|
Michael John "Johnny" Giles (born 6 November 1940, in Ormond Square,〔(Dubray Books :: Book title display page )〕 Dublin, Ireland) is a former association footballer and manager best remembered for his time as a midfielder with Leeds United in the 1960s and 1970s. Since retiring from management in 1985, Giles has served as "the Senior Analyst" on RTÉ Sport's coverage of association football. The FAI voted Giles as the greatest Irish player of the last 50 years at the UEFA Jubilee Awards in 2004. In 2006, he was chosen by supporters at Elland Road as a member of the best ever Leeds United XI.〔(Greatest Leeds XI - Leeds United FC - LeedsUtdMAD )〕 After winning an FA Cup winner's medal under Matt Busby at Manchester United, Giles moved to Leeds in 1963 where he played in midfield alongside captain Billy Bremner. The duo went on to form a central midfield partnership which was one of the best in English club football. Their pairing helped yield several major trophies in the most successful era in Leeds' history. By strange coincidence, Giles and Bremner would both score exactly 115 goals for the club, casting doubt on the modern penchant for "holding" midfield players. In his later years in football, Giles pursued a managerial career which saw him installed as player-manager and manager of, among others, West Bromwich Albion, the Republic of Ireland, and Shamrock Rovers. Despite having an outstanding knowledge of the game, Giles personally never liked being a manager. He became disillusioned with aspects of the job, such as suffering at the hands of non-committal boardrooms, and left management permanently in 1985. He later declared that he had no regrets about quitting managerial life. Subsequently, after repeated encouragement from childhood friend Eamon Dunphy, Giles would inadvertently enter the world of football punditry in 1986. He has since gone on to establish himself as the highly respected senior analyst on RTÉ Sport. In addition, he writes two columns per week for the Irish ''Evening Herald'' newspaper,〔(John Giles - Herald.ie )〕 and offers his opinions about the game on radio station, Newstalk 106.〔http://www.newstalk.ie/programmes/all/offtheball/podcasts/〕 ==Club career== Giles grew up in Ormond Square, a working-class area of inner-city Dublin, where he developed much of the skills that would aid him in becoming a professional footballer. He was encouraged to enter the game through his father Christy who played for Bohemians in the 1920s〔Bohemian FC match programme, Vol. 54, no. 16〕 and managed Drumcondra during the 1940s. Giles was spotted in Dublin playing for Stella Maris Football Club, before he began his English career with Manchester United. He joined Matt Busby's team for a £10 signing-on fee in 1956. He was given an early first-team debut in 1959 after eight of the team died in the Munich air disaster in February of the previous year. Among the dead was Bill Whelan, who was five years older than Giles and also came from the Cabra district of Dublin.〔(Irish Footballers : Manchester United : players from Republic of Ireland & Northern Ireland : Played for Man Utd )〕 He was also chosen to play for the Republic of Ireland team by the age of 18. Giles was a regular first team player over the next four years, playing alongside Bobby Charlton and Denis Law. Manchester United won the FA Cup in 1963, where Giles played the defence-splitting pass which started the move towards a winning goal by David Herd. After being out of favour, he asked for a transfer and joined Leeds United for £33,000. "I am going to haunt him",〔(Interview: Leeds legend John Giles - Sport - Scotsman.com )〕 is what Giles said of Busby, to his wife Anne, after the Scotsman had forced his departure when freezing him out of the starting team. Giles would soon evolve into one of the finest central midfielders in England, as Leeds won the Second Division title in his first season there. In 1965, he was in the team which came close to a League championship and FA Cup "double" but missed out on both, to Manchester United and to Liverpool respectively. Giles formed a strong partnership with Billy Bremner as Leeds manager Don Revie built a new team around them. The players had similarities in their styles and were a tremendous foil for one another. Giles was known as the creative force and Bremner as the ball-winner, but each was capable of doing the other's primary job. In the 1967–68 season Leeds won both the League Cup and the Fairs Cup. That was the first season in which Giles was affected by injury. In the 1968–69 season, Giles was instrumental in Leeds becoming league champions in a then record 67 points from 42 matches at 2 points for a win, a record that stood for ten seasons. In 1970, Giles again had a magnificent season as Leeds chased three trophies but lost all three, the League went to Everton; the FA Cup to Chelsea after a replay; and the European Cup campaign ended at the hands of Celtic in the semi-finals. In the fifth round of the 1971 FA Cup, when Leeds were unexpectedly beaten 3–2 by Colchester United, Giles scored Leeds' second goal as they almost came back from 3–0 down. Leeds regained the Fairs Cup but lost the League title on the last day, with Arsenal getting the victory they needed to earn the championship and form one half of a successful "double" bid. Leeds won their first FA Cup and Giles his second when they defeated Arsenal 1–0 at Wembley in 1972, yet again they missed out on the League on the final day of the season after defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Sunderland and A.C. Milan beat Leeds in the finals of the FA Cup and the European Cup Winners Cup in 1973, rendering Leeds trophyless again. Jack Charlton's retirement in 1973 also left Giles as the most senior member of the squad. In the same year he started to combine his Leeds duties with a spell as player-manager of his country. In 1974, a 29-match unbeaten run at the start of the season helped Leeds coast to their second title, but then controversy reigned after Revie quit to take over the England team. Revie recommended to the Leeds board of directors that Giles, nearly 34 and approaching the end of his playing career, should be his successor. The board instead appointed Brian Clough, a brilliant manager but a controversial choice as he had been publicly critical of Leeds in the past and was not an admirer of Revie. Clough and the players never got on — the players had wanted Giles too — and the board reacted by dismissing Clough with a big pay-off after just 44 days in charge. Giles still didn't get the job though (that went to Jimmy Armfield) and concentrated on playing as Leeds chased a place in their first European Cup final. Giles himself never applied for the Leeds vacancy on those two occasions, his name had instead been put forward as a candidate by others. Giles was outstanding in Leeds' European campaign but was no longer an automatic fixture in the side. After appearing in the 1975 final, which Leeds lost 2–0 to Bayern Munich, Giles accepted an offer in June 1975 from West Bromwich Albion to become their player-manager, while still playing for and managing the Irish team. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Johnny Giles」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|