Big Jack

J

joer

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Sad day to see the passing of Jack Charlton. RIP. Great defender for Leeds Utd. Very good manager for the Republic of Ireland.
 
Thats right and one of very few people to receive a hero,s welcome in Ireland for winning .....nothing.
 
joer said:
Thats right and one of very few people to receive a hero,s welcome in Ireland for winning .....nothing.
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It's about glory and exceeding expectations... and he achieved that with Ireland.
Having said that I think a more subtle manager might have taken our golden generation of players even further.
 
In fairness he had a very good squad of players to work with and yes he did a very good job. I think he was as surprised as anyone about the welcome that they got when they came home and he deserved it .
 
Sad day. Great memories from my teenage years of watching the tournaments on TV, of getting the train to Dublin on day trips to see the odd game in a packed Lansdowne Rd., of counting down the hours in school to a midweek qualifying game on TV that evening.

Rest in peace Jack
 
I heard "Put 'em Under Pressure" twice today. I recall the day of the Romania game, working on a factory assembly line. We were waiting word from management to be allowed clock out at 1pm in order to get home to watch the game. Some of the senior workers were adamant they were downing tools regardless of what management said.
Fortunately, word came through early in the day that the factory would close at 1pm and we could watch the game. Confrontation between staff and management was avoided and instead, one of Irelands greatest sporting days would unfold before us all.
Great times.
 
I suppose because he was a big character and had experienced everything in english football nothing in the irish football scene intimidated him, he did it his way and that was that. Of course eamon dunphy did annoy a bit but he just blanked dunphy and dunphy became a hate figure for a period during 1990 when Charlton was a god. Maybe it was his tough upbringing, his father was a coal miner therefore nothing after that fazed him.
 
Great memories and a good guy - his style was not exactly silky, and maybe he could have had more faith with genuine quality players, but all in all a great adventure and he will be fondly remembered in Ireland and, I expect, beyond.
 
I had despaired of ever seeing Ireland at a major International tournament - forever cursed by bad luck and appalling refereeing decisions , at the time you never celebrated an Irish goal without checking first that the officials had allowed it.
Jack’s pragmatism enabled myself and my mates to travel to Germany , Italy and the USA and to enjoy unparalleled good times , it was a joy to be among brilliant supporters and to be welcomed by people from those countries.
Most importantly Jack should be remembered for more that his managerial skills , he was an excellent one club player ( player of the year in 1967 ) , a World Cup winner but more than that a great warm hearted , generous and good humoured family man.
I even got to see him playing in Kilcohan Park for Leeds v Waterford in Peter Fitzgerald’s testimonial.
 
He was a tough defender , a tough manager but a gentle giant from what I have seen, read and heard.
John Giles paid a lovely tribute to Jack on the radio yesterday even if they did not always agree with one another. ( He,John, actually said that).
 
Saturday was a proper nostaliga fest, between Jack's death and the Live Aid documentary on the BBC that night.

I've always had a feeling, given the quality of players that we had that we perhaps under-achieved a little under Big Jack. Having said that, I was trying to explain Italia 90 to my kids on Saturday night and failed miserably. We sometimes forget what a rotten little country we were in the 80's and what joy and fun we had because of big Jack and that for all the giving out people do nowadays, the 80's were a pretty bleak time that is beyond the comprehension of the Celtic Tiger generations. Like all good managers he made his enemies but that's part of the job. Deep down, he was a decent guy and will be missed.
 
Deiseblue said:
I had despaired of ever seeing Ireland at a major International tournament - forever cursed by bad luck and appalling refereeing decisions , at the time you never celebrated an Irish goal without checking first that the officials had allowed it.
Jack’s pragmatism enabled myself and my mates to travel to Germany , Italy and the USA and to enjoy unparalleled good times , it was a joy to be among brilliant supporters and to be welcomed by people from those countries.
Most importantly Jack should be remembered for more that his managerial skills , he was an excellent one club player ( player of the year in 1967 ) , a World Cup winner but more than that a great warm hearted , generous and good humoured family man.
I even got to see him playing in Kilcohan Park for Leeds v Waterford in Peter Fitzgerald’s testimonial.
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Well said Deise. joer, you said he won nothing, that is such a poor statement it really needs to be corrected. Ireland under Jack won Ireland's first ever qualification to a major tournament. They then won qualification to the World Cup for the first time. Under Jack we qualified for 3 major tournaments. They reached 6th in the FIFA world rankings .... 6th!!
Whatever anyone might think about the style of play, about the quality of players available, we punched way above our weight under Jack and we achieved things that we will never achieve again. As Deise said, given where Irish football was when he took over compared to how it was when he left, given where Ireland as a nation was when he took over compared to how it was when he left, we owe that man so much and are forever grateful for what he achieved. I'm only sorry I was too young to get on the bandwagon at the time to experience those trips to major tournaments.
As Deise also said, he was a genuinely good guy with the right values in life and the convictions to go after those. As a Leeds fan, he typified everything that summed up Leeds to me, honour, grit, determination, quality, togetherness and behind it all a joy of life and living with a smile on his face.
RIP Big Jack you wonderful man.
 
WolfeTone said:
I heard "Put 'em Under Pressure" twice today. I recall the day of the Romania game, working on a factory assembly line. We were waiting word from management to be allowed clock out at 1pm in order to get home to watch the game. Some of the senior workers were adamant they were downing tools regardless of what management said.
Fortunately, word came through early in the day that the factory would close at 1pm and we could watch the game. Confrontation between staff and management was avoided and instead, one of Irelands greatest sporting days would unfold before us all.
Great times.
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I was also working in a factory (I've always worked in factories) and we downed tools and all watched all the matches in the canteen and shop floor. No drink though; you can't operate machines when under the influence. I was in Genoa at the Romania game. It was one of the most vivid memories I have. A fantastic 42 hours!
It shows how much the country has changed that in 2016, when Poland were doing really well in the Euro's, there were about 20 guys who wanted to see those matches so the TV was back in the canteen for them.
 
Peanuts20 said:
We sometimes forget what a rotten little country we were in the 80's and what joy and fun we had because of big Jack and that for all the giving out people do nowadays, the 80's were a pretty bleak time that is beyond the comprehension of the Celtic Tiger generations.
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I thought that Ireland was a wonderful country in the 1980s. There was a real sense among the young, or my friends at least, that we were shaping the country's future. And in a way it was true.

Much of what todays youth claim as their achievement was in fact largely achieved in the 1980s. Garret's constitutional crusade, the divorce referenda, decriminalising homosexuality, "Marriage Equality" was just a follow up act .

Of course I realise lots of people were just watching football at the time.
 
Now Ceist Beag , I never said that he was not a successful manager if you had read all of what I said, you would have seen that I actually said that he was one of a few who received a hero,s welcome for winning nothing. He did a great job in bringing Ireland to the highs of 3 tournaments. I think he was a great person and I remember him playing for England in the world cup and he was a tower at center half. So I do not think any correction is needed. He was a great man.
 
joer said:
received a hero,s welcome for winning nothing
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Qualifying for the tournaments could not be described as "winning nothing". The heroes welcome was largely for being part of the tournament in the first place.
 
Ceist Beag said:
Qualifying for the tournaments could not be described as "winning nothing". The heroes welcome was largely for being part of the tournament in the first place.
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I'd put a different emphasis on it. Qualifying for the finals was an achievements, especially the 8 team euros.
But once there they captured the imagination of the public with their efforts \ the on field drama.

We had a relatively easy group for qualification in 1990, considering we were 4th seeds - a good but not great Spain, and both Hungary and N Ireland were in decline. Back then 2nd was good enough to qualify directly.
If we'd turned up and gotten these results, I don't think there would have been a heroes welcome:
  • England 1 -0 Ireland
  • Egypt 0-0 Ireland
  • Netherlands 1-1 Ireland
The big pity for me was missing out on 1992 Euros which was there for the taking.
 
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