I started imagining things
I started imagining things.” After the season ended, Fry dallied with the idea of going off to manage Derby County. But then Karren Brady, Birmingham’s managing director, stepped in “We had a bit of a board meeting,” Fry said “I’d got it all wrong I was getting worked up for no reason. The atmosphere at the club, which was so close to getting back to the First Division a year after they had been relegated, was one of anxiety as much as hope The Brentford game was a big one. Fry and Atkinson, both ready with a quip and with a tremendous feeling for flair, have their likenesses, but there are times when, beneath the bluster and the bonhomie, Fry betrays a sense of insecurity.For example, towards the end of last season, when Birmingham had a match at home to their promotion rivals Brentford, and Trevor Francis, then the manager of Sheffield Wednesday, turned up as a guest in the boardroom Fry spotted him, and put two and two together. It didn’t help that at the time he wasn’t feeling appreciated by his board of directors. Their gates in the Second Division last season averaged 18,000, higher than six Premiership clubs.
They have sold pounds 2.5m-worth of season tickets for 1995-96. They have to be taken seriously.But can the same be said of Fry? Can this heir to football’s cheeky-chappie tradition, whose earthy wit and inexhaustible capacity for self-dramatisation have for so long illuminated the lower division scene, really be a Premiership manager in the making?The only name Fry comes up with when you ask him which managers he most admires is Ron Atkinson. And, at 50, he says the desire to do just that is what motivates him as he aims to take his biggest step so far by leading Birmingham City into the Premiership.
When the Endsleigh League season gets under way on Saturday, no First Division club, with the possible exception of Wolverhampton Wanderers, will have more ambition, or resources, or fans, than Birmingham St Andrew’s has been rebuilt at a cost of pounds 10m. So he stripped right off, and went for a swim.I haven’t mentioned that JD is an amateur thespian of some note, and keen on musicals. (Another clue, perhaps.) There’s something about a cold lake on a hot day that makes you feel good; so good, you want to sing. As he drifted on his ample back, he switched from Noel Coward to Gilbert and Sullivan, and on to Rigoletto As he serenaded his toes, he noticed movement beyond them. Horror! Walking towards the lake, across a field, was a quartet of nuns.Hide in the reeds like Moses? Brazen it out? Swim for shore and leg it? JD chose the latter, grabbing his clothes and tackle, and heading for a large clump of rhododendrons where he pretended to be an unusual specimen of Purple Splendour.
The nuns took a leisurely stroll round the lake, apparently too deep in holy thoughts to notice anything, and headed back towards the large house.When the lake’s owner arrived at about 6 pm to see how JD had fared, he was asked about the nuns. “Should I have accosted them?” JD asked, without admitting that he was in no state to address a topless waitress, let alone members of a religious order.”Oh, I forgot to tell you about them,” said the owner. “They bought the house from me, but I let them walk around this end of the property because they find the lake very relaxing. To tell you the truth, I reckon they even swim here sometimes, from footprints I’ve seen in the mud.”JD says that if he gets another invitation to fish there, he will use a Missionary fly And keep his clothes on, whatever the weather.. BARRY FRY gazes down into his cup of tea.
“Matt Busby told me I could be the new Jimmy Greaves,” he said mournfully “I had ability, but I just didn’t dedicate myself. I made a mess of my career, no question.”
Fry wasn’t the first footballer to squander his youth on gambling and going to nightclubs, and nor was he the last. But unlike most who prefer that way of life to training hard and keeping fit, Fry has had the chance and the inclination to make up for it in management. A difficult contract issue has still not been resolved, [and] we have not been able to do a deal that is satisfactory.”We notified Everton on Friday that we want him to turn up for training with us on Monday. There is no animosity between United and Everton but, unfortunately, we have not been able to do a deal that is satisfactory to Manchester United.”Paul Walsh has joined Manchester City’s collection of injured players, which has given the club’s new manager, Alan Ball, further problems just two weeks from the Premiership kick-off.Walsh hobbled out of City’s 2-1 friendly defeat at Burnley yesterday with a groin strain, to add to a casualty list which also includes Uwe Rosler, Peter Beagrie, Keith Curle and the goalkeeper Tony Coton. Burnley gained a two-goal lead through Kurt Nogan and John Francis before Carl Griffiths netted a late consolation for City.Without Alan Shearer, the Premiership champions, Blackburn Rovers, had to rely on a second-half equaliser from Chris Sutton to earn a 1-1 draw at Huddersfield.
Another England Under-21 striker, Andy Booth, had given the home side a first-half lead. Kevin Gallen, Trevor Sinclair and Danny Dichio were on target for Queen’s Park Rangers in a 3-1 win at Crystal Palace.l Jason Young entered the record books yesterday by becoming the first player to score for Livingston. The Scottish club, formerly known as Meadowbank Thsitle, were 2-0 winners in a Coca-Cola Cup first-round tie at Montrose.. MARK FOSTER became the first player in 22 years to defend successfully the English Amateur championship when he dismissed Sam Jarman six-and- five in the 36-hole final. Not since Harry Ashby completed the double in 1972 and 1973 has the trophy been retained, but Foster, the 20-year- old player from Worksop, was never behind after sinking birdie putts on the opening two holes. Jarman, 23, from Woburn, was the surprise finalist, having never gone beyond the second round – his biggest achievement is playing county golf with Berks, Bucks and Oxon.
