Centre halves playing as a striker

GovanFront4

Well-Known Member
The amazing Rangers Archives Facebook page posted a video today of our 1967 ECWC final with Roger Hynd playing centre forward.

Is this a tactic that has been banished to history or do you think it still has it's merits? I don't mean sending the big man upfront for the last 5 minutes, but over the years there has obviously been Derek Johnstone and more recently Jig. The scum also done it with Sutton.

Has football developed too much now for this to be possible at such a high level? Is there any other players that were moved between these positions that spring to mind?
 
We played Hynd up front as we didn’t have anyone else - McLean and Forrest paid the price for the infamous Berwick defeat.
 
We tried the reverse with Hartley at the end of a season after the league was won, away to Killie and we were about 3 down in 20 mins!
 
Dion Dublin, Marcus Gayle, Ruud Gullit, Gary Docherty.

All spring to mind as forwards that finished their careers at cb but nowadays the game is managed to the finest on details it would be hard to pull off.
 
I think it had more to do with out and out wingers and the W-formation which saw just about every attack ending with cross balls into the box. Both a CF and Ch need to be good in the air. Back then you were either heading away a cross or heading it on goal, so to a certain extent the positions were inter changeable.

Not sure how Jig fits into this all the same, but its maybe best not to go there
 
Sutton is probably the most prominet example, a CH at Nowich who played up front occasionally then eventually permanently.
 
Other way round but Sol Campbell started as a striker at spurs and even ended up scoring on his debut.
 
Sure when we were trailing to Albion Rovers in the Scottish Cup, Super pushed Mohsni forward to play the centre forward role to try to salvage the game. Think he may even have scored the equaliser as well.
 
Pretty sure Doug Baillie played up front for Airdrie but I don't recall him doing so for Rangers. Of course Big Jock who knew picked Ron Yeats at No 9 against Italy but he actually kicked off then dropped back.
 
Sure when we were trailing to Albion Rovers in the Scottish Cup, Super pushed Mohsni forward to play the centre forward role to try to salvage the game. Think he may even have scored the equaliser as well.
yep mentioned above, won me money. Had him NGS.
 
I think DJ played CF for his age group and CH for the year above him when a youngster in Dundee, often on the same day.
He could play both positions quite easily.
 
I stand to be corrected in my orthopaedic shoes,

Did Colin Hendry not play a good portion of a 2nd half centre forward for us against Dundee United at Dens park. Or it could have been against Dundee at Tannadice? Was one or the other, for some reason the home team couldn't play at their own stadium. I was there that night and we were piss poor and struggling.
Wee Dick threw the big man up front.
 
I stand to be corrected in my orthopaedic shoes,

Did Colin Hendry not play a good portion of a 2nd half centre forward for us against Dundee United at Dens park. Or it could have been against Dundee at Tannadice? Was one or the other, for some reason the home team couldn't play at their own stadium.

We were struggling and Wee Dick threw the big man up front.

Correct, it was a 1-1 draw v Dundee that was played at Tannadice
 
The amazing Rangers Archives Facebook page posted a video today of our 1967 ECWC final with Roger Hynd playing centre forward.

Is this a tactic that has been banished to history or do you think it still has it's merits? I don't mean sending the big man upfront for the last 5 minutes, but over the years there has obviously been Derek Johnstone and more recently Jig. The scum also done it with Sutton.

Has football developed too much now for this to be possible at such a high level? Is there any other players that were moved between these positions that spring to mind?
It's a tactic of days gone by. Not now.
 
Paul Warhurst did it for Sheffield Wed in the mid 90s to cover the injured David Hirst and started banging them in, sure got his England callup on the back of it.
 
We played Hynd up front as we didn’t have anyone else - McLean and Forrest paid the price for the infamous Berwick defeat.
Alex Willoughby was available but not played, which was a baffling decision as he’d scored 17 goals in the previous 14 games. Instead, as you say, we played Roger Hynd CF, who by the time he left the club in 1969 had played 31 games in 8 seasons.
 
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