Blanderson Retiring -

[davieG]

Or have I just missed it?

The Friday Interview: Bill Anderson looks back on 35 years covering Leicester City

Friday, May 15, 2009, 08:00 Comment on this story

After 35 years reporting on Leicester City, Bill Anderson must have thought the club had lost the capacity to surprise him. But the Mercury's chief football writer, who retires today, said City's drop into the third tier 12 months ago and subsequent climb back into the Championship this season, completes the roller-coaster journey since he reported on his first City game back in 1974.

Anderson, 62, said: "If City had survived in the Championship, it would not have been as good a story as them going down.

"I didn't want to watch the players sink to their knees at Stoke, but the journalist in me recognised this was a better story."

He also believes the past year in the club's turbulent history has prompted the biggest-ever change within the corridors of the Walkers Stadium.

"To be around a team that has been relegated, well, you would not wish it on anybody," he said. "The team goes down and the place goes down too. Good people lose their jobs and it affects everyone.

"Now the doom and gloom at a losing club has been transformed into a winning environment, and that's down to the manager (Nigel Pearson) and, to a large extent, the chairman (Milan Mandaric)."

Anderson says City now need to build on the momentum, but he added: "Unless by some amazing transformation, Leicester win the Premier League, I think I've just about seen everything that the club has done."

Anderson, whose father, also called Bill, played for City during the war years, filed his first reports from the 1974-75 season when Jimmy Bloomfield was in charge of one of the most feted teams in the club's history.

The line-up included Frank Worthington, Jon Sammels, Keith Weller and Alan Birchenall. Anderson said: "They were a good bunch of guys and fun to watch and fun to cover.

"Weller is the one who really stands out, one of the few players who could bring gasps from the crowd rather than cheers."

Bloomfield was to be the first of 19 managers who Anderson counted in and out of Filbert Street and the Walkers.

But he says the most stable period in the club's history coincided with the unparalleled success the team achieved under Martin O'Neill in the 1990s.

City won two League Cups, reached a third final, played in Europe and regularly posted top-10 finishes in the Premier League.

Anderson says O'Neill was "successful and won trophies", but rates Micky Adams with the best managerial achievement after he lifted the team back into the top flight in 2002-03 amid a financial crisis.

He said: "Micky got the team up through administration when, from October onwards, he was not allowed to sign players or even loan them."

Anderson says he has "fallen out" with all the City managers, with the exception of Pearson, adding: "He's only had a year of me, so no doubt we might have done."

He said his relationship with O'Neill foundered on the La Manga incident in 2000 when the club were thrown out of the luxury resort after Stan Collymore let off a fire extinguisher.

Anderson said: "I was at La Manga but not there for the incident and was thrown out like everyone else.

"That's when I fell out with Martin because I had to report the incident. It caused consternation because it was just before the League Cup final with Tranmere (City won 2-1) and Martin was furious that such a thing had upset the team.

"There was nothing I could do, the story was there and it had to be reported."

Anderson said he was also banned from the ground by Bloomfield and, on a later occasion, by former chairman Martin George. That, he says, answers the accusations often levelled at him by City fans that he turns an uncritical eye to the club's fortunes.

He said: "Fans think you are in the club's pocket, but if you ask the club they think you are an outsider and the enemy.

"So if these are the two perceptions, then that suggests you have got the balance right.

"I've always thought it strange that a fan can complain about me being more positive about their own club than they are.

"Most people know I'm not a Leicester fan (Anderson follows Tottenham), but when you deal with a club week in and week out, you share their ups and downs.

"And I must admit that when Allan Nielsen scored a last-minute goal for Tottenham against Leicester in the 1999 League Cup final, I did say 'oh, no' rather than 'oh, yes'."

Anderson says he leaves the job "satisfied with what I've done and satisfied with all the things I've seen."

He added: "It has been a privilege to watch the evolution of a football club from the ordinary to the big business multi-million industry it is now."

Anderson said the job description has changed through new technology and bemoaned the loss of the Saturday night results paper.

"I was disappointed that the "Buff" ended and, with it, the running reports which made you feel so much part of it. Now you have to be more reflective and newspapers have changed."

And he seems genuinely uneasy about the number of column inches now devoted to the views of the fans.

He senses a "great enthusiasm to go for the negative."

He said: "The best remark I ever heard was when City were near the wrong end of the table and staging a bit of a revival and someone said, 'They've only beaten the teams below them in the table.' I ask you, what do they know? You could say the same about whoever is top."

Anderson said he was "bitterly disappointed" in December to discover that the Mercury letters page had been used "as an incentive" by the S****horpe players.

He says: "There were comments from Leicester fans moaning and groaning about their team. So S****horpe told their players, 'look they're not that good, they are under pressure and at least our fans are behind us'. That was the biggest disappointment in 35 years and it was just wrong to me.

"But the good times outweigh the bad and I rarely look back.

"You celebrate things at the time and then look forward, as City are now doing.

"The League One trophy has been presented and it is what happens next that counts."

[hairy]

I always felt sorry for the guy. If he wrote anything against City they could cut him off and he would have nothing to write, making him a bit of a local media puppet.

Cant say I will miss him

[MC Prussian]

A Tottenham fan covering Leicester City. Hmph.

As for the Leicester fan letters used by Sc'unthorpe as an "incentive", it's the paper that ultimately decides what gets printed and what's being left out.

Anderson says he has "fallen out" with all the City managers, with the exception of Pearson, adding: "He's only had a year of me, so no doubt we might have done."

Really? That's quite an achievement. How come?

[Zingari]

Thracian would make an excellent replacement

[leftsideoverhere]

As Private Eye might say...

So, farewell then, Bill Anderson:

35 years reporting on Leicester City

And all that time a spurs fan.

Not happy with fans getting in your paper.

You asked "what do they know?"

Well I know

You never seemed to be

At the same game

As me.

[OriginalRobboFOX]

"I didn't want to watch the players sink to their knees at Stoke, but the journalist in me recognised this was a better story."

Nice one.... <_<

[davieG]

Nice one.... <_<

Even funnier when you consider he's only about .05% a journalist, well a competent one!

[RizLCFC]

Thank you for your services Bill, but, I do hope The Mercury actually get a Leicester City fan in as a new reporter.

[Manderic's pants]

35 years?! Holy shit that's a long time to be working on a local rag. Good point about essentially a puppet for the club and a conduit to feed fluff stories through. The thing is though, aside from the match report, the mercury is simply full of stories that have already appeared on the official site, which in itself acts as an alternative to press releases.

You have to ask whether a sports journalist should really simply be looking for 'stories' in the news sense. Surely they have a duty to provide analysis on everything from the potential of new players to information on what possibilities the weekly clashes are likely to hold. You can do this without being overly critical and severing local ties.

A new journalist might have the energy and enthusiasm to make this effort, though undoubtedly the newspaper will dictate the content to some extent...

[Granno]

As Private Eye might say...

So, farewell then, Bill Anderson:

35 years reporting on Leicester City

And all that time a spurs fan.

Not happy with fans getting in your paper.

You asked "what do they know?"

Well I know

You never seemed to be

At the same game

As me.

[Sparky]

Couldnt give a shit if he is a Spurs fan or not , infact id rather not have a City fan reporting . Surely we would like to read a non bias view of the team and their displays. Anderson would not say 1 bad word against this club even when it was needed so being a Spurs fan counts for fook all . Lets look forward to a decent replacement who will tell it as it is rather than upseting the players and staff because he has to play golf with them

[lou]

Couldnt give a shit if he is a Spurs fan or not , infact id rather not have a City fan reporting . Surely we would like to read a non bias view of the team and their displays. Anderson would not say 1 bad word against this club even when it was needed so being a Spurs fan counts for fook all . Lets look forward to a decent replacement who will tell it as it is rather than upseting the players and staff because he has to play golf with them

This

[Milky]

Good.

[Ultra]

:thumbsup:

What a wonderful 24 hours this has been. First Leeds fcuk up in the playoffs, then this.

As Private Eye might say...

So, farewell then, Bill Anderson:

35 years reporting on Leicester City

And all that time a spurs fan.

Not happy with fans getting in your paper.

You asked "what do they know?"

Well I know

You never seemed to be

At the same game

As me.

Nice one

And Thracian, if you're reading this, go for it!

[Manwell Pablo]

Thracian would make an excellent replacement

I think I'd actually rather have Roy Chubby Brown.

[dandannieldanok]

At least he recognised the superb job Micky Adams did.

[Granno]

I think I'd actually rather have Roy Chubby Brown.

Christ, now that is a bold statement.

[OriginalRobboFOX]

Ready made replacement in Neville ''and its a goal for city'' Foulger

[Lillehamring]

Couldnt give a shit if he is a Spurs fan or not , infact id rather not have a City fan reporting . Surely we would like to read a non bias view of the team and their displays. Anderson would not say 1 bad word against this club even when it was needed so being a Spurs fan counts for fook all . Lets look forward to a decent replacement who will tell it as it is rather than upseting the players and staff because he has to play golf with them

a fair point, but he was a terrible journalist, who so often missed the point, and never really seemed to catch the mood of the fans...

and after 35 years, you'd have thought he'd have learnt to proof his work before submitting it

[renards]

New fella supposed to be Glenn Stewart, been on the radio, never heard him but toild he winds everyone up?

[Sparky]

a fair point, but he was a terrible journalist, who so often missed the point, and never really seemed to catch the mood of the fans...

and after 35 years, you'd have thought he'd have learnt to proof his work before submitting it

I agree with all that , i wasnt defending the bloke in my post it just makes no odds to me who the guy supports . He didnt have the bollocks to upset anyone in the club and was often so far away from the point it was untrue

[Koke]

I agree with Sparky. The guy was so far up the club's arse that he didn't have the bollocks to write one bad word against them when it was needed. Him being a Spurs fan, you would have thought he would sometimes give an unbiased view, but no, he chose to be a right bellend instead.

[davieG]

I agree with all that , i wasnt defending the bloke in my post it just makes no odds to me who the guy supports . He didnt have the bollocks to upset anyone in the club and was often so far away from the point it was untrue

I suspect the only investigating he did was what he was going to have for lunch. He rarely posted anything original about potential signings for example, always referencing some other rag and did nothing but complain about the fans, if he'd have had his way McLintock would still be our manager and we'd be in the Blue Square North League.

[Joe.]

However much everybody disliked him, I can't imagine the Mockery would allow him to put across too much of a strong opinion anyway. It's them that has to keep people happy to maintain a 'relationship' with the club at the end of the day...

[Sparky]

However much everybody disliked him, I can't imagine the Mockery would allow him to put across too much of a strong opinion anyway. It's them that has to keep people happy to maintain a 'relationship' with the club at the end of the day...

Just an unbiased view would have been enough for me