EX-manager: Jock Stein

[Promotion 2010]

Vi har ikke noe emne om Jock Stein. Han holdt bare 44 dager i jobben, men både før, under og etter ansettelsen skjedde det småting som man kan merke seg!

Jock Stein gikk rett fra Leeds United og ble manager for Skottland. Dessverre døde han altfor tidlig rett etter en av Skottlands kamper mot Wales.


Bygones: Stein heads home after unremarkable 44 days in charge of Leeds United



Leon Wobschall

Published: 06:02 Monday 20 August 2018
IT was brief and unremarkable and lasted a mere 44 days.


Jock Stein’s time at Leeds United will represent a small footnote in the club’s history, with the managerial grandee barely having time to ingratiate himself with Whites fans before heading back to his native Scotland to manage the national team.

Leeds, Elland Road, 22nd August 1978 - ''Jock Stein in unveiled...
Leeds, Elland Road, 22nd August 1978 - ''Jock Stein in unveiled...
The ex-Celtic manager, unhappy at being pushed into a backseat at Parkhead where his main area of responsibility revolved around running Celtic pools â€" a club-run lottery scheme â€" had seemingly found a challenge to whet his appetite at Leeds some forty years ago in August 1978.

But the fire soon dimmed with Stein’s wife struggling to settle and the 55-year-old increasingly aware to the possibility of the Scotland job soon being available.

And so it transpired, with Stein named as Ally MacLeod’s replacement on October 5, nine days after his predecessor’s resignation.

After failing to tempt Lawrie McMenemy, Ron Saunders and Don Howe to Elland Road, Leeds turned to Stein as they found what they viewed as a long-term replacement for Jimmy Armfield.

‘Tell London that you can say something about the Scotland job and me… you could say something to the effect that you believe I would be interested in going back to Scotland…’

Jock Stein to reporters
Stein’s first game in charge ended in a 3-2 loss to Leeds’s arch-rivals Manchester United before wins over Wolves and Chelsea.

League defeats to Manchester City and Tottenham and two insipid draws with West Brom continued the inconsistent start to Stein’s tenure and all the while, speculation raged that MacLeod’s reign at Hampden Park was in grave peril following Scotland’s deflating showing at that summer’s World Cup in Argentina.

MacLeod went on to stand down on September 26, with Stein soon broaching the subject of the Scotland job with revered BBC Scotland broadcaster Archie Macpherson and other journalists known to him.

In his biography, Macpherson recalled. “This was a very unhappy man (Stein) I was speaking to, morose, slowly spoken, husky.

...but he lasted only 44 days.

“It was then he came up with what was on his mind. ‘Tell London that you can say something about the Scotland job and me… you could say something to the effect that you believe I would be interested in going back to Scotland… you can’t say you have been talking to me. Just play it like you are confident I would take the job. Make it sound like the SFA are being a bit slow on this.’”

Macpherson and his fellow journalists did what was asked and the story broke, ahead of Stein later speaking on the radio to deny the reports: “That’s just Archie Macpherson flying a kite.”

But the seeds had been sown with the SFA, conscious of the clamour for Stein to ‘come home’, soon getting in touch with Leeds.

Initially Whites chairman Manny Cussins refused permission. But the fact that Stein had agreed a three-year contract with Leeds despite never signing it meant that a return to Scotland was a near-certainty.

Speculation raged in the build-up to Stein’s final match in charge, a 3-0 win over Birmingham.

Cussins attempted to keep hold of Stein by offering him a £35,000 lump sum and a luxury home, but his manager’s mind was made up and Stein was gone.

[RoarG]

Husker Stein. Synd han ikke fikk lenger tid i Leeds, men jeg forstår godt at han ikke kunne takke nei til landslaget da de kom på banen. Det var et sjokk å høre om dødsfallet den gangen.

[Josch]

Litt uflaks for Leeds dette. MacLeod gikk av på et merkelig tidspunkt og da begynte flere å peke på Stein. Ser man på navnene så viste Leeds ambisjoner da de prøvde å hente Howe, McMenemy og Saunders. Saunders vant jo med Villa i 1981. Pluss E-cupen 1982.

Stein må ha visst at dette kunne skje siden han ikke hadde skrevet kontrakt med Leeds. Det fremstår som Leeds ble valgt noe halvhjertet, han var klar til å hoppe på noe annet.

Stein's første kamp etter Leeds var mot Norge (EM kval) da vi tapte 3-2 på Hampden høsten 1978. Arthur Graham skaffet Skottland straffe.! Økland og Aas scoret for Norge.

Leeds ansatte deretter Jimmy Adamson. Jeg tror Leeds ble nr 5 det året. Sparket i 1980.

[Promotion 2010]

[Asbjørn]

Ansettelsen av Jock Stein i 1978 fremstår fortsatt som et 'what if', eller brukte han Leeds for å få Skottland-jobben?
Her hadde Leeds fått kloa i mannen som over 13 hadde gjort Celtic til en force i européisk fotball...
Jimmy Armfield hadde brakt ro etter kaoset etter Clough, ført oss til datidens Champions League-finale, men vi forble ikke det vi hadde vært i tiåret under Don Revie...
Det var på tide å prøve noe nytt, og Jock Stein ble svaret.

Men etter 44 dager (nøyaktig det samme som Clough) vardet slutt. Han takket ja til Skottland-jobben...

Hvorfor?

Var det planen hele tiden? 'Brukte' han Leeds for prestisjen, eller oppdaget han ting som gjorde at han ønsket seg vekk etter bare uker i jobben???

Det er flere poenger her, Jock Stein døde på jobb, på sidelinjen da Skottland møtte Wales, 'bare' 62 år gammel.
Assistenten hans, som sikkert lærte enormt av læremesteren, het Alexander Ferguson..

Var dette nók en missed opportunity for Leeds? 🫢


Aug 1978- Jock Stein takes the #LUFC job. Whether he would have revived the club's fortunes is one of the great unknowns- we'd finished 9th the previous year and won 4 of his 10 games- it wouldn't be easy and I wonder if he realised that and took the easy way out?
#70sLeeds #ALAW



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