McAllister x3, Leeds

Gary McAllister is still one of the best players I've seen at Leeds. Was just class in everything he did, and controlled games from the middle of the park. 

Here are 3 iterations of him from different stages of his Leeds journey.

This is probably the away kit I would think of McAllister in first... probably because I had a poster of him in it on my wall!

I think at the time, a lot of people thought the this version and the green and blue kit were pretty much the same, but you'll notice a couple of main differences- the stripes are much thicker on the yellow and blue, and on the back there was a blue square for the name and number.

It's strange but I hardly associate the kit with Gary Mac at all. I picture it on Gary Speed... and they were both playing in it at the same time! Maybe Speed has more memorable moments in it, as a guess. Although, funnily enough, I'm pretty sure they both scored against Blackburn in it, in successive seasons!

And here he is as a manager... I really wanted him to be the one to get us promoted from League 1, but it just never worked out. We weren't as completely hopeless as a lot of people make out under his management. He got us to the playoff final after taking over midseason from Wise.

He also brought in some great players that summer, and had some patches of good form... he just couldn't sort the defence out, unfortunately. At the time I said I felt we were a good leader at the back from being a promotion team. Grayson arrived, signed Naylor, and we barely lost a game again til the end of the season...

Mixed Leeds post!

Looking at which teams I have the biggest picture back log of, it would make sense to do a Leeds post like the recent Liverpool one. So, with no thoughts on theme, and just going on alphabetical order, here are a few!

I've done these first 2 quite a few times each now, as you'd expect for title winners! Some people ask for Cantona in 7, but he wore quite the variety of shirt numbers in that season, including 2 and 3, if I remember rightly!

In a small act of pettiness that I'm sure Leeds fans can get behind, I prefer to put him in 14; a subs number, to show he wasn't that important to the side...

I love this Charles repaint. I have 2 in my own collection- the 'old gold' and one in the all white of the 60s... but I think I might like this better than either of them!! Probably down to the socks, in truth!

It might surprise a few to find out that I've also done this one at least 3 times. Collectors are a funny sort!!

Finally: Deano. I've done this kit a few times, but more commonly on Yeboah and Gary Speed. A first outing for Brian Deane in this kit. Well, in terms of my repaints, anyway!

Leeds management duos

Scrolling through my repaints folder, deciding on who to pick, and I eventually settled on a pair of management teams from days gone by- all remodels, with a bit of repainting thrown in!

The duo that took us down to the third tier for the first time in our history...

It's hard to completely know wat to make of them- they got relegated with a squad that, while flawed surely had enough ability to survive in the Championship (Healy, Blake, Cresswell, Derry and Eddie Lewis among them) then made a fantastic start in League one with a thrown together squad... then both jumped ship at pretty much the first opportunity; Poyet to be a glorified translator at Spurs, and Wise to sit in some offices at Sports Direct. You can understand why a lot of Leeds fans don't look back on them too fondly...

Anyway, the figures both involved 'head swaps'. I had remodeled tracksuits onto them both in the past (you'll find those figures somewhere on the 'coaches and managers' tag) but these are much better. Wise took to wearing a jacket in his second season, though I couldn't help but feel the figure was too tall!! Poyet holding the clipboard and whistle is pretty fitting given that he was generally considered to be the brains behind the operation!

And now for the 2 that replaced them: 

A funny old pairing these 2. I think McAllister is one of those that fits the cliche of great player who couldn't understand that the players couldn't do what he could do- even when he arrived in his... 50s(!)

His team looked great going forward at times, but were undoubtedly soft at the back, and he just couldn't solve that problem, as illustrated by his last throw of the dice: Mansour Assoumani! 

I remember at the time saying I felt we were one good leader at the back away from a promotion team... Grayson came in and signed Naylor and we won 10 home games in a row, before missing out on the playoffs. With regards to Staunton... I'm not really sure what he did!

Anyway, as with the other 2, these were head swaps, then name changes on the base. For Macca, I did the shirt and tie similar to what he often wore in his time as boss. As for Staunton, that was just the tracksuit most google image searches returned with him in!! I still associate that top with Grayson more.

Anyway, to conclude… I'd probably keep Bielsa over both of these pairings!

Liverpool Managers

Well. Liverpool aren't going to win the league today. I mean obviously they will within a couple of weeks, but not today, like they would've hoped when the season restarted.

And for some reason, that made me decide to ;post up some pics of Liverpool manager repaints I've done recently:

I loved how this one turned out! I had a bit of bother with trying to fit the liver bird crest on it, and ended up both printing a smaller version, and having to thin those stripes a little!

As for these 2, I was skeptical about how they would end up, to be honest- they were originally in suits, but with a bit of filing here, and polyfilla there, I think they ended up looking pretty good.

For some reason, it's the sponsors on the back that I am really fond of on these 3!

Keegan's entertainers; the last bit?!

A while back, I put up a post with loads of figures in one picture (I think) largely beacuse they were all in the same kit... and partly because when that's the case, sometimes I can't be bothered photographing them separately.

Anyway, here's what I think will be the last part of the set:

Firstly, here's the man himself! Keegan was released as Newcastle manager, but this customer wanted the official tracksuit, rather than the plain one Corinthian produced. And looking at the results, who can blame him!!  

I do like putting the initials on when doing coaches and managers!

Unless I'm mistaken, McDermott was KK's assistant at the time, and wore the away kit for the team picture, which I think is why this one was requested. (He actually played for Newcastle in the 70s- long before this kit!) 

It was one of those repaints that I had to think pretty hard about, and involved some 'on shirt mixing' but I loved how it turned out, as did the buyer!

Last but not least, Keith Gillespie he wasn't part of the first set, just because he's harder to come by than the others, I think! I've done this kit loads now!

Kidd, Sheffield United Assistant Manager

Well, it's time to put the 'whichever team I post loses that day' theory to the test again. 

I've had a look at the closest teams to Leeds in the league, and unfortunately, I don't have any new Norwich or WBA figures so sorry SUFC; it's you again!!

Brian Kidd was an assistant manager at Sheffield United for a while... I want to say under Brian Robson?!

I quite enjoy a coach repaint these days! The first one I ever did was Kidd at Leeds, but I have done some remodelled ones recently as well, in both Pro and Microstar form!

This one was quite nice and simple. I think the thin red stripes are what really make it work, And the club crest of course, which, depending on the body pose can be a bit of a squeeze on the upper body of some manager/coach figures, but is fine on this one.

Wow... there are a lot of hyperlinks in this post!!

A Couple of Leeds Coaches

 Here are some of my first Microstar remodels! I did a Soccerstarz remodel to make then Leeds manager Garry Monk, but that was a little easier, as Soccerstarz figures heads are easier to swap!!

Anyway, here are Gus Poyet and one of Monk's coaching staff, James Beattie:

Poyet was Dennis Wise's number 2 at Leeds. I decided to put him in a tracksuit, though he did often wear a suit in our League 1 days.

James Beattie, as mentioned above was part of Garry Monk's team, and I think I'm right in saying that he followed him to Boro and Birmingham. Note the green boots and the gilet!!

For both of these I actually used a small hacksaw to take the heads off the original figures. Another part of the remodel on the Beattie figure was using Miliput to add a hood, which I was pleased with!

Another personal highlight, on both figures, are the initials, which are hand painted!

Poyet, Leeds Assistant Manager

Here's my second attempt at a Gus Poyet coach figure from his time at Leeds. 

For the first one, I used miliput to sculpt a training jumper onto a normal Poyet figure, whereas with this one, I swapped the Poyet head onto a Brian Kidd coach figure body.

This is so much better than the first one! I love it!

I've already finished another 'head swap' (which I also love!!) and have others that I'm looking forward to doing too!

Watch this space!

Lisbon Lions, Scotland, part 2!

Of the alternative Lisbon Lions Celtic set that I did for a big Celtic fan, I think I am right in saying these are the only ones I haven't posted yet.

Here's John Clark in a Scotland away kit, and manager Jock Stein, in his sky blue Scotland blazer!

Wise and Poyet, Leeds Management

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Here are a couple of remodels, of a Leeds United management team that divided opinion.

On the one hand, they took us down to the third tier for the first time in our history. On the other, they led us to the wiping out of the 15 point deficit, and an outstanding half a season of form in League 1.

Also both jumped ship at the first opportunity. Hm.

Anyway, these figures were for an order, and I remodelled the figures existing bodies with miliput, adding sweatshirts, and tracksuit pants for Wise.

I've had these figures myself, for quite a while, and have been undecided whether to do this to them, or to try putting their heads onto manager bodies. In their first season, they were very much tracksuit managers, before getting suited and booted in L1!

Anyway, I was pleased with these remodels. Wise maybe could have done with a bit more around the middle, but never mind!

I also like the initials that I put on the trackies!

Here's a pic of Wise at his cool and calm best.

Clough, Leeds

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Here's a repaint that I've done twice in recent weeks; Brian Clough in his Leeds days!

I had this figure, which is based on Clough's appearance in his later days at Forest. for ages before it occurred to me that I could repaint it for my Leeds collection.

It was quite a simple one too; I repainted the jacket from Clough's trademark green, and also darkened the hair to make him look a little younger.

Once I'd done it, and added the pic to my Facebook page, it wasn't long before a customer asked me to replicate it for them. The one pictured above is the second version.

Here's a pic of Clough while at Leeds to compare it to:

Somewhat loserishly, I'm quite pleased to have another repaint to add to my 'Coaches and Managers' tag!

Costa Rica Coaching staff, 2014 World Cup

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As I mentioned in a previous post, my most recent Costa Rica order was such a thorough reproduction of their World Cup Squad that coaching staff were included!

Here we have manager Pinto, and coaches Wanchope and Marin. 

Pinto required a different hair colour and change of tie to the original figure! 

Training kits and black boots were chosen for the coaches!

Kidd, Leeds

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My first coach/manager repaint!

This Brian Kidd figure was originally part of the Man United series. I gave him new colours for his trackies and jacket, as well as adding a Leeds badge.

What I actually thought of his time at Leeds is probably better not said.