The Tanner Report

In the great days of George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law, it was said that Manchester United only played well when unsung hero Paddy Crerand in midfield did. Supporters of every club will tell you of the player that does the work for others.

At Fulham at the moment on our 18-match run without defeat all the talk is of Alex Mitrovic, Ryan Sessegnon and Tom Cairney. Our fluid passing game is much and rightly praised but today I would like to focus on our unsung hero – Kevin McDonald.

His job is to patrol the zone in front of the defence and act as the conduit from defence for the likes of Tom Cairney and Stefan Johansen or the attacking fullbacks, Ryan Fredericks and Matt Targett. He does the job supremely well. His passing accuracy stats match any in or outside the team in the division and last Tuesday he cheekily popped up with a goal when Mitrovic’s header struck his buttock and took the ball on a different trajectory into the net.

A quick mention of Ray Wilkins’ sad passing. His appointment was not that popular with fans given he replaced Micky Adams, who restored the declining fortunes of our club, and his long association with Chelsea.

Ray came to a club divided. There were two dressing rooms. The first comprised of Micky Adams players was called the “poor room”, the second the expensive imports financed by Mr al Fayed. I cleaned the windows of some in the poor room and they spoke highly of Ray as coach and gentleman of the game.

Finally, Kostas Mitroglou was one of our worst signings (at £13m) in the last few years.

He is now at Olympique Marseiile and playing tonight against Lokomotiv Leipzig in the quarter final of the Europa League. His career is redeemed.