Don't Shoot the Ball Boy
Dickies Out of the Shadows
On May the 16th 1976 Richard Dinnis was being carried around St James’ Park on the shoulders of delighted Newcastle fans who had just seen the Magpies achieve their highest final league position for 25 years and in so doing qualify for Europe for the first time in 7 years.
Fourth months earlier Dinnis’ position as the first team coach had been far from secure. 6 months later Dinnis was sacked. At the end of it all Dinnis stated “I feel as though I have crammed six years experience into 6 months . The story of how the 36-year-old former teacher emerged from the shadows and disappeared again almost as quickly is remarkable even by the standards of Newcastle.
Just Call me The Ball Collector
Richard Dinnis never played professional football and he didn't even make any significant impact as an amateur. In fact he was a schoolteacher in Darwen Lancashire teaching Geography and PE. He obtained his FA coaching badge and got a job as second team coach with Gordon Lee at Blackburn. When Lee first took over at Newcastle he stated that he was not going to appoint a coach, but then appeared to do an about turn by appointing Dinnis.
In Lee's first season in charge (1975/76) Dinnis was very much a peripheral figure; as he said in his own words his main job was to "collect the balls at the end of the training session". But from the start of the next season Dinnis took over the coaching duties whilst Lee picked the side and motivated the team
Despite a successful first half of the season, by Xmas 1976 there were rumours that Lee wanted rid of Dinnis. But it was to be Lee himself who would soon be on his way.
Gizza Job...I could do that
When Gordon Lee suddenly resigned as manager of Newcastle on the eve of the Fourth Round FA Cup tie with Manchester City after only 18 months in charge, the Newcastle board were faced with finding a new manager half way through the season. The Bolton manager Ian Greaves was officially approached to take over, but he turned down the job.
Then the board made a surprising and misguided attempt to involve certain players in the decision over who should be the next manager. It led to one of the most controversial month's in the club history and also the eventual appointment of Dinnis as caretaker manager until the end of the season.
We're Talking Big
After all the controversy of the preceding month things settled down a bit off the pitch in March, but on the pitch United faced a gruelling 8 games (5 at home and three away). A record of 4 wins 3 draws and only 1 defeat took Newcastle to 4th and kept United back on course for Europe.
The first game was at home to Leeds were Newcastle won 3-0 with a 3 goal blitz in 6 second-half minutes, a match best remembered for Tony Currie’s penalty save from Tommy Craig (the Leeds midfield star having replaced the injured David Harvey in goal). United then went down to a narrow 0-1 defeat at Anfield before drawing 1-1 draw at home with Ipswich and thrashing Norwich 5-1(2 goals for young centre-back Aiden Mccaffrey even brought chants of “Supermac” back to the ground)
Newcastle had moved up into 5th place and continued to grind out the necessary points to take them into Europe. 2 more precious points were gained with draws at Stoke and WBA. Two narrow 1-0 victories at home followed against Coventry and Middlesbrough. Despite the good results the team was struggling to find its form. Jack Charlton (following Boro’s defeat at St James) was very critical stating “Newcastle are bound for Europe. I don't know why and I don't know how, but they are “
Supermac verses Supagoalie
Another 6 games followed in April and again United's record was good enough to keep them on course for Europe (3 wins 2 draws and 1 defeat). However the last match had seen an embarassing home defeat by a Supermac inspired Arsenal. Although Arsenal only scored two they would have had a hatful more if it hadn't been for a wondrous display of goalkeeping by Mick Mahoney (Supa Goalie).
Into May, two away defeats, and Newcastle's grip on a top five place seemed to be loosening. However a spirited performance in the final home game of the season saw Aston Villa beaten 3-2 and a European place secured.
But all was not well. As Jackie Milburn relates in his "scrapbook" he was informed by one of the directors before the game against the Valiants that Dinnis was on his way out. The board was split on whether Dinnis should be made manager or not, but European qualification had made it difficult for them not to give him the job. Therefore, 9 days after the Villa game and after much boardroom deliberation, Dinnis was offered a two year contract.
A Rabble Devoid of Ideas
The elation of qualifying for Europe for the first time in 7 years obscured the problems that still remained. The main problem was that the squad was not strong enough. A number of key players had left the club over the last year: Macdonald, Tudor, Howard and Keeley had been sold and Jim Smith had to retire through injury. The only purchases during that period were the less than adequate keeper Roger Jones and left-back Martin Gorry. During 76/77 they got away with it because the season was remarkably injury and suspension free.
United's record under Dinnis was reasonably good: 9 wins, 7 draws and 5 defeats however after the Arsenal home defeat Jackie Milburn provided an excellent insight into the team's weaknesses highlighting a lack of pace up front, a lock of a ball-winner in midfield and a lack of aerial power in defence. On their day and when allowed to play their possession football they could put in excellent performances, but if a couple of players were off-form or the opposition asserted themselves more they could be beaten quite easily. As one reporter put it after the same game "Newcastle ended as a rabble, devoid of ideas' method and in too many cases determination and spirit"
It seemed harsh criticism for a side finishing 5th in the table, but the following season was to prove that it was justified"