was just a horrible… I think it would have
to be Mike Myers, in his villain role as Dr
Evil. The fans would love that.
LE: It’s become legendary that you
used to carry out your hiring and firing at
Topolino Restaurant on Church Road in
Hove. It was known as the place that if
you were called to a meeting with Dick
Knight there, you were probably going to
get fired!?
DK: No, that’s an old wives tale. I would
maybe have lunch with the Manager a
couple of times a week, after training. I
don’t think I ever sacked anyone there.
Well maybe one, Mark McGhee. Sacking
is difficult enough, I liked Mark and
had shared many a glass of wine with
him there, it seemed more appropriate.
Normally, I would do it in the office. I
wouldn’t do it anywhere else. I had what
I thought was a Friday afternoon meeting
with Micky Adams at the Little Chef at
Hickstead, which turned out to be a
resignation meeting. It certainly wasn’t a
firing meeting from me.
LE: The second time he was here,
wasn’t it?
DK: Yes, he’d decided he didn’t want to
stay any longer and this happened on a
Friday afternoon when we’re travelling
the next day to play away at Millwall. As if
I’m going to sack a manager on a Friday
afternoon? You don’t do that….
LE: Who was the best manager you ever
worked with?
DK: Tricky. I think intellectually, Steve
Coppell. He spent a lot of time studying
opponents and the tactics of the game,
a real student of the game, as befits
someone that’s got a university degree.
And he is a very private person, Steve. It
took quite a lot of getting to know him but
once you got to know him he… you had
his trust and I enjoyed working with him
because he was a challenge. In terms of
motivational abilities, it has to be Micky
Adams. The team that he put together
when he first came; there were leaders
throughout that team, strong characters,
all through. Dodge (Paul Rogers), Charlie
Oatway, Chippie (Richard Carpenter),
Bobby Zamora, Danny Cullip, Paul
Watson, Michel Kuipers. Full of leaders
that team. That’s why they were so good
on the field together, because each one
knew their role as part of the bigger team
picture.
managers have their weak points, as
do chairmen. But I’ll try and give you
some perspective. Dean Wilkins was a
good coach, but a bit of a fantasist who
thought that he could take the Albion to
the Premier League with all Sussex-born
players, most of them under the age of
21. When I signed Glenn Murray, I signed
him without any interest from the manager
at all. Dean White who was the assistant
manager and Barry Lloyd, both very good
scouts said, “Come and see this player
at Rochdale.” I watched him four times,
I knew what I was buying. But Dean
didn’t want Glenn Murray. He wanted Joe
Gatting instead.
Within a few weeks, Glenn, who was the
most senior player in the club in terms
of his salary, because he’d just been
signed for £300,000 and was immediately
scoring goals, put in a written transfer
request to me, as did Steve Thomson, an
experienced midfield leader we’d recently
signed, and both of them said it was
because of the manager’s behaviour. He
treated them like kids In front of the young
pros. I talked Glenn out of it, I talked
Steve out of it and it was all settled down.
But I couldn’t continue with a manager
who had a problem handling senior
players.
LE: Didn’t Gus (Poyet) have a problem
with Murray as well?
DK: Gus wanted to play a different
system, which was possession football
and which didn’t need a guy playing
upfront on his own. Glenn never wanted
to leave in the first place. I’m very pleased
he’s back, and he will play a major part
this season.
LE: I agree. I’ve met Glenn a few times
and he always comes across as very
humble. Is there one manager that you
wish you’d worked with?
DK: This is going to be controversial.
Yeah,Gus Poyet. Absolutely, because Gus
is a very good coach, right, and I think I
would have got the best out of him. I think
perhaps I could have advised him through
his first manager’s job.
LE: By the way, did you know, Mayo
Wynne Baxter are now the new Platinum
Lounge sponsors at the Amex?
question, but who was the worst manager
that you worked with?
DK: Good. I think your company
deserves that status because I know
Mayo Wynne Baxter were there
supporting the club when it really needed
it. They were there backing the club when
not many companies did. They were in it
for the long haul.
DK: That would be unfair to say. All
LE: What’s your view on the rivalry with
LE: You might not want to answer this
Crystal Palace?
DK: I don’t like the idea of the fans being
at loggerheads with each other for no
good reason other than they support one
team or the other. Albion fans are at their
best when they’re being humorous with
other fans. The Palace thing is not even a
longstanding rivalry, it only started in the
70s.
LE: Yeah, with Alan Mullery, wasn’t it?
DK: Yes, Mullery and (Terry)Venables.
I think it’s parochial… Now, we want to
have rivalries with the likes of Borussia
Dortmund and Juventus. They’re the
teams and fans we should be thinking of
jousting with in the future, and Palace,
good luck to them. I got on fine with
Simon Jordan because he and I were
innovators; we were running our clubs
in a more adventurous way. So, sorry,
Albion fans but I got on alright with
Simon Jordan. I don’t hold those sorts
of grudges and, you know, it’s Glenn
Murray who’s the perfect antidote to
that. He was a hero here before he left,
he went to Palace and got them into the
Premiership, and now he’s come back to
help Brighton. What’s wrong with that?
He’s played well for both clubs. And will
do ag ain for us.
LE: As a Chairman, what was the most
memorable game for you?
DK: Probably the semi-final victory over
Swindon in the play offs, when we nicked
it at Withdean at the very end, Adam
Virgo’s header, and also the story around
that with Willy Carson, the Swindon
chairman at the time.
DK: If you remember, going up to the
120th minute of that game, they were
leading 2-1, then we nicked this goal in
the added time of extra time, and Willy
was absolutely devastated… I always
got on well with Willy Carson, a great
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