Rich
Rice IV
Last night I went to the Approach for another one of their excellent 'An evening with...' presentations.
Having been to a few of these before, I'm familiar with the format, and knew what to expect. However, this one was different for me, for one glaring reason: I'm 26 years old.
Previous 'Evenings with...' have seen me listen to the stories of players such as Stan Collymore (excellent and honest) and Nigel Jemson (interesting) and Mark Crossle (If he ever does another one, rearrange everything and ensure you're there. Hilarious doesn't even come close). Last week I was at the Evening with Billy Davies, which was also brilliant, if a little removed from the regular stories of days past sort of vibe.
Anyway, Kenny, accompanied for the second part by John's Robertson and McGovern, played in a Nottingham Forest team from before I was born. I'd never seen any of them play, but I had, of course, heard the stories.
With this in mind I wasn't overly bothered about going. It wasn't high up on my agenda, but I thought I'd give it a go, and I'm glad I did.
The evening was a bargain for the casual attendee. £10 got you a ticket, and a copy of Kenny's new book [amazon]No Ifs or Butts[/amazon]. Along with this, Kenny was happy to sign anything put in front of him, as were the two John's. This led to most people leaving with a signed copy of the book.
Obviously the three guys achieved quite a lot at Forest, nothing more notable than the European Cup, which adorned the table at the front of the pub, and caught the attention of every single Forest fan entering the venue. For £10 you could have a photo taken with it, surroudned by the three guests, ave it printed and get it signed. A bargain, and something I decided to do.
Anyway, enough about the extras.
The format at the Approach is quite simple. First half is essentially an interview conducted by Darren Fletcher, with the guest star being led into telling some stories. The second half is where people are invited to write some questions down and submit them for Darren Fletcher to ask. Last week Bilyl Davies was magnificent in the first half, and seemed less open in the second half. This week was a complete about turn. Kenny told some great stories in the first half, but the audience questions where were this evening really came into it's own.
Most of Kenny's stories are in his book. He told a few, almost word for word, that I'd read in the minutes between getting to the venue and the evening starting. That's not a criticism, I'm told Kenny does a few of these evenings with, and it did seem to be a relatively well oiled machine. He knew the right things to say, and the right stories to tell.
An evening punctuated with brillian Cloughisms, and stories about the effect Clough had had on Burns' career. Stories about Burns drinking a few Vodka and Limes and trying to take on 40 Man Utd fans, or drinking a few too many lager and limes and emptynig his stomach onto Barbara Clough.
Kenny was a hard man. He made no bones about this, he liked to put a tackle in, and people liked hearing about it.
The evening really did show how things have changed in football. He talked of lack of training, drinking, gambling, and playing 79 games in one season. The overwhelming opinion in the room was that Kenny played in a better day for football. Perhaps it's my age, but I don't agree. I don't want to take anything away from Kenny, but I think the game is harder today. Perhaps that's just me and my age, though.
There's not really anything I can tell you that he said in the evening that isn't in his book. There's even a picture of 'Robbie Savage' on page 42. It was an enjoyable night, and we should remember these players contributed to the greatest achievement this club has ever seen, and quite possibly the greatest achievement of any English club.
If you get the chance, go see him. It's a fun night if you support Forest, and Kenny seems like a very likeable guy, if a little negative about a few things. As John Robertson said last night, "Burnsy is the only guy who thought Pele was only no'bad!"
"He didn't track back enough" was Kenny's reasoning, and you know what, I don't fancy arguing with him!
Having been to a few of these before, I'm familiar with the format, and knew what to expect. However, this one was different for me, for one glaring reason: I'm 26 years old.
Previous 'Evenings with...' have seen me listen to the stories of players such as Stan Collymore (excellent and honest) and Nigel Jemson (interesting) and Mark Crossle (If he ever does another one, rearrange everything and ensure you're there. Hilarious doesn't even come close). Last week I was at the Evening with Billy Davies, which was also brilliant, if a little removed from the regular stories of days past sort of vibe.
Anyway, Kenny, accompanied for the second part by John's Robertson and McGovern, played in a Nottingham Forest team from before I was born. I'd never seen any of them play, but I had, of course, heard the stories.
With this in mind I wasn't overly bothered about going. It wasn't high up on my agenda, but I thought I'd give it a go, and I'm glad I did.
The evening was a bargain for the casual attendee. £10 got you a ticket, and a copy of Kenny's new book [amazon]No Ifs or Butts[/amazon]. Along with this, Kenny was happy to sign anything put in front of him, as were the two John's. This led to most people leaving with a signed copy of the book.
Obviously the three guys achieved quite a lot at Forest, nothing more notable than the European Cup, which adorned the table at the front of the pub, and caught the attention of every single Forest fan entering the venue. For £10 you could have a photo taken with it, surroudned by the three guests, ave it printed and get it signed. A bargain, and something I decided to do.
Anyway, enough about the extras.
The format at the Approach is quite simple. First half is essentially an interview conducted by Darren Fletcher, with the guest star being led into telling some stories. The second half is where people are invited to write some questions down and submit them for Darren Fletcher to ask. Last week Bilyl Davies was magnificent in the first half, and seemed less open in the second half. This week was a complete about turn. Kenny told some great stories in the first half, but the audience questions where were this evening really came into it's own.
Most of Kenny's stories are in his book. He told a few, almost word for word, that I'd read in the minutes between getting to the venue and the evening starting. That's not a criticism, I'm told Kenny does a few of these evenings with, and it did seem to be a relatively well oiled machine. He knew the right things to say, and the right stories to tell.
An evening punctuated with brillian Cloughisms, and stories about the effect Clough had had on Burns' career. Stories about Burns drinking a few Vodka and Limes and trying to take on 40 Man Utd fans, or drinking a few too many lager and limes and emptynig his stomach onto Barbara Clough.
Kenny was a hard man. He made no bones about this, he liked to put a tackle in, and people liked hearing about it.
The evening really did show how things have changed in football. He talked of lack of training, drinking, gambling, and playing 79 games in one season. The overwhelming opinion in the room was that Kenny played in a better day for football. Perhaps it's my age, but I don't agree. I don't want to take anything away from Kenny, but I think the game is harder today. Perhaps that's just me and my age, though.
There's not really anything I can tell you that he said in the evening that isn't in his book. There's even a picture of 'Robbie Savage' on page 42. It was an enjoyable night, and we should remember these players contributed to the greatest achievement this club has ever seen, and quite possibly the greatest achievement of any English club.
If you get the chance, go see him. It's a fun night if you support Forest, and Kenny seems like a very likeable guy, if a little negative about a few things. As John Robertson said last night, "Burnsy is the only guy who thought Pele was only no'bad!"
"He didn't track back enough" was Kenny's reasoning, and you know what, I don't fancy arguing with him!
