Up Front--My Autobiography--Kerry Dixon by Kerry Dixon

Up Front--My Autobiography--Kerry Dixon by Kerry Dixon

Author:Kerry Dixon [Kerry Dixon and Harry Harris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786063007
Publisher: John Blake Publishing
Published: 2016-01-15T00:00:00+00:00


CHAPTER TEN

DRESSING-ROOM UNREST AT THE BRIDGE

The season following the heady experiences of the World Cup was a massive comedown in all respects. It seemed to be hardly at all about the football, and when I was playing my form was not great. It was a season I’d rather have forgotten in terms of playing, and in any case it was all but completely overshadowed by rumours about my future at the club. By the end of it I wasn’t even sure I wanted to remain myself.

I first needed to talk with John Hollins and Ernie Walley to clear the air. Enough time had elapsed since the bitter disappointment of being left out of the final game of the last season for my anger to have subsided. But the hurt and embarrassment of discovering my omission from the team through the newspapers remained uppermost in my mind.

I wanted a full explanation. I had been able to give a great deal of time, thought and consideration to the unsatisfactory situation of the last months of the season. I knew that several top clubs were interested in signing me should Chelsea consider me to be surplus to requirements, but I had no desire to leave the Bridge. The club had been good to me, and my relationship with the supporters, who I rated as absolutely first-class, was fantastic.

As manager, John Hollins insisted my future was at Chelsea and that there was no way he wanted me to leave. He defended his decision to leave me out of the team for the final match at Watford, explaining that it would have been foolish of me to risk injury before the World Cup. He believed Chelsea’s opportunity to win the League had diminished drastically because of my pelvic injury, alongside the unfortunate suspension of David Speedie. He was determined to avoid a repeat and had spent £400,000 on Gordon Durie so Chelsea could enjoy the luxury of choosing from four first-class strikers. I remained a highly valued member of the Hollins team, he insisted, and he wanted to make a more determined attempt at winning the title. My hurt and uncertainty were soothed away in our conversation, But almost immediately another huge row erupted from a completely different quarter.

Publishing an autobiography in 1986, when I was in my mid-twenties was, clearly, ill-advised, and including the punch-up with Speedo in the tale was an even worse mistake. A newspaper highlighted the story when Kerry: The Autobiography was serialised and made it seem much more than it was, with a sensational headline. Now I know more about the press, but at the time it came as a shock, and inevitably caused friction within our camp. Even before the new season had kicked off, things were kicking off inside the club.

The newspaper didn’t include the vitally important qualifying sentence from my book: ‘It seemed the clash between Speedie and myself was the best thing that could have happened as our relationship, both personally and professionally, blossomed from that point onwards.



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