revie's best signing? It'd be a close call between Giles and Clarke, although Mick Jones was a great signing too.
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Johnny Giles

Post by The Fonz »

I actually think with better management (Giles ?) we would have done better, we had a good number of decent players on the books during the years after Revie. The likes of Cherry, Currie, Jordan, McQueen, Graham, McKenzie, Hart, Hankin, Harris, etc. Eddie Gray got clear of injury and performed well and Clarke wasn't finished.
Champions League in 75, would have qualified for Uefa Cup (Fairs, Europa League or whatever it was called then) but for the ban in 76, FA Cup semi in 77, League Cup semi in 78, Another League Cup semi in 79 as well as qualifying for Europe for the following season.

Not saying we were the top team in that period but very much a top half team, with a different manager such as Giles would we have done better ?
We will never know and can only dream what could have been.
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