Barney Rubble Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Possibly an example of that, I don't think he ever learned to drive. My mate from Motherwell used to see him being driven round by his missus in an old Ford Escort (changed days for you top footballers now)... Conclusive proof that he was a lazy , as others have said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angus_Young Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 (edited) My Granny's all time footballing hero and still maintains he is the best Scottish born player she has seen, although is obviously biased. (she has been going to games since the 50's) I need to rely on very vague memories of him and stories from older folks. Possibly should have moved on from a very average Rangers side to fulfill his potential. He stuck around though and will be remembered as one of our all time greats, and on the whole, thought very highly of from fans of other clubs. All in all not a bad career it has to be said. Cooper scored one of the greatest free kicks I've ever seen against us in the '87-88 Skol Cup Final. From the edge of the 'D' he took a couple of steps and hit it so hard it had hit the net and bounced before Jim Leighton even moved. I was in the South Stand right in line with the 18 yard box and I still vividly remember the sound of the ball ripping down the back of the net and bouncing before anyone in the stadium could react.Fantastic player and a world beater on his day. Peter Weir and maybe John Robertson were the only other players of the era who could ghost past players like Cooper did. He actually scored a similar freekick against Hibs a couple of years before. 9 mins in on this video. Usually you would argue the keeper shouldn't be getting beaten at the side he is protecting but both of them were unstoppable IMO The guy was my hero when I was at school, some of his performances were incredible. Could be very moody though. John Grieg was always dropping him, I mind my dad taking me to see him play for the reserves against Hibs at Ibrox (while the first team were at Easter Road). It was when Jock Wallace returned to Ibrox that he seemed to get a boot in the erse and started producing the goods on a more consistent basis, which culminated in him becoming a Scotland regular. Hard to say how he would do in today's game. He was incredibly one footed, couldn't tackle, was hopeless in the air and never tracked back. I'm struggling to think of a modern comparison tbh. As mentioned he seemed a bit of Jekyll and Hyde character on and off the pitch. I've heard stories about him being the nicest guy, but also of him being a bit of a bigot sadly. He was from Lanarkshire mind you. I went to his funeral and stood in the crowds outside, the only time I've done that for someone I didn't know. He had a huge spat with Greig and actually admits himself his attitude at training and the like wasn't what it should have been as a result. I too was at his funeral with my Granny. I've never done that before or since. I never saw Davie Cooper play and he died when I was very young but looking through the footage of him on YouTube what would we give to have a player like him available for Scotland today ? He looks to have been a truly wonderful football player. I may have read this wrong but wasn't he touted by a couple of newspapers in 1978 as potential wildcard for the World Cup that year ? Is it true though, about him being outraged by Mo Johnson's signing for Rangers as he thought it broke a certain "club traditions" he considered important ? Hope it's not true. The last part I've heard the same story about other Rangers players. John Brown, Ian Ferguson etc. They are of course bullshit! I know others have intimated he wasn't a very nice guy further up the thread. I obviously can't go on stories they have heard but only my own experiences. In the 6 or 7 times I met him he was nothing other than a gentleman. Came across as very humble and always had time for fans He got sent off in the last 5 minutes and crossed himself as he left the pitch. He refused to shake hands with Cooper afterwards (but later apologised). McGrain gave him stick in his book cos the game took place on a Sunday and all the Catholic Celtic players had gone to mass in the morning. Except one... Hope this post doesn't stir up any nonsense, not the intention at all. This was after headbutting Stuart Munro. They did of course play in the same team a few years later and there was no problem. To my knowledge Johnston was accepted by all of the players despite the stories doing the rounds. I've asked Ian Ferguson this question directly and he laughed about it and said they were only interested in him doing the business on the pitch. He tells a story about Mo joining the squad at a training camp somewhere (may be Italy). Anyway he arrived late and McCoist and a few others had set an individual table for him away from the squad with only bread and water on it. Broke the ice and that was that. Edited December 14, 2014 by Angus_Young Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ally Bongo Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Met Davie socially a few times in Hamilton. An excellent nice down to earth normal quiet guy that you could ever meet There were rumours about an affair whilst married but that was the only bad thing i heard about him. The LAST thing he was, was a bigot He did not just make a TV programme with Charlie Nicholas but they were also the best of pals He rarely spoke about Rangers socially although everyone wanted to ask - if he did it was answering about an upcoming game and their chances. Loved his horses and gave me a tip for Rufus T Firefly which duly won out the park Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orraloon Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmECazR7jyA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitre Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 There is no doubting that he was a very good player, but if alledged on field comments he made to Tony Fitzpatrick are to be believed then he was an absolute khunt of a man. Was he slagging his pishy porn star tache? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddardStark Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 My favorite ever Rangers player. Read the book about the man and you will find out a lot about him. Lots of myths about him mainly from his detractors. Sure he was moody but I put up with that. He kept me going at Rangers when we where playing some garbage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilScotsman Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 Wonderful player that was totally unstoppable when he was on song. Just didn't hit his best often enough. Lack of pace meant he should have been in the hole not on the wing but that wasn't the style when he played. Templeton should be made to watch Cooper videos every day to see if it rubs off on the useless git. Cooper was as good as Laudrup at beating players but without Brian's pace. According to wiki: "Rangers forward, David Templeton was named after Cooper by his father, ex pro Henry Templeton. David Templeton's full name is David Cooper Templeton." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 Was he slagging his pishy porn star tache? No. He wasn't. That would have been funny and wouldn't have made him a khunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Och Aye Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 As a teenager watching Davie Cooper, Bobby Russell and Tom Boyd playing down the left at Fir Park was as good as football got for me. Cooper also involved in the best Scotland performance I've seen versus Spain 1984. He was the best Scottish player imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orraloon Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Cooper also involved in the best Scotland performance I've seen versus Spain 1984. He was the best Scottish player imo. To be fair the whole team was magnificent that night. Mo Johnston probably had one of his best ever games. The defence and midfield did a great job when we were under pressure at the start of the 2nd half. Then just when it looked like Spain might get back into it, up pops Kenny with his best ever goal for Scotland. But I agree, Davie Cooper probably just shaded it for MOM in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flora MaDonald Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 To be fair the whole team was magnificent that night. Mo Johnston probably had one of his best ever games. The defence and midfield did a great job when we were under pressure at the start of the 2nd half. Then just when it looked like Spain might get back into it, up pops Kenny with his best ever goal for Scotland. But I agree, Davie Cooper probably just shaded it for MOM in my opinion. Aye. A magical night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Och Aye Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Aye probably unfair picking out individuals in that match. Whit a team performance! Remember a guy behind us, when King Kenny let the ball roll out for a shy, screaming "yer finished Dalglish, pack it in". Kenny received the ball from the shy and scored a beauty. Didn't feel a bit of sympathy for the guy who gave out the abuse when he was bombarded with a severe slagging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orraloon Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Aye probably unfair picking out individuals in that match. Whit a team performance! Remember a guy behind us, when King Kenny let the ball roll out for a shy, screaming "yer finished Dalglish, pack it in". Kenny received the ball from the shy and scored a beauty. Didn't feel a bit of sympathy for the guy who gave out the abuse when he was bombarded with a severe slagging. The guy must have felt like a total erse. But he wasn't too far wrong. That turned out to be Kenny's last goal for Scotland and he only played another half a dozen games after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny_Ham Posted December 19, 2014 Author Share Posted December 19, 2014 Thanks to everyone for sharing their memories and thoughts. He seems like a player who divided opinion - the two common themes in the above responses being great ability and questionable work ethic. The Spain game has been mentioned a lot so I'm going to look for some footage of that (I'm sure I've seen Kenny's goal at some point - it was a peach, right?). Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
er yir macaroon Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 Post it, if you find it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redstevie007 Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 Post it, if you find it . Here at 2.55. Mo Johnstone's greatest night in a Scotland shirt too. http://youtu.be/z9XtXnafCwU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny_Ham Posted December 19, 2014 Author Share Posted December 19, 2014 Here at 2.55. Mo Johnstone's greatest night in a Scotland shirt too. http://youtu.be/z9XtXnafCwU Good man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
er yir macaroon Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 Great stuff. By the way I'm still annoyed we donated those goalposts to St Etienne. They're iconic and should be in our museum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flora MaDonald Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 Here at 2.55. Mo Johnstone's greatest night in a Scotland shirt too. http://youtu.be/z9XtXnafCwU Thank you, you, you, thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cove_Sheep Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 I don't really remember him as a player at all. My main memory of him is of the news of his death. A few years after his death, my mum had a brain haemmhorrage (which she survived), but when I heard what it was, the first thing to pop into my head was his death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BremnerLorimerGray Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 Grew up next to where he and Christine lived in Motherwell. I've still got his Well training top, a shirt and some other stuff that was given to me when I was a boy. To confirm the story above, the Coopers did have an Escort though it was an XR3i. We had an RS Turbo though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orraloon Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 He seems like a player who divided opinion You could say that about almost any Scotland player, I suppose. Some folk just can't spot a football genius when they see one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParisInAKilt Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 You could say that about almost any Scotland player, I suppose. Except Jamie Mackie and CMS. Amongst fans anyway, Levein would still defend them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErsatzThistle Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 Except Jamie Mackie and CMS. Amongst fans anyway, Levein would still defend them And don't forget Ian Black ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toepoke Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 Here at 2.55. Mo Johnstone's greatest night in a Scotland shirt too. http://youtu.be/z9XtXnafCwU Great to hear the Spanish version, cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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