FAO: older bears RE: Derek Johnstone

[GOAT 30,449]

Why if he was so prolific in front of goal did he play centre half quite a lot and if he was just used as a striker all the time, could he have beaten even McCoist as our top scorer of all time?

[MattyBlue 17,087]

Random fact he was shagging Emma Dodds off RTV

[gmcf 34,085]

He was versatile and was good in both positions . 

He was CF when he broke into the team ( LCF'70 )but , if my memory serves me right , it was Willie Waddell that started him at CH ( ECWC '72 ) and he continued there once Jock Wallace took over.  I'm sure he even played for Scotland as CH in that period . 

It was mid 70's he reverted back to CF and had a great partnership with Gordon Smith for a few seasons . He was mainly a CF after that so I doubt he'd have matched Allys goal haul . 

[OhW 4,669]

What’s the need in saying “older bears”, just ask the question

[Ivybank 4,557]

Towards the end of his career he played ch mostly

was shoved up front if we needed a goal!

[JM1872 3,702]

50 minutes ago, MattyBlue said:

Random fact he was shagging Emma Dodds off RTV

Big DJ must have had a negative impact on her because she now swings the other way if I remember right.

[Canabear 4,558]

35 minutes ago, gmcf said:

He was versatile and was good in both positions . 

He was CF when he broke into the team ( LCF'70 )but , if my memory serves me right , it was Willie Waddell that started him at CH ( ECWC '72 ) and he continued there once Jock Wallace took over.  I'm sure he even played for Scotland as CH in that period . 

It was mid 70's he reverted back to CF and had a great partnership with Gordon Smith for a few seasons . He was mainly a CF after that so I doubt he'd have matched Allys goal haul . 

Correct.

I think he was forced into the centre half role in the ECWC Final due to Ronnie McKinnon having broken his leg in a previous tie , Sporting Lisbon , and a late injury to Colin Jackson which left us with no real centre half going into the Final.

DJ was played at centre half in the Final where he had a marvelous game and that triggered him to want to play there more often where he didn't look out of place at all.

During this time when he was playing centre half for Rangers he did play centre half for Scotland and one game in particular springs to mind.

It was the last game of the old Home Internationals against England at Wembley and before the game when the team was announced Bobby Charlton had a go at DJ for wanting to play at the back saying it was a waste of his talents that such a prolific goalscorer wanted to play centre half. There was many who agreed with Charlton but at half-time Bobby Charlton had to recant his statement and was full of praise for DJ's performance. He was simply outstanding that day and from there on in the argument never went away as to where his best position really was. The guy could score goals at ease and , as you rightly say , his partnership with Gordon Smith was top notch and he never really played at the back that much again.

Could he have been Rangers all time best scorer?

That's something we'll argue about for a long time.

[MacBoyd 5,417]

47 shagging a 19 year old fair play. 

[Rmc54 469]

When he first made his debut at 16 Colin Stein was the main striker and it would only be once he left that he got regular games at centre forward , like other posters have said equally at home at centre forward and centre half, in fact there was a story at the time Brian Clough was interested in signing him as a centre forward and couldn't understand why he preferred to play centre half, Clough was reported to have said he has plenty of years ahead of him as a centre half after he finishes as a centre forward and didn't go in for him. 210 goals for us split between centre half and centre forward certainly indicates that he might've challenged for highest goal scorer if stayed at centre forward .

[GOAT 30,449]

43 minutes ago, OhW said:

What’s the need in saying “older bears”, just ask the question

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[gmcf 34,085]

24 minutes ago, Canabear said:

Correct.

I think he was forced into the centre half role in the ECWC Final due to Ronnie McKinnon having broken his leg in a previous tie , Sporting Lisbon , and a late injury to Colin Jackson which left us with no real centre half going into the Final.

DJ was played at centre half in the Final where he had a marvelous game and that triggered him to want to play there more often where he didn't look out of place at all.

During this time when he was playing centre half for Rangers he did play centre half for Scotland and one game in particular springs to mind.

It was the last game of the old Home Internationals against England at Wembley and before the game when the team was announced Bobby Charlton had a go at DJ for wanting to play at the back saying it was a waste of his talents that such a prolific goalscorer wanted to play centre half. There was many who agreed with Charlton but at half-time Bobby Charlton had to recant his statement and was full of praise for DJ's performance. He was simply outstanding that day and from there on in the argument never went away as to where his best position really was. The guy could score goals at ease and , as you rightly say , his partnership with Gordon Smith was top notch and he never really played at the back that much again.

Could he have been Rangers all time best scorer?

That's something we'll argue about for a long time.

Thats a good read , I wasn't aware of that about Bobby Charlton , what an accolade . 

The international I first thought of was against Brazil - funny how different minds work . I'm sure he was 18 at the ECWC final so couldn't have been much older than 20 when he was capped . 

[Brubear 2,896]

1 hour ago, Ivybank said:

Towards the end of his career he played ch mostly

was shoved up front if we needed a goal!

That was my understanding. Thought the logic at the time was it would extend his career as he thought defenders could play a few years older than forwards. In general obviously as Miller and Defoe would argue differently. 

[Boybluesy 3,688]

I was at THE final when he scored THAT header.  Somebody said recently in this forum that Mark Hateley was the best ever header at the club.  It was easily Big D.  Balls came in from both wings and he scored a barrowload with his head.  Unfortunately he was prone to putting on the beef later in his career.  Was probably half a yard slow, (not Helander slow) to be a great centre-half but a great reader of the game.

[Canabear 4,558]

49 minutes ago, gmcf said:

Thats a good read , I wasn't aware of that about Bobby Charlton , what an accolade . 

The international I first thought of was against Brazil - funny how different minds work . I'm sure he was 18 at the ECWC final so couldn't have been much older than 20 when he was capped . 

I'm pretty sure it was the game where Martin Peters scored late with a header and England won 1-0.

Like i said that was during a time when DJ , and management it has to be said , were trying to find out his true position such was his performances at centre half which speaks volumes for the talents of DJ.

He was never the the fastest of players so even he probably thought he was more suited to centre half but there was no doubting his goal scoring prowess which over the period of time he played proved to be the right decision.

[gmcf 34,085]

11 minutes ago, Canabear said:

I'm pretty sure it was the game where Martin Peters scored late with a header and England won 1-0.

Like i said that was during a time when DJ , and management it has to be said , were trying to find out his true position such was his performances at centre half which speaks volumes for the talents of DJ.

He was never the the fastest of players so even he probably thought he was more suited to centre half but there was no doubting his goal scoring prowess which over the period of time he played proved to be the right decision.

Yeah , I agree . Great options for a manager to have but must admit I preferred him at CF .

[mearns loyal 2,706]

Did he not do a man marking job on Uli Hoeness in midfield in the semi against Bayern. 
Thats how good he was.

A tremendous all rounder ...

[dummiesoot 15,986]

2 hours ago, GOAT said:

Why if he was so prolific in front of goal did he play centre half quite a lot and if he was just used as a striker all the time, could he have beaten even McCoist as our top scorer of all time?

Apologies if posted elsewhere but I am sure he said he preferred CH

[dummiesoot 15,986]

Best header of a ball I have ever seen

[OhW 4,669]

1 hour ago, GOAT said:

😂😂😂😂😂😂

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[Canabear 4,558]

32 minutes ago, dummiesoot said:

Apologies if posted elsewhere but I am sure he said he preferred CH

I'm pretty sure he did as having played centre forward he said gave him an advantage in knowing what other centre forwards were going to do.

As the game changed though and was played more on the ground his lack of pace was exposed and , let's be honest , milk turned quicker so he moved back to centre forward which was his true position.

[Canabear 4,558]

1 minute ago, OhW said:

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Us auld yins can be a wee bit sensitive

[OhW 4,669]

Just now, Canabear said:

Us auld yins can be a wee bit sensitive

I’m 31. Just didn’t see the need. The people who saw DJ play would answer the question anyway. 

[Canabear 4,558]

1 minute ago, OhW said:

I’m 31. Just didn’t see the need. The people who saw DJ play would answer the question anyway. 

I followed that Rangers team home and away starting with the 70 LCF ,which today is the 50th anniversary, and right through the 70's right up till i emigrated in 1980.

[slimjim1690 4,534]

As I recall there was stories in the newspapers at the time that Chelsea were after him to sign and Jock Wallace had to dash down to London and track him down in his hotel and the only way that DJ would sign a new contract was if he was made captain and moved back to CH, hard to believe that big Jock would have relented but that story was quite strongly believed at the time.

[slimjim1690 4,534]

1 hour ago, dummiesoot said:

Best header of a ball I have ever seen

That goal he scored with the head against Wales in the home international just before Scotland left for Argentina flew in like it was shot from a cannon.