'He who must be obeyed' must have the second sight. No sooner had the editor asked me to look at that rare bunch of footballers who are able to play with equal effectiveness as centre halves and centre forward, than Gary Doherty scored his first goal for Norwich following his move from Spurs to Norwich City.
'Bi-positional' players are rare, especially these days, and we are talking here about players selected for positions at the heart of defence as well as at the other extreme, not players asked to fill in temporarily.
Gary Doherty has not only played as a central defender for Tottenham but also for the Irish Republic and he has scored goals for those teams as he wrestled with which direction to take his career. Taking his talent for both positions onto the international stage would, for most folk, rule out any scepticism that playing both roles was a fluke. It also underlines how special that talent is and when you look at other famous examples who also won international honours.
Probably the most famous example of a player who was as comfortable at the back as he was up front is John Charles. Big John, who sadly died not so long ago, was, without doubt, THE best centre half/centre forward because he was world class in both positions. Other players, such as Dion Dublin, Chris Sutton and Colin Hendry were able to play at international level but, with all due respect to the talents of those players, John Charles was universally recognised as world class whether he wore number five or number nine.
Colin Hendry began his career as a centre forward and it was no surprise, when he converted to centre half, that he was still likely to pop up in the opposing box and net himself a goal or two. Chris Sutton's early career was notable for his displays at centre half before he found scoring goals more satisfying than stopping them and Dion Dublin, of those three, was the player who probably played more games, in both roles, certainly in recent years.
So, what is the secret behind players who can play at centre half and centre forward with equal proficiency?
Both positions require strength and bravery because centre halves and centre forwards are both at the crux of a football match as both are at the end of the pitch where games are settled, the penalty area. Both require a determination to attack the ball, without consideration of the physical harm that may come to them, in carrying out their duties and both positions require players who are up for the physical contact that is often necessary to score a goal as well as stopping one.
For an insight into centre-half/centre-forwards it's interesting to note the comments of one player, not yet mentioned, whose conversion from defender to forward probably caused the biggest stir, Kenny Burns.
After the fiery Scot began his Birmingham City career as a centre half, he was asked by Freddie Goodwin, the manager, to play up front and in his first season scored 20 goals. But when he moved on to Nottingham Forest, Kenny was converted back into a central defender by Brian Clough.
Such was the effectiveness of the conversion that Kenny, the first player signed by 'Cloughie' when he became Forest manager, was voted Footballer of the Year and went on to help Forest win the League Championship and two European Cups.
Peter Shilton, the keeper behind Kenny at the back, said of the Scot's move into the heart of the Forest defence: "Kenny took to defending like a duck to water and he knew what his opponents would do because he was a converted striker."
And that's exactly how Kenny described his transformation from a striker to a central defender. "I knew what had to be done in each position. By playing at centre forward and then moving to centre half I knew what the thinking was in my opponent. I could read what positions they were trying to get into and my responding position would relate to that."
Asked the difference between the two roles Kenny's simplistic answer belied the talent necessary to execute both. He said: "For a centre half, when the ball came into the box you headed for height and distance. As a centre forward you headed down for the goal line." Simple, isn't it?
