Tom Lappin: Rich rivals will be hard pushed to match 70s 'glamour' games

Published on Friday 24 September 2010 18:05

IT'S difficult to imagine such a thing as a glamour fixture in the 1970s. Footage of that era invariably focuses on matches played in swirling snow, or in a mud-bath, where those players lucky enough to preserve their limbs from the onslaught of Ron "Chopper" Harris were liable to succumb to a bout of trenchfoot.

In the early 70s Manchester City against Chelsea games were irrefutably glamorous though, because of the personalities that made two middling clubs renowned for their entertainment. City were managed by Malcolm Allison, a man who usually offered a permutation of any three out of five from his beloved cigar, champagne, fedora, fur coat and buxom dolly bird.

City's playing personnel included the variously exuberant Colin Bell, tempestuous Francis Lee, Mike Summerbee and Rodney Marsh (who claims he cost City the title by joining them in March 1972). Chelsea's substantial playboy quota included Charlie Cooke, Peter Osgood and Alan Hudson, but the whole ethos of the club had been affected by being located just off the King's Road, and enjoying a resurgence of success in the midst of the Swinging Sixties. City v Chelsea games, especially those at Stamford Bridge, were among the first to attract crowds that leavened the traditional working-classes with cadres of the avant-garde, the intelligentsia, and yes, dolly-birds in mini-skirts. Squealing excitedly as Chopper Harris set about Summerbee's knee-caps.

You don't need to be Alan Bennett to get all elegiac about how things have changed 40 years on. Back then Chelsea were a dilettante London club that enjoyed the spotlight of the cups, were less enthused about the weekly grind of the league. These days they are remorseless, grinding the opposition under the tracks of their expensively-assembled killing machine, and making their predominantly middle-class supporters occasionally wistful for a spot of drama or suspense. Back then City were an inconsistent but occasionally dangerous side, always threatening to repeat their surprising title win of 1968. These days they are inconsistent, occasionally dangerous, but still a long way from repeating that title win of 42 years vintage.

Back then both clubs were managed by graduates of the West Ham academy. Allison and Dave Sexton might have been contrasting personalities, but both had an idealistic belief in attacking football. These days both clubs are managed by alumni of Serie A, a less romantic school of football philosophy. If Carlo Ancelotti is the grizzled professor, Roberto Mancini is a junior fellow, competent enough at Internazionale, but yet to prove he is among Europe's top coaches. When you have the resources of Sheikh Mansour al-Maktoum, you are unlikely to waste much time waiting for your manager to go through a learning curve.

The impression is that Mancini has one season, if that, to muscle his way into the elite, and convince that City are capable of taking the title. City's Premier League pretensions seemed valid when they beat Liverpool 3-0, but subsequent results have been less impressive. At least they took the fashionable step of being eliminated from the Carling Cup at the first opportunity on Wednesday, showing that Mancini shares every foreign manager's perplexity that this competition even exists.

Mancini might contend his plans have been undermined by injuries to three key signings, Mario Balotelli, Jerome Boateng and Aleksandr Kolarov, although City are probably a long way down the queue for general sympathy, as are Chelsea. Ancelotti has some injury concerns of his own, particularly with regard to Frank Lampard.

Chelsea's early season form has been devastating, scoring goals at will, while their defence has stood firm. The fixture list has been kind to them, serving up opposition that is neither threatening nor prone to spoiling tactics. The effect has been to give Chelsea a staggered start to their season, establishing a large lead while their rivals can only hope they can be hauled back when the fixtures get trickier.

Today's lunchtime date at the City of Manchester stadium is a chance to slap down one of those putative rivals, and remind us that Roman Abramovich's vanity project is three league titles more advanced than Sheikh Mansour's.

The City owner, as well as hoping his club can hold the leaders, will have the chance to view the blueprint for buying success. Abramovich spent 140 million is his first year at Chelsea (Mansour spent 120m this summer), but his project had a few blips because the owner couldn't decide whether he wanted a side that won, or a side that entertained and impressed his oligarch chums in the VIP seats.

Under Ancelotti he has an acceptable compromise; a side that wins and scores lots of goals, without ever equalling the aesthetic pleasures of a Barcelona (or Arsenal come to that). Mansour, and Mancini, need a clear vision of what kind of club their City will be. At the moment, they are characterised by the commitment and passion of Carlos Tevez, but they will need more calculation to be genuine title challengers.

There's little question the football on display will be more technically correct, faster and "better" than that of 40 years ago. Those of a certain age though, will know that, for all the hundreds of millions of pounds involved, the modern version of Manchester City against Chelsea won't match the glamour of those 70s encounters.