Part 28 - The Lads

It was always traditional to refer to the players as ‘the lads’ and it conjured up a certain image. Perhaps that’s why it’s difficult to recall any of the foreign managers who have worked in the English game referring to their players in this way. It might also explain why these days the most likely manager to slip in a reference to ‘the lads’ is West Brom boss Bryan Robson, who in his playing days epitomised everything the term stood for, and why amongst the fans reference to ‘the lads’ is immortalised in Tyneside’s famous battle cry ‘Howay the lads’.