Presenting two sides of the same coin

Viv Anderson and Tony Woodcock are as well placed as anybody to offer a definitive verdict on the state of soccer today and their views do not make for easy reading.

The duo broke into the professional ranks in the early 1970s at Nottingham Forest, thriving under the late lamented Brian Clough, and went on to play together at Arsenal and for England in the 1980s.

While Anderson was busy tidying up at the back, Woodcock was invariably causing plenty of problems in the opposing penalty box. It's hardly a surprise to discover that they're still together today, as partners in the business development company My Sports.

But although the pair were at the peak of their on-field powers in the relatively recent past, today's game is far removed from the sport they graced in a far less cynical and commercial world.

Hardly a weekend appears to go by these days without a flurry of media reports zoning in on the latest high-profile player or even manager behaving badly.

As Woodcock, wearing well at 49, freely admits: "What sort of message are we giving out today?

"If you look back at last season and all the headlines generated from the Premiership, more than half were negative. Football's booming. It's going all over the world.

"But you can't have guys pushing the referee. That's totally stupid … 10 games [ban] for that it should have been 20! We should be making the point that it's just not acceptable."

Southampton midfielder David Prutton's gormless actions had Woodcock shaking his long locks with incomprehension as Anderson warmed to the theme.

"He should miss half a season for something like that imagine losing your wages for a year. He wouldn't be doing that again."

It was all very different a few years ago. As Anderson, a sprightly 48, added: "If players ever did something stupid at Forest it was 'boom' from Clough.

"In this one game, Kenny Burns played a risky ball across the back four to me, and just got away with it. We went in at half-time, and Cloughie gave him an envelope … inside was a £50 fine!

"He said 'don't ever do that again'. And fifty quid was a lot at the time."

Woodcock has a simple explanation for the breakdown in behavioural standards.

"We conducted ourselves properly, and that's why we're still around today," he said. "Look at Clough. His teams had respect for their opponents and respect for the referee.

"Values. That's what we have to start looking at today."

The problem of racism is another issue which continues to dog the sport, 27 years after Anderson became the first black player to win an England cap.

The problem is clearly high on the FA's agenda, witness the recent 'Kick it Out' international against Holland, but a spate of depressing incidents in Spain proves that there's still a long way to go. Anderson said: "I've played millions of times in Spain and never had any abuse whatsoever so I don't know why it's creeping in now. At home, there's the odd isolated incident, mainly when lads have had a few drinks."

Of more concern to him is Arsenal star Thierry Henry's threat to walk off the pitch should he suffer racist chants. "But if you've paid to watch him and you're in the majority of fans who are behaving perfectly you would be absolutely devastated if he went off the first chance you had to see him in the flesh," he said.

The solution? "UEFA need to stamp down on this big time," he says. "The Spanish coach [Luis Aragones] was fined £2,000 [for racist comments]. That's embarrassing. We can't accept that."

Big breakthrough

While dozens of black players have followed in Anderson's footsteps and made the big breakthrough at international level, far less have taken a route into management.

Anderson got his break by being appointed player-manager at Barnsley before moving into the number two job at Middlesborough under Bryan Robson. "I was given my opportunity by a brave chairman, and he was brave because there weren't many black managers about at that point," he said.

But why do so few black players step into management after concluding successful playing careers?

Anderson cannot offer a satisfactory answer. "If you've played at the top level, have a wealth of experience, are as good as anyone else and have the qualifications, why not?" he asks.s

"But for some reason unknown to me it doesn't happen. It's inevitable that it will change, but I said that 10 years ago and it didn't happen.

"I hope it does change. It will be good for the game, we're living in a multi-cultural society and it should be about 'can you manage? Are you good enough or not?'"

Despite the fact that both men played at a time when wages were far lower, they do not envy today's pampered Premiership stars.

Anderson first. "I watch it now and think that I played at the right time, I enjoyed my time. No, we did not earn the big money but we were fortunate in other ways. "We're not poor, don't get me wrong, but the era we played in was better. Players were better. I look around at some of the guys today making a lot of money and think they wouldn't get in our reserves!"

"He's not bitter and twisted, honest," laughs Woodcock before becoming serious. "It was very different back then and I have no regrets at all. Look at the size of the squad Arsenal have these days, as an example. And the pitches they're like billiard tables, not the mud heaps we played on in winter."

Dubai's mild winters are more to the duo's taste these days. They were recently in the emirate for a soccer evening aboard Jebel Ali International Hotels' Bateaux boat and will be bringing out Bolton boss Sam Allardyce and Peter Reid for a similar event on March 23.

Stars from other sports, such as Formula One, and personalities from the worlds of music and entertainment are set to follow, while a major Dubai-based venture combining sport, business and education is due to be announced by the duo next month.