If you can remember Bohemian Rhapsody at number one the first time around, Harold Wilson taking a taxi from Downing St permanently without explanation and enjoyed your football enough to see Franny Lee of Derby County and Norman Hunter of Leeds United trying to punch fuck out of one another whilst John Motson wet his pants up in the BBC gantry, then, chances are, you'll remember Paddy Roche.
If you can't remember any of that then here's the S.P.
Roche got his chance in goal for Manchester Utd around that time after Alex Stepney, who had been the regular MU 'keeper long enough to remember Bobby Charlton using shampoo, picked up an injury and the young Irishman got the nod from manager Tommy Docherty.
He didn't look like a goalkeeper. In fact, with his spindly body and a mop of hair that looked too big for his head, he looked more like an extra from the Railway Children.
But the " Doc" had raved about him in training and when the time came for Paddy to step up to the first team even Stepney must have thought he'd be grooming his moustache on the bench for the rest of the season.
It didn't work out that way. To be honest, Paddy had a 'mare. In fact, he had more 'mares than an Irish stud farm and made a series of mistakes all of which were displayed openly on Match of the Day, Thankfully for Paddy, Scotland had turned up @ Wembley the year before with a guy called Stewart Kennedy so when Jimmy the Chin wanted to diss goalies on MotD, he would just piss himself at the Glasgow Rangers custodian against Gerry Francis, Kevin Beattie et al...
The point is, Paddy had a torrid time for Man U and never really recovered. Being a 'keeper is lonelier than being Fred Goodwin's accountant and when trouble comes a-looking, you're first in the queue.
Thought about this a lot with David De Gea...boy has he come good. Keep the faith Sir Fergie...he's the real De Deal!
BTW....we're second in the League now and pushing for promotion....Macs got a migraine and the Chairman's got a hard-on....will it last? Possibly, he uses Viagra! Will keep you posted!
