Former Man City star Dennis Tueart pays tribute to John Bond, who passed away on Wednesday.
Bond will be remembered for keen skills of perception, says Dennis
Dennis Tueart was quick to highlight the qualities of his former manager John Bond, who sadly passed away on Wednesday at the age of 79.
Bond enjoyed a stellar career as a player with West Ham - racking up almost 400 appearances between 1950 and 1966 before moving on to finish his playing days with Torquay United.
His first job as a manager was at AFC Bournemouth, where he was close to achieving back-to-back promotions - going on to take the reins at Norwich in 1973 and attract such luminaries as '66 hero Martin Peters to Carrow Road.
Manchester City were next to benefit from his increasingly-famous guidance, and he oversaw a quick upturn in results that culminated in a dramatic FA Cup final in 1981 when Ricky Villa snatched glory for Spurs.
Tueart played under Bond during a second spell at Maine Road, and remembers his old boss fondly.
He told Sky Sports News: "He had one or two nicknames when he was at West Ham and was certainly part of that West Ham school of science - the academy with Malcolm Allison and Noel Cantwell that was big into the tactics and systems under Ron Greenwood.
"One of the things I liked about him was his coaching of attacking philosophies. Everybody wanted to get forward and he was looking to bring every player into the game in forward positions.
"Initially, we didn't get on particularly well because obviously I was the older player and he was looking to develop his own team. But in the end, I was involved in the 1981 FA Cup final against Spurs and almost managed to nick a replay.
An ideas man
"The following season, he changed me into an attacking midfielder player because he felt I was better with the ball facing goal. I had the best run of my career, scoring 11 goals in 17 games and it was thanks to John that I finished with a flourish.
"He seemed to get the best out of players and one of the things he did first at Manchester City was recognise that there were a lot of good young players who didn't have the experience and he brought in three of them - including the famous Tommy Hutchinson - and they blended fantastically and had a run that led to the 1981 final.
"At 2-2 in that game, John turned to me on the bench and said: 'Spurs are tiring. Go get yourself warmed up and we can win this.' Unfortunately, while I was still warming up, Ricky Villa scored that goal.'
"I think he'll be remembered as charismatic and secondly as a coach, for his attacking philosophies. He wanted people to get forward and be positive. I remember one time when Tommy Caton was at City, he took a throw-in and threw it back to the full-back and John roasted him at half-time for not throwing it forward! That was an indication of his general attacking philosophies.
"It's the style of play that Manchester City are used to now and John brought that in in the early 1980s."