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Jimmy Johnstone - the greatest player ever from Britain?

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George Best, Ian Rush, Bobby Moore, Gareth Bale are all the players that come to mind, when I see the term "greatest British footballers".
 
Jamo Martinez said:
In the 50s and 60s the Scottish league was far more competitive than it is today. Hibs were semi finalists in the European Cup and the Fairs Cup. Dunfermline beat us and battered Valencia in the Fairs cup and got to the semi final of the ECWC in 69. And Dundee were semi finalists in the European Cup in 63. That's apart from the Old Firm.

Totally different ball game to the mickey Mouse league we see today.
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I only watched 4 or 5 games in the mid 60's and don't recognise your assessment but I could be wrong. I do know that the Old Firm domination was pretty solid: 16 title wins out of 20 from 55 to 75.

There have been excellent Scottish players - Dennis Law, Kenny Dalglish e g. Some would say Jim Baxter. As well as losing to Dunfermline we also beat Rangers and Kilmarnock. Not sure I'd uyse Everton as a guide to the strength of other league's teams though! :)
 
No player from back in ye day is the greatest ever, take them in their prime and put them in modern football and they would be so far off the pace it would be painful to watch. Its obviously an unfair comparison as modern players have all the benefits of modern conditioning/professionalism etc but reality is that the best football player ever is going to be a modern player. Natural talent is up for debate though.

One of things that is most obvious when watching football from 70s 80s etc is how unathletic it seems compared to todays football.
 
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longers said:
No player from back in ye day is the greatest ever, take them in their prime and put them in modern football and they would be so far off the pace it would be painful to watch. Its obviously an unfair comparison as modern players have all the benefits of modern conditioning/professionalism etc but reality is that the best football player ever is going to be a modern player. Natural talent is up for debate though.

One of things that is most obvious when watching football from 70s 80s etc is how unathletic it seems compared to todays football.
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Put the best modern day players in a game of 70's/80's and they wouldn't last 90 minutes.
 
Methuselah said:
Put the best modern day players in a game of 70's/80's and they wouldn't last 90 minutes.
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What logic is this based on ? Todays players are vastly superior athletes with far better conditioning and thus less likely to get injured by the more physical era of the 70s than the players of that actual era. I guess you could argue they might not fancy it but that's just feelings rather than any kind of objective reasoning.

edit : not sure what difference it makes what era this hypothetical match is played in, the advantage modern players would have is there regardless.
 
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longers said:
What logic is this based on ? Todays players are vastly superior athletes with far better conditioning and thus less likely to get injured by the more physical era of the 70s than the players of that actual era. I guess you could argue they might not fancy it but that's just feelings rather than any kind of objective reasoning.

edit : not sure what difference it makes what era this hypothetical match is played in, the advantage modern players would have is there regardless.
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They wouldn't survive the first tackle.
 
PSB1 said:
I only watched 4 or 5 games in the mid 60's and don't recognise your assessment but I could be wrong. I do know that the Old Firm domination was pretty solid: 16 title wins out of 20 from 55 to 75.

There have been excellent Scottish players - Dennis Law, Kenny Dalglish e g. Some would say Jim Baxter. As well as losing to Dunfermline we also beat Rangers and Kilmarnock. Not sure I'd uyse Everton as a guide to the strength of other league's teams though! :)
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Everton got more top flight points in the 60s than any other team si I think we were a pretty good yard stick. And Dunfermline also beat Valencia 6-2.
As for the old firm domination, yes they dominated but in the same way Madrid and Barcelona dominate in Spain while the likes of Atlético, Sevilla and Valencia have done well in Europe with teams like Bilbao, and even Español and Alavés getting to UEFA cup finales. Showing strength in depth.
I'm not saying Johnstone was the best player to come out of Britain, just that it's too easy to dismiss him due to playing in a poor quality league when the level of Scottish football was infinitely higher back them.
 

longers said:
What logic is this based on ? Todays players are vastly superior athletes with far better conditioning and thus less likely to get injured by the more physical era of the 70s than the players of that actual era. I guess you could argue they might not fancy it but that's just feelings rather than any kind of objective reasoning.

edit : not sure what difference it makes what era this hypothetical match is played in, the advantage modern players would have is there regardless.
Click to expand...
You could also say that players from an earlier era, if they were playing today, would have the same benefits of training and conditioning as today's players.

You could argue that they might not fancy that intensity of training, but that's just feelings rather than any kind of objective reasoning.
 
Bruce Wayne said:
I was just going to say this. In that video he seemed to beat his man and then rather than doing something useful would turn back and try and beat him again.
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Garrincha used to do the same. Sometimes, I imagine that was the 'statement' from skillful wingers to full backs saying 'you can't get near me'. Sort of laying down a psychological marker. In the same way defenders would go through the forward to 'let him know you are there'.
 

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