Duncan Gonuts
Posted by Ian Marshall's Double in Everton, Premiership | 15 May 2006
Violence is one of the most fun things to watch. Quentin Tarantino
Now obviously it is worth pointing out that Big Dunc has let the side down on many occasions and his sendings-off have been a combination of petulance, poor anger management and in some cases downright stupidity. But is wrong to look back on them with some fondness now? Is it bollocks.
Dunc's disciplinary record has been compared to those of Keane or Vieira but that's just rubbish. For the Big Man to run up such a record is so few games is truly commendable. And let's face it, they were usually sent off for fouls and that, whereas Dunc never cheapened himself in this way. So, to some of Duncan's lowlights.
4/3/95 - Leicester away - The first of many. This was a weird topsy turvy game. Everton 2 up and cruising (including a screamer from Limpar), suddenly Paul Durkin decided to send the Big Man off for very little. The reverse vortex kicked in, and we ended up with 9 men (think Vinny Sideways was the other) and clung on for draw.
21/9/96 - Blackburn away - Now it seemed quite likely that Harrow schoolmaster David Elleray and Duncan wouldn't really get along. And so it transpired. In what seemed like a gratuitous attempt to get sent off, the Big Fella got booked twice in a minute, apparently the second one was for calling the ref a 'baldy bastard' (which can't really be considered anything but factually correct), and off he went.
14/2/98 - Derby home - After 2 relatively courteous dismissals, it was time for Dunc to go for the jugular, well in this case that of Paulo Wanchope. A bit of a tussle, and he of the 'which footballer would you find at a barbeque?' question got the Scotsman's 'spanish archer' to the throat. He had to go, and he did.
Clearly Newcastle failed to get the best out of Fergie, with only 2 bookings and no reds in 30 starts. Pathetic.
01/04/2002 - Bolton home - Dunc's apparent disdain for foreign centre forwards continued in this game which actually proved to be a vital victory. This time it was Freddy Bobic. Another quality punch. That was when Bolton were down there fighting relegation at that time as well. Also remembered for Pistone scoring (his only goal?) and what was to become Dunc's trademark, not a big swing of the arm but a nice dig.
20/03/04 - Leicester away - the Stefan Freund one. Another occasion where Dunc seemed pretty determined to get sent off. After 2 bookings he decided to shake Stefan warmly by the throat in a sporting gesture clearly misinterpreted by the (once again) German. It did appear that Freund eyes would literally pop out of his head at one stage, sadly this didn't occur and Dunc, having waved sportingly to the crowd, left the arena and took a month off work.
28/12/04 - Charlton away - Interesting that Duncan tends to score his goals against the better teams, and gets sent off against the poxy ones. Everton's season was starting to falter and having spent a massive 11 minutes on the pitch, Dunc continued his campaign against Northern Europe by slamming an elbow into the face of Herman Hreidarrson. It was left for Everton fave Mike Riley to do the rest, which he duly did, with great pleasure no doubt.
31/1/06 - Wigan away - In fairness to Dunc, this time he's been out there for an energy sapping 8 minutes. This time he chose an Austrian, Paul Scharner. Another great dig with a short swing, leaving another Johnny foreigner in a heap on the deck. Quite ridiculously, the Big Man got another 3 games for the pushing and shoving which followed. Another month and half off work.
So is this a comprehensive list or has one red been missed? Not sure.
A couple of thoughts to close. One of Dunc's ex's, Karen Young, a topless dancer from his bachelor days, said that he had only 3 topics of conversation, 'Football, prison or his damn pigeons.' Nice.
And finally, Dunc got a hard time for not talking to the media. So what. We are living in a time when it's not about managerial or coaching ability but suddenly being 'good with the press' is the main requirement for an England Manager. Media savvy is where it's at. Loads of the tabloid hacks are now TV and radio 'personalities'. It's sickening. So Dunc didn't make their lives easy.
Nice one Big Man.
Comments
Ahh, memories! Here's to Duncan, Goodison Legend for the right and wrong reasons.
Good point about Dunc not being sent off for mere fouls. I think his aura of threat and menace helped scare the shit out of some centre halves - look at Senderos and Campbell even for only the last five mins at home v Arsenal this (last?) season. Big Sol went missing at half time against West Ham the following Wednesday - Dunc had fucked him over is the real story. The Arsenal link...was this Dunc's other sending off? Arsenal away 94/95? 1-1 (Big Dave for us). Thanks to Toffeeweb http://www.toffeeweb.com/season/94-95/reports/arsenal_away.html
Cheers Gents,
I think you've nailed it there Cat. The usual prize is in the post. Still struggling to recall it in detail. Did the Big Fella kind of brush past Jensen near the half way line and he went down like Emmanuel Eboue? Or summat like that.
Cheers
IMD
