Peter Barnes was a Manchester City legend in the seventies and was named PFA Young Player of the Year whilst at Maine Road. After spells with West Bromwich Albion, Leeds, Real Betis and Coventry City he was brought to Old Trafford by Ron Atkinson.
Barnes was then moved on swiftly by Alex Ferguson on his arrival in the eighties, but holds no grudge against arguably the most successful England club manager and recalls just how driven he was on his arrival at
United.
He said: "That first talk with us at the Cliff (United’s old training ground), he said ‘look, you're playing for a great club and you need to keep yourselves fit so you can look after your family. This is a club that deserves all the success in the world’.
"He said that he wanted the drinking mentality in the team to stop too. From the first day he arrived you knew that he was determined to succeed and he made it clear that you had to do things his way or not at all.
“He ruled with an iron first and there was a lot of discipline introduced into training. The big stars like Bryan Robson and Frank Stapleton were told quite clearly that they had to do it his way."
Brian Kidd was born into a family of Manchester United supporters and played with aplomb at Old Trafford, as well as assisting Ferguson to four Premier League titles.
He also played for
Manchester City and was part of a powerful forward line under manager Tony Book that also included Dennis Tueart, Peter Barnes and Joe Royle.
So,
Carlos Tevez might be pondering his future whilst playing for Argentina against Ecuador tomorrow night in a World Cup qualifier, but it is a relatively well-worn path, although not particularly in recent years.
It is unlikely that anyone will ever relegate Manchester United from the top flight ever again, such is the seismic power shift in football since the formation of the Premier League, but if Tevez plays his part in ensuring Manchester City gatecrash the exclusive club at the top of the Premier League then it will be money well spent for the blue half of Manchester.
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