Give Us Tomorrow Now Alan Durban's Mission Impossible by David Snowdon
Author:David Snowdon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2018-10-15T00:00:00+00:00
A Gloomy Grind
Durban was now looking to two consecutive home league matches to revive spirits. The first visitors would be newly promoted Luton Town, and the fractious Cummins was being considered for a recall despite being reported as blurting out that he ‘would never play for the club again’. The player was frustrated after only one appearance in nine fixtures, but his manager claimed that any rift had been healed, ‘I don’t hold grudges with anyone, and once I have had my say it is finished with. Players at the club are not playing for me but for the club and the supporters.’
Durban adhered to the philosophy that a player did not necessarily have to like you in order to produce the goods on the pitch, but recognised that the onus was on him to ‘pick up the players’. Mills was another he would not be harbouring a grudge against, ‘The essence of good manners is to deal kindly with the bad, and I think that sums up my feelings on his decision and the way we tried to deal with it. We have more important things on our plate.’ Another former international who would not be joining the fold was Scotland left-back Willie Donachie, who had been training at the club for a week. Durban explained, ‘We were not in a position to offer him a contract and I understand he is now joining Burnley.’
For the matchday Roker Review, McCoist spoke about how he felt things were slowly progressing, ‘Although Alan Durban went out of his way to tell the fans it would take time for me to settle and that they shouldn’t expect fireworks in my first season, it still came as a big surprise when I went so long without scoring. When this season opened I was absolutely determined to get on target from the start.’ McCoist refuted any suggestion that the ‘record signing’ label had proved a burden, ‘That big fee never bothered me – except that I wanted to repay Alan Durban and Sunderland for their faith. I always believed I could score regularly and with a few behind me this season it’s whetted my appetite.’ Regardless of fee, McCoist was aware of the harsh realities of being an out-and-out striker, ‘When you’ve been bought as a goalscorer you know what’s expected.’
Specialist help had been recruited to expedite McCoist’s general physical development. He had been working with Pop Robson’s father-in-law Len Heppell (one of the country’s leading experts on body movement, fitness, and balance), who had tutored Bobby Moore, Peter Shilton, and Trevor Brooking among others, ‘Len has improved my balance and sharpness no end. In fact, I’ve so many people to thank for their patience. Alan Durban has been marvellous and so has Mick Docherty. I’m grateful to everybody and I want to repay them with goals.’ Despite the growing confidence that their record signing was looking capable of maturing into the club’s jewel in the crown for years to come, the heartbreaking reality
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