The joy of Sax

HOW ya doing cocker? Still watching that team then," rasped the rusty-saw of a voice on the other end of the telephone line.

It could have been anybody, with an accent clearly retaining its South Yorkshire roots yet sprinkled with the evidence of much time spent at conflicting ends of the country.

But the gravelly tones - warm and welcoming as always - were, really, unmistakeable.

And, if there is one man in football you would put money on returning a call, it's Bobby Saxton.

Mind you, beware of putting a hand in your pocket if he offers to play you at golf for a couple of quid.

And a well-placed - unlike some of the horses he backed - source tells me his racing tips can prove just as costly!

The scenery has changed many times for the ex-Ewood boss but he patently has not.

He was often accused of being a poor communicator at a time when 'media-friendly' was starting to become the rage among would-be football managers.

But Saxton has never had a problem communicating with his players and, from a journalist's point of view, was always the most helpful and approachable of people.

The words honest, reliable and loyal immediately come to mind.

It has also taken the benefit of hindsight for many people to appreciate just how good a job he did as manager of Blackburn Rovers from the summer of 1981 until Christmas 1986.

In an era when the club was virtually on its uppers, his managment played a leading role in keeping them afloat - both in football and financial terms. Nowadays, as assistant manager to Peter Reid at Sunderland, with near-40,000 crowds flocking regularly to the new Stadium of Light, Saxton doesn't have to worry about counting the pennies.

And, as he returns to Ewood this afternoon, he has earned his share of the good life, with Sunderland poised to return to the Premiership - not to mention looking for a fair slice of cup glory this season.

Understandably, he is enjoying every minute of it and today's little trip was a bonus to relish.

"There are still a lot of people working at the club from when I was there and, even though its a new stadium, it's still Ewood Park," he said.

"It hasn't been moved to another area so it's still synonymous with the way it used to be.

"And the stadium is magnificent, everything has changed for the better.

"If Jack Walker hadn't come in and all that hadn't happened you wonder if the club would have ended up in the Conference.

"It would have been hard to sustain what we had without the financial backing that's available now.

"But it was a tremendous experience for me, not least because we were on a survival mission.

"When it's like that you have to work very closely with people and they have to work with you.

"And we had a lot of players who played so many games. I think most of the team at one time had all played more than 200 games for the club."

Having served a managerial apprenticeship at Plymouth and Exeter, Saxton felt he had struck it lucky when he was named Ewood boss.

Indeed, at the time he described it - and meant it - as "an honour" to be manager of a club with such great traditions.

But the sack, inevitable though it became, knocked him for six. He had stayed loyal to his players - probably too loyal, though in truth there were precious few options.

And, in football, it usually happens that if you don't change the players, you have to change the manager.

With Rovers struggling against relegation the axe fell and led to an uncertain period in the Saxton CV, taking in various posts at a variety of clubs as diverse as Newcastle and York, Manchester City and Blackpool.

At York he inherited a squad which did not comprise enough professionals to field a single team!

The hard times, however, have been left behind by the 55-year-old assistant boss, who is happily settled in the North East where he has a formidable partnership with Reid.

"This is our fourth year now and you could say it has been interesting, a real rollercoaster," he said.

"In three of the years we have been chasing promotion and in the other we were relegated - never a dull moment!

"We've had nearly everything going on.

"And this club has an unbelievable following, especially away when you think how far they have to travel.

"This cup tie is a like a local derby for the fans.

"We've got a good squad, they're a good bunch of lads and, on their day, they can play all right.

"We have only lost five out of the last 64 League games in what has been a tremendous run and we haven't been beaten in a cup tie this season.

"Long may it continue."

Viewers of "Premier Passions", the fly-on-the-wall documentary about Sunderland's relegation season, will harbour no doubts about Saxton's commitment to his current cause.

Yet Ewood obviously remains close to his heart.

And, while viewing from afar, he has taken pleasure in the Jack Walker-backed revolution. "One episode summed it up for me and that was when Jack beat Manchester United to get Alan Shearer," he explained.

"It was brilliant to see that.

"The club had gone from playing Manchester United in the FA Cup in my time, when the money generated was the most important thing, to beating them for Shearer.

"When we played United we were hoping we might somehow get a draw so that we could get more cash in for the club from a replay.

"But that all changed with the signing of Shearer and I can still remember the day it happened."

How Saxton would have loved to have been able to buy an Alan Shearer when he was in charge.

But he never was a man for moaning about what he knew he couldn't have.

And, in the dozen years since he left Ewood, he hardly seems to have changed one little bit.

Bobby Saxton has worked hard to earn a decent living from football, without ever suggesting he would scale the heights of finance and fame achieved by some of the game's personalities.

But if he ever did reach such status, it's a fair bet that he would still be happy to take your money in a round of golf or have a few bob on the favourite in the three o'clock at Haydock - not to mention remember to return your call.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.