Chris Waddle once made a suggestion that irritated Jack Charlton so much that he expelled him from the manager’s office.
Chris Waddle has revealed FourFourTwo what it was like to play for Jack Charlton, as well as the heated debate with the former Newcastle United manager that resulted in the World Cup winner kicking him out of the office.
Charlton accepted the Toon post in 1984 after Magpies great Jackie Milburn persuaded him to do so. Waddle was well-established in the side at the time, and he now admits that, while he liked his boss at the time, there were some areas of his management with which he disagreed.
“I liked Jack as a person, but I was never a fan of his football,” Waddle tells FFT now. “It was myself and Beardsley up top, the ball would be launched over us, and he’d just tell us to get on the ball and run with it.
“I went into his office one day and suggested that instead of throwing the ball over us to run on, it be played into our feet.” I must have sat in his office for half an hour trying to persuade him to change his mind. He listened briefly before saying, ‘No, out!’ He was adamantly opposed to change.
“He was like Bobby Robson in that he didn’t know any of our names.” Bobby had nicknamed Mark Hateley ‘Tony’ after his father for many years. He’d even call Bryan Robson ‘Bobby’ – Bryan had to keep reminding him, ‘You’re Bobby, I’m Bryan.'”
Not knowing players’ names would extend to team talks and telling players the starting lineup with Waddle recalling how players would find out if they were playing.
“Jack would come into the changing room the day before a game, after having his usual cigarette outside, and go through the starting line-up,” he said. “Right, tomorrow we play Ipswich – in goal…” He’d look across the room, concentrate his gaze on Kevin Carr, and add, “the goalkeeper.” He had no idea what his name was. He’d walk through the XI, pointing to ‘the large lad’ or ‘the tiny lad’ instead of names. You sat there dumbfounded – this was his pre-game team talk.
“When we arrived in Ipswich, he had a piece of paper with all of the opposition’s names on it, as well as notes written by his assistant, Maurice Setters.” ‘Paul Cooper, fantastic at saving penalties, so today, fellas, don’t get any penalties,’ he said. He went through the entire team in this manner. It was amazing.”
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