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Fifth Column 11:29 Fri Feb 26
Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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I spent a couple of hours this week meeting Perry Suckling who’s the Academy manager at QPR. He played 6 times for us in the 89/90 season when Lou Macari was manager on loan over the Christmas period. He is one of the funniest, nicest blokes I’ve met in Academies and took the piss out of his own career. The meeting had nothing to do with West Ham but I mentioned to him that I’d seen him play at Upton Park and started talking about his short time there.
For those too young to remember, we briefly had a manager called Lou Macari who was similar to Allardyce in style of play and was sacked in early 1990 after a scandal involving his time at a previous club. What I didn’t remember was that Billy Bonds was assisting Macari before Macari got sacked. Apparently Suckling had played for Palace against Swindon, who Macari had previously been managing, about 5 times in the space of a year and he’d played brilliantly in each match, “you just play well against certain teams”. As a result of that, Macari thought Suckling was under-rated and brought him in on loan.
Suckling said he knew it wasn’t going to go well when he made his debut against Oldham at home, Colin Foster at centre half went to clear the ball and sliced it into the net leaving Perry’s first touch of the ball at Upton Park being to pick the ball out of the net.
He reckons two of his away games he played a blinder and was given “man of the match” in the dressing room but it never went well at home.
In what turned out to be his last game, in the dressing room before facing Hull City, Macari instructed Perry that when he got the ball he needed to punt it down the pitch to Trevor Morley. After Macari left the dressing room, Bonds walks up to Perry and tells him in no uncertain terms that, “this is the Academy of football, you don’t punt the ball down the pitch, when you get the ball in your hands, try to throw it or pass it to Brady or Keen or Bishop” or words to that effect.
So the match starts, the first time he gets the ball in his hands, Suckling boots the ball down the pitch. He looks over at Bonzo who gives him the death stare. So then the next time Suckling gets the ball, he throws it out to Brady, Brady doesn’t check his shoulder, is dispossessed and Hull score. West Ham lose 2v1.
At the end of the game in the dressing room Macari comes up to him and just says “don’t ever come back Perry”… and he didn’t.
The funniest thing he said in passing though (about himself) was, “the good thing about being a shit footballer is you get transferred a lot and get to go around the world, China, South Africa, Doncaster…”.
There aren’t many ex-footballers who’d call themselves shit. Even the shit ones think they’re just unlucky or unappreciated. Seemed like a really good person and has clear plans for their Academy. Hopefully he’ll do really well there and West Ham will nick all his best players.
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Replies - Newest Posts First ( Show In Chronological Order)
One McAvennieeeeee
2:35 Tue Mar 1
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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Wasn't his last game a 4-2 win against BARNSLEY?
I remember ironic chants of "Don't go Perry don't go Perry........."
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Northern Sold
2:33 Tue Mar 1
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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Watching a few of the player interviews on the Sex Drugs and Carlton Cole... McAvennie and Wardie did not like him much..!! In fact Wardie won't call him Macari ... just calls him the Little Prick... ag ag
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appyhammer78
12:42 Tue Mar 1
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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Perry Sucking on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds
DISGUSTING!
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Fifth Column
3:47 Mon Feb 29
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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Gary
I actually missed that out of the story. I think a lot of his relatives are West Ham but I don't think he was. He also told me that his uncle was a postman who was one of the WH family... he told me his uncle's name but I can't remember his name... let's call him Reg... Suckling said that the first time he ran over to collect the ball for a goal kick after it had gone off by the corner with the Chicken Run, he get a chorus of "Reg is a postman" from the Chicken Run.
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Gary Darkness
3:35 Mon Feb 29
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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Pretty sure Perry Suckling was a local boy and a Hammer. There was a group of about 20 blokes in the North Bank who would sing songs about him constantly whenever he played, even though he was clearly not very good.
I assumed they were just his mates. Any of them on here?
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Fifth Column
12:43 Mon Feb 29
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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Northern
I remember that Sunderland game because it was a night match and I went without my brother without telling my parents... so I left 5 mins early to get the train and Dolan scored twice in those five minutes. I've almost never left early since then as a result!
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Pop Robson
11:54 Sun Feb 28
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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Macari out Bonzo in
I wrote that on the work bog walls 6 months this later it happened
Didn't work this time for BFS took 4 frigging years !
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Northern Sold
11:44 Sun Feb 28
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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What I remember is people were wary of Lou as he had nothing to do with West Ham... yeah we had a few dodgy results but was some cracking games as well.. great run in the LC and remember smashing Sunderland 5-0 in a absolute massacre... think Dolan scored a brace and done some shitty jig !
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LYALL OUT
9:11 Sun Feb 28
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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Fifth. Yours is an interesting post and it's stirred a few good memories on this thread. Thanks for posting it.
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terry-h
8:19 Sun Feb 28
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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If you read Stevie Bacon's book, a few senior players made life difficult for Macari. Most of them wanted Bonds to replace Lyall.
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Fifth Column
8:04 Sun Feb 28
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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My original reference to Macari was that before he came in he had a reputation for "direct" football and a lot of supporters weren't happy with his appointment. That was the first season I attended just with my mates on a regular basis home and away so it was a great time for me!
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Northern Sold
6:42 Sun Feb 28
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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Good post LYALL OUT.... no comparison with the Walrus... some happy and exciting times under Lou
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SDKFZ 222
6:28 Sun Feb 28
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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Lyall Out: Spot on!
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LYALL OUT
6:21 Sun Feb 28
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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Coming in after Lyall, he had quite a job on his hands, but has said he regrets throwing in the towel and West Ham and always spoke well about the supporters. That 1-0 win over Wimbledon in the Littlewoods Cup was a great night under the lights. I loved John Lyall, but even I didn't dislike Macari, so for me there's no comparison to Allardyce. I think most supporters at felt the same, his football wasn't that bad and he bought in some good players, but I think the negativity came from some of the existing players who disliked him as he kicked them up the arse and made them train a bit harder than dear John had done.
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eusebiovic
10:29 Sat Feb 27
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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Technically, Nigel Winterburn was a better footballer than Pearce...
However, Pearce was better at set pieces
Julian could do both...it was just his temperament which let him down badly...until he realised it in his late 20's
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Gentile
9:47 Sat Feb 27
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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Not beyond the realms of possibility that he is talking shit.
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mallard
8:46 Sat Feb 27
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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Yes, it was definitely an elbow to the head, in his book, he admits to doing it intentionally
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Alex Bunbury
5:44 Sat Feb 27
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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My memory of the Franz Carr sending off is different. We were two nil down and getting well beaten. Dicks was penned in near our own corner flag being pressured by Carr and threw out an elbow into his face.
Dicks was a great player and I love watching him but his behaviour on and off the pitch at times let himself down and probably cost him international recognition.
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Crassus
1:19 Sat Feb 27
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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Mike
Do you remember Franz Carr? He had issues with him and one match having been skinned agin apparently warned him that he would have him if he tried that again - he did, pushed the ball past him ran and Jules did no more than clump him full on and walked off before the ref could get the red out
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Takashi Miike
1:12 Sat Feb 27
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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the most frustrating one for me was him getting sent off at molineux. little wind up merchant birch (who's no longer with us) clashing with julian, it may well have calmed down if steve bull hadn't got involved. so julian starts on the pair of the cunts. funny now but very frustrating on the day
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Crassus
1:04 Sat Feb 27
Re: Perry Suckling on Lou Macari and Billy Bonds 89/90: "Don't ever come back Perry"
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Cant argue with that - will add the mitigation of Julian's injuries which hampered him and no doubt frustrated him not being what he could have been
That said, I concede there were times when he was a downright liability and having trecked to some God foresaken northern mill town to see him play up did attract a degree of ire but like childhood summers, I prefer to remember the warm balmy days
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