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Steve Heighway

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SaintGeorge67

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Was just watching him during the St. Etienne game...

obviously I've seen all the clips and what not, but how good was he? Who would he be compared to now?
 
[quote author=SaintGeorge67 link=topic=36916.msg978115#msg978115 date=1257287593]
Was just watching him during the St. Etienne game...

obviously I've seen all the clips and what not, but how good was he? Who would he be compared to now?


[/quote]

I would say the gay boy Ronaldo not even fit to lace his boot.
 
Heighway was an amazing player, the way he could ghost past players with a combination of speed and skill. I think the nearest modern-day players was Ryan Giggs although if I'm being honest Giggs at his best was marginally better than Steve but there wasn't much in it.
 
One thing with Heighway early on was that he had skill as well as pace, but Shankly wanted a functional team player rather than a Peter Thompson-style extrovert, so he was effective and quite direct without doing many eye-catching tricks. I was, amazingly, too young to see him at the start, but I do remember the media trying to compare him with George Best without acknowledging he wasn't given the same amount of freedom in the team. I'm not sure who is reminiscent of him these days. Damian Duff? Maybe Smicer at his very, very, best had a tiny hint of him in terms of movement and urgency. There's no one really these days.
 
[quote author=gkmacca link=topic=36916.msg978313#msg978313 date=1257328191]
One thing with Heighway early on was that he had skill as well as pace, but Shankly wanted a functional team player rather than a Peter Thompson-style extrovert, so he was effective and quite direct without doing many eye-catching tricks. I was, amazingly, too young to see him at the start, but I do remember the media trying to compare him with George Best without acknowledging he wasn't given the same amount of freedom in the team. I'm not sure who is reminiscent of him these days. Damian Duff? Maybe Smicer at his very, very, best had a tiny hint of him in terms of movement and urgency. There's no one really these days.
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Heighway and Smicer were not even remotely similar players Macca.
 
Well, I said a tiny hint. That's all. Blimey. I did see them both, so we'll have to differ. I didn't mean their whole game. As Heighway slowed a little he'd play a more withdrawn role, cut inside, play through balls and come late into the box. He adapted very well as time went on.
 
A bit of a coincidence but I drempt last night that I was watching a TV report about Heighway's son, (who was a ringer for Steve) now playing football.

I don't really recall ebough about Steve to pass judgement but I remember my uncle always gave out about him and claimed that he never made the same effort when playing for Ireland as he did for Liverpool.
Steve provides me with my earliest memory of LFC which was the 1971 FA Cup final against the Gooners when he scored a great goal cutting in from the left.
 
Heighway was a good player but I didn't rate him quite as highly as some of you do. I remember him as a pretty straightforward up-and-down left winger to begin with, pacey and intelligent but not exactly subtle. His game did change as time went on, IMHO not entirely to his or our advantage. He started taking loads of dead ball kicks with his right foot, which originally was pretty much just for standing on, and never looked to me to have quite the same cutting edge as before.
 
Obviously I can only go on what I have heard and footage of old games but it sounds like he was a fantastic player.

One thing though I would like to know though is how consistent was he? A lot of players like that are often accused of being inconsistent.

It sounds like he didn't score a great deal of goals either which surprises me a bit
 
[quote author=the count link=topic=36916.msg978341#msg978341 date=1257330435]
A bit of a coincidence but I drempt last night that I was watching a TV report about Heighway's son, (who was a ringer for Steve) now playing football.

I don't really recall ebough about Steve to pass judgement but I remember my uncle always gave out about him and claimed that he never made the same effort when playing for Ireland as he did for Liverpool.
Steve provides me with my earliest memory of LFC which was the 1971 FA Cup final against the Gooners when he scored a great goal cutting in from the left.
[/quote]

Your Uncle should be ashamed of himself Count, Stevie always did his best for the national team but at that time we were a one man team and he couldn't do it all himself. Before Liam Brady came to the fore our midfield consisted of workhorses such as Grealish and Gerry Daly and played Don Givens (an incredibly average forward) up front on his own.

Heighway was always the focal point for the opposition as they new that if they nullified him they nullified us.

Unfortunately for Ireland's sake when Brady became a regular and at the peak of his powers coincided with Heighway's declining prowess.

Maybe your Uncle is confusing Heighway with Johnny Giles who IMO never seemed to make as much effort for us as he did at club level.
 
Heighway was pretty consistent for us. He wasn't some flakey mood player like wingers can sometimes be.

As for goals, one of the things that distinguished LFC then, and throughout the glory years really, was that goals could come from anywhere in the side. You didn't often see a Liverpool player top the scoring charts. We were too busy winning the league as a team.
 
[quote author=Richey link=topic=36916.msg978357#msg978357 date=1257331464]
Obviously I can only go on what I have heard and footage of old games but it sounds like he was a fantastic player.

One thing though I would like to know though is how consistent was he? A lot of players like that are often accused of being inconsistent.

It sounds like he didn't score a great deal of goals either which surprises me a bit
[/quote]

I have no idea who the Steve heighway that JJ is referring to is!? He was very consistent and for 5 or 6 seasons was an integral part of our success in the league and Europe. Ignore JJ, Stevie was a marvellous player.
 
I have no idea who the JJ that Pesam is referring to is!? 😉 I just finished saying he was pretty consistent, and started off saying he was a good player. I don't agree he was as brilliant as you say, but I've never denied and never would deny that he played an important part in our team at the time.
 
[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=36916.msg978370#msg978370 date=1257332285]
I have no idea who the JJ that Pesam is referring to is!? 😉 I just finished saying he was pretty consistent, and started off saying he was a good player. I don't agree he was as brilliant as you say, but I've never denied and never would deny that he played an important part in our team at the time.
[/quote]

X
 
[quote author=Pesam link=topic=36916.msg978359#msg978359 date=1257331611]

Your Uncle should be ashamed of himself Count, Stevie always did his best for the national team but at that time we were a one man team and he couldn't do it all himself. Before Liam Brady came to the fore our midfield consisted of workhorses such as Grealish and Gerry Daly and played Don Givens (an incredibly average forward) up front on his own.

Heighway was always the focal point for the opposition as they new that if they nullified him they nullified us.

Unfortunately for Ireland's sake when Brady became a regular and at the peak of his powers coincided with Heighway's declining prowess.

Maybe your Uncle is confusing Heighway with Johnny Giles who IMO never seemed to make as much effort for us as he did at club level.
[/quote]

I doubt if the uncle is too bothered now P as he is dead a couple of years now. 😉

My memories of the Irish team back then, (and they are very vague) was of a Jonney Giles led slow and ponderous sideways moving side.
With regards my uncle's assertions I don't think that he was that keen on "soccer" anyhow, being more of a GAA man. Even worse, in light of the team's popularity in Ireland at the time, he may well have had a sneaking fondness for the Mancs, hense his bias against Heighway.
 
Meanwhile, poor old Little Bamber, Brian Hall, used to get far too much flak. He wasn't blessed by much natural talent, but his work rate was incredible and he tended to be taken for granted.
 
Big Bamber, Little Bamber. Ah, the memories.

[Totters away grumbling that nostalgia isn't what it used to be]
 
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