[Football] Dean Wilkins

[METALMICKY]

The glorious Ipswich goal is rather offset by the ' midfield of steel ' of him and Codner...........

 

[herecomesaregular]

Despite giving him a bit of stick back in the day he could actually be quite a classy player on his day. Aslong as he didn't have to tackle of course. Did brilliantly with the Albion youth and quite well with the first team, was sad to see it end at the time.

 

[Deleted member 2719]

Thought he was great and harshly treated by Knight. I know rumours were put about that somehow he wasn't fit for the job but as a fan I thought the football was great, and loved him bringing through some youngsters for the first time in several years.

Exactly.

Wilkins is an Albion God.

He should never have been sacked.

Good Luck to him, I wish he was still working for the Albion. Probably the only sacking we have done in my era of support the Albion that will never sit right with me.

 

[willalbion]

I always liked Deano, as a player and as our manager. That said I was about 9 when he played in midfield for us.

 

[portlock seagull]

The glorious Ipswich goal is rather offset by the ' midfield of steel ' of him and Codner...........

I used to scream 'wendyyyyy' at him for his amazing ability to skip a tackle and finish a game without mud on his shorts LOL! He and Codner (when not in prison or snorting coke, allegedly, according to Gulls Eye...I blame Dik!) were sometime porous in the extreme but what a season 91 was especially. Wilkins had some sublime touches and I wish we had someone with his ability at the moment when it comes to a dead ball. Nope, DW was/is a true Albion legend, a great player, coach then manager. When he scored at Wembley and had tears in his eyes at the final whistle you know that's a player who had blue and white in his blood. An artiste, our midfield generale. And brother of Ray obviously. Will always be part of the Albion family. Top bloke too I believe.

 

[Deleted member 2719]

I always liked Deano, as a player and as our manager. That said I was about 9 when he played in midfield for us.

He skipped around in the middle making most look stupid with pin pointed accurate passing, he was a possession man.

 

[Deleted member 2719]

I used to scream 'wendyyyyy' at him for his amazing ability to skip a tackle and finish a game without mud on his shorts LOL! He and Codner (when not in prison or snorting coke, allegedly, according to Gulls Eye...I blame Dik!) were porous in the extreme but what a season 91 was especially. Wilkins had some sublime touches and I wish we had someone with his ability at the moment when it comes to a dead ball. Nope, DW was/is a true Albion legend, a great player, coach then manager. When he scored at Wembley and had tears in his eyes at the final whistle you know that's a player who had blue and white in his blood. An artiste, our midfield generale. And brother of Ray obviously. Will always be part of the Albion family. Top bloke too I believe.

Perhaps we could get him back as dead ball specialist!

 

[sully]

I thought his sacking was to do with supporting players wage demands (Dean Hammond?) against Dick, which wasn’t well received by the great man.

 

[*Gullsworth*]

All i remember is DW always coming across a a RIH* when being interviewed and we were not doing very well. Not that has any connection with his ability as a manager. Still think he was a good player but less than average manager, IMHO of course.




*rabbit in headlights.

 

[Icy Gull]

Exactly.

Wilkins is an Albion God.
. Probably the only sacking we have done in my era of support the Albion that will never sit right with me.

Chris Cattlin by a fecking country mile

 

[Justice]

Despite giving him a bit of stick back in the day he could actually be quite a classy player on his day. Aslong as he didn't have to tackle of course. Did brilliantly with the Albion youth and quite well with the first team, was sad to see it end at the time.

Average manager 38% win rate Peter Taylor no surprise 55% win rate he was great coach didn’t last long though unfortunately.

 

[Easy 10]

When he scored at Wembley and had tears in his eyes at the final whistle you know that's a player who had blue and white in his blood.

I remember the interview with a teary-eyed Deano:

Deano: "I just can't believe we lost that game 3-0"
Interviewer: "It was 3-1 Dean. You scored"
Deano: "...."

 

[Baldseagull]

I thought his sacking was to do with supporting players wage demands (Dean Hammond?) against Dick, which wasn’t well received by the great man.

He wasn't sacked exactly, he was told Mickey Adams was going to be Manager next season and he was welcome to step back down to Youth Coach. Only Dick Knight will know exactly why he wanted Adams back, but my feeling at the time was that he thought it would raise the expectations of the fans and put a few more bums on seats.
Wilkins biggest issue was in dealing with the press and in particular Naylor.

 

[*Gullsworth*]

Average manager 38% win rate Peter Taylor no surprise 55% win rate he was great coach didn’t last long though unfortunately.

Always sad when a loyal servant is no longer deemed suitable for the role as manager. Hughton was moved on because he eventually was not moving us forward, from what i remember Wilkims suffered the same fate. He was a good player, very good coach and as a manager tried kids whch worked to a certain extent but ìn the end, not unlike CH hit a wall and it ended with his job, who knows what might have been if he had stayed on, again same with Hughton. Both managers have their admirers and detractors.
We often look at past Managerial appointments with rose tinted glasses, from what i remember of Wilkins was an encouraging start but blighted by turgid football at the end, again not dissimilar to Hughton's reign.

 

[Baldseagull]

Always sad when a loyal servant is no longer deemed suitable for the role as manager. Hughton was moved on because he eventually was not moving us forward, from what i remember Wilkims suffered the same fate. He was a good player, very good coach and as a manager tried kids whch worked to a certain extent but ìn the end, not unlike CH hit a wall and it ended with his job, who knows what might have been if he had stayed on, again same with Hughton. Both managers have their admirers and detractors.
We often look at past Managerial appointments with rose tinted glasses, from what i remember of Wilkins was an encouraging start but blighted by turgid football at the end, again not dissimilar to Hughton's reign.

I don't remember it like that at all, we improved as a team over the season, he didn't "try" the kids, the kids were needed because with the exception of Murray, all transfers were outwards.

 

[Justice]

Always sad when a loyal servant is no longer deemed suitable for the role as manager. Hughton was moved on because he eventually was not moving us forward, from what i remember Wilkims suffered the same fate. He was a good player, very good coach and as a manager tried kids whch worked to a certain extent but ìn the end, not unlike CH hit a wall and it ended with his job, who knows what might have been if he had stayed on, again same with Hughton. Both managers have their admirers and detractors.
We often look at past Managerial appointments with rose tinted glasses, from what i remember of Wilkins was an encouraging start but blighted by turgid football at the end, again not dissimilar to Hughton's reign.

Personally think Hughton had dressing room distractions by a certain few in his last season, Potter soon shipped them out early doors. Hughton got slated for it Wolves away he picked largely the championship side players who he could trust. I’m purely guessing of course.

 

[METALMICKY]

I remember the interview with a teary-eyed Deano:

Deano: "I just can't believe we lost that game 3-0"
Interviewer: "It was 3-1 Dean. You scored"
Deano: "...."

I was just about to mention that. Even wearing a Chewitt wrapper it showed he cared. As a player he had a silky touch and could hit a sweet ball. However, it was failure to get involved that sometimes grated and so poor was his tackling that bizarrely he often got bookings.

 

[Comrade Sam]

I could be wrong, but under Wendy we played a match with an entirely Sussex born 11. He also learned to curl the ball from a lost tribe of left footed apes!

 

[Brownstuff]

He used to cop a load of abuse from the East Terrace at the Goldstone
I remember he used to come over gingerly for throw-in's knowing the stick he was about to get
His skill and longevity with us won people over in the end (although some would always hate him regardless) and what a servant to our club in all capacities
Still can't believe his brother Ray died as he always seemed healthy both of them having perma tans

 

[withdeanwombat]

Exactly.

Wilkins is an Albion God.

He should never have been sacked.

Good Luck to him, I wish he was still working for the Albion. Probably the only sacking we have done in my era of support the Albion that will never sit right with me.

It was Mr McGee for me.