Former Manchester City striker Niall Quinn has hailed the transformative effect Howard Kendall’s man management had on his career during the latest episode of the Official Man City Podcast.
Joining hosts Rob Pollard and Paul Dickov, the ex-Republic of Ireland international is the special guest on the instalment which is released at 18:00 (UK) on Thursday 3 September.
Following seven years at Arsenal, Quinn joined the Club in March 1990 and spent just over six years at Maine Road, plundering 78 goals in 243 appearances.
His first eight months at City were under the guidance of Kendall who brought him from the Gunners to Manchester before overseeing our 14th-place finish in 1989/90.
And Quinn says he’ll forever hold his first Blues manager in high regard.
“He [Kendall] made me a better player by just man management,” he explained on the OMCP.
“He didn’t show me what to do with the ball, he didn’t tell me as a centre forward how to pull into the right areas – didn’t do that, but he made me feel like I could do anything I wanted.
“That’s the great skill that set managers in those days had. It’s probably more difficult to be that character now as managers were in those times. I have a huge soft spot for Howard.”
On the Official Man City Podcast, Quinn also recalls fiercely competitive head tennis tournaments during his early days at Maine Road.
After struggling at first, which saw him and Peter Reid lose to Club staff, the now 57-year-old revealed he worked his way up which saw him lead against City’s best – Blues legend and coach at the time Tony Book.
He added: “We used to play head tennis every day. I never played head tennis at Arsenal or foot tennis as it were.
“There was a gym at Maine Road. I had only just signed and we were having a head tennis competition and there was a rope about five foot across the back of the stand.
“It was within crooks and crannies and you had to learn how to play off the walls. You needed good feet, had to read it and get the ball back over the net and win it with headers.
“I signed for the Club and they were all down there for this big competition, and because I was late in they put me in with Peter Reid who was the assistant manager at the time.
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“In the first round, the doctor and the physiotherapist beat us! Peter Reid hammered me and all the players were going ‘how much did we pay for him?’.
“I was mortified, but I’d never played the game. I made sure after that I was going to show how good I was and in the end, and Tony Book will tell you this, I became unbeatable.
“Tony Book had the record in there and no one had beaten him because he knew every crook and cranny in it.
“The one day, I had him beat. I was 20-15 up and they gathered in to see this moment and Skip being Skip had someone pull the lights so the game was cancelled and he kept his unbeaten record!”
