Staunch Evertonians Display Valley Pride at City Addicks

Another great night at City Addicks saw Eddie Youds and Garry Nelson added some great entertainment to the insight they provided about their proud careers in the game and their obvious affection and respect for their time at the Valley. Eddie seems to have migrated to the South, along with is Liverpudlian humour, and is here to stay in the long term other than any interludes to further his career.
I am not quite sure where Gary's dovotion to Everton comes from, given his Essex birth, but they seemed to be equally strong in their affection for the 'toffees'.
David White, like Richard Murray and Martin Simons, is an excellent master of events, adds great value and is rightly respected for being a solid servant to the club during its recent troubled years.
Gary’s eloquence and humour came as no surprise following previous appearances. He has been a success in various guises in football since his Valley career including his spell as a successful author. It nevertheless came as a surprise to me just how successful his books have been when he gave an indication of the number that have been sold (For the record, I have both Gary). Unfortunately, it seems that he may not be hammering his laptop to produce another though I think he underestimates just how much further material and stories he has in his archives that would provide a great read.
I had not had the luck to have heard Eddie Youds before. After this performance, which the audience lapped up, he is likely to be back by popular demand. He was an uncompromising but fair back four player who had a little more skill on the ball to add to his imposing strength and stature than he cares to admit. Had he not been troubled by his recurring knee injuries he would have stayed at the top of his game for several more years.
I suspect that Gary Nelson would have thrived in the modern game as the style of non-contact refereeing will increasingly eliminate the crunching tackles he experienced over the years. Eddie would have had to have changed his game to have kept on the right side of the current brand of wimpish referees, but the game would have been poorer for it.
I am not sure what line of work Eddie has been in in recent years but it seems he may well return to the game in the near future. In the fullness of time, CAFC would do far worse than find a niche for both these guys, something that Eddie in particular said he would savour.
All three obviously had a considerable respect for Curb’s management skills which certainly enhanced my own perception of the man, though I was interested that my own impression, and that of many of the fans, that Curbs was too cautious and negative in his latter seasons after they left seemed to be echoed.