What was it like under George Graham?

[SydneyGooner]

I've only known an Arsenal under Wenger, and the specialist in failure era Wenger at that (I've never seen us win anything ), so I'm curious because GG was well before my time.

[QuartzGooner]

I've only known an Arsenal under Wenger, and the specialist in failure era Wenger at that (I've never seen us win anything ), so I'm curious because GG was well before my time.

A tale of two halves.

1986 - 1991

Exciting!
He inherited some good young British players from Don Howe.
He re-asserted the Arsenal defensive tradition with solid good tacklers and a very well marshalled midfield.
But he added to it with flair/power players who nevertheless worked hard and most of them could hold their own physically too.
Young British players who the crowd could identify with - Rocastle and Thomas spring to mind, as well as the Northerner Marwood and the Swede Limpar.

We had a balanced team, one who were u for it and took the battle to the oppositon, but jnew how to hold onto a lead.

1991 - 1995

Organized, but dull.

It changed.

We took a hammering in Europe, and he tipped the balance towards defence and and organisation at the expense of flair.
It was successful in the cups, but it was dull to watch and from 1992 onwards it felt to me that we were not close to winning the league again under Graham.

On the one hand he signed a fantastic striker in Ian Wright in 1991.
One the other, he packed midfield with not very creative players such as Hillier, Morrow, Pates, Selley and McGoldrick.

Rocastle left after knee injury, Thomas fell out with Graham and was sold, Davis aged and was played intermittently after arguing with Graham.

We had a bright spark in Merson, but he was erratic and had well documented drink problems.
As did Tony Adams.

Ray Parlour had his debut in 1992, but was not yet the player he became under Wenger, and Alan Smith declined through injury.

By 1994 we had become very hard to beat, but the football was excrutiatingly dull, it mainly became about hoofing the ball up to Ian Wright.

By the time Graham was sacked for taking a bung I felt it was time for a change.

[Herd]

George Graham arrived when Arsenal were in a strange position . Under Neil in the 70's we were a good Cup team but had only won a single FA Cup for three attempts 2 against so called weaker opposition plus another abortive Cup final loss in the Cup winners cup against Valencia ,and when he was sacked in 1983 Don took over first as caretaker then as full time manager.
Don was a first and formost a coach but he quit when he heard they club was going to fire him at the end of the season,but in fairness although he wasnt the man who would win you things he and Neil had grown a huge amount of young talent which can be credited to both Don Howe and Neil as well as George who moulded them into winners.

When George arrived he was a known figure to the fans which always helps but he knew how to discipline young players and very quickly turned us right around .
In the first season we finished a credible fourth but the next season was to see the take off.
The League Cup maybe an irrelavance now but tell that to the fans after we beat the Mighty Liverpool at Wembley curtesey of 2 scrappy Goals .
For the Next few years we really punched above our weight winning the league twice the cup winners cup Fa and league cup again despite never having a huge budget.
It was a Magical time to be a Gooner and any trophy or Cup run was a thing to savour......not only that but the players were just like us only with a few more quid in the bin .
Can u imagine walking out of the swamp dancing in the streets after a league cup semi final win ,they wouldnt dare to come near us !
We could play football and we did but if needs be we would grind out a win by sheer will power and determination .
Players Like Perrry Groves ,Martin "Zico" Hayes(top scorer in 1991) ,Ian Selley,Phil Morrow,Nial Quin,Kevin Cambell,all played their part along with the better known names and I love them all .
They would frequently Drink with us too after Midweek matches down the Favorite or if u bumped into them in the Dover st wine bar or Ra Ra's at the Angel ,they would always talk to the fans and even buy them drinks .
Unfortunately as the players grew older a lot of them had problems with drink and drugs and there is more than the ones you know about whose careers nose dived with the nose bag.
Similarly George had more problems keeping them in line as they grew older and if he hadnt been sacked because of the payments from Rune Hauge then he would have left at the end of the season anyway.
Nevertheless he is still my hero and the best manager Arsenal FC has had in my lifetime

[goonersid]

I've only known an Arsenal under Wenger, and the specialist in failure era Wenger at that (I've never seen us win anything ), so I'm curious because GG was well before my time.

Better than it is now, even by the end when we all knew GGs best days were behind him and a change was needed, we at least had a team who would still give their all, even though limited ability in certain areas (midfield mainly) mean't we were never going to figure in the title race.

[REB]

just one thing to say for GG,

he gave us back our pride.

[markyp]

the players knew where they stood with GG,slackers and clowns weren't tolerated,if the players didn't know what it was to represent Arsenal they would be sent on their way.George was a bit of a smoothie and had charisma although he did rule with an iron fist something that Wenker lacks which is why weve had so many half baked flakes playing for us under Clueless.i always loved GG,with him being an Arsenal man through and through I always felt he was on our side and our wavelength,you could never say that of Wenker

[IrishJB]

He was used as the scape goat for others who were allegedly taking 'bungs' too.

went before his time, shame the board 'jumped' quite quickly.

now we've a manager staying way way past his time - blame the board (though different) AGAIN!

crazy world

[TeeCee]

Similarities in that GG's first half of his time here were fantastic and the second got progressively worse. He didn't 'go before his time' because at the end it was incredibly shit and we finished 17th I think it was? in the league. GG could well have got us relegated if he had carried on. He completely neglected the youth team in the end too. The 91 season where we only lost one game was awesome. The games near the end where he STARTED games with 5 centre backs in the side were shit! But he is still remembered very very highly not only because of what he did but he left (albeit forcibly) before his legacy was destroyed. This isn't the case with Wonga, he has damaged his legacy way beyond repair.

[IrishJB]

........second got progressively worse. He didn't 'go before his time' because at the end it was incredibly shit and we finished 17th I think it was?.......:

i agree AW legacy is pretty much ruined now, but GG's last 2 full season's 92/93 (double) and 93/94 (won ECWC) were not exactly in decline, sure he was fired feb 95, but our position in league was prob due to the stress of the 'bung' case etc ...

nb at the time of the sacking think we were bout 10th

[SydneyGooner]

Would this comment from a poster by the name of Gunflash from Goonersworld be a fair assessment of GG?

I think GG was a fantastic manager. He took over in 1986, when he hadn't won a trophy since 1979. He inherited a squad of overpaid, over-indulged underachievers, who hadn't done anything in years. He purged the wasters, rebuilt the club, with a core of great young players, ended the trophy drought in 1987, before taking us to our first league title in 18 years. In the title run-in of 1989, Graham decided we were getting too swamped, so he dropped a midfielder, brought O'Leary in as a sweeper and pushed Dixon and Winterburn further up the pitch to play as "wing-backs". How often have we seen tactical innovation like that from Wenger? George was good at making clever purchases on the cheap to fill in gaps in the squad, guys like Marwood, Richardson and Groves. Unlike Wenger, he also built trophy-winning squads on the back of a strong produce from the Academy - Adams, Rocastle, Thomas, Merson, Quinn, Hayes, Campbell, Hillier, Parlour. Wenger talks about building a squad of young players to win trophies but Graham actually did it, with players from our own academy, not players who were bought from other academies.

The 1991 Arsenal team was criminally underrated. They only lost one league game all season. George built the great back five but he made sure the midfield knew its defensive responsibilities. Our defending started with midfielders like Rocastle, Thomas and Davis, who worked hard for the team. He failed to build a dynasty. I think we could have dominated in the 90s but George lost faith in attacking football (Limpar was always sidelined, despite being our most lively attacker). He did, however, buy David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Steve Bould, Nigel Winterburn and Ian Wright. Even when we faded in the league, he was still able to win cups with mediocre players (Hillier, Morrow, McGoldrick and Jensen!) because of that Arsenal robustness, resilience and spirit.

Up until 92/93, the football was good to watch. We were the highest scores in the league in 88/89 and 91/92. The boring football was really only in the last two seasons. Go back and watch some of the goals we scored in the final few months of the 91/92 season. It was as good as anything we saw in the Wenger era - Smith, Wright, Merson, Campbell, Limpar and Rocastle in full flight. Fantastic!

Despite being a "blood and guts" manager, instead of a "thinker"/"visionary" like Wenger, Graham was far and away a superior tactician. After we got overrun by Benfica in the European Cup in 91, Graham decided we needed a more methodical approach to European football. So when we got to the Cup Winners-Cup in 93/94, he flooded the midfield and sometimes played one striker, even if it meant dropping Ian Wright. The peak of this was the final against Parma when we went 1-0 up and outmuscled them. Contrast that with Wenger's tactical ineptitude. This is a man who has never won a European trophy of any sort (and never will) and who failed to win the Champions League, despite having SIXTEEN cracks at it and despite having players that Graham would have killed for.

By the end it was getting stale. The defence was getting tired, the team lacked creativity in midfield and was over-reliant on Wright. It was time for a change by 1995, just as it's time for a change now. The Graham era ended in scandal, which is a shame because he was the Arsenal manager who restored us to glory and when Wenger came in, he was arriving at a dressing room full of players who had won many trophies under Graham. His man-management may not have been great (Robson, Davis, Thomas, Nicholas and Limpar all suffered) and he didn't keep an eye on some of the players (Adams, Merson) but he was all about trophies and he told the players that they'd look back at pride with all their medals. What will Wenger's post-2005 squads look back on? All those times they finished 4th?

George Graham was a fantastic manager. Yes he had his flaws but he restored the club's position and I think it's unfair the way the modern fans want to dismiss his achievements like they don't matter. In numbers terms, he won fewer trophies than Wenger but Graham won his 6 pots in just 8 years. Wenger won his 7 pots in 18 years. Has it really been worth the extra decade for just one more trophy?

It sounds like Graham was in the Ferguson/Mourinho/Simeone mould of manager.

[DB10GOONER]

Would this comment from a poster by the name of Gunflash from Goonersworld be a fair assessment of GG?

I think GG was a fantastic manager. He took over in 1986, when he hadn't won a trophy since 1979. He inherited a squad of overpaid, over-indulged underachievers, who hadn't done anything in years. He purged the wasters, rebuilt the club, with a core of great young players, ended the trophy drought in 1987, before taking us to our first league title in 18 years. In the title run-in of 1989, Graham decided we were getting too swamped, so he dropped a midfielder, brought O'Leary in as a sweeper and pushed Dixon and Winterburn further up the pitch to play as "wing-backs". How often have we seen tactical innovation like that from Wenger? George was good at making clever purchases on the cheap to fill in gaps in the squad, guys like Marwood, Richardson and Groves. Unlike Wenger, he also built trophy-winning squads on the back of a strong produce from the Academy - Adams, Rocastle, Thomas, Merson, Quinn, Hayes, Campbell, Hillier, Parlour. Wenger talks about building a squad of young players to win trophies but Graham actually did it, with players from our own academy, not players who were bought from other academies.

The 1991 Arsenal team was criminally underrated. They only lost one league game all season. George built the great back five but he made sure the midfield knew its defensive responsibilities. Our defending started with midfielders like Rocastle, Thomas and Davis, who worked hard for the team. He failed to build a dynasty. I think we could have dominated in the 90s but George lost faith in attacking football (Limpar was always sidelined, despite being our most lively attacker). He did, however, buy David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Steve Bould, Nigel Winterburn and Ian Wright. Even when we faded in the league, he was still able to win cups with mediocre players (Hillier, Morrow, McGoldrick and Jensen!) because of that Arsenal robustness, resilience and spirit.

Up until 92/93, the football was good to watch. We were the highest scores in the league in 88/89 and 91/92. The boring football was really only in the last two seasons. Go back and watch some of the goals we scored in the final few months of the 91/92 season. It was as good as anything we saw in the Wenger era - Smith, Wright, Merson, Campbell, Limpar and Rocastle in full flight. Fantastic!

Despite being a "blood and guts" manager, instead of a "thinker"/"visionary" like Wenger, Graham was far and away a superior tactician. After we got overrun by Benfica in the European Cup in 91, Graham decided we needed a more methodical approach to European football. So when we got to the Cup Winners-Cup in 93/94, he flooded the midfield and sometimes played one striker, even if it meant dropping Ian Wright. The peak of this was the final against Parma when we went 1-0 up and outmuscled them. Contrast that with Wenger's tactical ineptitude. This is a man who has never won a European trophy of any sort (and never will) and who failed to win the Champions League, despite having SIXTEEN cracks at it and despite having players that Graham would have killed for.

By the end it was getting stale. The defence was getting tired, the team lacked creativity in midfield and was over-reliant on Wright. It was time for a change by 1995, just as it's time for a change now. The Graham era ended in scandal, which is a shame because he was the Arsenal manager who restored us to glory and when Wenger came in, he was arriving at a dressing room full of players who had won many trophies under Graham. His man-management may not have been great (Robson, Davis, Thomas, Nicholas and Limpar all suffered) and he didn't keep an eye on some of the players (Adams, Merson) but he was all about trophies and he told the players that they'd look back at pride with all their medals. What will Wenger's post-2005 squads look back on? All those times they finished 4th?

George Graham was a fantastic manager. Yes he had his flaws but he restored the club's position and I think it's unfair the way the modern fans want to dismiss his achievements like they don't matter. In numbers terms, he won fewer trophies than Wenger but Graham won his 6 pots in just 8 years. Wenger won his 7 pots in 18 years. Has it really been worth the extra decade for just one more trophy?

It sounds like Graham was in the Ferguson/Mourinho/Simeone mould of manager.

That's a very good description you quoted. Particularly the bit about the 91 team never getting the credit they deserved. I'd add one other thing; he inherited a cup team and left behind a cup team. That's not to take away from his amazing achievements for us, but it is indicitive of how stale we had become under him. His time was up, (just as for me Arsene's time was up in 2010) it's just a shame he was hung out to dry for something alot of managers were up to at that time. For me Wenger (97-06) was our greatest ever manager (2 TWO doubles, the unbeaten season) and because he did it playing the best football I've ever seen in 40+ years of watching the game, but I'll never love Arsene the way I love GG. GG was old school proper Arsenal and he brought the pride back.

[SteveO 35]

Pretty much as Quartz describes it.

The early years were amazing - home grown young players mixing with signings from lower divisions like Dixon, Winterburn and Bould = a team driven by the desire to win rather than the fear of losing. 1989 was pretty much the best experience you're ever likely to experience as a Gooner unless one day we win the CL in the 93rd minute.

The latter 2-3 years produced some of the most one dimensional boring football I have ever witnessed. Selley, Hillier, Morrow, Jensen were the sort of robots GG looked to pack the midfield with and he then made a number of weird signings like Kiwomya, McGoldrick and Helder who were clearly never good enough for a supposed top level club.

Even in those latter days though I would still back us in a one off game even against the biggest clubs in a cup format, because GG could organise a defence like no other manager.......so I always carried hope we could win something.....even if it was 1-0 with a single shot on target by the Wright man ! These days when we play any of the big continental or domestic clubs I cringe at the prospect of how wide open we'll be and how many we're going to get pasted by. I never felt like that when GG was in charge.

Where he is similar to Wenger is that he was a right stubborn bastard and in the last 2 years of his reign everyone cried out for him to buy creative midfielders (in the way we now do with Wenger and strikers) and he was just as tight fisted and tripped out all the arguments about nobody being available

Both managers were unable to adapt to the changing football world around them

[mcdowell42]

I was living in london from 89-92,wht a time for me as a 20 yr old gunner,supported arsenal since 78 but had never been to a match till i moved to north london.To stand on the north bank for the 1st time was such an expierience.To win the league twice under george and to be able to say u were at highbury was a great feeling.l will always have great time for george,but it was obvious his time was coming to and end but wish hadnt been in such circumstances,he deserved to leave the in a more fitting way.Good times for a young (naive) irish man in london.God i miss those days.

[nut flush gooner]

They said GG's teams where boring, but the reality was we had bags of talent. Merse, Marwood, Rocky, Limpar, Wrighty, Davis.

They also had spirit and fight in them, went toe to toe with manure at OT in 1991.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebSRjIBxFNE#t=100

These vids should be shown to the current crop of pansies.

[Bradywasking]

I hope Arsenal's history is kind to Graham , his departure was a sour and sad end to a mostly brilliant tenure. As said by the other posters Graham's end was coming anyway. He had lost the control and power that made him the manager and winner he had previously been.
To me the defining moment of Graham's reign at Arsenal was the Benfica home defeat in the old European Cup in 1991. I think George wanted more than anything to win the European cup but that nigh showed how far in reality not just Arsenal but English football had fallen behind the rest of Europe. When we won the league in 1991 we believed (well I did ) that winning the European Cup was a natural progression, the horrible reality was exposed by Benfica or more accurately by arsenal in the second round. We were not ready, not good enough and Kevin Campbell in reality was never going to terrify Europe's elite. After that defeat Graham became even more paranoid about defence. We had a collection of central defenders at that time and that was before squad rotation and before we bought Keown for his second stint at Highbury.
Having said that the run in for that 1991-92 season saw Arsenal play some unbelievable attacking football, scoring quality goals at will . The Wrexham defeat was another blow in that season.
When he arrived he was a breath of fresh air, we challenged for the title for a while in his first season and he lead us to a Littlewoods Cup triumph at the expense of Liverpool and Ian Rush's record of never having lost when he scored. The second season was pretty much the same except we lost the Littlewoods Cup Final..a defeat from the jaws of victory. Ask any Arsenal or football fan from the 80's about Luton Town and stand back and wait for a barrage of insults. They were everything I hated at the time..plastic pitch, horrible stadium, no away fans and worse of all Steve Foster.
Unlike present day defeat actually stirred Arsenal on to rectify mistakes and the following year saw the title at Highbury. George was being viewed now as a top manager. 1989-90 saw us fail to retain the title but for me 1990-91 was George's finest achievement. We only lost one league game ,at Chelsea, and got to a FA Cup semi final. There was the docking of two points following the Old Trafford brawl (24 years later I am still adamant that Denis Irwin was the main instigator of that ) George came into his own in the wake of the docking of the points and he inspired Arsenal with what was described by some as A Churchillian speech. The loss of his captain only further galvanised his squad.
After Benfica we became a Cup team and they were brilliant days and nights. 1993 saw revenge on Spurs at Wembley in the FA Cup semi and a double Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday in the two domestic cups. 1994 saw that night in Copenhagen where in my opinion Steve Bould had his finest game in an Arsenal shirt. The run to that final was based on absorbing pressure and nicking a goal.. "1-0 to the Arsenal " was born.
That was Graham's last full season in charge and in reality from early the following season it was obvious things were not right. We were losing games and while they were not the humiliations of the present day there seemed to be no ideas how to stop the rot. For many Graham had reached the end , he no longer ruled the dressing room. Suddenly Arsenal were on the front pages of the papers with Drug problems for one of the big players and suddenly financial allegations against the manager himself. History will tell that this was Graham's downfall but the league form and a dreadful home defeat against Milwall in a cup replay would suggest the writing was on the wall anyway.
It was a sad and inglorious end to a man who had honestly put pride back in the Arsenal shirt. he moved out egos and replaced them with kids that would have died for him and the club. Regardless of his finish his reign was fantastic for Arsenal If history could be re-written I would have George saying at his post match press conference in Copenhagen 1994.."that's it lads I'm off, this is all I can do for this club".